In Book Four (The Shadow Sorceress) of this five-book Spellsong Cycle, Secca, the ward and foster-daughter of Anna, the Great Sorceress, takes center stage after the latter dies. There is already a disruption in the harmony in the land, as it were. Combating malevolent home-grown sorcerers and staving off the invasion of the women-hating Sea Priests from afar have almost killed Secca.The Shadowsinger, as Secca is now called in Book Five, along with her sorcerer-husband Alcaren, and a remnant of lesser sorceresses, take the war to the Sea Priests home islands [1]. When the climatic batte is fought, the Sea Priests are vanquished. Secca becomes the first ruler-sorceress of her homeland Defalk. Defalk remains the only super-power at the end of this saga.
Characteristic of Modesitt's writings is the familiar theme on the struggle for geopolitical power and authority and how they are used or abused [2]. In the Shadowsinger, essential leadership qualities with power and authority are contrasted among the relative good (Secca the Shadowsinger), the bad (Robero the Lord of Defalk), and the ugly (Maitre of the Sea Priests).
Modesitt could have written more on music and its effect on the lives of his characters. Afterall, music conveys loneliness and of pain, of strength and freedom, of life and love, of death and sorrow, and of disappointment and never-satisfied love. All these he has written, though contrained and under-developed, in the five books.
If there were a juncture where Modesitt would come through in writing love and music other than music and war, it is between the courtship and marriage of Secca and Alcaren. It would be a spark to the reader if Alcaren, the destined husband and music partner for Secca, says to her bride, "Ich bin mit einem obligaten Accompaniment auf die Welt gekommen"[3]. She then in turn patiently explains and demonstrates to the obliging husband the technique of playing Fernando Sor's "Obbligato on Etude in B minor."
It is ironic Modesitt selects music as the conduit for sorcery. This is a one-dimensional and warped exercise on the speech of the angels. Then again, this is a fantasy - everything is allowed and then some. On balance, it is a fairly good read.
A few final remarks on this last book of the Spellsong Cycle. They all pertain to editorial oversights.
1. The familiar map of the Continent of Liedwahr is curiously omitted in this final book. If one were
to read this book, he would have no reference as to what's where and where battles are fought.
2. The age of Secca and her assistant-sorceress are different in Book Four (The Shadow
Sorceress) and Book Five (Shadowsinger).
* Secca is 25+ years old (Chapter 13, The Shadow Sorceress)
* Secca is 35+ years old (Chapter 6, Shadowsinger)
* Richina, assistant sorceress to Secca, is but a" few years more than a girl" (Chapter 9, The Shadow Sorceress)
* Richina, assistant sorceress to Secca, is now "more than fifteen years younger than Secca"
(Chapter 2, Shadowsinger)
3. This one is really a salient oversight on Modesitt's part. He thinks he is writing about Candar
from the the Recluse series. Here is the quote made by the Maitre of the Sea Priests as he and
his command are out-maneuvered by Secca and her allies.
"Wards that are not wards, or more than wards. Ships from all across Candar..." (Chapter 75,
Shadowsinger)
__________
[1] The crux of the geopolitics and ideological elements in the Shadowsinger parallels the war actions post-September 11, 2001 when United States takes the war of terrorism to Afghanistan. The Shadowsinger is first published in February 2002.
[2] The Saga of Recluse is a long and skillfully crafted study on power and authority. There is the cut -and-dry "black" or "white" ideology, and the in-between "grey" ideology. All are expressed or represented by the respective ideological magic/sorcery.
[3] Attributed to Beethovan: "I was born with an obbligato accompaniment"
