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Prospero Lost (Prospero's Daughter #1)

by L. Jagi Lamplighter (Goodreads Author)

3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 · rating details · 351 ratings · 99 reviews

More than four hundred years after the events of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the sorcerer Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and his other children have attained everlasting life. Miranda is the head of her family’s business, Prospero Inc., which secretly has used its magic for good around the world. One day, Miranda receives a warning from her father: "Beware of the Three Sha

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Hardcover, 352 pages

Published August 4th 2009 by Tor Books

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Oct 14, 2012 Betsy McTiernan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Nunez gives Shakespeare's The Tempest a contemporary spin (1960) from an African American perspective in her novel, Prospero's Daughter. Nunez builds her plot around characters who are stand-ins for the main characters in The Tempest: Dr. Gardner (Prospero), Virginia (Miranda), Ariana (Ariel), and Carlos (Caliban). Dr. Gardner escapes possible prosecution by moving to an island--a leper colony--off Trinidad. There, he intends to raise his daughter, Virginia, as a proper English lady--i...more Elizabeth Nunez gives Shakespeare's The Tempest a contemporary spin (1960) from an African American perspective in her novel, Prospero's Daughter. Nunez builds her plot around characters who are stand-ins for the main characters in The Tempest: Dr. Gardner (Prospero), Virginia (Miranda), Ariana (Ariel), and Carlos (Caliban). Dr. Gardner escapes possible prosecution by moving to an island--a leper colony--off Trinidad. There, he intends to raise his daughter, Virginia, as a proper English lady--including teaching her proper distain for the "darker" and "less evolved" natives. Given that Virginia has no idea what England actually looks like, or what it feels like to be English, she eventually becomes her own version of what it means to be a human being. Not only does Dr. Gardner overestimate his power to control his daughter, he also cannot control himself. But the real focal point of this story is the mixed-race boy, Carlos, who lives with Dr. Gardner after Dr. Gardner steals his mother's house after she dies leaving him in the care of her housekeeper and her child, Ariana. The anchor for the narrative is the investigation by local English investigator Mumsford of a charge made by Dr. Gardner that Carlos attempted to rape Virginia. Mumsford has been asked to investigate because he is English, and therefore, "sensitive" to the racial unrest that such a charge might cause at a time when Trinidad is pressing for independence from England. This is a novel of ideas: race, gender, class, colonialism...and their influence on these characters. It is told in three parts, from the perspectives of Dr. Gardner, Carlos and Virginia--in that order. If I could ask Nunez one question, it would be this: Why did you choose to tell Dr. Gardner's story in the third person but give Carlos and Elizabeth their own voices? Is it because you are empowering the usually disempowered? Do you want to put some distance between us readers and Dr. Gardner, the character with the most cultural power? I'm hoping these questions might be considered in some of the reviews I've yet to read. Obviously, the downside of reading books years after they come out is that everyone else has moved on. Sigh. (less)

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Dec 03, 2010 Kat Hooper rated it 3 of 5 stars

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Shakespeare didn’t give us the whole story of Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel, et al. If you want to find out what really happened to the characters from The Tempest, pick up L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Prospero Lost. It turns out that Miranda and Ferdinand didn’t get married, Ariel wasn’t freed, and Prospero didn’t get rid of his staff and books. Instead, Miranda found The Well at the World's End and brought back the life-preserving water for her father and...more ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Shakespeare didn’t give us the whole story of Prospero, Miranda, Ferdinand, Ariel, et al. If you want to find out what really happened to the characters from The Tempest, pick up L. Jagi Lamplighter’s Prospero Lost. It turns out that Miranda and Ferdinand didn’t get married, Ariel wasn’t freed, and Prospero didn’t get rid of his staff and books. Instead, Miranda found The Well at the World's End and brought back the life-preserving water for her father and her siblings.

Now, centuries later, she runs Prospero Inc, a corporation that negotiates with many of Earth’s supernatural beings so they’ll stay content and won’t lash out at humans. If Prospero Inc wasn’t on the job, we’d have a lot more hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and other “natural” disasters. You didn’t know about all this because it gets covered up by the Orbis Suleimani, the Circle of Solomon from which the Freemasons split off. This secret society has managed to keep most evidence of the supernatural out of our history books and to make us believe that most “legends” and “myths” are only fiction.

When we meet Miranda, she’s just found a note from her father which indicates that he’s in trouble, that The Shadowed Ones are trying to steal the Prosperos’ magical staffs, and that she must warn her siblings. You might expect that Miranda, a CEO who has assistants, a cell phone, and flies a Lear jet, could easily take care of this with a few phone calls, text messages, emails, or an announcement on the family blog, but if that were the case, the entire plot of Prospero Lost could have been condensed into 3 pages, so… no. Not knowing the whereabouts of any of her siblings, Miranda calls her servant Mab, the Aerie spirit who inhabits a body which looks and acts like Sam Spade. While they hunt down her family and dodge Hell’s minions, Miranda is forced to think about some heavy issues such as slavery, salvation, duty, insanity, loyalty, and faith.

I was attracted to Prospero Lost because of its gorgeous cover and because the description reminded me of Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles (and Kage Baker said Amber fans should like it). While it’s true that both books contain an assortment of powerful and ambitious siblings who have lived for centuries and have abnormal concepts of familial bonds, the similarities end there. While the ideas in Prospero Lost are intriguing and Lamplighter’s writing style is pleasant enough, the story lacks the inventiveness and style that characterizes Zelazny’s work.

The first problem is that Miranda (the viewpoint character) is a prissy daddy’s girl. While I admire her loyalty, I think she’s boring. Other characters give her titles such as “Ice Queen” and “Maiden of Ice,” which tells you that she’s kind of hard to warm up to. Her brothers aren’t any better: Theo is dull and sluggish, Mephisto is insane and obnoxiously silly. Their sister Logistilla is better — she lives on a Caribbean island with animal servants who used to be her boyfriends.

The next problem is that the world-building is mostly done through flashback or dialogue, mostly as Mab interviews Miranda and a couple of her brothers. This is the way we learn about the Prosperos’ ancient connections with Peter the Great, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Louis XIV, the Loch Ness Monster, the Three Musketeers, Father Christmas, the tulip craze in Holland, the East India Company, a raid on the holy relics in the Vatican, etc. Through exposition Miranda explains how characters and creatures we thought of as myth or legend are real and that much that we consider mundane is really arcane. Some of these items are clever and fit well, but many seem thrown in (sometimes in list format) simply as an attempt to add weight to the world building. Unfortunately, they interrupt the action and make the plot feel slow and plodding. There are some exciting action scenes, several of which are amusing, and a couple of which are frightening, but there are also some that are just weird and never seem to settle into the plot very well. For this reason, Prospero Lost reminded me most of Matthew Sturges’s Midwinter — gorgeous cover art and lots of cobbled-together mythology masking a thin story and weak characters.

By the end of Prospero Lost, Miranda and Mab have a long list of questions without answers. Nothing has been resolved and we realize that we must read at least the next novel, Prospero in Hell, to get any sense of accomplishment. I have Prospero in Hell on my shelf, but I’m not sure that I’ll open it. I could have very easily left it alone if the most exciting part of Prospero Lost hadn’t occurred at the end of the very last sentence. Also, I’m a little curious to see where Lamplighter is going with this, especially since I suspect she has Christian allegory in mind. (less)

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Nov 20, 2010 Theresa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

My lower rating of this book has more to do with the quality of writing than anything else. I highly enjoyed the book, the story, the characters; I simply couldn't get past the overuse of !. Seriously, a chapter should NOT begin with a sentence that has an ! at the end of it. Perhaps this is more of an editorial issue than a writing issue, but it bothered me nonetheless. It read like it was written by a first-time novelist, which Lamplighter was at the time. However, I loved the concept : 500 ye...more

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Vicki G So now you're not allowed to begin w/ an ! point? I guess my editor, when he was telling me all the other ways, which I thought were equally silly, to...more
Sep 12, 2011 08:43am

Theresa I had an English professor who basically did the same thing to me-he told us the first week of classes that poetry could only be interpreted one way,...more
Sep 12, 2011 08:57am

Sep 11, 2012 Uriah Blatherwick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Okay I'm going to try not to be really grumpy and annoyed because this book ends in a complete cliffhanger. It is part of one of a series and does not stand alone at all, so commit to reading the second book at least if you want any closure.

Okay so all that aside, it's a pretty fun little world the writer invented where magic is real and so is mythology and so even is christian monotheism. Mix all that with at least some nod to Shakespeare and you have an interesting setting.

The story (as it sta...more

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Jun 01, 2011 Starhen rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Prospero Lost, which follows Miranda (of The Tempest fame) and her family centuries after Shakespeare's (according to the book) somewhat faulty recounting, begins with an interesting concept and some inauspicious narration--hello dull exposition! But, I'm pleased to say, it got better (or perhaps I just got used to the somewhat stilted writing, which I came to accept as Miranda's voice). As a heroine, Miranda's characterization is a bit unsatisfying; I would expect a more nuanced, textured, or,...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Beth rated it 2 of 5 stars

It was the Shakespeare that drew me. Unfortunately, that was not enough to keep me interested. This is an odd mix of Shakespeare and Urban Fantasy. Prospero and Miranda are still alive 500 years after the events of The Tempest and are running a company called Prospero Inc., in which they are busy keeping control of the world's various malevolent spirits, and demons who wreak havoc on the earth by causing earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. When Prospero goes missing and sends an ominous warning to Mira...more

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Jan 28, 2011 Clay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Every time you think “Prospero Lost” (Tor, $24.99, 347 pages) is going to finally just go too far and tip over the edge of barely plausible into too dumb to read, L. Jagi Lamplighter pulls the book back from the brink and keeps on rolling.

The setup is pretty complex, but it boils down to this: The characters in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” were real, and were indeed in command of some serious magic. On top of that, the mythic world of gods and demons and spirit powers is also real (though the dif...more

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Aug 21, 2009 Amanda rated it 2 of 5 stars

Frankly, I was disappointed. I expected a rousing adventure with a good deal of humor. Instead, it was a lot of posturing. I mean, i didn't LIKE any of the characters. At first glance, the characters seem clever. Miranda seems a strong female character, Mab is a humorous paradox, a spirit who hates magic, even Mephisto seems kind of cool, a magician with dual personalities, as happy as a child one minute, a huge demon the next. But as you read on, the author really doesn't give you enough to kee...more

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Aug 16, 2009 Liviu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009_release_read, review_fbc, genre-fantasy, read_2009, t2_recommended_2009, series_dropped

This one I heard of for a while but never thought I will read it and did not bother to request an arc but I opened it just to "do my duty" so to speak since I tend to open all new sff releases in bookstores just to get an idea of what's what, and it hooked me from the first page so I bought it that day and it went to my top of the reading pile

Just superb - whimsical and with all creatures from myths, legends and fairy-tales or at least it seems so..

Great narrator in Miranda the 500 year old daug...more

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Nov 15, 2009 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

L. Jagi Lamplighter blogs as arhyalon, and her new book Prospero Lost is quite good - Miranda and Mab are compelling characters about whom I want to know more. One of the things I like a great deal about Lamplighter's book is that she has clearly envisioned a whole world which operates according to its own rules - not that she'll reveal what they are all at once, but the rooms in the houses she describes feel lived-in and homey.

However, there is a serious flaw with this book: it has no ending a...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Zachary rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I discovered Lamplighter via her husband, John C. Wright. His books are, simply put, amazing. And I was not disappointed in the least bit. Lamplighter (her maiden name, I believe) is an excellent writer. The depth and epic proportions of the book are belied by the humble subtly of her writing.

Miranda is the daughter of the great Prospero, whom Shakespear wrote about so long ago. Though a young lady, Miranda herself is several centuries old and has lately found herself running the family business...more I discovered Lamplighter via her husband, John C. Wright. His books are, simply put, amazing. And I was not disappointed in the least bit. Lamplighter (her maiden name, I believe) is an excellent writer. The depth and epic proportions of the book are belied by the humble subtly of her writing.

Miranda is the daughter of the great Prospero, whom Shakespear wrote about so long ago. Though a young lady, Miranda herself is several centuries old and has lately found herself running the family business, Prospero, Inc., alone. One day she discovers a cryptic warning from her father, who has mysteriously disappeared, and sets out to warn the rest of her far-flung family. Partnered with an enfleshed wind spirit detective, as she tracks down each of her siblings more and more of the layers of mystery surrounding her father's disappearance are pierced.

As can even be glimpsed in this simple description, the story is built upon a mythology primarily derived from Shakespear, though there are many elements drawn from other major mythologies (Greek, Catholic, etc.). It seems like it would get convoluted and confusing, but Lamplighter manages to deftly move the story along while slowly and effortlessly revealing the mythological depth to the world she has created in her books.

And "books" it is. This is the first of a trilogy, and I would recommend not even opening this volume until you had the other two close at hand. As has happened to several of her husband's works, the publisher took a massive story and neatly chopped it into three parts. The end of this book barely has any level of resolution to it. All the major conflicts are still unresolved, and Lamplighter reveals another level of conflict even in the last few chapters.

With that warning in place, I do highly recommend the book. The reading just flows, the characters are vivid, engaging, and quite intriguing. In fact, for being an adult book, I was rather pleased at how "clean" it was. Though there is a level of romance, it is quite chaste, and the language is not profane at all. I would even go so far as to say it would be fine for any High School age teenager, and probably even any mature Middle School age children.

In the past I read a review which remarked that it seemed that Lamplighter was almost attempting to write "Christian Fiction." A claim which intrigued me. After reading this, the first of the trilogy, I think the jury is still out on the truth of that claim, but I can make a couple of observations. First, this is not a type of Ted Dekker or even C.S. Lewis "Christian" fiction. No, what Lamplighter has written here is set within a meta-narrative which is foreign to that of the Bible. It is rather close in some places. But, in a sense, it made me think of what Tolkien did with the Simarillion. To work in such characters as Elves, wind spirits, salamanders (fire spirits), the Water of Life, a Dante-esq Hell, and even Father Christmas (among many others) requires a different hierarchy of beings and even of creation.

Second, if a person goes into reading this trilogy expecting some sort of inspirational "Christian" fiction, they will be sorely disappointed and probably even offended. What Lamplighter is doing here is excellent, amazing writing and story creation/development. But because she chose to include such characters and to write the story she did, their very inclusion and nature begets a theology which is contrary to what is contained within the Bible. In my mind, this is okay because this is fiction on a grand scale, with not even a pretense of being very close to reality.

And lastly, early on in the book there was a short discussion on the person of Christ, what type of being he was and where he came from. I loved that she touched on this without trying to explain it all. For this book, at least, she left it a mystery. I am completely intrigued, of course, to see where she goes with it in the following books.

In conclusion, if you enjoy fantasy books - get the whole trilogy and block out a weekend to immerse yourself in it. If you just enjoy really creative stories, a good mystery, and don't mind some supernatural insanity - grab yourself a copy and curl up. This is an excellent book and I can't wait until my sons are old enough for me to share it with them!(less)

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Nov 13, 2009 Dalene rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is a fun combination of fantasy, mythology, Shakespeare, and detective fiction. It took a little while for me to get interested in the story line, because it took so long to introduce all of the characters and supply the background, but once I got into it I was hooked! I didn't notice at first that this was labeled Book I, so I was a bit frustrated to learn that I have to wait for the second book to come out to find out what happens. The first book was really just the beginning of the...more

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Sep 11, 2009 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: completed, 2009

I was pretty excited about this book! I've been taking a break from my rather hectic "Pulitzer" to-read list, and enjoying some of what I call my "laid back" fiction... and this was perfect! The Tempest is probably my favorite Shakespeare work, and this fantastical play of the characters, however much of a tangent away from Shakespeare's merit, was a really enjoyable read! It reminded me a bit of Susanne Clarke... Miranda, Mab, and Mephisto (I found hysterical, I mean, the chimera?) traipse arou...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Matthew rated it 4 of 5 stars

From the description of the book I didn't know what to think.

More than four hundred years after the events of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the sorcerer Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and his other children have attained everlasting life. Miranda is the head of her family’s business, Prospero Inc., which secretly has used its magic for good around the world. One day, Miranda receives a warning from her father: "Beware of the Three Shadowed Ones." When Miranda goes to her father for an explanation...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Mike Jensen marked it as books-abandoned · review of another edition

Two of the things I dislike about sci-fi and fantasy are the way writers mention unfamiliar things without explaining them and the pedestrian style used in too many books. This one is guilty of both in its first chapter. The second chapter relates a stroll through a statue gallery, describing the statues and the people they are modeled on in dull detail. All made this book to much of a burden to bear. I gave up on page 25.

This is too bad, since I am a scholar of Shakespeare’s afterlives but I’d...more

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Dec 21, 2009 William Thomas rated it 2 of 5 stars

a book based on the same suppositions and the same setups as many other fantasy and horror writers recently, especially in graphic novels, where mythic creatures and figures are injected with dashiel hammet styled noir. it could have been interesting, but was written in a manner that was far too dry, too off-hand, far too much explanation in its exposition. it seemed as if it were trying to force the reader to like it, force him to be immersed in its drive and its world of fantasy, but what the...more

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Dec 02, 2009 Celia rated it 5 of 5 stars

I heard about this book through the Book Smugglers blog (amazingly helpful and entertaining blog for anyone who enjoys fantasy, YA, or romance) and immediately placed a hold on it through my library. Most of the characters in the story are from Shakespeare's The Tempest (which I haven't read). Prospero is a sorcerer who manages to bind the Aerie Ones to his will. His daughter Miranda, who provides the perspective in the story, has been granted immortality by being a Handmaiden for a goddess and...more I heard about this book through the Book Smugglers blog (amazingly helpful and entertaining blog for anyone who enjoys fantasy, YA, or romance) and immediately placed a hold on it through my library. Most of the characters in the story are from Shakespeare's The Tempest (which I haven't read). Prospero is a sorcerer who manages to bind the Aerie Ones to his will. His daughter Miranda, who provides the perspective in the story, has been granted immortality by being a Handmaiden for a goddess and she has shared that immortality with her father and siblings. For several hundred years, the Prospero family have used the Aerie Ones to make the world a safer place for mankind. But now the family has scattered and lost touch with each other. Only Miranda remains obedient to her father and runs Prospero, Inc. dutifully. Then Prospero disappears, leaving a note warning of danger and that Miranda should warn her siblings as soon as possible. Miranda and her trusty detective/Aerie One Mab set off on a trek that leads them to more questions than answers.

I really loved this book. The writing is fantastic; very lyrical and poetic at times, but also humorous in places. I also liked the way that Ms. Lamplighter deals with memory. Miranda is immortal because she has the Water of Life, but she still has a mortal brain that doesn't hold hundreds of years of memories very well. Many times, she describes her memory as foggy or clouded and sometimes she and her siblings disagree on events that have happened in the past. I've read reviews that cast Miranda as somewhat of an unreliable narrator because she is SO devoted to her father; anything he says, she believes, anything he commands, she does, without question. I found her to be a strange mix of naivete and strength. She has successfully run her father's vast business for years, yet she comes across as being very innocent, not a cut-throat businesswoman. I also enjoyed the character of Mab and Mephisto (her insane brother who accompanies them throughout much of the book). They provide the humor in the book and I like seeing the relationships between Miranda and Mab and Mephisto grow. A book I would highly recommend and I can't wait for book #2 to come out!(less)

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Jan 07, 2010 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book. Not as much as I thought I would, but it's definitely worth a read. The concept of Shakespeare characters in modern day life, living as undercover magicians was really cool, especially with the nod to Sam Spade in the character of Mab (who was my favorite). However, I have mixed feelings about the book.

Okay. So I'll break it down this way:

Things I liked:

1) The way the story pulled you along--it was quite enticing and actiony and full of mystery, really entertaining. When I thi...more

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Dec 19, 2009 Caressa rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was really torn on how many stars to give this interesting little book. I decided to go with 4 stars based on Lamplighter's efforts. The modernized take on Shakespeare has been done so many times before, but Lamplighter takes a new twist on it. This isn't just 'The Tempest' for the 21st century, but rather an update on where the characters are now, 450 years after the events of the famous play.

I think Lamplighter may have tried to do too much in a single novel, however. We learn more about Mir...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy-magical-realism, myths-fairytales-retellings, fae, history-and-alternate-history

At the end of The Tempest, Prospero burned his books and gave up magic, and Miranda wed the son of the duke of Milan.

But what if that wasn't really what happened?

You see, Shakespeare gave the tale a happy ending, but a much less interesting one. In truth, Ferdinand disappeared the night before the wedding, and Miranda has spent the last few hundred years alone, running the company Prospero inc. for her beloved father, who never really gave up magic at all. Over those hundreds of years, he had se...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of slipstream, believers in magic

Shelves: 21st-century-fiction, slipstream

L Jagi Lamplighter spent 15 years writing, re-writing and revising her Prospero's Daughter Trilogy before this first volume was published in 2009. Other compelling data include her history as a roleplaying gamer and the novel's roots in a game she was involved with in the early 1990s. All of this can be perused on her website. It also explains the slightly dated feeling of the novel.

During those 15 years I was reading and completely enjoying a type of novel that has elements of fantasy or non-re...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Minna rated it 3 of 5 stars

3 1/2 stars... Extraordinarily slow to get going, Prospero Lost's exposition almost had me giving up. I'm glad I stuck with it; by the time Miranda started her hunt for Mephisto the action level started to pick up considerably. So many little mysteries were left unanswered that I'm assuming a sequel won't be enough to end the story, but will spin out into a series. Are all Miranda's siblings up to no good? Why does Mephisto turn into a demon? Will Miranda let the Aeries free? I wouldn't have bel...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Quanjun rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, adventure, perfect-reads, mythological, wishlist

Miranda has lived for over five centuries. She has seen kingdoms rise and fall, fashions come and go, nothing much mean much to her anymore. Except for her family and her father's company, Prospero Inc., that is. So when she gets a message from her father that says he is in danger, she takes off with the company detective (Mab, a spirit in human body) to track down her dysfunctional family while the Three Shadowed Ones her father warns of are hot on their heels.

But her family only lives as long...more Miranda has lived for over five centuries. She has seen kingdoms rise and fall, fashions come and go, nothing much mean much to her anymore. Except for her family and her father's company, Prospero Inc., that is. So when she gets a message from her father that says he is in danger, she takes off with the company detective (Mab, a spirit in human body) to track down her dysfunctional family while the Three Shadowed Ones her father warns of are hot on their heels.

But her family only lives as long as she remains a servant of Eurynome the Unicorn, and that means remaining a virgin. While this is no big trouble after being left at the altar when she was sixteen, it becomes an inconvenience when once again finds herself unexpectedly in love! And what of Mephistopheles? Her once brilliant brother who has now lost his mind? Or Theophrastus, her favourite brother, now old and dying because he refuses to take up the magic he's abandoned? Or even worse, her father, now in Hell?

A book is often unreadable, mediocre, passable, slightly enjoyable, or exquisitely perfect. This is exquisitely perfect. There are no ups and downs in the presentation of the story, no paragraphs of dull descriptions you have to skip past to get to the juicy conversations, not so much conversation that you're not drawn into the book. The story is told in evenly good quality and flows in a timely manner. The interesting characters add to the enjoyment.

Often I read about vampires who are so old they forget their age, and yet they manage to fall in love with protagonists as if they had never before in their long, long lives. And I always wonder how that is possible.

Miranda is not such a character. Her age is apparent in her voice. She is no longer touched by earthly humans, and while the company runs many supernatural contracts to keep humans from supernatural harm, Miranda does not even imply she care at all about humans. She is loyal to her father and her Lady the Eurynome and her family, but she care for a precious few. She also does not have any equals or friends, and while the loneliness bothers her some, she functions in it because she's used to it. That makes her a very believable character.

A lot of mysteries are entangled in this story, and I won't spoil anything by talking about them.

This is a very good book, and I look forward to reading Prospero in Hell.(less)

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May 05, 2011 Brenda rated it 2 of 5 stars

I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. It just was.

It was incomplete. It was juvenile. It was tiresome.

500 years after Shakespear's recorded history, Prospero still lives. He has had more wives and children, but Miranda is still the one closest to him. When he disappears leaving a rahter cryptic note tha Miranda should warn her siblings, she sets about trying to find them.

In this installment, she has found three and has a clue where her father is, but there are more questions left unanswered th...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Jeanne rated it 3 of 5 stars

From Amazon: "More than four hundred years after the events of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the sorcerer Prospero, his daughter Miranda, and his other children have attained everlasting life. Miranda is the head of her family’s business, Prospero Inc., which secretly has used its magic for good around the world. One day, Miranda receives a warning from her father: "Beware of the Three Shadowed Ones." When Miranda goes to her father for an explanation, he is nowhere to be found.

Miranda sets out to...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

(originally reviewed on starmetal oak book blog)

Going into this I didn't know what to expect mostly because I never read The Tempest and know only bits and pieces about it. This story follows Miranda, the daughter of the dread Prospero as she tries to uncover what happened to her missing father. Along the way she tries to warn her siblings of the danger to their family and we are faced with the wonders of the supernatural side of reality.

I found it hard to really get into this novel. I don't th...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Emily Duncan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I'm legitimately bothered by the amount of negative reviews I'm seeing for this book. Personally, i was drawn to this book by the absolute gorgeous cover and the promise of Shakespearian characters. Fashioned 500 years after the events in The Tempest, Miranda is the head of her families business and the only one of her father's children to remain loyal to the family. As a handmaiden of Eurynome (I am going to blatantly guess on most of the spellings because it would take me forever to search the...more I'm legitimately bothered by the amount of negative reviews I'm seeing for this book. Personally, i was drawn to this book by the absolute gorgeous cover and the promise of Shakespearian characters. Fashioned 500 years after the events in The Tempest, Miranda is the head of her families business and the only one of her father's children to remain loyal to the family. As a handmaiden of Eurynome (I am going to blatantly guess on most of the spellings because it would take me forever to search the book for the proper spellings of the names.), Miranda has been gifted with immortal life for herself and for her family.
Personally, I'm kind of in love with this book. It was this intriguing mix of urban fantasy and ancient lore. I loved how the story was woven so that Miranda's memories of times long past were woven into the modern setting. A lot of characters from Shakespeare made appearances and most of the names of Miranda's siblings were from other stories.
A fault i did have with the book was it's pace. It had a tendency to meander, taking too long to describe detail and not push the plot forward enough. With that said, the detail was very vivid, just at times it was too much. I really don't need two pages worth of describing what the elves were wearing at the feast, just a paragraph or so will suffice. Another fault is that Miranda's narration did get on my nerves every so often. She was a bit flighty with her emotions which didn't quite make sense when she was supposed to be centuries old. Of course, it's difficult to capture that kind of immortal aura, especially when you're using the character as the main voice.
The story was beautiful though. The lore was fantastic. Granted, at times it was a bit difficult to follow because there was this notion that the reader would be able to keep up, so sometimes things aren't explained fully. Because i read these kinds of books regularly, i kept up just fine, but i could see someone in unfamiliar territory have a problem with the book.
All of these pale in my enjoyment of the book. I loved the entire Prospero family, even though all of them seemed to have a hidden agenda (at least, the ones that we met in this book) Mephisto was, admittedly, my favourite. Constantly we were reminded of the fact that he was mad, but every so often he seemed to have moments of sheer clarity. A split personality, so to speak. He was also adorable. I did love him.
I loved just the idea of it all, the dread sorcerer Prospero making staves for his children, each with a different power. Miranda's flute can control the Aerie spirits. Mephisto's staff can summon magic creatures. Logistilla's staff can change the form of creatures.... and so on and so forth. Problem being is that Prospero is missing and demons from hell are after the children's staves. It's all very dramatic. All very lovely.
I kind of adore this book. I think it was executed brilliantly and i'm so looking forward to reading the next one. It read like a careful work of art, very beautifully but not without it's faults and flaws. I loved it.(less)

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Mar 23, 2011 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, 9, fantasy

I wasn't expecting to like this as much as I did.

I find myself wanting to describe it as a "happy mish-mash" of all sorts of mythologies and literature. And it all worked.

There are deeper themes going on here that I don't think have been fully revealed and there may well be unhappiness coming, but this book felt, well the only word I can come up with is "fun", which doesn't feel like the right one.

I don't mean it was light, like a brain-candy kind of read. There's a lot in here and I'm sure ther...more

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May 20, 2011 Calamity rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of Shakespear's Tempest and general mythology

Shelves: 2011-reads, fantasy, urban-fantasy

Prospero Lost is a more than a retelling of “The Tempest” (that well known play of mr. Shakespeare), it is a telling of what could have happened if the events of the Tempest were actually true. In this book Miranda and Prospero are very much alive and their family is somewhat extended – 7 more siblings and an enormous crew of wind spirits bound to them as slaves..err...servants. On top of that, they run Prospero, Inc, a multinational company that relies on the biding on the eight winds and copio...more Prospero Lost is a more than a retelling of “The Tempest” (that well known play of mr. Shakespeare), it is a telling of what could have happened if the events of the Tempest were actually true. In this book Miranda and Prospero are very much alive and their family is somewhat extended – 7 more siblings and an enormous crew of wind spirits bound to them as slaves..err...servants. On top of that, they run Prospero, Inc, a multinational company that relies on the biding on the eight winds and copious amounts of sorcery to run and control most business of the supernatural world. Prospero Inc, basically is our only shield against destruction from mythical beings. Suffice to say they are very big shots and super loaded. Oh, they are also immortal since Miranda is consecrated to Eurynome, a godlike entity that grants immortality to her Handmaidens – by giving them the water of eternal life - among other gifts. So yeah, it’s good being a Prospero.
The story begins with the disappearance of the family head – Prospero – and the finding of a mysterious note by his favourite daughter - Miranda – telling her to beware of “The 3 shadowed ones”. Apparently, Prospero made a mistake and released 3 demons that are now after the several staffs owned by her and her siblings, which are the source of most of her family power. To help all this mess, Miranda has no clue where most of her siblings are, since for the most part of the last centuries they have become estranged and in some cases even hostile toward each other. To help her solve the mess her father made and warn her several siblings, Miranda has the help of Mab, one of the many air spirits that are bound to her family for one thousand years, against their will.
The book is filled with tons of mythical references and for a myth nut like me that’s what made me love the book. There are endless nods at several mythical beings and legends and we even get to see the characters interact with several of them. The mysteries provided by the story plot are also yummy and made me crave to know the answer to all of them.
However, there are several things that annoyed me.
First and foremost, the writing is not stellar and most characters are downright annoying and lack some depth.
The amount of flashbacks is enormous to the point of being silly; making it plain that the only way the author found to tells us the back story of Miranda and her family was by making her reminisce every 2 pages or so. Since she’s 500 years old, you can understand the amount of memories she has to share and thus, nothing in the book happens without Miranda remembering some bit of her life that is somehow related to the present.
Miranda herself is selfish, arrogant and cold, fancying herself above normal humans just because she can outlive them and has some magical powers. She values her immortality and obedience to her father above anything else, even if that means putting someone else in mortal danger. Not once it occurs to her to defy her father’s wishes. Ever. However, if she didn't come off as a self-righteous virgin sorceress she might actually be likable.
Mephisto, her insane brother is embarrassing most of the times, reminding me a cartoon version of a crazy person and most of the scenes the author have intended to be amusing or funny seemed kind of awkward and forced to me.
Mab, the detective air spirit that wants to look like a 40’s detective tries too hard, becoming a stereotype - trench coat and a fedora hat included.
Ferdinand, the long lost fiancé is just a stupid pastiche of what the author seems to think a Latino medieval gentleman knight should be. He keeps his time slobbering after Miranda, showering her with praise and then disappearing to whatever thing he has to do next.
The mysteries themselves are not answered at all in this first part and the book just serves the purpose of rising tons of questions, letting us glimpse some clues that might begin to answer some of them. More than anything this book is an introduction to Miranda’s life and problems making it clear that we will need to keep on reading the other books if we want to get some answers.
Nontheless, as I said, the universe created here is splendid and the mysteries are juicy enough to make me want to keep on reading.
(less)

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Nov 06, 2009 Ryan Mishap rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fantasy

Those not familar with Shakespeare's The Tempest, Milton's Paradise Lost, and various other literary works and folk myths may still enjoy this dense story, but familiarity with the above will certainly enhance the reading of this oddity.

The story told in the play was mostly true, Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, were betrayed and exiled to an island where Prospero used his knowledge of magic (taken from books he found)to free the Aerie sprite, Ariel, and bind Ariel and others to his service....more Those not familar with Shakespeare's The Tempest, Milton's Paradise Lost, and various other literary works and folk myths may still enjoy this dense story, but familiarity with the above will certainly enhance the reading of this oddity.

The story told in the play was mostly true, Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, were betrayed and exiled to an island where Prospero used his knowledge of magic (taken from books he found)to free the Aerie sprite, Ariel, and bind Ariel and others to his service. After their return to Italy, Miranda became an acolyte of Eurynome, thus gaining immortality for herself, Prospero, and her eventual brothers and sisters. Over the last five centuries, the family fought to rein in elementals who caused great destruction to humans and to battle demons and others. In modern times, though, the family has fractured and Miranda--ever the dutiful daughter--finds a message from her father that he unbound something he shouldn't have and to warn the family about The Three Shadowed Ones. Prospero himself is missing.

Miranda compels the aid of an Aerie Being now made flesh, Mab, who resembles a noir detective (right down to the fedora) and is Prospero, Inc.'s top detective. They set out to find her siblings and what happened to her father.

While the pacing can be a little slow, this is an intriguing story with characters Lamplighter invents a dense history for. The family squabbles and betrayals from the past are contrasted with Miranda's fonder memories, but also with the estranged family today. Which sibling may have betrayed their father? Did any one? Who stole her brother's staff? Who are the Three? What had her father been doing? At one point, Miranda and Mab list all the questions they want answered and I realized that this wasn't going to be concluded in one book (indeed, the second volume isn't out yet).

The magic isn't entirely explained, but the magic nature of the amoral elementals as causes for natural disasters was a new one to me.

Servitude, loyalty, and slavery are examined as well. As Mab and Ariel constantly remind Miranda, their service is ccompelled and they wish to be freed. Without them, Prospero Inc. could not do its work, and didn't Ariel promise a thousand years of service.... Miranda is increasingly troubled by her position as slavemaster even as questions arise about whether her own father may have put some obedience compulsion on her.

Intriguing would be the best word to describe this novel and I hope I don't have to wait too long for the next volume.(less)

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About L. Jagi Lamplighter

L. Jagi Lamplighter is a writer of fantasy and children's stories. When not writing, she reverts to her secret ID where she lives in fairytale happiness with her husband, writer John C. Wright, and their four delightful children Orville, Ping-Ping, the Cherubim, and Justinian the Elf King.

For more information, see:

Prospero Lost: A Writer's Odyssey -- an essay about how Prospero Lost came to be,

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Books by L. Jagi Lamplighter

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“I loved weather, all weather, not just the good kind. I loved balmy days, fearsome storms, blizzards, and spring showers. And the colors! Everyday brought something to be admired: the soft feathery patterns of cirrus clouds, the deep, dark grays of thunderheads, the lacy gold and peach of the early morning sunrise. The sky and its moods called to me.” — 3 people liked it

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Prospero Lost (Prospero's Daughter #1)

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