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The City in the Lake

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
THE KINGDOM’S HEART is the City. The City’s heart is the King. The King’s heart is the Prince. The Prince is missing.
Ever since the Prince disappeared, nothing has been right in the Kingdom. Something has disturbed the strange, old magic that whispers around its borders . . . something cunning and powerful. And the disturbance extends to the farthest reaches of the Kingdom, including the idyllic village where Timou is learning to be a mage under her father’s tutelage.
When Timou’s father journeys to the City to help look for the Prince, but never returns, Timou senses that the disturbance in the Kingdom is linked to her—and to the undiscovered heritage of the mother she never knew. She must leave her village, even if it means confronting powers greater than her own, even though what she finds may challenge everything she knows. Even if it means leaving love behind.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 14, 2008
      Neumeier weaves an elaborate, albeit slow, tale of magic, legitimacy and love. The Kingdom is in great despair after Prince Cassiel mysteriously disappears. When the King also goes missing, the Queen accuses Cassiel's half-brother and the King's illegitimate son, Lord Neill, of kidnapping them to gain the throne. Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Timou's father, a gifted mage, journeys to the City (“I think it is with the heart of the Kingdom that this trouble lies,” he tells Timou. “I think perhaps the heart has been... lost”). When he doesn't return, Timou, who has unique magical abilities, leaves her new lover, and sets out to find her father. Instead she meets her half-brother and learns the terrible truth about her sorceress mother and the power of the City in the Lake. Neumeier creates explosive and dynamic female characters, but unfortunately, some story details are not clear. A slow pace and repetitive lyrical language also make it difficult to follow the complex plot. Ages 12–up.

    • School Library Journal

      September 1, 2008
      Gr 8 Up-King Drustan's heir has vanished. With Prince Cassiel missing, nothing is right: the trees do not bear fruit and babies are stillborn. Attempting to unravel this mystery is Neill, the King's elder son known throughout court as "the Bastard," and Timou, a 17-year-old mage who has learned her art from her father. Though Neill and Timou have never met, they share a common origin: an enigmatic woman with pale hair and dark eyes who bore them to their respective fathers before vanishing. When she does return, this powerful sorceress is bent on using her offspring and her magic to seize control of the Kingdom. This poetically written tale follows its multi-threaded story line through sinister forests, mazes of light, and numerous worlds, including a different facet of the Kingdoma perfect realm frozen in time and reflected in the lake surrounding the City. Though the how and why of all of this is sometimes vague, Neumeier spins a good tale of two young people coming to terms with a sinister heritage. Give this one to readers who enjoy the dark, dreamlike fantasy of Neil Gaiman."Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO"

      Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • The Horn Book

      January 1, 2009
      Seventeen-year-old Timou, a mystical mage, is drawn to the Kingdom. There she is united with bastard prince Neill while searching for her father. Bound by newly discovered familial bonds, Timou and Neill band together to save the Kingdom. Brimming with magical elements, plot twists, and age-old evil, the story will captivate readers.

      (Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

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Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.9
  • Lexile® Measure:840
  • Interest Level:6-12(MG+)
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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