Although religious fervor is still a problem on Orgon, the economic balance has greatly improved. Narragan (Nargi), the Highlord, is seemingly content.
He married and now has 9 year old twins, Ally and Bowyn. Nargi and his wife Lady Melody have little to say to each other but Nargi has heirs in the forms of his beloved twins. Diana, the Terran telepath with whom Nargi has always been in love, is close by, along with her son Richard, a telepath slightly older than the twins.
As always, the superstitious priests and common folk are leery of Narragan, whom they believe to be the Evil One and a necessary counterpart to Lady Orgon, the planet's god. Thus we start the third book of Christine W. Murphy's trilogy, The Highlord's Daughter.
As the citizens of Orgon and Terra carry us on in this story, Nargi and Bowyn are swept away into a maelstrom of intrigues and adventures. Priests are continually plotting Nargi's downfall and the hidden colony of telepaths finally becomes central to the story. Nargi has come into his own. He is still exceedingly sensitive to his planet's summer months' radiation, but he is no longer under constant scrutiny. Now Narragon plots to end the necessity of the Highlord's rule.
What an intriguing end to a fascinating look into an alternate world. Ms. Murphy continues with the rich characters and language that helped her stand apart from other authors of this genre in the beginning two books. Allowed to take their story to it's natural climax, the characters are drawn true to the life that Ms. Murphy has developed for them.
There is a great deal of romance in The Highlord's Daughter, the romance of various couples as well as the romance of an exciting well-written adventure. All of the earlier characters have returned, most in their previous roles. Ms. Murphy does an exceptional job of bring her characters to life.
A problem that plagued me in an earlier book, The Highlord's Women,is gone-finally the editing is excellent. I no longer had difficulty with misspellings and inconsistent verbs.
Christine W. Murphy does a fine job explaing her world through descriptive phrases and actions. She rarely has to use the author's technique of laying out her world through the things that the characters say. I would imagine that a great deal of research went into this novel.
The Highlord's Daughter was a fun read for me. I expect that that will be the case for those of you who enjoy swashbuckling romance and worlds different than our own.
