Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue, Knights of Arrethae Series #4

Lady Carliss has just agreed to help a fellow knight find the friend's kidnapped family when another friend, Sir Dalton, is poisoned by a mysterious lizard. With the help of an absent-minded alchemist and a slow yet friendly beggar, Carliss travels to Moorue to find a cure growing in the lizard's nest before Dalton dies. Soon, Carliss realizes Dalton’s illness must wait. Lord Malco, a prominent figure with a guarded castle, has been extracting the poison and distilling it to produce a mind-numbing pleasure trip when drunk with water. The addiction is so severe that some people in Moorue do nothing but drink it and remain in the pleasing dreams all day. Carliss must not only save Dalton, but she must also stop Lord Malco’s schemes.

Carliss faces many internal battles during her quest. Though Dalton is intended for another woman, Carliss struggles with a romantic interest in him. She feels confused and even angry when she sees him. She also questions why the king chose her and not a stronger knight to defeat the lizards.

The Knights of Arrethtrae series is a Christian allegory, and this can overpower Carliss’ unique story sometimes. Some conversations between characters obviously intend to teach the dangers of addiction in a creative, fictional way. Black handles this well; only a few small sections sound preachy.

The book begins slowly. Black makes readers wade through an introduction and a prologue about the spiritual background of Arrethtrae, and the narrator describes Carliss’ history from a distance for a chapter before showing her thoughts and emotions. After this, however, Black introduces quirky characters and increases the plot’s tension to keep readers interested.

Though the fighting scenes are slightly graphic, Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue provides an entertaining yet discerning moral application that teens, both male and female, should enjoy. – Alexandra Mellen, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com