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Daimbert #5
Daughter of Magic
The magical and exotic story of the wizard Daimbert and his daughter is set in a time when flying carpets, pet elephants, armies of undead warriors, evil spells, and vengeance are not uncommon. Original.
342 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 15, 2008
Story:
Daimbert the royal wizard of yurt just wants to bring his young daughter (who everybody thinks is his niece) for a visit to the kingdom of yurt to show her what dear ole dad does for a living.... and find a way to tell her and everybody else that she is actually his daughter, since the rules of wizardy and social class forbid a wizard from ever marrying, much less having a daughter. He thinks everything should be simple, but as he has found througout his career anything he gets involved in rarely stays that way. Pretty soon he has a princess in exile staying at the castle (with a rather large and paranoid automan protecting her), a wave of undead warriors attacking him, a strange man performing mircales in a nearby city and the sneaking suspicion that a long ago foe has returned to fufill his promise of revenge. To top it all off The king wants to marry the kitchen girl, two princess from a neighboring kingdom want to be a priest and a knight, and his daugher wants to grow up to be a wizard. Is it any wonder that he can't figure out which conspiracy is out to get him?
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I like these book and the only reason I'm not giving it a five is 1. Its a series and eventually unless the publisher or the author see the light they tend to run out of steam. and 2. This paticular series I know is a good series, but it is also one of those that I tend to rember the story less than I rember what antics the characters are up to. This doesn't mean it's one gag after another it's just the book gets serious for awhile with Daimberts conspiracy theories and then (usually) the comedy turns back on when he invebitaly finds out how wrong he was and tries to make up for it. But it is a good read and hopefully the next book, which is apparently the last, will tie up this great series with a memorable finale that will leave readers laughing long after the have read it. As another review pointed out it really is necessary to read the proceeding books as the story does reference the previous books rather heavily in some places. I would recommend this to anyone who likes light fantasy with a comdey bent thrown in.
m.a.c
Daimbert the royal wizard of yurt just wants to bring his young daughter (who everybody thinks is his niece) for a visit to the kingdom of yurt to show her what dear ole dad does for a living.... and find a way to tell her and everybody else that she is actually his daughter, since the rules of wizardy and social class forbid a wizard from ever marrying, much less having a daughter. He thinks everything should be simple, but as he has found througout his career anything he gets involved in rarely stays that way. Pretty soon he has a princess in exile staying at the castle (with a rather large and paranoid automan protecting her), a wave of undead warriors attacking him, a strange man performing mircales in a nearby city and the sneaking suspicion that a long ago foe has returned to fufill his promise of revenge. To top it all off The king wants to marry the kitchen girl, two princess from a neighboring kingdom want to be a priest and a knight, and his daugher wants to grow up to be a wizard. Is it any wonder that he can't figure out which conspiracy is out to get him?
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I like these book and the only reason I'm not giving it a five is 1. Its a series and eventually unless the publisher or the author see the light they tend to run out of steam. and 2. This paticular series I know is a good series, but it is also one of those that I tend to rember the story less than I rember what antics the characters are up to. This doesn't mean it's one gag after another it's just the book gets serious for awhile with Daimberts conspiracy theories and then (usually) the comedy turns back on when he invebitaly finds out how wrong he was and tries to make up for it. But it is a good read and hopefully the next book, which is apparently the last, will tie up this great series with a memorable finale that will leave readers laughing long after the have read it. As another review pointed out it really is necessary to read the proceeding books as the story does reference the previous books rather heavily in some places. I would recommend this to anyone who likes light fantasy with a comdey bent thrown in.
m.a.c
September 11, 2017
First of all, you must read the earlier books in the series before this one! With that out of the way, I must say that this is a little more serious and ominous book than we've had in the past. Not as tense and frightening as the first book but with less humor than the other books, this nonetheless stands out in the series. The overarching theme is the restrictions placed on perfectly competent women in Daimbert's society. Most importantly of these, to me, is the case of Daimbert's five year old daughter Antonia. She wants to be a wizard, not a witch, and shows extreme precociousness with magic. Her advanced skills and lack of understand of consequences wind up placing her in mortal danger. As if this wasn't enough, Daimbert is called away from his first really visit with Antonia (a week-long stay in Yurt) to assist Joachim in his dilemma with a miracle worker in the cathedral city. Dark threads that have been hinted at through the books seem to be drawing together in this tale. An untrustworthy character that has appeared in the series before is brought in, with further disturbing results. In the midst of all this danger and intrigue and equality struggles, Daimbert is also desperately trying to keep the secret of his paternity of Antonia (he presents himself as her uncle for the visit). Given how things play out, with not all of the issues completely settled (but not a cliffhanger per se), I look forward to reading the next book and especially following Antonia's progress.
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October 5, 2017Daimbert is the Wizard of Yurt.
Theodora is a witch in the neighboring community of Caelrhon. They have a 5 yr old daughter, Antonia, but they are not married. Antonio lived with her mother but came to stay with Daimbert for a couple of weeks.
Paul is the King of Yurt and having a hard time choosing a wife. He can't seem to find someone that interests him enough to marry.
Gwendolyn (Gwennie) was the daughter of the constable and a cook and is in love with the king. They grew up together and are close friends.
Justinia, the granddaughter of the governor of Xantium came to Yurt with her elephant and robot needing sanctuary while her life is in danger.
Princess Margareta is 13 and Paul's parents bring her to visit often seemingly with the intention of having her marry Paul. Paul had no interest in the child who still played with dolls.
After Justinia arrived in Yurt, the kingdom was attacked by an army of demons made of bones. They killed the watchman but Daimbert stopped them with a spell and they were tied up. They disintegrated when the sun came up and the sunlight hit them. Daimbert had called a friend from the wizard school to help him but he soon went back when there was no further activity. Before he left, Daimbert was attacked with a spell and he suspected it to be Elerius but he wasn't sure. He wondered if it might be an enemy from the East, Vlad.
Daimbert went to Caelrhon at the request of the bishop and learned that there was a man who had been killing small animals and bringing them back to life. He had also repaired broken toys for the children. He found out his name was Cyrus and he came to Caelrhon with a group of travelers known as the Romney's. The bishop, Joachim, wanted to know if Cyrus was a demon, wizard, or a man of God. He couldn't figure it out on his own. Cyrus went to Joachim and asked to become a student of the priesthood.
Daimbert asked the Duchess's twin daughters to visit Caelrhon to see if they could determine anything about him. Celia was one of the twins and she wanted to become a priest. She couldn't because she wasn't a man and decided to become a nun. Hildegarde, her sister wanted to become a knight but couldn't because she was a woman.
Daimbert went to check on the twins and to visit with the bishop again. There was a fire in the city and Cyrus restored the buildings overnight. The people came to see him at the church and it appeared they were beginning to follow him rather than the bishop. The bishop became immediately suspicious and decided to figure out for himself what was going on.
Daimbert went back to Yurt and Antonia told him that she needed to take Margareta and the twins to see a dragon. She said that Margareta could get hurt and Paul would realize he loved her. Celia could give her last rites and be a priest. Hildegarde could become a knight and save them all from the dragon. Daimbert thought it all the thinking of a child's mind when Antonia took them all, along with Gwennie and stole Justinia's flying carpet and took off. Daimbert had to call Elerius to capture the flying carpet and they all had dinner and spent the night within his castle.
Daimbert took the women home and then took Antonia back to her mother. Daimbert wondered what Elerius had taught Antonia while he was watching her while he was in Caelrhon. Daimbert wondered if Elerius might be using Antonia to gain control over him. It certainly seemed like Elerius wanted to gain the affection of Antonia for some reason.
He stopped by the Romney caravans before going home. He was told by one of them with a crystal ball that he would soon be visited by someone who traveled slowly at night. He had gone to the Romney's to ask about the weather. It was stormy and dark but it was summer. He suspected it might be Cyrus' doing. He never asked and headed home. He noticed the Yurt drawbridge had been lifted and it was still day time. That was when he noticed the wolf.
Daimbert landed his air cart in the courtyard of Yurt and spoke with King Paul. Daimbert took 3 knights with him and went to confront the wolf. The wolf was faster and stronger than it should have been. It followed Daimbert and then turned to the knights when they tried to attack it. Daimbert drew it's attention back to himself and it attacked. The knights killed it as it fought with Daimbert and killed it. Daimbert was taken into the castle for care and the wounds were infected. Daimbert tried to tell the doctors to find a particular blue plant but he didn't seem to hear. Ascelin, the twins father came to visit remembering the plant and it was a couple of weeks before the infection went away and Daimbert was no longer delirious. It was't too long after that before he asked about Antonia because Theodora was nursing him. He called for her and told her to go home and check on their daughter. He was worried about her becoming too close to Cyrus and him finding out that she was his daughter.
They went to Caelrhon and found that the city was being infested with rats. Cyrus had almost completed his studies to become a priest and was given the key to the city. Daimbert noticed that their were no priests in the gathering. Cyrus seemed almost demonlike in his acceptance of the key and seemed to accept the accolade as his due even though he said to give the credit to God.
Joachim told Daimbert that he had asked the priests to not attend. He also had instructed Cyrus to stop meeting with the townspeople. The mayor had made mention of the rat problem in town. Cyrus used a pipe and led the rats out of town into the river where they drowned.
Some time went by and the day of the twins birthday came. Daimbert was asked to be Celia's spiritual advisor and attend the service where she entered the nunnery. They were at the ceremony when a message arrived for Joachim and Daimbert, interrupting the ceremony. Cyrus had piped all the children out of Caelrhon. Daimbert, Theodora, Gwennie, King Paul and Justinia used the magic carpet and went to search for the children. Paul noticed a rotting castle being missing and mentioned it. They determined a cloaking spell had been put on it and left the flying carpet to investigate. They found the entrance to the castle and Vlad found them. He locked them in a tower and Cyrus soon came to free them and put them into another room. He told them that he had been working with a demon and Vlad but he had given that all up when he started to study the priesthood.
Cyrus took them to the children but told them that they could see the children but the children would not see or hear them. They saw Antonia but couldn't reach her. Cyrus took them back to their room but it started to disintegrate. They concluded that Vlad knew they had escaped. They ended up going through the castle again to find the demon. They found a frog that was in poor shape and Daimbert figured that it was Vlad. Antonia had locked the demon in a pentagram and her demon sent Cyrus' back to hell. Daimbert needed to find a way to send her demon back to hell without taking Antonia's soul. The frog got away and they went to deal with the demon after getting the children out of the castle. They called their parents and started taking them home on the magic carpet.
They ended up figuring out that Antonia had changed Vlad into the frog. The demon got away and then he was caught again but Cyrus' demon. Cyrus then gave his life in exchange for Antonia's soul. Hildegarde came back to help with her family and she went into the castle and ended up killing Vlad. She came upon it as Vlad was turning back into a human and killed it because it scared her. She wasn't so sure she wanted to become a knight after killing him. Celia didn't go through with her vows and decided that there were other ways to help people other than to become a nun and didn't take her vows. Daimbert and Theodora were married because there was no longer any reason not to marry because everyone knew about their relationship and that Antonia was their child. They asked Joachim to perform the ceremony.
Theodora is a witch in the neighboring community of Caelrhon. They have a 5 yr old daughter, Antonia, but they are not married. Antonio lived with her mother but came to stay with Daimbert for a couple of weeks.
Paul is the King of Yurt and having a hard time choosing a wife. He can't seem to find someone that interests him enough to marry.
Gwendolyn (Gwennie) was the daughter of the constable and a cook and is in love with the king. They grew up together and are close friends.
Justinia, the granddaughter of the governor of Xantium came to Yurt with her elephant and robot needing sanctuary while her life is in danger.
Princess Margareta is 13 and Paul's parents bring her to visit often seemingly with the intention of having her marry Paul. Paul had no interest in the child who still played with dolls.
After Justinia arrived in Yurt, the kingdom was attacked by an army of demons made of bones. They killed the watchman but Daimbert stopped them with a spell and they were tied up. They disintegrated when the sun came up and the sunlight hit them. Daimbert had called a friend from the wizard school to help him but he soon went back when there was no further activity. Before he left, Daimbert was attacked with a spell and he suspected it to be Elerius but he wasn't sure. He wondered if it might be an enemy from the East, Vlad.
Daimbert went to Caelrhon at the request of the bishop and learned that there was a man who had been killing small animals and bringing them back to life. He had also repaired broken toys for the children. He found out his name was Cyrus and he came to Caelrhon with a group of travelers known as the Romney's. The bishop, Joachim, wanted to know if Cyrus was a demon, wizard, or a man of God. He couldn't figure it out on his own. Cyrus went to Joachim and asked to become a student of the priesthood.
Daimbert asked the Duchess's twin daughters to visit Caelrhon to see if they could determine anything about him. Celia was one of the twins and she wanted to become a priest. She couldn't because she wasn't a man and decided to become a nun. Hildegarde, her sister wanted to become a knight but couldn't because she was a woman.
Daimbert went to check on the twins and to visit with the bishop again. There was a fire in the city and Cyrus restored the buildings overnight. The people came to see him at the church and it appeared they were beginning to follow him rather than the bishop. The bishop became immediately suspicious and decided to figure out for himself what was going on.
Daimbert went back to Yurt and Antonia told him that she needed to take Margareta and the twins to see a dragon. She said that Margareta could get hurt and Paul would realize he loved her. Celia could give her last rites and be a priest. Hildegarde could become a knight and save them all from the dragon. Daimbert thought it all the thinking of a child's mind when Antonia took them all, along with Gwennie and stole Justinia's flying carpet and took off. Daimbert had to call Elerius to capture the flying carpet and they all had dinner and spent the night within his castle.
Daimbert took the women home and then took Antonia back to her mother. Daimbert wondered what Elerius had taught Antonia while he was watching her while he was in Caelrhon. Daimbert wondered if Elerius might be using Antonia to gain control over him. It certainly seemed like Elerius wanted to gain the affection of Antonia for some reason.
He stopped by the Romney caravans before going home. He was told by one of them with a crystal ball that he would soon be visited by someone who traveled slowly at night. He had gone to the Romney's to ask about the weather. It was stormy and dark but it was summer. He suspected it might be Cyrus' doing. He never asked and headed home. He noticed the Yurt drawbridge had been lifted and it was still day time. That was when he noticed the wolf.
Daimbert landed his air cart in the courtyard of Yurt and spoke with King Paul. Daimbert took 3 knights with him and went to confront the wolf. The wolf was faster and stronger than it should have been. It followed Daimbert and then turned to the knights when they tried to attack it. Daimbert drew it's attention back to himself and it attacked. The knights killed it as it fought with Daimbert and killed it. Daimbert was taken into the castle for care and the wounds were infected. Daimbert tried to tell the doctors to find a particular blue plant but he didn't seem to hear. Ascelin, the twins father came to visit remembering the plant and it was a couple of weeks before the infection went away and Daimbert was no longer delirious. It was't too long after that before he asked about Antonia because Theodora was nursing him. He called for her and told her to go home and check on their daughter. He was worried about her becoming too close to Cyrus and him finding out that she was his daughter.
They went to Caelrhon and found that the city was being infested with rats. Cyrus had almost completed his studies to become a priest and was given the key to the city. Daimbert noticed that their were no priests in the gathering. Cyrus seemed almost demonlike in his acceptance of the key and seemed to accept the accolade as his due even though he said to give the credit to God.
Joachim told Daimbert that he had asked the priests to not attend. He also had instructed Cyrus to stop meeting with the townspeople. The mayor had made mention of the rat problem in town. Cyrus used a pipe and led the rats out of town into the river where they drowned.
Some time went by and the day of the twins birthday came. Daimbert was asked to be Celia's spiritual advisor and attend the service where she entered the nunnery. They were at the ceremony when a message arrived for Joachim and Daimbert, interrupting the ceremony. Cyrus had piped all the children out of Caelrhon. Daimbert, Theodora, Gwennie, King Paul and Justinia used the magic carpet and went to search for the children. Paul noticed a rotting castle being missing and mentioned it. They determined a cloaking spell had been put on it and left the flying carpet to investigate. They found the entrance to the castle and Vlad found them. He locked them in a tower and Cyrus soon came to free them and put them into another room. He told them that he had been working with a demon and Vlad but he had given that all up when he started to study the priesthood.
Cyrus took them to the children but told them that they could see the children but the children would not see or hear them. They saw Antonia but couldn't reach her. Cyrus took them back to their room but it started to disintegrate. They concluded that Vlad knew they had escaped. They ended up going through the castle again to find the demon. They found a frog that was in poor shape and Daimbert figured that it was Vlad. Antonia had locked the demon in a pentagram and her demon sent Cyrus' back to hell. Daimbert needed to find a way to send her demon back to hell without taking Antonia's soul. The frog got away and they went to deal with the demon after getting the children out of the castle. They called their parents and started taking them home on the magic carpet.
They ended up figuring out that Antonia had changed Vlad into the frog. The demon got away and then he was caught again but Cyrus' demon. Cyrus then gave his life in exchange for Antonia's soul. Hildegarde came back to help with her family and she went into the castle and ended up killing Vlad. She came upon it as Vlad was turning back into a human and killed it because it scared her. She wasn't so sure she wanted to become a knight after killing him. Celia didn't go through with her vows and decided that there were other ways to help people other than to become a nun and didn't take her vows. Daimbert and Theodora were married because there was no longer any reason not to marry because everyone knew about their relationship and that Antonia was their child. They asked Joachim to perform the ceremony.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 2, 2017
Good one, with the stakes seeming higher than usual ... I think of this series as unusually gentle and comforting (esp. compared to the prevailing current mood for fantasy series) and this one held true to its usual tone but upped the tension ... nothing like children in jeopardy for accomplishing that. Probably my favourite so far since the first one.
April 15, 2015
I would assume, if you're here, you've read books one through four in this series. (If you haven't, do. Especially since the reviews here might give away bits of the plots of the earlier books.)
I would also assume that, provided you haven't totally lost your mind, you need very little persuasion to buy this.
In DOM, Antonia, Daimbert's cute and precocious forbidden child, is staying over at the castle for the week. If only his biggest problem was an argument about bedtime! As we've all come to expect by now, something happens, and Daimbert finds himself wrapped up in several seemingly-unrelated puzzles that range from "mild nuisance" to "threatens everything I hold dear."
It's in this book that the foreshadowing really ramps up. Each of the Yurt books is a self-contained story with years between them, and while I definitely recommend reading them in order, you won't be troubled by cliffhangers and I don't think you'd miss out on *too* much if you started the series in the middle. (But really: read them in order.) Nevertheless, there have been hints all along that there's an overarching plot simmering away in the background, one that's taking decades to come to fruition, and each successive book does a little more to advance it. It's in this one where we begin to see the separate threads really start to come together in an ominous way.
Isn't it funny how a book can be ominous and so cheerful at the same time?
I've written reviews for all the Yurt books, and if you were to go back and read them, I think you'd see them becoming progressively more enthusiastic about the series. What started out as a light diversion grew into something more; the setting has been colored in, the plots have gotten more intense, and the characters have grown into friends. If you're new to Yurt, I recommend it without reservation. And if you're not, you should probably stop wasting time on reviews and get reading, don't you think?
I would also assume that, provided you haven't totally lost your mind, you need very little persuasion to buy this.
In DOM, Antonia, Daimbert's cute and precocious forbidden child, is staying over at the castle for the week. If only his biggest problem was an argument about bedtime! As we've all come to expect by now, something happens, and Daimbert finds himself wrapped up in several seemingly-unrelated puzzles that range from "mild nuisance" to "threatens everything I hold dear."
It's in this book that the foreshadowing really ramps up. Each of the Yurt books is a self-contained story with years between them, and while I definitely recommend reading them in order, you won't be troubled by cliffhangers and I don't think you'd miss out on *too* much if you started the series in the middle. (But really: read them in order.) Nevertheless, there have been hints all along that there's an overarching plot simmering away in the background, one that's taking decades to come to fruition, and each successive book does a little more to advance it. It's in this one where we begin to see the separate threads really start to come together in an ominous way.
Isn't it funny how a book can be ominous and so cheerful at the same time?
I've written reviews for all the Yurt books, and if you were to go back and read them, I think you'd see them becoming progressively more enthusiastic about the series. What started out as a light diversion grew into something more; the setting has been colored in, the plots have gotten more intense, and the characters have grown into friends. If you're new to Yurt, I recommend it without reservation. And if you're not, you should probably stop wasting time on reviews and get reading, don't you think?
July 19, 2012
As a standalone story, this did not work too well. I found myself puzzled by events which, once I realized this was a sequel, made sense as a reference to an earlier work.
However, it is a great telling of role reversal and the refusal of the kingdom's heirs to accept their allotted roles in life.
However, it is a great telling of role reversal and the refusal of the kingdom's heirs to accept their allotted roles in life.
August 31, 2013
Another solid, fun read in the adventures of the Royal Wizard of Yurt series. This is the culminating book in the series, and wraps up a lot of loose ends from the series, as well as having another crazy series of events that Daimbert, the royal wizard has to deal with using his somewhat inadiquate skills, and lots of jumping to conclusions.
June 7, 2015
great book
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