Cast in Fury (Chronicles of Elantra, Book 4) (Paperback)

by Michelle Sagara (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
When a minority race of telepaths is suspected of causing a near-devastating tidal wave, Private Kaylin Neya is summoned to Court—and into a PR nightmare. To ease racial tensions, the emperor has commissioned a play, and the playwright has his own ideas about who should be the focus.…

But Kaylin works her best magic behind the scenes, and though she tries to stay neutral, she is again drawn into a world of politics…and murder. To make matters worse, Marcus, her trusted sergeant, gets stripped of his command, leaving Kaylin vulnerable. Now she's juggling two troubling cases, and even magic's looking good by comparison. But then nobody ever said life in the theater was easy.…

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Private Kaylin Neya was on time for work and the world hadn't ended.

A few people's lives, on the other hand, were in question. The amount of sarcasm Clint could put into shocked silence wasn't illegal. Yet. But Kaylin had to grudgingly admit, as she glared her way past his lowered halberd and into the Halls of Law, the wings he extended were a nice touch.

The Aerie was almost empty, but it usually was at this time of day; the halls themselves were suspiciously quiet. Then again, maybe the Swords were actually earning their pay instead of milling around the halls looking smug. Even on her bleariest mornings, Kaylin couldn't have missed the tension and worry that seemed to permeate the city streets recently, and keeping the peace, such as it was in a crowded city, was their job. For a change. The day was already looking brighter. She glanced up as a shadow passed her, and saw a lone Aerian traversing the space high above; he wasn't practicing maneuvers, and his wings were extended for a steady glide. She still envied the Aerians their wings, a little.

She felt a smidgen of sympathy for the Swords but didn't let it show. Much. It wasn't often that the entire city had almost created a new sea coast by the simple expedient of being under most of the surrounding water. She was certain that stories and rumors about the larger-than-Imperial-edict tidal wave that had almost destroyed the harbor—for a start—had already been making the rounds, and growing bigger, if that was even possible, with each telling.

She was waved through—without sarcasm—when she approached the guards that separated the Hawks' quarters from those of the Wolves or the Swords. The halls were vacant, and even the duty roster seemed to have gathered no darts.

"Oh, come on, guys," she said, when the entire office stopped as she entered and approached Marcus's desk. "I'm not always late. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Have you checked the duty roster, dear?" Caitlin asked, from the safety of her desk. Not that she was ever in any danger; if the office had a collective mother, it was Caitlin.

"Oh. No." She turned and, at Marcus's bark of a command, turned back. Marcus's growl was low, and it was short. He must be tired. And a tired Leontine was generally best kept happy by little displays of obedience. Or big ones.

The paperwork on his desk hadn't really diminished but also, to Kaylin's admittedly inexpert eye, hadn't grown; the emergency that had pulled a number of his Hawks out of their normal routine had been resolved; there was no Festival for almost another year. She couldn't quite see what would put him in a mood, but the fact that he was in one was obvious—having facial fur that bristled when you were ticked off was a dead giveaway. Having fangs that were almost as long as her fingers—the exposed parts of the fangs, at any rate—was another.

She came to stand a safe distance from the side of his desk, and waited. She even waited quietly.

Her reward? He lifted a stack of paper off his desk and dumped it in her hands. "This," he said curtly, "is your problem."

She looked down at what she had assumed were reports— or worse. The paperwork required of the office was, by all accounts, more arcane than any of the magic it also required. To punctuate this, the window very sweetly told the entire office what the hour was.

Kaylin really hated the window. There was money riding on how long it would take someone to accidentally break it, and money riding on who would have the accident. There weren't many rules that governed office bets, but one of them was that you couldn't place money on yourself. Which was fair but, in Kaylin's case, prevented her from winning much.

"Well? Are you going to stand there all day?"

Kaylin looked down at the first sheet in the stack—and it was a large stack. "No, sir."

"Good. Take note of the roster—your rounds have been changed."

"Since when? I checked it last night."

"Since then, obviously."

She caught Caitlin's frantic gestures out of the corner of her eye, and nodded. She considered going to the roster by way of Caitlin's desk, but since they were in opposite directions and Marcus could watch you while his back was turned, she decided to actually go to the roster instead.

Her shoulders did a severe downturn when she saw what had been written beside her name. Even Severn's name, at the same location, didn't bring much cheer. The Imperial Palace?

"Don't make that face," Teela said, in her left ear.

Barrani could walk in perfect silence, but it took work, and Teela was usually too damn lazy. Kaylin's little start did not, however, cause her to drop the bundle of paper. Given Marcus's mood, that was good.

"What's eating Marcus?"

Teela shrugged, long black hair rising and falling like a perfect curtain. Kaylin tried not to resent the fact that the Barrani weren't governed by any Hawk regulations when it came to anything they wore. Regulations were, after all, supposed to be practical and as far as Kaylin could tell, Barrani hair never tangled, never got caught in anything, and never got in the way.

And they were gorgeous and lived forever. If it weren't for the fact that they adored politics—preferably with blood and death—they'd be insufferable.

"He's Ironjaw," Teela said. "But he's been in that mood since late last night." Her tone of voice made it clear that it was serious enough that Kaylin should change the subject now, and Kaylin had known Teela for so many years it wasn't possible to misinterpret.

"Figures. Save a city, get sent to the Imperial Palace."

"It's more impressive than being sent to the docks or the Commons."

"More people to offend."

"True, and some of them are significant." Teela smiled. In all, it wasn't a happy expression. "Have you even taken a look at what you're holding?"

"I just got it, Teela."

"You might want to read it over," the Hawk replied. "Severn's waiting in the West room. And so is the Dragon."

The Dragon was generally known by the rank and file as Lord Sanabalis. One of Four Dragon Lords that comprised the Dragon contingent of the Imperial Court, he was also a member of the Imperial Order of Mages. He had graciously come out of teaching retirement to take on one pupil, that pupil being Kaylin herself. She tried to remember to be grateful, and usually succeeded when she wasn't actively staring at a candle wick in a vain attempt to get it to catch fire.

Which, come to think, was most of the time.

But she knew her lesson schedule more or less by heart now, and none of those lessons started at the beginning of her day. Given her nocturnal activities, and the desire of the Hawks not to annoy the mages, Marcus had forbidden any lesson that started before lunch. It gave her a decent chance of not missing any.

So Sanabalis wasn't here to teach her anything new about candles. She pushed the door open—it was open, so she didn't have to go through her daily ritual of teeth-grinding

while waiting for the doorward to magically identify her— and saw that Severn and Sanabalis were seated across the room's only table, talking quietly.

They stopped when they saw her, and she slid between the door and its frame, dropping the stack of paper on the tabletop.

"Marcus is in a mood," she told Severn.

"It's better than yours."

"I'm not in a—" She stopped. "You mean better than mine will be?"

"Pretty much. Take a seat. Lord Sanabalis is here to inform us of our duties, and to escort us to the man we'll be aiding."

When Severn spoke Barrani, it was generally a bad sign. Lord Sanabalis, on the other hand, almost always spoke in Barrani.

"We don't have to talk to the Emperor, do we?" she said, sinking into the chair slowly. It was rock hard and weighed more than she did.

"No," Lord Sanabalis replied. "Unless something goes gravely, gravely wrong, the Emperor has more important duties to attend."

"Does this mean there's no lesson today?"

"There will be, as you say, no lesson for the course of your duties at the Palace."

"Well, that's something. Who are we investigating?"

Severn hesitated.

"Investigating?" Sanabalis replied, raising a brow. "I rather think, if you were sent to investigate someone, the last place the Hawks would agree to second you would be the Imperial Palace. As you should know, the Imperial Guards deal with any difficulties that arise in the Palace. And they do not arise."

"Yes, Sanabalis." She hesitated. "What are we doing there, then? We're not exactly guard material—"

One of his silver brows rose into his thinning hairline.

Fair enough; if the Imperial Guard would be offended at outside investigators, they would probably completely lose it at outside guards. "So we're not there as investigators, we're not there as guards. Are we there as Hawks?"

"In a manner of speaking."

She grimaced. "That usually means no."

"You are Hawks or you could not be seconded in this fashion. You are not, however, there as representatives of the Law."

The old bastard looked like he was enjoying himself. Exactly how he conveyed this, Kaylin wasn't quite certain—his expression was neutral enough, and his voice was smooth as glass.

"So what are we there as?"

"As Cultural Resources," he replied smoothly.

"As what?"

"Cultural Resources."

"I heard you. What exactly does that mean?"

"Ah. Have you taken a moment to peruse the documents you placed upon the table?"

"No."

"I'd advise you to do so. We are not expected at the Palace until after lunch. I felt, given the unpredictability of your schedule, that this was wisest."

"But—"

"Many of the questions you are no doubt impatient to ask will be answered by even the briefest of perusals."

She wondered if he were a betting man, or Dragon. But given Dragons in general, she doubted it.

"If it eases your mind, Private Neya, Sergeant Kassan is required to pay you for the time you spend seconded to the Palace. He also," he continued, lifting a hand to stop her from speaking, "expects you to report in each morning.

"For some reason, he is concerned about...

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Luna (September 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373802692
• ISBN-13: 978-0373802692
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,824 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 4 in The Chronicles of Elantra Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Least favorite so far, but still good , September 30, 2008

By	Leslie Vanderford (Downers Grove, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I did enjoy this book and thought it was a very interesting read. However, there were some very important elements that I felt were lacking.

PROS:

1) The story was very interesting and I enjoyed learning more about the culture and origins of the Leontine race. I love the world this series is set in and always enjoy learning more about it.

2) Kaylin displays more maturity than previous novels. This impression may exist only because for once her childhood was barely, if ever, mentioned. It helps a lot. The fact that she had to be polite (and was able to be) for only short periods of time also helped.

3) Most of my favorite characters had at least some part in the story. It may have been a very very small part, but at least bringing them out gave me happy feelings as I remembered back to previous books when they appeared.

CONS:

1) This book doesn't have any of the internal conflict that the previous three had. I felt this was what made those books great and this one really lacked that. Kaylin was in the middle of a crisis again, but this crisis required her to fight against all external forces. She basically had to get others to go along with what she already wanted instead of having to come to terms with any of her past or own faults.

The first three books challenged the characters and this one just seemed like another save the world day. It didn't have the emotional tug as others (even though kids were once again involved). Without these internal conflicts & challenges the book just doesn't stand out as much as the others.

2) Not only did Kaylin not have any internal conflicts to resolve, but there didn't seem to be a single character who grew or developed. We learned a little bit more about some, but only easily found out facts such as their family or a little history.

It was nothing like we had with the Barrani or the Tha'alani in previous novels. In the previous novels the Castelords of both of these races were well developed and I got attached to both of them. There were also quite a few other Barrani I liked and felt were developed very well. In this latest book there wasn't anyone who stood out. The wives almost did but not nearly enough for me.

3) More Lord Nightshade please!! Ever since the first book Lord Nightshade has been my favorite character. Sadly it seems each book he gets more and more phased out. I keep expecting and hoping the mysteries and loose ends with him will be addressed at the very least. His only appearance here is a couple of lines of foreshadowing and helping out for a brief time. At the very end it almost seems like he's going to come back into importance but it didn't happen.

The only element of romance I really feel in this novel is with Lord Nightshade (Severn is too brotherly for me to feel romance). I don't need tons of romance, but I would like some. Even if it's not involving Lord Nightshade, though I'm sure he'd try to interfere, any romance would be welcome here. I think after four books Kaylin needs to reach the point where she's ready for romance.

In summary, I thought this book did a good job on building the world and culture for the series but did little for the characters. If someone skipped this book entirely I don't think it would be noticeable in the next novel. That hasn't been true in previous novels since there was so much character development before. It was still enjoyable, though, so there's no reason to skip it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best of the Series, September 27, 2008

By	Elaine C McTyer "avid reader" (Dawson, GA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Michelle Sagara has a wonderful series going here and this is one of the best in the series. Marcus is the Leontine who is her sargent in the Hawks. I have often wondered about the Leontines. Each of her novels deals with one of the different races who dwell in Elantra. Her last novel showcased the Tha'alani, a race of telepaths. The one before that showcased the Barrani.

Marcus has been relieved from duty and arrested for murder by the Caste Court of the Leontines. He admits to the murder and doesn't want Kaylin to interfere. Kaylin has been raised by his wives in the Pridlea. She will do anything to save him. The wives are a wonderful addition to Elantra and I liked each one, with their deep devotion to Marcus and each other.

The Outcaste Dragon has returned and Kaylin is again involved with trying to stop him from destroying Elantra.

The Tha'alani are in trouble because they faced the Tidal Wave in the last book and the humans think they caused it. The court playwrite is ordered to write a play that will help the two races understand each other and Kaylin and Severn are ordered to help him.

With all these things going on Kaylin is at the center. She and Severn along with Sanabalis and Tiamaris are dragged into all of the action. As with all of the books there is much action and adventure. I loved it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hooray for Murray!, November 7, 2008

By	Shaheen (West St. Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews

I used to be a big fan of this series - the first two books were really gripping - but now I'm reading it mostly out of curiousity: I want to see what happens next. This book didn't really answer that question.

As usual, Kaylin knew less than anyone else about anything at all, she had to be polite to various people against her better (?) nature, and the end of the world was nigh. This is becoming annoying - surely something in this cycle must change. Since the book largely features the Leontines, I thought for once Kaylin will know more than Severn. I mean, she practically grew up in a Leontine pride, while he has apparently only been through the Leontine quarters a few times as a Wolf. But no - as usual, she is completely oblivious to all cultural subtleties.

When her beloved Sargeant was replaced with a typically rigid bureaucrat, the emotion this is apparently supposed to evoke in the reader is an easy dislike of the stereotypical martinet and sympathy for Kaylin. All I could think was "Yes! Finally someone will force her to take all those classes she needs to be a real copper!" Unfortunately that doesn't quite happen, but I'm hopeful that by the start of the next book, she will be a bit more informed and a more mature and intelligent character. It's not likely, but I can hope can't I?

Beyond that pet peeve of mine, the plot line was thin (although the book wasn't), and the doomsday scenario was the weakest yet. Sadly, some of my favourite characters made only cameo appearances. The magic was the least interesting it has ever been, although I have a feeling that Sagara dropped quite a few hints for the eventual end/showdown (whenever that might come about). I shall keep reading this series in the hopes that the author will recapture the brilliance of the first book, and that she will soon bring this long series to a climax.