The Minstrel's Daughter

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

This first volume in Smith’s new fantasy trilogy returns to the
imaginative setting of her Freyan Trilogy, but in a later time period.
The Minstrel’s Daughter stands alone as a separate read, but those
familiar with the Freyan Trilogy will recognize some of the novel’s
secondary characters and will have a greater awareness of the historical
conflicts between Freya and its neighbouring nations, Uglessia and
Islandia. The story centres on 15-year-old Catrina’s search for her
birth father, Gayland, a wandering minstrel, who deserted Cat and her
mother, Lianna, 12 years earlier. The larger story, into which Cat’s
quest is interwoven, is a political intrigue involving an attempted coup
d’état.

Cat, feeling unwanted following her mother’s recent marriage, slips
away to Freyfall. There, a wizard’s “finding spell” indicates that
her father might be found. When Cat consults Garth Spellman, a young
wizard apprentice who attempts another finding spell, he accidentally
transforms Catrina into a cat and then is unable to reverse the spell.

Smith’s device of having Cat be a cat works extremely well, adding
both moments of humour and tension to the plot as Cat, finding herself
exhibiting hunting behaviours, worries about the permanence of her
transformation. Cat being a cat also allows her to be in places and to
overhear things that would be impossible for her in human form.

All in all, The Minstrel’s Daughter is an engaging, fast read and an
excellent introduction to the fantasy genre. Highly recommended.