The Merchant of Dreams
Exiled from the court of Queen Elizabeth for accusing a powerful nobleman of treason, swordsman-turned-spy Mal Catlyn has been living in France with his young valet Coby Hendricks for the past year.
But Mal harbours a darker secret: he and his twin brother share a soul that once belonged to a skrayling, one of the mystical creatures from the New World.
When Mal’s dream about a skrayling shipwreck in the Mediterranean proves reality, it sets him on a path to the beautiful, treacherous city of Venice – and a conflict of loyalties that will place him and his friends in greater danger than ever.
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Anne Lyle
Anne Lyle was born in what is popularly known as “Robin Hood Country”, and grew up fascinated by English history, folklore, and swashbuckling heroes. Unfortunately there was little demand in 1970s Nottinghamshire for diminutive swordswomen, so she studied sensible subjects like science and languages instead.
It appears, however, that although you can take the girl out of Sherwood Forest, you can’t take Sherwood Forest out of the girl. She now spends practically every spare hour writing – or at least planning – fantasy fiction about dashing swordsmen and scheming spies, set in imaginary pasts or parallel worlds.
Night's Masque
Night's Masque consists of three books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Reviews and Comments
Can't help but to love Lyle's writing style, which hooked me on The Alchemist of Souls and which she continues at the Merchant of Dreams. Fast paced plot take turns on Mal and Coby. Mal is send to Venice to spy on Skrylings doings with Ned as Coby is forced to stay behind with his brother Sandy to deal with problems occured in London, but as things go, she too is soon forced to flee England with Sandy and Gabriel and is hurried to reach Mal in treacherous Venice where they have to face more skrayling related problems adding to the fact that the brothers still carry the soul of one the mystical creatures in them.