The Dark Caller

Daughter of Storms #2

by Louise Cooper

Shar, the Dark Caller, has a unique power - to harness good spirits, and to destroy anyone who threatens her. Now someone wants revenge...
Lured into a web of terror and deceit, can Shar defy the forces that threaten her once again? And will the gods be on her side this time?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Louise Cooper was born in Hertfordshire in 1952. She began writing stories when she was at school to entertain her friends. She hated school so much, in fact—spending most lessons clandestinely writing stories—that she persuaded her parents to let her abandon her education at the age of fifteen and has never regretted it.

She continued to write and her first full-length novel was published when she was only twenty years old. She moved to London in 1975 and worked in publishing before becoming a full-time writer in 1977. Since then she has become a prolific writer of fantasy, renowned for her bestselling Time Master trilogy. She has published more than eighty fantasy and supernatural novels, both for adults and children. She also wrote occasional short stories for anthologies, and has co-written a comedy play that was produced for her local school.

Louise Cooper lived in Cornwall with her husband, Cas Sandall, and their black cat, Simba. She gained a great deal of writing inspiration from the coast and scenery, and her other interests included music, folklore, cooking, gardening and "messing about on the beach." Just to make sure she keeps busy, she was also treasurer of her local Lifeboat station.

Louise passed away suddenly from a brain aneurysm on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. She was a wonderful and talented lady and will be greatly missed.

Reviews

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 2 of a young adult trilogy set in the author's world as per her Time Master and other series. The young initiate Shar is now undergoing her studies at the wizards' Castle at Star Peninsular, and seems to have left behind the problems she had to overcome in the first book where her uncle used sorcery to try to gain control of her powers, helped by a woman from the Sisterhood, a healing scholarly sect. Then a letter comes, purporting to be from her mother who was supposedly murdered years ago by her uncle. Despite being suspicious, Shar schemes to leave the castle secretly and travel to the proposed meeting site. Her friends Hestor and Kitto eventually get wind of her plans and try to follow, earning censure by the wizard leaders. Meanwhile, Shar is getting in over her head despite her confidence in her powers which are stronger than most young people of her age.

There were quite a few twists with various characters coming into the story, seemingly to help Shar to meet her mother, but who might or might not have a different agenda. Also, despite being stripped of his powers and imprisoned on an island, her uncle has not finished with her yet. The Lords of Chaos and Order also make a few appearances, both constrained by the pact made two centuries ago not to interfere with human affairs - only something is also interfering which it is in their own interests to combat.

My main problem with the book is what I think I found with volume 1, read some years ago, that the central character is not very likeable. Although we're told that she is acting in a way not herself, until the end there is no overt control over her, and it comes across as just self will, big headedness about having greater powers than most people, and a pigheaded stubborness. Especially as she is acting the same way in volume 3, supposedly without the same villains being responsible. So the most I can rate this at is 3-stars, mainly because I liked the cameo appearances of the mysterious white cat.

[Kushnuma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally got around to reading this book after so long! I really like Hestor and Kitto, and their relationship which is almost like they are brothers.

Now I wonder what will take place in the final instalment of this trilogy…