The Usurper's Crown

By Isabel Allende

Book Overview

In a sweeping new epic of breathtaking excitement and adventure, Sarah Zettel, author of A Sorcerer's Treason , tells the enthralling story of a courageous woman from small-town Wisconsin caught up in a maelstrom of empire-shaking politics and sorcerous conspiracy on a dazzling world far removed from our own. It is 1872. Ingrid Loftfield and her sister Grace are living uneventful lives with their family on Sand Island, Lake Superior, until the day Grace nearly drowns. Grace becomes inexplicably ill, for she has been saved by the spirit of a drowned sailor which rests uneasily beneath the water. Ingrid can only watch as her sister drifts toward death, lured by the restless spirit, until an immegrant Finnish fisherman, Avan, helps Ingrid release Grace from the spell that binds her. Having rescued her sister, Ingrid herself begins an odyssey stranger than she could imagine. For Avan is not what he's assumed to be. He's Avanasy, a powerful sorcerer who's been banished from another world, Isavalta, where he tutored Medeoan, the princess-heir to the empire until she married a prince of a rival realm. Prince Kacha has won Medeoan's heart, and with the aid of his mentor, a subtle and ambitious sorcerer, plans to win Isavalta, using sweet Medeoan's love and an array of magical means to usurp her crown. Once Avanasy is gone, Kacha acts swiftly to isolate Medeoan from other allies, and to weave a spell that will weaken her so he can rule in her stead. When Medeoan discovers Kacha's treachery she flees, determined to win back her crown. She can only succeed if Avanasy, her oldest friend and most powerful ally, will return to help her. Because Avanasy loves Ingrid Loftfield and she loves him, together they must cross the vast gulf that separates our world from the magical realm of Isavalta. to rescue Medeoan, and fulfill a destiny far beyond Ingrid's wildest dreams.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812565185
• ISBN13: 9780812565188
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

More Isavaltan magic

The second book in Sara Zettle's Isavaltan trilogy is unusual in that it pre-dates the first book. Although that seems strange at first, it actually works really well. This time the story revolves around Bridget Lederle's parents, again the story moves between Earth and Isavalta, a land of magic and intrigue. To get there Ingrid Loftfield must follow the sorcerer Avanasy across the land of Death and Spirit. This is a highly...

Very enjoyable prequel

I was reluctant to read this when I learnt that it was the story of Avanasy and Medeoan... there are things which we already know, but as is revealed, knowing of them and knowing the WHY of them are completely different. The tradgedy is in Medeoans blind love for Kasha and his complete contempt for it.. We learn what can make Medeoan so completely ruthless, and how it happened... Absolutely fascinating and VERY Enjoyable.

Isvalta of the past

I must say, that I at first was disappointed, when I learned that this book was a prequel to "A Sorcerer's Treason". Now though I would not have missed it. It is true that you know how things between Avanasy, Ingrid and Medeoan will end, but still this time you get the details and get to know the characters on their own accord. So I ended up liking the book, it's well written, and I think "The land of death and spirit" are...

enchanting fantasy

When it is discovered that the princess and heir of Isavalta is a sorceress, the emperor and empress ask the powerful sorcerer Avanasy to teach her how to use her powers. Over the years the two become friends until a political marriage is arranged to Kacha, the nephew of the king of Hastinapura. The princess falls in love with him, but Avanasy warns her that he is treacherous and not to be trusted. His charge turns on him...

An Isavaltan History

The Usurper's Crown is the second novel written in the Isavalta series, following A Sorcerer's Treason, but is the first in internal order. In the previous volume, Bridget Lederle is a lighthouse keeper on Sand Island on the shore of Lake Superior in 1899. Her father and her love-child have died, she has never know her mother, and she is estranged from her aunt. Moreover, she has been accused of her infant daughter's death...