Prospero Regained—The Stunning Conclusion of Prospero’s Daughter
By L. Jagi Lamplighter
The third 500-page volume in a trilogy which takes the characters in Shakespeare’s The Tempest a lot more seriously than Shakespeare ever did. Lamplighter has grown a whole mythology around Miranda and her siblings. Siblings? Yes, Prospero’s been busy—or just bored since he’s apparently immortal. Several of his offspring, however, have been swept away by Hellwinds. The family business, Prospero Inc., has problems you can’t itemize on any spreadsheet.
I find books such as this, which turn allegories and metaphors into role-playing game manuals, a tough slog, even when I care about the characters. My own philosophy of life doesn’t allow for so many absolute rules of existence. Some of the principles in this Prospero series can’t set a foot wrong without literally raising the devil.
“Is there really a connection between our little Eridanus and the Milky Way?”
“According to the Laws of Sympathy and Contagion, the similarity of the name would be enough to make a connection for a spirit being.”
First, as someone once said, let’s kill all the lawyers.
Each son or daughter of Prospero a special staff, each with its own special power: Winds, Summoning, Devastation, Decay, Persuasion…
Caliban’s on hand for a few chapters of this sprawling saga, but isn’t particularly funny, more of a tragic pawn. That’s a directorial choice, of course. The humor comes from sibling rivalry, from ancient spiritual cultures clashing with contemporary corporate civilizations and the endless banter among the enchanted.
Prospero Regained is fanciful and full-bodied, but too finicky for my taste. Shakespeare had the right idea in confining his magical goings-on to one small island.