The Lady of the Sorrows (The Bitterbynde Trilogy) - Softcover

Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0732911206 ISBN 13: 9780732911201

Publisher: Tor Books, 2002

Synopsis

THE LADY OF THE SORROWS The Bitterbynde Trilogy #2 This special, revised edition includes the author's new introduction - in which she discusses the writing of the Bitterbynde trilogy - images of part of the original, handwritten manuscript and copies of some original notes and calculations created while the work was in progress. "Though Imhrien's memory is clouded by sorcery, she must take vital news to the King-Emperor of Caermelor. She hopes that there she may also find Thorn, the King's Ranger, a beautiful warrior who has won her heart. Since no commoner may approach the royal court, Imrhien assumes a new identity as Rohain, a noble visitor from the distant Sorrow Isles. She soon discovers that the King and his rangers have departed to battle the unseelie hordes which have declared war against mortalkind. Attacks by nightmare monsters of the Wild Hunt, led by wicked Lord Huon, grow ever more frequent and brutal. And when evil forces lay siege to the royal sanctuary on a hidden mystic island, Rohain is confronted with a horrifying discovery. To protect those she loves, the Lady of the Sorrows must undertake a desperate quest to discover who she is and why an unhuman evil would wreak such destruction. But the truth of Rohain's past will prove more incredible - and far more tragic - than any she could possibly have imagined." Author Cecilia Dart-Thornton was discovered on the Internet. She had written the three books of the Bitterbynde Trilogy before she uploaded the first chapter to a Writers' Workshop, where her work was spotted by an editor. Shortly afterwards Time-Warner's publishing department (New York) offered her a contract. They published her books in hardcover, the first time they had ever done so with a new author. The Bitterbynde Trilogy hit the best-seller lists world-wide and has been translated into five languages.

About this title

About the Author:

Cecilia Dart-Thornton is the author of numerous bestselling fantasy novels, notably the Bitterbynde Trilogy. The Washington Post reported that the first summer after Neilsen Booktrack launched in Australia, it showed Dart-Thornton's newly launched fantasy tome The Ill-Made Mute hitting the Herald's best-seller list, ranked next to mainstream authors and 'serious' fiction. Technology, in one swift blow, destroyed a decades-long publishers' bias against fantasy. It demonstrated that what people were really buying was simply not reflected in the old bestseller lists, based as they were on reports from a small panel of bookshops. The reality was, people were buying fantasy - in particular, they were buying The Ill-Made Mute. This debut novel and its two sequels in the 'Bitterbynde Trilogy' - including The Lady of the Sorrows - went on to win fans and accolades across the globe. The Lady of the Sorrows received glowing reviews from the top critics. It is published in five languages and distributed in more than fifty countries around the world.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this second book of the Bitterbynde trilogy (after 2001's The Ill-Made Mute), Dart-Thornton clarifies a number of the first volume's mysteries and with a defter hand sets the story moving briskly through the medieval-like landscape of Erith. Imrhien has been cured of her muteness and her facial disfigurement, but she hasn't yet overcome the amnesia that also plagued her in book one. Deciding she must tell the King-Emperor of Erith about the treasure she has found, Imrhien makes her way to court and by sheer good luck though her restored beauty is also a big help catches the ear of a faithful minister of the king who believes her story about hidden riches. After a period of indulging in court life, Imrhien feels the pull to once again travel and try to discover why she can't remember her past. A series of adventures leads to revelations about part of Imrhien's past and yet these same revelations also point to more paradoxes, setting the stage for the final volume. Often second books in fantasy trilogies just trudge along. In this case, the author has peppered the plot with folklore and tall tales that lend plenty of interest, even if they have little to do with the immediate quest. Hopefully, Dart-Thornton will pattern the concluding volume in the series on the second and not the first. While the jacket art depicting courtiers against a castle backdrop will help to draw historical romance readers, it gives no hint that the novel is full of mythical creatures and fair folk sure to appeal to fantasy fans.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0732911206
• ISBN 13: 9780732911201
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1