The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Blurb from Goodreads
The rulers of tiny, impoverished Swansgaard have twelve daughters and one son. While the prince’s future is assured, his twelve sisters must find their own fortunes.

Disguising herself as Clarence, a sailor, Princess Clarice intends to work her way to the New World. When the crew rebels, Clarice/Clarence, an expert with rapier and dagger, sides with the handsome navigator, Dominick, and kills the cruel captain.

Dominick leads the now-outlawed crew in search of treasure in the secret pirate haven known as The House of Four Winds. They encounter the sorceress Shamal, who claims Dominick for her own—but Clarice has fallen hard for Dominick and won’t give him up without a fight.

Full of swashbuckling adventure, buoyant magic, and irrepressible charm, The House of the Four Winds is a lighthearted fantasy romp by a pair of bestselling writers.


 4 stars
First, even though the title is catchy, it only pertained to about 1/8 of the book. Second, this book was way too short. I wanted more on all fronts - more plot, more dialogue, more character building.  I feel that I was just barely given a glimpse into Clarice's world.  It was such a compelling world that I definitely wanted to spend more time there.  I know that there will be sequels, but Clarice was such a great character that I feel we didn't get enough of her.  Lackey is famous for her worlds, and this one is no exception. I have not read anything by Mallory, but this book will prompt me to seek out other things he has written.  I did find the names of places to be puzzling. They obviously were taken from our current countries of Europe and Africa.  To me, it would have been better to just use what was currently there, and just make up places like Swansgaard and The House of the Four Winds.

I can say that after reading several books in a row that had a weak and slow middle, this book was a refreshing change.  There was not one point where my attention lagged.  And it wasn't one of those books that was all action and lacked character development.

I liked the fact that once Dominick learns the truth about Clarice's gender, he wasn't miffed. He simply accepted the truth, and then realizes that what he was feeling was love all along.  This was a different reaction than your typical gender bending books that it caught me by surprise.

And it was clean of sex and language!  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. This writing duo shows that you don't need to resort to that to have a great book.

My main complaint is the one I already stated. It just simply wasn't long enough. Still it is a great read full of magic and intrigue.  I look forward to reading about more of the sisters in future books.