Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fairly satisfying conclusion to the Regency Romance Magical series by Kowal.

It wraps up the series with a birth. It's the logical focus after what happened earlier in the series and the tragedy of losing a child while on the run and using glamour. Everyone knows that Glamour can make an expectant mother to lose their child, after all. It had nothing to do with being chased by Napoleon. *looks askance*

The other nice part of this novel was the plot of Vincent's father's death and the death of Vincent's older brother and the inheritance of a slave plantation. It's nothing he ever wanted and his relationship with his family had always been extremely poor, but even that gets resolved well here.

I have to say that even though the subject of slavery and interbreeding to control a whole people and the horrible conditions makes me think the book should be darker than it is... but no, the book is still rather lightweight. That's fine because it's the tone throughout the series regardless of the events. It's a romance, after all. Bad things happen, the good people come out on top. Our hero and heroine are both remarkably steadfast and capable even though I'm meant to believe that they're either ill or incapable or at other times as traitors or being poverty-stricken.

It still feels like light fare. Not that it's a bad thing, of course, but I tend to categorize such novels as popcorn. :) I'm glad I got to read the whole thing. I'm looking forward to reading completely different styles from Kowal!


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