Whisper of the Darksong – Book 3 of the Heir to the Darkmage Series – Review

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Lisa Cassidy, an Australian author who already has two successful full series under her belt is about to release the third novel in her Heir to the Darkmage series. The series follows on some 20 or so years after the events of The Mage Chronicles and follows the life of Lira Astor, the granddaughter of the Darkmage, Shakar Astor.

Lira is one of those delicious characters who battles with her morality. She desperately wants to shed the cloak of her grandfather’s legacy; just wanting to be seen for who she is. She desires to prove herself to be a person outside of his influence, to be recognised as someone with power, talent and her own beliefs. Trying to shed prejudice is difficult though, and before long, Lira finds herself becoming disillusioned, used and hated just because of her long dead grandfather.

By the time we reach Whisper of the Darksong, Lira has been (wrongly) imprisoned, and has been rotting in a cell for more than two years. She’s alone and desperate and wants nothing more than to escape; not to clear her name – but to exact revenge on the Shadow Council and the nefarious group Underground who set her up to fall. She particularly wants to murder Lucinda, a woman who always seems to be several steps ahead and more crafty than anyone she’s ever met. However, three escape attempts later, and Lira is still shackled and imprisoned. She’s struggling not to fall into a well of despair and loneliness as she wallows in the small cell, cut off as she is from everyone. Her lover and confident Ahrin Vensis has not made an appearance, and the people she thought of friends, from her time at Tamari Hall, for an achingly brief time have abandoned and betrayed her. She’s alone, completely and utterly alone.

When Tarion Caverlock, one of those who betrayed her, appears at her cell with a proposal, Lira doesn’t know what to think. He’s offering to break her out of the magical prison, but only if she helps him find his powerful parents who have mysteriously disappeared. She doesn’t trust him – believing as she does that he was instrumental in her arrest – but at the same time she believes that he is completely desperate and sincere. She decides to accept his offer – after all, it will mean she has freedom – but she makes sure he knows that she’s only using him so that she can achieve her own goals. Find and kill Lucinda and exact her revenge.

We follow Lira, Tarion, Ahrin and others as they desperately search for Tarion’s kidnapped parents and for the despicable Lucinda. They must cross an ocean and find a lost land as well as finding themselves on the journey. Lira grows as a character, learning how to trust her instincts and other people, as well as learning how to love and become a true friend. She walks a fine line between the heroine her companions need her to be and the villain she believes herself to be. She’s complex, messy and abrasive – which makes for a depth of character which is incredibly strong and believable. Sometimes you’re on the edge of your seat while you want to scream at her to believe in herself and to bloody well listen to what her companions are saying to her, but that would make the book too smug and easy.

Lisa Cassidy has forged a world with The Mage Chronicles and Heir to the Darkmage. A world rich with magic, passion, love, fear and hate. It is a world where the dark isn’t necessarily as scary as you may think it is, and where the sunshine is not always the safe harbour you need.

I was lucky enough to receive Whisper of the Darksong as an Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for an honest, full review.

Thank you, Lisa. I can not wait for the next book in Lira’s story, and to see her grow even more as a character whose depths are complicated and realistic.

SA

Whisper of the Darksong is due for release on Amazon Kindle on April 28th, for £5.99, and is available for pre order here.
It is also available to read on Kindle Unlimited.

For the rest of the Heir to the Darkmage series, click here:
Heir to the Darkmage
Mark of the Huntress

If you’d like to read about Lira’s Grandfather, Shakar Astor, The Mage Chronicles are available here:
Darkskull Hall
Taliath
Darkmage
Heartfire

All of Lisa’s books are currently available on Kindle Unlimited or to buy from Amazon.

Lisa is a self published, indie author based in Canberra, Australia. For more information about her, visit her website.