L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Prospero Lost receives *starred* reviews in both Publishers Weekly (7/27/09) and Library Journal (6/15/09)!
From PW: “Featuring glimpses into a rich and wondrous world of the unseen, this is no ordinary urban fantasy, but a treasure trove of nifty ideas and intriguing revelations. A cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for sequels.”
From LJ: “Intelligent and eminently enjoyable, this series opener by a first-time author is a first-rate choice for fans of mythic urban fantasy.”
Full text below:
Publishers Weekly
Prospero Lost L. Jagi Lamplighter. Tor, $24.95 (320p) ISBN 978-0-7653-1929-6
Lamplighter’s powerful debut draws inspiration from Shakespeare and world mythology, infused with humor and pure imagination. Four centuries after the events of The Tempest, Prospero’s daughter Miranda runs Prospero Inc., a company with immense influence in the supernatural world. When she discovers a mysterious warning from her father, who has gone missing, Miranda sets forth accompanied by Mab, an Aerie Spirit manifested as a hard-boiled PI, to warn her far-flung, enigmatic siblings that the mysterious Shadowed Ones plan to steal their staffs of power. Every encounter brings new questions, new problems and a greater sense of what’s at stake. Featuring glimpses into a rich and wondrous world of the unseen, this is no ordinary urban fantasy, but a treasure trove of nifty ideas and intriguing revelations. A cliffhanger ending will leave readers panting for sequels. (Sept.)
Library Journal
Lamplighter, L. Jagi. Prospero Lost. Tor. (Propsero’s Daughter, Bk. 1). Sept. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-7653-1929-6. $24.95. FANTASY
Miranda, the daughter of the sorcerer Prospero and heroine of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, now enjoys eternal youth in a contemporary world, along with her siblings and her father. When Prospero vanishes and Miranda discovers that hostile forces known only as the Three Shadowed Ones seek her family’s magic, she sets out on a journey, accompanied by Mag, a bound air spirit who possesses the personality of a hard-nosed private eye, and her half-mad brother, Mephistopheles, to warn her siblings and rescue her father. VERDICT Lamplighter plays fast and loose with Shakespeare in this modern-day fantasy filled with homages to both the Bard and John Milton. The infighting among Miranda and her siblings recalls the complex family relationships of Roger Zelazny’s “Chronicles of Amber” series and proves simultaneously infuriating and delightful. Intelligent and eminently enjoyable, this series opener by a first-time author is a first-rate choice for fans of mythic urban fantasy.
