The House of the Four Winds

Today's post is on The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. It is the first in their One Dozen Daughters series. It is 300 pages long and is published by TOR. The cover is light blue with the main character wearing tricorn hat and smirking at the reader. The intended reader is a fan of either author, fun historical fantasy, and good writing. There is some mild language, no sex, and some violence in this book. The story is told from third person close of the main character. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the dust jacket- The tiny nation of Swansgaard is a lovely place with abundant natural resources, including the royal family, which has been blessed with twelve daughters and a son. As this boisterous baker's dozen approaches adulthood, the king and queen lovingly tell their daughters, “You must make your own fortune, for we cannot enrich you without impoverishing out people or leaving our lands defenseless, and that we will not do.”

Happily, the princesses of Swansgaard are eager to meet this challenge, for they yearn for adventures both near and far from home.
Clarice, an expert swordwoman, is the first to depart. Disguising herself as Clarence, she signs on for a voyage to the New World. The captain is vile and black-hearted, and the crew soon mutinies. Clarice becomes the first mate- and finds her heart captured by the new captain, Dominick, who is, to own surprise, increasingly attracted to Clarence.
Now outlaws, Dominick and his crew turn to piracy- though their hearts are not entirely in it. They soon run afoul the Pirate Council, who orders them to retrieve the Heart of Light. All who have searched for this great treasure have vanished, with neither ships nor crew ever seen again and no sign of their fates ever discovered.
But none before have carried with the sorceress Shamal, who stakes a claim of her own on Dominick's heart.

Review- This was a fun start to a new series. With two good authors that I have read and loved for many years I expected nothing less. The characters are interesting, the dialog sharp, and the plot twists are good. Having read both Lackey and Mallory before I have a general idea about what to expect from this novel. I was and was not wrong. Some of the plot twists I did not see coming. Like how the villain is defeated. The world building is good, this world is like ours but just a little off. It is really alternate historical fantasy, which I found to be fun. Lackey and Mallory do not reinvent the genre but the book is good. It was a very quick and enjoyable read. So if you are a fan of either writer, I can strongly say that you will enjoy this book.
 

I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.