Customer Reviews

Daughter of Prophecy

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I picked this book up expecting something a bit more fluffy and light. I'm so glad I was wrong. It is not a 'happy' novel, and doesn't try to portrey it's characters as perfect, (which they are very definitely not).
The author's vision of a post-apocolyptic America is fascinating, mixing science fiction and fantasy without being awkward. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.

This book had a wonderfull plot line, and unique ideas, however, there wasfar to much....love making (shall we say) scenes, and it greatly took away from the plot.

this is the first of Bush's "Pride and Pattern" trilogy, and the best book in the trilogy at that. the book follows the changing relationships between three people, King Abelard, Nydia the witch, and Phineas the captain of the Guard. After saving Nydia from execution Abelard decides to use her against people who stand in his way for gaining complete control over his realm. The society created bu Bush; a scarry and twisted furture america, is intricate and full of mystery, however Bush concentrated on the relationship between Nydia and Abelard more than she should hafe, i think, and this detracted from the actual plot. the ending is completely unexpected and leaves ample room for the two books that followed it.

Of the three books in the trilogy, DoP is the best. I would say read Daughter and skip the other two which are dark slaughter fests that only seem to have been written to tear the reader's heart out and make you want to scream at the author.

Anyway, the main character is Nydia Farhallen a beautiful woman who can see everyone's future (up to the next choice they make), except her own. She also has knowledge of math, forbidden in this future America, because math can be used to create magic, and magic is bad because there are consequences wrought to fix the "pattern of the universe" so things go back to how they were supposed to before magic mucked it up.

The church, with female priests who burn books, calls Nydia a witch and tries to burn her, but King Abelard saves her so long as she does spells for him. Nydia tries to fight her attraction to the King, who pursues her (and most anything else in a skirt), but eventually succumbs. But just when Nydia thinks happiness is at hand, Abelard forces Melisande, daughter of a rebel leader, to marry him to help secure his throne. Nydia is devastated, but cannot totaly forget her love of the King, nor will he free her from her pledge to help him in order to avoid the stake.

The whole plot of the book hinges on the relationship between Nydia and Abelard and is really the best part of the story. Without it, the book wouldn't make sense and would be boring. If she didn't love him, he couldn't use her so easily. The reader doesn't find out until the very end that while Abelard used her, he did love her. And use her he does, to get a proper heir for his country and it brings terrible consequences for the land.

The rest of the book is a jumble of characters that vanish or are killed off in later books so don't get attached to any of them. There are mutants, bad guys in Daughter and good in the other two books, whose ability to use magic so well isn't really explained or explored, and Harleyriders who ride ponies and who don't serve a purpose until book 3.

There is also a throw-a-way love story between Phineas, Capt of the Guard, and Melisande that was more a plot point than a fully explored story. Phineas won't save her from Abelard, but wants to criticize how the King treats her and after pages of how much he loves Melisande, says at the end that he should have loved Nydia, the woman he gave 5 seconds of thought to, not that he ever stood a chance with her since Nydia hated him. Not sure why the author tossed that in as it made little sense. Basically Phineas loved Melisande so that he would be willing to father her child and pretend it was the King's since Melisande is the one woman Abelard can't manage to knock up. The plan is for Phineas and Melisande's son to marry Nydia and Abelard's daughter so that a King not of Abelard's line will be on the throne, but power will still pass to Abelard's grandchild as there is a prophecy that the king right after Abelard cannot be of his blood.

I really didn't get why Abelard let his mother and the priests get away with so much. He's bascially a bully, but they walk all over him.

The book's end is conclusive enough you don't need to track down the other books as it tells you were things will go. Nydia and Phineas face bad futures, Abelard faces a TERRIBLE future, but the spell to get the 2 kids worked and the child Phineas fathered with Melisande will sit on the throne. The only question is if he will wed the daughter Nydia bore Abelard so that their child, Abelard's grandson, will one day rule.

When I first got this book, I wasn't too excited to read it because it seemed like one of those sci-fi books from its cover. However, once I started reading it I realized it was filled with interesting characters and a really delightful plot. It follows the story of 3 characters, Nydia(The beautiful witch), Abelard (the King), and Phineas (The Captain of the Guard) and how they relate to each other and to the land in which they live. None of the characters are flawless and that's something a lot of authors tend to do with their characters. Each of the characters have a distinct personality. I also found myself rooting for one character one minute and saying, "What a jerk!" the next. I think this book is a definite must-read for anyone who likes romance, fantasy, and magic.