The Red Queen's Daughter

Recruited as a “white magician” and sent to court at the age of 16 to wait upon and secretly protect Queen Elizabeth, Mary Seymour finds herself nearly overmatched by her own cousin, the powerful and devastatingly handsome black magician Edmund Seymour, in this workmanlike 16th-century romantic fantasy. The daughter of Katherine Parr, Henry the Eighth's widow, from her second marriage, the penniless Mary could prove a rich prize to the right suitor if she gains the Queen's favor, and Edmund has determined to seduce and marry her. Unfortunately, Edmund's scheme puts Mary in great danger from Edmund's former lover and partner in treachery, the beautiful but monstrous black magician Vivienne Gascoigne. The scenes between Mary and the overbearing Edmund are generally effective, but Kolosov's (Grace from China ) first YA novel fails to evoke the richness and pageantry of Elizabeth's court, despite the ample descriptions: “Two perfect tears pearled at the corner of Elizabeth's eyes, then slipped down her cheeks, and I understood why pearls were associated with the tears of the heavens.” The tale suffers from a number of anachronisms; for example, courtiers worry about the tea trade, even though the drink didn't actually reach England until nearly a hundred years later. Ages 12-up. (Oct. )