The Misted Cliffs [Kindle Edition]

Catherine Asaro (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Award-winning Asaro revisits the world depicted in The Charmed Sphere (2004) in an epic fantasy featuring Mel, heir to the Jaguar throne of Harsdown. Cobalt the Dark, a giant of a man with an evil reputation, frees his long-imprisoned father, the deposed king of Harsdown. After taking him to the king of the Misted Cliffs, both kings start devising strategies to regain Harsdown, but Cobalt, who secretly prefers not to wreak death and destruction, suggests that he wed Mel to avoid a devastating war. He is astounded to find that she is attractive and that she concedes to marry him, even if it's only because she wants to save her people. Unfortunately, the marriage truce doesn't involve neighboring kingdoms. Amid the ensuing turmoil, Mel's magical powers allow her to see that there is far more to Cobalt than meets the eye. Asaro, a physicist, has written a convincing tale of geometry-based magic and romance between two flawed but heroic people. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

Award-winning author Catherine Asaro, creator of The Skolian Empire, returns to the world of Aronsdale, a place rich with magic and power.

One generation after war had nearly destroyed three nations, evil was returning. And only Mel Dawnfield's daring sacrifice could stop it...

The promise of peace rested on this young woman's noble vow: to marry Cobalt the Dark-- heir to a family of legendary cruelty. With only her uncontrolled spells to guide her, isolated in Cobalt's solitary home in the Misted Cliffs, knowing poisoned blood ran through her husband's veins, Mel struggled to embrace her unexplored mage powers and unveil the light in her shadowy new world-- including the radiance hidden in her husband's soul. For her enemies were gathering strength and they would soon unleash the darkest of evils in the name of war.

In the final battle, Mel's ability to harness her magic would mean the difference between a harmonious world... and annihilation.

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 259 KB
• Print Length: 347 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0373802269
• Publisher: Luna; 1st edition (September 1, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000W4RFNY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,577 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Series > Luna

More About the Author

Catherine Asaro: Renassaince Woman

Propped against the bookcase in Catherine Asaro's home office is the framed diploma of her Harvard Ph.D. in chemical physics. Nearby, dangling from the doorknob, is a bag stuffed with the tights and leotards she wears when she pulls herself away from her writing for ballet classes. A former professional dancer, this California native has little time for the ballet barre these days. Instead, she's fielding speaking offers and meeting deadlines for her novels.

Winner of the Nebula (R) Award for her novel, THE QUANTUM ROSE, and her novella, "The SpacetimePool," Catherine blends exciting adventure, science, world building, romance, and strong characterization into her fiction. Her latest science fiction novel is DIAMOND STAR (Baen), and her most recent fantasy is THE NIGHT BIRD (Luna). She also writes thrillers, including ALPHA and SUNRISE ALLEY.

DIAMOND STAR (is about a rock star in the future. The book's release is the culmination of what Catherine describes as "one of the most exciting collaborations I've ever done." Working with the Baltimore rock band Point Valid, she recorded a music CD that offers readers a soundtrack to the book. Starflight Music released the CD, also titled Diamond Star, performed by Point Valid--Hayim Ani, Adam Leve, and Max Vidaver--with Catherine as a guest artist. Catherine wrote the lyrics for most of the songs, and Hayim wrote the music with Point Valid. Catherine also composed several cuts on the album, and Hayim offered her several of his original compositions.

After Point Valid dispersed to college, jazz pianist Donald Wolcott joined the project as the accompanist for Catherine's vocals. Asaro and WOlcott perform and book conventions and other venues, doing selections from the soundtracks to Catherine's books as well as jazz and pop songs.

Catherine's short fiction has appeared in Analog magazine and various anthologies, including "Walk in Silence," "A Roll of the Dice," and "Aurora in Four Voices," which all won the Analog Readers Poll for best novella, and were nominated for both Nebula(R) and Hugo Awards. Her novella, "The Spacetime Pool" (Analog, March 2008), is currently up for the Nebula(R). Catherine has also published reviews and essays and authored scientific papers in refereed academic journals. Her paper,"Complex Speeds and Special Relativity" in the The American Journal of Physics (April 1996) forms the basis for some of the science in her fiction. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She was a physics professor until 1990, when she became a consultant and writer.

In Catherine's youth, the arts were her focus. She studied ballet from age of five, trained in classical piano, and spent hours curled up with books. She successfully pursued London's Royal Academy of Dance syllabus through the first professional level and enrolled at UCLA as a dance major. Then she discovered she loved math and science. "I hadn't studied it much in high school, but at UCLA I ended up taking a lot of science and math," she remembers. "I struggled at first and sometimes I felt like I had no clue. Then one day I read the chapter in my chemistry book on quantum theory--and I was hooked. It felt more right than any other subject I had studied." She went on to earn a BS with Highest Honors from UCLA, a masters in physics from Harvard, and a doctorate in chemical physics, also from Harvard.

Catherine attributes her ability to entertain a broad reading audience in part to her upbringing. "My father is one of the four scientists who postulated that a comet hitting the earth caused mass extinctions, including the demise of dinosaurs. My mother was a student of English literature who loved to write, so from the beginning I was influenced by both the sciences and arts." While pursing her degrees, Catherine continued to dance, founding the Mainly Jazz Dancers and Harvard University Ballet. Perennially on deadline, she now focuses more on her writing than research, but she often speaks on the intersection of science and art at venues such as the Library of Congress and Georgetown University.

Catherine is also proud to coach the Howard Area Homeschoolers, whose students have distinguished themselves in numerous national math programs, including the USA Mathematical Olympiad, MathCounts, and the American Regional Mathematics League. She has served two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA).

Born in Oakland, California, Asaro grew up in El Cerrito, north of Berkeley. A challenger of rules since her childhood, she explores the boundaries of genre fiction in her novels. "It's like stretching different muscles for dance class," she says, adding that dancing and math aren't as dissimilar as people may think. "There is a beauty in seeing a math problem come together just as there is in performing a ballet. And the discipline it takes to do ballet well is similar to that needed to do math." But no matter what the style of her novels, she writes from the heart. "The flashy adventure is fun," she says, "but the characters mean the most to me, both as a reader and as a writer."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Follow-up to the Original., October 23, 2005

By 

Ann M. Russell (North Reading, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Misted Cliffs (Misted Cliffs, Book 2) (Paperback)

This is the story of Melody, the daughter of Chime and Muller, and Cobalt, the son of King Varquelle.

This story picks up about eighteen years after the end of "The Charmed Sphere". King Varquelle comes back to regain his throne and his son Cobalt is helping him. Cobalt and Melody end up getting married and one part of the book is about their marriage. The other part of the book is about Cobalt's past, his family, and his building of the Dawn Star Empire.

I really liked this book and I thought that it was much better than "The Charmed Sphere". I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a nice, light, romantic fanatasy. I am looking forward to the next book in the series, The Dawn Star.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Marriage of Convenience, January 24, 2008

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Misted Cliffs (Misted Cliffs, Book 2) (Paperback)

The Misted Cliffs (2005) is the second fantasy novel in the Misted Cliffs series. In the previous volume, King Varqelle of Harsdown was removed from his throne by the victorious army of Aronsdale and imprisoned in the Citadel of Rumors. Prince Muller of Aronsdale was placed on the throne. Chime became the queen and soon was pregnant with a girl child.

In this novel, Princess Melody is the despair of her father. She would rather wear trousers than a skirt, especially when she is riding and practicing with the sword. She often returns home with her hair all tousled and leaves snagged in her locks.

Prince Cobalt the Dark is the son of Princess Dancer Chanberlight of the Misted Cliffs. Dancer is the wife of former King Varqelle, but she had left him when Cobalt was a small babe and returned to her father, King Stonebreaker. Although Cobalt has asked her many times why she left Varqelle, she only tells him that it was for his sake.

Prince Cobalt leads a raid on the Citadel of Rumors and frees his father. King Stonebreaker offers sanctuary in the Misted Cliffs. However, Cobalt initially takes his father to his own home, the Castle of Clouds.

Both Cobalt and Dancer prefer to live away from King Stonebreaker. Her father had long abused her and her son. Yet Cobalt eventually grew large enough to threaten the King if he ever touched either one again. Stonebreaker is a bully, but even he is afraid of his grandson.

In this story, Melody and Cobalt are married. Originally, Varqelle and Stonebreaker wanted to invade Harsdown, but Cobalt believes that the Misted Cliffs army would destroy itself fighting both Harsdown and Aronsdale. Moreover, he would prefer that Harsdown not be devastated by warfare. So he suggests the marriage with Melody.

Cobalt has a very bad reputation in Harsdown, so Melody has no desire to marry him. Yet their marriage would bring a peace treaty between the Misted Cliffs and Harsdown/Aronsdale. She and her parents decide to accept the marriage.

When Cobalt comes to Harsdown to marry Melody, she is surprised to find that he is a very large, but handsome man. On the way back to his home, she finds herself seeing more compassion in his manner. Moreover, she soon falls in lust with him.

This story tells of the gradual growth of love between the pair. Due to his abusive upbringing by his grandfather, Cobalt has never dared love anyone, but his mother. When his father praises him for his efforts, Cobalt is overwhelmed by the positive remarks. Then he is enthralled by Melody's warmth and positive attitude.

Cobalt the Dark finds himself with more light in his life. When Melody invites Cobalt and his mother to visit her parents, Cobalt thinks that such a visit would help protect Dancer while he is away. He convinces his mother to travel to Harsdown and she grows to like the ambiance.

Highly recommended for Asaro fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of family conflicts, positive influences and profound romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific romantic fantasy, June 29, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Misted Cliffs (Misted Cliffs, Book 2) (Paperback)

Verquelle was the King of Harsdown but when he was defeated in battle to annex the Kingdom of Aronsdale, the monarch vanquished him to a place where he has been imprisoned for eighteen years. King Muller and Queen Chime are the rulers of Harsdown and the country has flourished under their reign. The heir is Princess Melody, a bright beautiful and loving person who is adored by her subjects

Verquelle's son Cobalt the Dark rescues his father and brings him to his home the Castle of the Clouds. Cobalt was raised by a sadistic grandfather and a distant mother but his newfound father gives him the approval he needs. Both his grandfather and his father want to go to war with Harsdown so Verquelle can reclaim his throne but Cobalt convinces them that he should marry the heir and their offspring will sit on the throne. Melody has no choice but to agree to this arrangement as she doesn't want her country to go to war but she concludes that Cobalt is not evil but a person deprived of kindness and affection. He decides to conquer two countries that border Aronsdale using his grandfather's troops and his father's knowledge of war. Melody hopes that her love will temper his dark side so that he doesn't become a tyrant others fears.

Catherine Asaro has written a beautiful and vividly descriptive tale that is a cross between a romantic fantasy and a swords and sorcery tale. The heroine is a bright lodestar that attracts her dark prince who is a tragic figure in the tradition of Heathcliffe. Hearts will go out to the beleaguered anti hero who seeks love and acceptance. Catherine Asaro is one of the reigning queens of brilliant romantic fantasy.

Harriet Klausner