The Spellcycle comes to a close

** SPOILER ALERT **

Shadowsinger is the fifth book in the The Spellsong Cycle by L.E. Modesitt Jr.. It is possible that parts from the first book, The Soprano Sorceress, the second book, The Spelsong War, the third book Darsong Rising and the fourth book The Shadow Sorceress is/are spoiled when reading on. Look for the former parts for less/non-spoiler review(s) on The Spellsong Cycle.

The Spellsong Cycle:
Part 1: The Soprano Sorceress https://www.hebban.nl/recensie/ericwijnen-over-the-soprano-sorceress
Part 2: The Spellsong War https://www.hebban.nl/recensie/ericwijnen-over-the-spellsong-war
Part 3: Darksong Rising https://www.hebban.nl/recensie/ericwijnen-over-darksong-rising
Part 4: The Shadow Sorceress https://www.hebban.nl/recensie/ericwijnen-over-the-shadow-sorceress


** END SPOILER ALERT **

L.E. Modesitt Jr. is probably most known for his epic Recluse series, but besides Fantasy he also wrote a lot of Science Fiction. The Spellsong Cycle is an Epic Portal Fantasy where a singer and teacher is brought over to the world of Erde. On Erde Anna is, because of her background in music, probably the most powerful sorceress on Erde. But eventhough she is powerful, she also doesn't know how the magic on Erde works and that really has it's drawbacks.


The Magic System:
The magic system employed on Erde is songmagic. There are two kinds of songmagic: Clearsong en Darksong. Darksong binds the living or once-living. Darksong is dangerous to use, but the why/how is not further explained. Clearsong binds the nonliving.
People can use magic by singing, but it has to be clear singing, which means without dissonance. The song can be enhanced by using musical instruments, but these then needs to be in harmony with the singing, which is somehow a bit lacking on Erde. Next to that the singer/sorcerer needs to visualize in his mind what is to happen. So any distraction might be hazardous. There do not seem to be a lot of sorceresses, and the reason for that might be that females become infertile when they use songmagic. Using songmagic also takes something from the one employing it. All sorcerers seem to have an insatiable hunger and need to eat almost continuously.
In The Soprano Sorceress Anna found out that is isn't possible for her to cast a spell that directly effects her (say a spell to heal herself), nor that it is possible to create things from nothing. If a spell for instance requires wood or stone it will take that from the immediate surroundings. The further away these products are the harder the spell is for the sorcerer to perform.
In The Spellsong War Anna found out that eventhough she thinks she is using Clearsong, she is probably unwittingly using a lot of Darksong too. The cost for reaching her daughter in the mistworlds is mounting with each try. And she struggles a lot with when would be the right time to try again.
In Darksong Rising Anna comes to the realisation that the more powerful the sorcerer or sorceress is, the more gets reflected back on them when using any kind of spellsong. She starts using spelsong less and less.

After Secca, or the Shadow Sorceress, has defeated the fleet of the Sea-Priests, and almost died herself, she is consorted to Alcaren. He helped her with defeating the Sea-Priests. Now he helps her with her other task: drive the rest of the Sturinese from Liedwahr. But that isn't as easy as it sounds, as the Sea-Priests barricaded themselves in the north and south. And new scrying shows them that a new fleet is on its way to Liedwahr from the Ostistles.

Secca did get a package with spells from Anna. She also explained the spellsongs within, but Secca is loath to use those, because their usage is terrible and might change the face of Erde forever ...

The last book in The Spellsong Cycle ends in a climax, which is also open ended. This is often the case with Epic Fantasy Series. They are so life-like that you cannot end it without the ending being open. I really enjoyed this reread after 20+ years. Fans of Epic Fantasy I can recommend to also read The Spellsong Cycle.