The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

This is book one of the One Dozen Daughters.   A small kingdom has a well loved ruler who has a dozen daughters and finally a son.  The son is to inherit but the kingdom is so small it will be impoverished if each daughter is provided with a dowry.   The girls are expected to seek their own fortunes.   This story is about Clarice, the eldest and her journey to become a sword master.  One surmises that their may be eleven more stories.

This was a delightful tale that has sorcery, magic, pirates, sea serpents and violence.   The violence is not terribly graphic so the book is fine for younger readers.   Clarice is a likeable character who has had a thorough upbringing that provides her with the tools to successfully navigate the outside world.

She befriends a ship's navigator, Dominick, and that leads to the seafaring adventure.   Typical Lackey, the book delves greatly into relationships.   She does a marvelous job of depicting complicated relationships.   If there are eleven more books, I will certainly try and read them all.

I recommend the book.

web site:  http://www.mercedeslackey.com/

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This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.