Prospero in Hell
Prospero's Daughter Book II
L. Jagi Lamplighter

Tor Books / Tom Doherty Associates
2010 / ISBN 978-0-7653-1930-2
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Carmen Ferreiro

Four hundred years after the events described by Shakespeare in The Tempest, Prospero is still alive as is his daughter, Miranda, and the other eight children he had sired since.

We learn, as the story begins, that not everything is well in the Prospero's household. Prospero is missing (he disappeared in the first book of the trilogy, Prospero Lost). Actually, he is in hell, Miranda soon finds out with the help of his sidekick, an air spirit in the body of a Humphrey Bogart look alike, fedora included.

Being the oldest, Miranda is now in charge of Prospero Inc., the family business that tries to keep the world safe from gods and spirits interference. She's also the one who keeps the family immortal, thanks to the Elixir of Life she fetches after a journey of a year and one day at the End of the World

Determined to rescue her father, Miranda turns to her siblings for help only to find them divided among themselves, if not downright hostile.

But Miranda knows she must bring her family together, because she believes that only with the help of all their individual talents brought forth by their magical staffs, they will be able to succeed.

Despite the many threads in the story, Ms. Lamplighter manages to create a relatable protagonist and a family of siblings, each with a distinct personality, whose barbed banter and crazy antics I thoroughly enjoyed.

Prospero in Hell is an intelligent urban fantasy that draws heavily from Western myths and legends and creates a believable and complex world I can't wait to revisit.

Reviewer's Note: