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Drowned Wednesday | fantasy | Drowned Wednesday is the first Trustee among the Morrow Days who is on Arthur's side and wishes the Will to be fulfilled. She appears as a leviathan/whale and suffers from Gluttony. The book begins when Leaf is visiting Arthur and they are discussing the invitation that Drowned Wednesday sent him. Arthur had been admitted to hospital because of the damage done to his leg when he attempted to enter Tuesday's Treasure Tower. Suddenly, the hospital room becomes flooded with water as the two are transported to the Border Sea of the House. Leaf is snatched away by a large ship with green sails, known as the Flying Mantis, while Arthur remains in his bed. When the Medallion given him by the immortal called the Mariner apparently fails to summon help, Arthur is without hope. Eventually, a buoy marking the pirate Elishar Feverfew's treasure floats toward him. As soon as Arthur opens it, his hand is marked with a bloody red colour. Arthur now has the Red Hand, by which Feverfew marks whoever has found his treasure, so that he can identify them later. Not long after, a scavenging ship called the Moth rescues Arthur. On board, Arthur (going by the name of Arth) is introduced to Sunscorch, the First Mate, and to Captain Catapillow. Their journey brings them through the Line of Storms and into the Border Sea, where they are later pursued by Feverfew's ghostly ship, the Shiver. The damage inflicted on the Moth is serious; therefore Sunscorch commands an Upper House Sorcerer, Dr. Scamandros, to open a transfer portal to elsewhere in the Secondary Realms. Scamandros claims that Arthur is carrying something that interfered with his magic, and tells Sunscorch to throw him overboard. As a last resort, Arthur shows them the Mariner's Medallion, which stops Scamandros saying that they must get rid of Arthur. After going through the transfer portal (with Arthur's help), the ship is grounded on a beach. When Arthur wished to learn what happened to Leaf, Dr. Scamandros applies his sorcery to make it possible. She is revealed to be aboard the ship Flying Mantis. Arthur joins Catapillow for supper, later to reveal his identity. At first, Propaganda issued by Dame Primus (Arthur's Steward) makes them skeptical of this, but they eventually become convinced. A few days later, Wednesday's Dawn takes Arthur to meet Wednesday for her 'luncheon of seventeen removes'. As they approach, Wednesday shrinks into her human form to meet Arthur. During their lunch, Wednesday tells Arthur that after Part 3 of the Will has been released, she will surrender the Third Key to Arthur. Arthur is then taken by Wednesday's Dawn to a place called the triangle in search of his friend Leaf. He learns that Leaf has been forced to work on the Mantis, but is otherwise intact. Arthur later makes a deal with the Raised Rats, a group of anthropomorphic rats brought to the House by the Piper, to take him to Feverfew's hideout, which they believe is inside a miniature world located within Drowned Wednesday's stomach. On the Raised Rats' ship, Arthur opens a gift from Dr. Scamandros, which proves to be a golden transfer watch. With this, he communicates with and rescues Dr. Scamandros. He then uses a scrying mirror Dr. Scamandros gave him to watch Leaf. A rat watches him during the scry, and later saves him from a battle with Feverfew. Later, the Rats bring Arthur onto their submarine, where he meets with Suzy Turquiose Blue. In contrast to Suzy's former cockney attitude, she has assumed a more "ladylike and proper" demeanor on the orders of Dame Primus. Only when they are no longer on the Border Sea, but under it, does she resume her customary ways of speech and dress. They are, with navigational difficulty, able to enter the stomach of Lady Wednesday and the worldlet therein. There, Arthur and Suzy, disguised as rats, find escaped slaves, professed followers of the Carp. These exiles take them to the Carp, who is the third part of the Will. They are halted in their attempt to escape by Feverfew, who proposes that each of them will try to kill the other by means of one strike only. Arthur fails his first try, then dodges Feverfew and severs his head. Leaf, who is Feverfew's prisoner, then kicks it into a mud puddle containing Nothing, which consumes it. Upon his death, the worldlet begins to collapse. Via the Moth, Arthur and all his friends (with the exception of the reluctant Catapillow) are able to escape. Lady Wednesday recovers from her gluttony, then dies as a result of being poisoned by the worldlet, which had opened a void to Nothing. Arthur, now Duke of the Border Sea, appoints Sunscorch as his Noon and Scamandros as his Dusk. fr:Mercredi sous les flots th:พุธเพชฌฆาต | 0 |
The Lost Hero | fantasy | As the book opens, Jason awakens on a school bus, unable to remember who or where he is, or anything about his past. He is sitting next to Piper McLean and Leo Valdez, who call him by name and say they are his girlfriend and best friend respectively. All three are part of a class field trip to the Grand Canyon, and after they arrive, a classmate Dylan turns into a Venti (Storm Spirit) and attacks the trio and their trip leader, Coach Gleeson Hedge. In the ensuing fight, Jason surprises everyone, including himself, when one of his coins turns into a sword which he uses to battle the storm spirits. Coach Hedge, who reveals himself to be a satyr during the fight, is taken captive by a fleeing spirit. After the battle, a flying chariot arrives to rescue the trio, but one of the people in it, Annabeth, is upset when she discovers that her missing boyfriend, Percy Jackson, is not there as she expected. Annabeth, seeking Percy, was told in a vision from the goddess Hera to look there for the "guy with one shoe", but this turns out to be Jason, who had a shoe destroyed during the fight. Jason, Piper,and Leo are told that they are demigods and are taken back to Camp Half-Blood where they meet other greek demigod children like themselves. There, Leo is revealed as a son of Hephaestus, Piper as a daughter of Aphrodite and Jason as a son of Zeus, though Hera tells him he is her champion. Jason later discovers that he is the full brother of Zeus's demigod daughter Thalia Grace, who is a Hunter of Artemis. Shortly after they arrive, the three are given a quest to rescue Hera, who has been captured, and they set off. They soon discover that their enemies are working under orders from Gaea to overthrow the gods. During their quest, they encounter Thalia and the Hunters, who have been looking for Percy. Thalia and Jason reunite for the first since Jason was captured at the age of two. On the way to Aeolus's castle, Jason, Leo and Piper become separated from Thalia, who promises to meet them at the Wolf House, the last place Thalia had seen Jason before this meeting. After being nearly apprehended by Aeolus, who is under Gaea's orders, the trio manage to escape thanks to Mellie, Aeolus`s former assistant, and end up in San Francisco, thanks to the result of a dream Piper had with Aphrodite. After landing in San Francisco, the trio rush to Mt.Diablo to fight the giant Enceladus, who has kidnapped Piper's father. They manage to kill the giant and save Piper's father, after which they rush to the Wolf House to free Hera. Although the heroes and the Hunters save Hera, the king of the giants, Porphyrion, rises fully and disappears into a hole in the Earth. Jason's memory then starts returning, and he remembers that he is a hero from a Roman counterpart to Camp Half-Blood somewhere near San Francisco, and is the son of Jupiter, Zeus's Roman aspect. He realizes that Hera, also known as Juno, has switched him with Percy Jackson, who will be at the Roman camp with no memory of his life, in the hopes that the two camps would ultimately work together to fight the giants and defeat the goddess Gaea. | 1 |
The Eyes of the Overworld | fantasy | Cugel is easily persuaded by the merchant Fianosther to attempt the burglary of the manse of Iucounu the Laughing Magician. Trapped and caught, he agrees that in exchange for his freedom he will undertake the recovery of a small hemisphere of violet glass, an Eye of the Overworld, to match one already in the wizard's possession. A small sentient alien entity of barbs and hooks, named Firx, is attached to his liver to encourage his "unremitting loyalty, zeal and singleness of purpose," and Iucounu uses a spell to transport Cugel via flying demon to the remote Land of Cutz. There, Cugel finds two villages, one occupied by wearers of the violet lenses, the other by peasants who work on behalf of the lens-wearers, in hopes of being promoted to their ranks. The lenses cause their wearers to see, not their squalid surroundings, but the Overworld, a vastly superior version of reality where a hut is a palace, gruel is a magnificent feast, etc. — "seeing the world through rose-colored glasses" on a grand scale. Cugel gains an Eye by trickery, and escapes from Cutz. He then undertakes an arduous trek back to Iucounu, cursing the magician the entire way; this forms the principal part of the book. After many pitfalls, setbacks, and harrowing escapes, including the eviction of Firx from his system, Cugel returns to Iucounu's manse, where he finds the wizard's volition has been captured by a twin to Firx. Cugel manages to extirpate the alien, subdue the magician, and enjoy the easy life in the manse, until he tries to banish Iucounu and Fianosther (who himself has come to pilfer from Cugel) with the same spell that the magician had used on him. But Cugel's tongue slips in uttering the incantation, and the flying demon seizes him instead, delivering him to the same spot as before. Author Michael Shea wrote an authorized sequel, A Quest for Simbilis (DAW Books, NY, 1974). Vance's own Cugel sequel was published as Cugel's Saga in 1983. | 2 |
Magic's Promise | fantasy | The book opens with Herald-Mage Vanyel returning to his country Valdemar from an extensive campaign along the border with Karse, the neighboring enemy country. He checks in with Valdemar's King Randale and his lifebonded mate, Shavri, and their daughter Jisa. Only a select few know that Jisa is Vanyel's daughter. Because King Randale is sterile, he had asked Vanyel to father an heir. Now, Shavri confides in Vanyel her fear that Randale is mortally ill. Vanyel and his mentor Savil return to Vanyel's family home at Forst Reach, where they find little rest or peace. His parents both try to change his mind about being shay'a'chern, or homosexual. Vanyel becomes somewhat confused about his own sexuality. He wonders if he is truly in love with Shavri. Yfandes, Vanyel's Companion, doesn't buy it and finds the situation amusing. Vanyel also meets his illegitimate nephew, Medren. Medren is small for his age as Vanyel was, and like him it appears that he is often bullied by the armsmaster Jervis. The boy has a powerful Bardic gift, and Vanyel sponsors him for the Bardic Collegium. Vanyel confronts Jervis and learns that the armsmaster is not being intentionally rough. He also apologizes for beating Vanyel long ago, and explains his difficult position with Vanyel's father. He also mentions that he knew Vanyel was shay'a'chern from the beginning, but also knew from his army service that being gay does not keep men from being courageous warriors. Vanyel accepts this and they form an uneasy friendship. The main plot focuses on how Vanyel assists young Prince Tashir Remoerdis. Vanyel and Yandes receive a psychic summons into the neighboring country of Lineas. Upon arrival, they find Tashir, who has just become a Herald, with his Companion, Leshya (nicknamed Ghost by Yfandes). Another Herald, Lores, is beating the child and attacks Ghost when he tries to interfere. He believes that Tashir is actually an evil sorcerer who has murdered his own family. Vanyel immediately stops Lores and commands him to return to Valdemar. Vanyel takes Tashir back to his own home, Forst Reach, and begins to try and discover what truly happened to Tashir's family. He then returns to Lineas, disguised as a minstrel to gather information. In Lineas magic is taboo; no one is supposed to perform it for any reason. It shares a border with Baires, a country ruled by the Mavelan, a family of mages. A treaty was signed to end the warring between the two countries, sealed by the marriage of Tashir's parents. In the treaty there exists a clause that if the royal family of Lineas dies out, the Mavelan can take over the Lineas throne, and vice versa. Vanyel meets an old servant of the Remoerdis family who tells him of Tashir's sad childhood. Tashir was physically and emotionally abused by his father and sexually abused by his mother. His mother was mentally unstable and made seductive overtures to Tashir even as a young child. Tashir looks very much like his mother's uncle Vedric, and rumor has it that he is the product of an incestuous affair between them. Returning to Forst Reach, Vanyel recruits Savil and Jervis to help. Together with Tashir, they return to Lineas, breaking through the palace's magic shields to search the place. They find a secret room which contains a "heart-stone", an ordinary rock connected with a magical "node" which is keeping a deep, dangerous fault sealed. As the stone was unstable and any magic done in the area could disturb it, a guardian family without magic was appointed. If the stone were to be removed, a giant earthquake would occur destroying Lineas, parts of the outlands, and the border of Valdemar. That was why magic was anathema in Lineas, and also why everyone in the palace was blood related member of the Remoerdis family, sworn to protect the node. In the palace Vanyel and Savil discover a "trap-spell", which targets one person and also kills the target's entire family. Tashir's family were the victims of the trap-spell, which was placed by Tashir's uncle Vedric, whose intention is to control both Lineas and Baires. (He is not, however, Tashir's father.) Vedric tries the same trick on Vanyel, who has already caught on and sent Savil away, along with Tashir, while keeping Jervis with him. In defending himself, Vanyel ends up killing most of the Baires family as well as Vedric. Now king of both Baires and Lineas, Tashir considers himself too young and inexperienced. He allows King Randale to annex the two smaller countries into Valdemar. Vanyel finally sorts out that he actually is gay, and that Shavri is just a good friend. | 3 |
Taran Wanderer | fantasy | Taran and Gurgi have returned to Caer Dallben following the events of the third chronicle, The Castle of Llyr. It is now full springtime, at least three years after The Book of Three. Taran knows that he loves Princess Eilonwy, who now resides at Dinas Rhydnant for royal education. In full springtime some weeks after return from escorting her there, he is restless and determines to know his parentage, noble or common, partly in hopes that noble birth will support a marriage proposal. Dallben the enchanter tells him nothing but gives his approval for Taran and Gurgi to travel on their own. They travel first to the Marshes of Morva to ask the witches Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch. Taran has nothing of great value to give in exchange, so Orddu merely tells him of an alternative, the Mirror of Llunet in the far east Llawgadarn Mountains will show him who he is. Taran goes next to Cantrev Cadiffor to be outfit by King Smoit for a longer journey. After a border patrol of Smoit's vassal Lord Goryon steals his horse Melynlas and Gurgi's pony, they spend the night with the farm couple Aeddan and Alarca who have lost their son and livestock. Taran would be welcome to remain and he leaves with new respect for common farmers. They recover their steeds because Melynlas will have no other rider and Goryon is relieved to escape the honorary burden of mastering him.At the neighboring stronghold of Lord Gast they meet old friend Fflewddur Fflam, who seems to return to wandering as a bard every spring. Together they go on to Caer Cadarn where Smoit does welcome them. Goryon and Gast have been feuding for years (every spring?), especially over the prize cow Cornillo. When their dispute breaks out again next day, Taran questions King Smoit's habitual resort to imprisonment and persuades Smoit to try Taran's judgment. Namely, the rival cantrev lords shall resow the fields of Aeddan, which have been ruined by battles. The prize cow shall be further compensation, although the lords shall have her calves. The remainder of their commingled herds shall be divided in half by Goryon, and Gast will choose which half to take for himself. The childless widower Smoit later offers to adopt Taran as his son, who will succeed as King of Cadiffor. Taran declines but says he will gladly accept if he discovers noble birth. Continuing eastward, they cross Ystrad. Taran's pet crow Kaw and Fflewddur's mount Llyan, a giant lion, find treasures which they bring to their masters. Kaw a polished bone the size of a toothpick, which has been stashed high in a tree. Llyan a green and yellow frog that has nearly dried to death: their old friend Doli the dwarf, whom they revive. Doli has been transformed during investigation of a deadly threat to the Fair Folk. He knows that he is not the first to disappear in animal form, for a human wizard Morda has attained power to enchant them, and to raid their underground realms. Taran and Gurgi investigate Morda's abode, followed by Fflewddur, but all are captured by his snares. After explaining himself (history, boasts, plans), Morda turns Fflewddur and Gurgi into a hare and a mouse, but fails to transform Taran. Something protects him, and he guesses from the stump of Morda's little finger that it is the polished bone. Although elderly, Morda is stronger than Taran, but his strength finally snaps the bone in desperate fury to regain it. (Morda has worn a silver crescent moon with pendant jewel on a necklace. Eilonwy has one without the jewel, and Morda prompted by Taran's recognition of the symbol of the House of Llyr has revealed the primary source of his magic. After Eilonwy was kidnapped as a child, the long search by her mother Angharad ended here, where she weakly sought shelter. Morda inherited both the amulet she wore and the empty book among her possessions. He mastered the amulet and developed its power, gave the book to a pest Glew. (The Castle of Llyr.) Morda's death restores Doli and others to their natural forms. Before parting, Taran gives the jewel from Angharad's amulet to him (returning a gift by the Fair Folk to the House of Llyr) and Doli identifies the ceremonial horn Taran wears in token of Eilonwy's pledge. It will summon the Fair Folk to his assistance, and one summons remains. Taran, Gurgi, and Fflewddur camp next with the ruffian Dorath and his band. Their hosts suspect a quest for treasure and offer guidance to Llunet, in exchange for a share. The guests try to slip away early next morning but Dorath prevents that and extracts a wager on hand-to-hand combat with Taran. He cheats and takes Taran's sword (the stake), then departs. An old shepherd Craddoc, with decrepit holdings, welcomes the companions next. From Taran's account of the mission, he welcomes Taran as his son. Fflewddur departs but Taran and Gurgi remain and labor beside him. Taran and Craddoc develop some bond, but Taran also resents the end of his dream of noble birth. During the next winter, however, Craddoc suffers a bad fall down a mountain gorge, and Taran is unable to rescue him. Near death he reveals that he knew enough of Dallben's history to pose as father and gain Taran as a son. The gorge and the weather threaten Taran too, and he finally summons the Fair Folk who are able to save only himself and Gurgi. Afterward Taran and Gurgi continue eastward, across Little Avren to the Free Commots. They stay first with lucky Llonio and his family on the banks of the river, where Taran learns that life is a net to gather what comes. Next Taran assists and learns the trades of three great craftmasters: Hevydd the smith, Dwyvach the weaver, and Annlaw the potter. They teach him that life is a forge, a loom, and a potter's wheel. He learns enough that he would be welcome to remain as assistance, but pottery alone seems to call him and he realizes to his dismay that he will never master it. He does have a new sword, new cloak, and new bowl. Driving the wares of Annlaw to Commot Ivar, he leads the poor farming village in resistance to a raid by Dorath, killing half the band at no loss of life. Annlaw tells Taran the way to the Mirror of Llunet; he knows it, but has never visited, for he knows who he is. After a short journey, Taran and Gurgi find the Mirror, a pool of water at the mouth of a cave beyond the Lake of Llunet. Taran gazes into it, and he is astonished, but Dorath interrupts, now alone. Evidently there is no treasure, so Taran and the ruffian are soon at swordpoint. His old sword shatters on his new one and Dorath flees. Taran does not pursue but returns to Annlaw Clay-Shaper. He relates that the Mirror showed his own reflection and nothing more. Cheated by Orddu? No, for he saw what he had become and all he had learned on the way. | 4 |
Thendara House | fantasy | The novel concerns the dwelling of the Darkovan Order of the Renunciates. It also concerns Magda, a Terran, who goes to Thendara House in exchange for the Free Amazon Jaelle who has become the wife of an Earthman. | 5 |
The Thief | fantasy | Gen is released from prison by the magus, the king's scholar. The magus finds Gen filthy, uncouth, and insolent, but he needs Gen’s skills as a thief. Without telling Gen where they are going, he takes him out of the city. They are joined by the magus’s two apprentices, Sophos and Ambiades, and by Pol, a soldier. The journey is dangerous, and the travelers grate on each other's nerves. The magus reveals that the object he wants Gen to steal is a precious stone called Hamaithes's Gift far far away. Gen risks death in a daring attempt to steal the stone from an almost inaccessible temple, while the entire party is pursued by the Guard of Attolia. None of the main characters is exactly what he seems to be. Gen actually works for the queen of a neighboring nation, Sophos is the heir to the throne and Ambiades is a traitor. By the end of the book, secrets are revealed, relationships adjusted, and respect among the travelers is lost and won. | 6 |
The Sweet Far Thing | fantasy | The prologue begins with two men who are searching a river in London (three years before the events of the book) for dead bodies to fence any jewelry or money left upon them. They come across the body of a girl wearing the same crescent moon amulet as Gemma’s. At Spence academy Gemma struggles to open the realms. Pressure builds on her as her friends plot to use her magic to alter the courses of their lives, such as Ann trying to counteract her plainess with the magic in hopes of seducing Tom or joining the theatre. But after much struggling Gemma finds a backdoor-like entry into the realms. By touching a mysterious stone unearthed during the reconstruction of the east wing of Spence Gemma can enter the realms. There Gemma, Felicity, and Ann find Pippa among a group of girls she claims to have saved from entering the Winterlands. Pippa leads the group of girls and attempts to teach them manners in a similar fashion that she was taught at Spence, even though Pippa obviously didn't pick many of these up herself. Pippa asks Gemma to help her cross the river in the realms into the afterlife, but finds that she cannot because she has become a creature of the realms. Pippa asks Gemma to give her some magic and feeling guilty, she does. After a three month absence, Kartik finds Gemma at Spence Academy to tell her that their destinies should not cross again. Gemma angrily stomps off, trying to appear aloof. A later meeting at a boat dock in London crushes Gemma's hope that they could be together. Kartik enlists as a sailor for the HMS Orlando to escape from Gemma and the Rakshana. He refuses to reveal to Gemma the details of his business with the Rakshana or what he will do beyond being a sailor. Despite his coldness, Gemma continues to long for his touch. While waiting for his boat to come in, Kartik lives with the gypsies and helps Gemma arrange a meeting with the Rakshana. The topic of the meeting was her brother Tom, whom the Rakshana was trying to enlist in the club. The meeting was cut short by Mr. Fowlson, a loyal Rakshana member, who unsuccessfully tried to capture Kartik and Gemma. The cost for their safe escape was Mr. Fowlson's discovery that Gemma did indeed have the magic, unlike what she had said to him previously. This incidents ends with Kartik and Gemma leaving the docks after a kiss. At the peak of her tolerance, Gemma finally gave in to her visions and tried to follow the clues left by a mysterious girl in a lavender dress. This leads her to an illusionist who informs Gemma that this girl lived at Spence during her mother's time there. On a whim, Gemma and her troupe of girls venture into the Winterlands to find The Tree of All Souls. When they find it, they all place their hands upon its bark and see different 'visions'- their dreams coming true before their eyes. Gemma alone had a talk with Eugenia Spence who informed her more of the girl in the lavender dress. She also learns that the girl had in possession a dagger which posed a threat to the Winterland creatures. With their affection for each other growing, Kartik finally asks Gemma if she can take him into the realms to see his brother. Once there, they go to into the Cave of Sighs where they make love in each other's dreams. Gemma then offers Kartik a bit of her magic and he uses it simply to kiss her. Afterwards, Kartik finds his brother and is upset by what has become of him, he leaves the realms without the peace he'd hoped to find. Felicity and Ann grow angry with Gemma when she refuses to bring them into the Realms, but since Gemma has broken the seal between the two worlds they soon discover they no longer need her and they cross over by themselves. Gemma panics for her friends are unaware of the war that is breaking out amongst the creatures and, fearing for their safety, follows them into the Realms. She finds them visiting Pippa, whose power has grown but whose sanity is very quickly waning. Pippa attempts to kill Gemma when she refuses to believe that she is 'the chosen one'. Felicity attempts to stop her but Pippa pushes her away in her rage, Felicity is taken aback. When Pippa sees what she's done to her friend she apologizes and asks Felicity to stay with her forever, offering her berries that would doom Felicity into a half-life in the realms. The true relationship between the two is revealed when they share a kiss, but Felicity ultimately refuses the berries and leaves in tears. Time begins to run out for Gemma as creatures of the Realms' patience wears thin. With the seal broken between the two worlds, the creatures run loose, crossing back and forth between the Realms and reality. They attempt to capture Gemma while she is at Spence in order to sacrifice her to the Tree of All Souls. Gemma and her troupe (Kartik, Fowlson, Ms. McCleethy, Ann, and Felicity) quickly cross over into the Realms while the war is raging between the creatures. They are waylaid by Pippa, who sacrifices Ms. McCleethy in Pippa's castle in the Borderlands. Soon after, the castle collapses with Pippa inside. The group of girls following Pippa join Gemma's group to fight the Winterlands. They make their way to the tree where Gemma is stabbed by Amar. Kartik quickly offers himself to the Tree of All Souls in order to save Gemma and they share one last kiss before he is absorbed into the Tree. Gemma then gives her magic back to the land, recreating the barrier between the two worlds, and returns home, heartbroken. After her debut, Gemma moves to America to live independently and attend University. In her dreams, she still sees Kartik where he waits for her in the realms on the other side of the river. | 7 |
Mistborn: The Final Empire | fantasy | In Luthadel, the capital city of the Final Empire, Vin, a scrawny street urchin, is recruited by a thieving group led by Kelsier, the Survivor of the pits of Hathsin, a place where atium, the most valuable metal in the world, is mined. He has a plan to steal the rumored atium stash from the Lord Ruler’s treasury and to free the oppressed Skaa in the process. When Vin learns that she is a Mistborn – a powerful Allomancer who can burn metals to gain special abilities (just like Kelsier) she becomes part of this scheme. Kelsier's thieving crew has other members: there are Misting – Ham, a Thug who can burn pewter, Breeze, a Soother who can burn brass, Clubs, a Smoker who burns Copper and Spook, a Tineye burning tin – and Dockson who has no special abilities but is a great administrator. Together they start working on a plan to overthrow the regime established by the evil Lord Ruler a thousand years ago. Marsh, Kelsier’s brother, infiltrates the Steel Ministry and Vin acts as Valette, cousin of Lord Renoux, to spy out what the nobility is doing. Vin falls in love with Elend Venture, the son of Lord Venture, an heir to House Venture. Kelsier manages to start a House War by assassinating powerful nobles, and Dockson, Ham and Breeze manage to recruit some seven thousand soldiers with which to attack the Luthadel garrison. However, Yeden, the man who originally hired the crew for the job, makes a foolish move leaving the army exposed and majority of it gets slaughtered. The rest covertly moves to Luthadel. House Renoux, the front for getting weapons, is compromised and Lord Renoux with his servants is to be executed. Kelsier and some of the remaining soldiers fight to save them, managing to free most of them. Kelsier is killed in the process, taking a Steel Inquisitor with him. Lord Renoux, who turns out to be a Kandra, a creature capable of changing its body-shape, consumes Kelsier’s body and is able to appear as an apparition to the Skaa. The whole population of Luthadel rises and defeats the garrison and the remaining noble houses. Meanwhile, Vin, armed with the eleventh metal, malatium, goes to the imperial palace, Kredik Shaw, to kill the Lord Ruler. She is captured by Kar, a brutal Steel Inquisitor and left in a cell to be tortured. Sazed, her faithful Terrisman servant, comes to her rescue. Being a Feruchemist, he manages to break his chains by strength stored in a piece of metal in his stomach, and then helps Vin to recover her possessions and a vial of metals. Vin attacks the Lord Ruler and Marsh, thought to be dead by the crew, rushes to aid her as a Steel Inquisitor. In a fierce fight Vin manages to separate the Lord Ruler from his bracelets that keep him from aging, thus making him age rapidly. Vin then rams a spear through the Lord Ruler’s heart. The Final Empire collapses. | 8 |
The Sorcerer's Ship | fantasy | A man named Gene finds himself cast into a new world by a powerful godlike being. Gene has been changed in such a way that he has every talent needed to survive this new world, including the ability to understand the language of its inhabitants. Gene is rescued from the seemingly endless oceans of this new world by a passing ship that is similar to the looks of a Viking galley. Aboard the ship he makes himself useful as best he can while meeting new friends and enemies. Eventually they come to an island where a mysterious creature who some see as a friend, and some see as an enemy, joins them aboard their ship to help deal with the threat of war from their neighboring kingdom known as Koph. The creature, utilizing his sorcerer-like abilities is employed by the other country known as Nanich to help aid them in the war, but will the sorcerer, and his magic be enough to save the land of Nanich from being overrun by Koph? | 9 |
Amber and Iron | fantasy | Rhys Mason, former monk of Majere, begins the novel trying to escape death knight Auseric Krell. Rhys, having retrieved the soul of the Dark Knight Ariakan imprisoned by Chemosh in a khas piece, hands the piece over to Zeboim. She sends Rhys and Nightshade back to Solace. Once there, the sheriff, Gerard, seeks others for counsel about the mounting Beloved situation. Rhys agrees with Gerard to stay in Solace and help in any way possible. After an encounter with a Beloved, Rhys, Nightshade, and Atta (Rhys' dog) head after the creature, eventually ending up in New Port. Here, Rhys finally finds his brother Lleu, a Beloved introduced in the first Dark Disciple novel, who he has been tracking ever since. Elsewhere, Mina has been imprisoned in a new tower of magic in Istar, at the bottom of the Blood Sea. It has been newly erected by the dark god of magic, Nuitari. At a Conclave of Wizards meeting, Nuitari reveals to his cousins about his tower. The three agree to erect three Towers of High Sorcery again, one for each of them. Back in the Tower, Mina begins her task set before her by Chemosh of searching for the Solia Febalas (Hall of Sacrilege). Once she has found it, she is unable to take anything for Chemosh because she becomes so overwhelmed by the god-presence in the Hall. Finally, Nuitari returns and gives Mina over to Zeboim who had begun an assault upon the Tower. Zeboim takes Mina first to New Port where Rhys and his brother are at to have them meet. While there, Mina has a vision of Rhys and insists he knows the truth about her. Rhys' brother also pleads with Mina to take his life as a Beloved because he wishes it no longer. Before Mina can answer, Zeboim gives her back to Chemosh, who is irate with Mina for not getting any artifacts for him. He has been growing increasingly agitated that the Beloved will only follow her command and resist any by him or Krell. Rhys again tails his brother and finally confronts him again along with New Port authority when his brother tries to kill a woman. The woman's child attacks the Beloved on behalf of his mother and the Beloved is instantly destroyed, leaving the child in a coma-like state. Krell decides it would be in Chemosh's best interest if Krell would kill Mina, who is now being imprisoned by Chemosh. As he tries to follow through with his plan, Mina does something extraordinary; she makes him a human again. Then, because she believes Chemosh would want it, she pulls the Tower of Istar from the sea bottom and places it on top on an island in the middle of the ocean. Passing out from such exertion, the novel ends with all of the major and minor gods showing up and pondering over the nature of the unconscious Mina. Majere finally reveals that Mina is in fact a god like them, one of light, who was swayed and corrupted somehow by the Dark Queen Takhisis. | 10 |
Queen of Demons | fantasy | In the introduction, the current King of the Isles, Valence III, and his wizard, Silyon, make a deal with the Beast to regain control of his kingdom from his wife, the Queen. Meanwhile, the main characters are in Erdin where they discover the dead remains of a Scaled Man on their ship, which Tenoctris sees as a bad omen. With the exception of Ilna, they book passage on the ship Lady of Mercy, bound for the Isle of Valles, where Garric intends to declare himself King of the Isles. Before they leave, Ilna gives Liane a sash that she has woven which will notify her if Liane is ever in trouble. Before the ship reaches Valles, a lens appears in the sky and swallows the ship, causing it to wreck. Garric, Liane, and Tenoctris awake, following the shipwreck, in the land of the Ersa. They eventually make it back to their own world. There they are picked up by a hunting party, led by the noble, Lord Royhas. Rather than dispose of Garric, as he was ordered to, Royhas takes Garric back into the city and holds a council with several other powerful nobles. They express their loyalty to the King but ask Garric’s help in overthrowing the Queen. Tenoctris uses a mirror to spy on the Queen and discovers that she is a demon. Garric plans an attack on the mansion. When they’ve passed all the Queen’s safeguards, Garric uses iron to destroy the Queen’s gate to another world, but the she has already escaped. Following this, Garric appoints himself Prince Regent under King Valence III and demands the allegiance of the Lords who backed him in the revolt. Meanwhile Admiral Nitker, of the Royal Navy, has declared himself the new Lord of the Isles. Garric promises to destroy Admiral Nitkers and the rebellious navy if they don’t return to the King’s service. Garric goes before King Valence III and receives his blessing as Prince Regent. Tenoctris discovers that the Queen’s mansion was a nexus of portals to many different worlds, one of which led to the Beast. Cashel uses his quarterstaff to escape the lens that swallowed the ship and saves Sharina as well. They are rescued by Folquin, King of the nearest Isle, and his two wizards, Halphemos and Cerix. Folquin then seeks to marry Sharina. When Halphemos' talking ape, Zahag, throws a fit during a chess game with Liane, Cashel attempts to settle him down. Halphemos, casts a spell to immobilize the ape but the wizardess Silya secretly interferes and sends them to another world. Folquin immediately has Halphemos arrested. Cashel awakes after the transportation on a parallel island of Pandah. He and Zahag meet the lady Sosia who asks Cashel to save her daughter, Aria, who is imprisoned by a wizard Ilmed and the Scaled Men who serve him. Cashel and Zahag succeed in rescuing the princess Aria, but she is less than thrilled. They flee through several magical portals, eventually ending up back on the Isle of Pandah. After they defeat the wizardess Silya, Princess Aria (who has decided to marry Folquin) arranges a boat to help Cashel find Sharina. They arrive in Valles where they run into Ilna, Cerix, and Halphemos and then make their way to the palace where they find Garric, Liane, and Tenoctris. Sharina and Cerix break Halphemos out of prison and then they go in search of Ilna for help in recovering Cashel. But a wizard with the appearance and voice of Nonnus, Sharina’s one-time protector, shows up and tricks her into leaving with him on another ship. Cerix and Halphemos to continue on their way to find Ilna. Sharina eventually discovers the treachery and jumps ship. She is rescued by a large man, named Hanno, who takes her to his home on the Isle of Bight. A phantasm and a group of Hairy Men sent by the Queen attack Hanno and Sharina, but they defeat them. They later discover that the Hairy Men have destroyed Hanno’s boat. While searching for a way off the island, the false Nonnus and his crew discover Sharina. The spirit of the true Nonnus comes to her, possesses her body temporarily, and destroys her pursuers. She and Hanno make their way to the volcano at the center of the island and climb to the top. From there they can see that the Hairy Men, led by phantasms, are building boats so they can attack Ornifal. One of the phantasms captures Sharina and conveys her to the Queen. The Queen shows Sharina images of her friends (and an image of the Hairy Men on their way to Valles) and implies that she controls their fates through a chess board. The Queen tells Sharina that she intends to use her to find the Throne of Malkar. Sharina watches as the fleet of Hairy Men reaches the Royal Navy and destroys it, but Admiral Nitkers escapes. When the Queen threatens to send a giant ammonite against Cashel, Sharina agrees to help her. Ilna begins setting up shop in Erdin, but this time with the intent to good rather than evil. Using her craft she begins improving the conditions of the city. But Cerix and Halphemos eventually find her and seek her help in recovering her brother Cashel. Cerix realizes that many of Ilna’s patterns contain writings in the Old Script—even though she can’t read or write. She agrees to go with them. Before they can leave Erdin, though, they are captured by a band of Scaled Men. They load Ilna onto a ship and travel through a portal. Cerix and Halphemos find her sash, which she dropped during her tussle with the Scaled Men. It reveals a spell that takes them into a desert world. When Ilna’s captors are attacked by Flyers, Ilna leaps through a portal opened by Cerix and Halphemos. Just as they seem to be succumbing to the desert, The People of Beauty arrive and rescue them. Ilna convinces the People of Beauty transport them to the city of Divers on Third Atara. They seek out the Baron Robilard. In his palace, Halphemos gets into trouble and Baron Robilard has him arrested. Ilna goes to Robilard to seek Halphemos’ release. Robilard makes demands, which Ilna fulfills, though to unfavorable results. A humbled Robilard frees Halphemos and offers to personally escort them to Valles. When they get there, Ilna is relieved when she finally finds Cashel. They make their way to the castle where they find Garric, Liane, and Tenoctris. When all except Sharina have been reunited, they set out to find the lair of the Beast. Admiral Nitkers arrives in Valles to warn them of the oncoming invasion of Hairy Men. Garric immediately orders preparations for battle. The Queen forces Sharina to participate in a spell which is meant to reveal the Throne of Malkar. Instead they learn that it is Garric, not Sharina, that the Queen needs. In the castle, the wizard Silyon and Admiral Nitker kidnap Liane and turn her over to the Beast, fifty meters down a well. At this point Ilna tears her sash and it reveals how to rescue Liane, by giving the key words (in the Old Script) needed to enter its lair. Garric enters the well and Ilna, Cerix, and Halphemos follow him down. The Beast attacks them, revealing that the Yellow King had imprisoned it there long ago and that it had lured them there to release it from its prison. It devours Halphemos and a grieving Cerix finishes the incantation so that the Beast can’t escape. Instead it dissolves into fiery lava, unable to die because of its immortality, endlessly burning. Meanwhile, Tenoctris opens up the Queen’s escape portal and Cashel and Zahag travel through it to where she is holding Sharina captive. He uses his staff to destroy the Queen and rescue Sharina. They meet back up with Tenoctris. A little later, Ilna, Cerix, Garric, and Liane arrive, escaping from the Beast’s lair. Tenoctris and Cashel confiscate the Queen’s chessboard. Tenoctris notes that the Queen herself was a pawn on the board, just like those she tried to manipulate. She and Cashel also notice the appearance of a new piece on the board—representing an island-sized black ammonite that an unknown wizard has just called up from the depths of the ocean. | 11 |
Master Alvin | fantasy | This book has yet to be published. At this time, the expected release date is unknown. | 12 |
The Woman Who Rides Like a Man | fantasy | The third book sees Alanna through her journey through the Bazhir desert, where she and her manservant Coram are adopted by the Bloody Hawk tribe. During their stay, Alanna duels with the Bloody Hawk shaman, a crazed wizard who is convinced Alanna is evil, and kills him. According to Bazhir law she must be the tribe's shaman until she trains a new one to replace her or someone kills her and takes her place. Alanna selects three Gifted children of the tribe, Ishak, Kara, and Kourrem, and begins to train them in magic. She also inherits the former shaman's sword, with a crystal on the hilt, symbols that remind her of the dead sorcerer Duke Roger, and a terrifying amount of dark power. She keeps it because her old sword, Lightning, broke during a battle. She also teaches the traditional Bazhir to slowly lose some of their prejudice against women. During their training, Alanna sees glimpses of the shamans the girls will become, but the boy, Ishak, constantly attempts stronger, darker sorcery. In a sudden encounter, Ishak steals the crystal sword from Alanna and tries to master its power, but it consumes him and kills him. Alanna continues to train Kara and Kourrem. Prince Jonathan and Sir Myles of Olau make a visit to the Bloody Hawk tribe, where Jonathan and Alanna renew their love affair and spend a passionate night together. When Jonathan asks her to marry him, Alanna is shocked and asks for time to think it over. During their stay, Jonathan is adopted by the tribe and takes up training under the Voice of the Tribes, an old friend of Alanna's and Jonathan's. When the Voice dies, Jonathan is made the new Voice, thus acting as a sacred link between all the Bazhir tribes. This status will help unite northerners and southerners when he eventually becomes King of Tortall. Also, Myles adopts Alanna as his daughter and heir to his lands. Jonathan, tired from the Rite of the Voice, wants to go home soon and assumes that Alanna will marry him though she has asked for time to think about it, and when he begins to make arrangements for her to return to Corus with him, they argue. She refuses to marry him, and he wounds her deeply by saying he'd rather marry a woman who knows how to act like a woman. Jonathan and Myles leave, and Alanna continues her training of Kourrem and Kara, who eventually pass the required tests and are made shamans for the tribe, Kourrem being the head shaman. Alanna and Coram travel to Port Caynn to visit George Cooper, who is putting down a Rogue rebellion there. While Coram woos George's cousin Rispah, Alanna begins a love affair with George, who has loved her for years, but when he wants her to return to Corus with him, she refuses to go with him. The two split, and Coram accompanies Alanna back to the desert, where the Bloody Hawk chief asks her to check on a sorceress, a friend of his, whom he has been having bad dreams about. When Alanna and Coram arrive at the sorceress' drought-stricken village, they see the starved, crazed villagers burning the sorceress, thinking the sacrifice will please the gods and provide them food. Alanna and Coram rescue her, but not in time, and the sorceress dies after leaving Alanna with a scroll to give to the Bloody Hawk chief. The chief tells them it is a map to the Dominion Jewel, a legendary stone that provides untold powers in the hands of Gifted or unGifted rulers. Alanna and Coram decide to go after it. | 13 |
The Black Prism | fantasy | The book is set in a world where colour is the foundation for all magic. Sixteen years after a war that rocked the world, the Prism receives a note from a lady named Lina, first telling him of the existence of and then telling him to come and get his now 15 year old son, a bastard child that had been conceived while he was betrothed to Karris White Oak, a member of the most elite bodyguard force, the Blackguard. The White sends Karris to Garriston, Tyrea's capital, to spy on its Satrap's army. She gives Karris a note informing her of Gavin's unfaithfulness, instructing her to not read it until after leaving the Chromeria (the center of magical learning). She sends Gavin to kill a color wight somewhere else, attempting to keep the two separated until well after Karris learned the news. However, Gavin chooses to bring Karris to Garriston himself before she can read the note, using a mode of transportation no one else even believes possible: magically-aided flight across the ocean. This allows them to enter Tyrea in hours, rather than the month or so expected otherwise. As they draw closer, Karris sees smoke, and directs them to the former town of Rekton, which has been burned to the ground. They are just in time to save a teenager from being executed, killing several of the Satrap's personal bodyguard in the process, at which point the Prism is confronted by the irate Satrap himself, self-styled King Garadul. He ordered the town to be wiped out as an example, due to their refusal to put up and pay levies. King Garadul plans to continue the march of his armies to Garriston. Due to Tyrea's role during the war, Tyreans are treated less respectfully, have no color representative on the council and have had their capital under a rotating occupation from the other Satrapies. Thus, Garadul considers himself king, not Satrap, and Garriston part of his land he intends to reclaim. The child is revealed to be none other than Gavin's bastard child, Kip. There follows some debate, which results in Kip and the Prism being allowed to leave together, though not without the exchange of several death threats. Before this occurs, however, the king takes a box from Kip which he claims was stolen from him. The box contains a white dagger given to Kip by his dying mother, who—through curses and abuse—made him promise to kill the man responsible. Away from all this, Karris reads the note given to her by the White, and is angered by Gavin's betrayal, his lies about it when breaking their engagement, and the White's attempts to manipulate her into forgiving him. Because of this, she ultimately refuses Gavin's offer of assistance the rest of the way to Garriston, opting to explore Rekton while Gavin brings Kip back to the Chromeria. She meets Corvan Danavis, Kip's tutor and a former general of Dazen Guile's army. She is eventually captured by king Garadul, while Corvan continues to Garriston. While Kip is entered into the Chromeria, shadowed by the Blackguard commander Ironfist, the Prism kills the color wight the White referred to. Before dying, the wight tells the Prism that Dazen should have won the war. Paranoid, Gavin returns quickly to the Chromeria to check on his brother, whom he has secretly imprisoned in a cell in which nothing but blue luxin can be drafted. It is then revealed that the Prism is in fact Dazen, having stolen his older brother Gavin's identity after the final battle of the war. When Dazen became Gavin after the war, he chose to break off Gavin's previous betrothal to Karis despite his own feelings, truthfully denying any affairs. Pressured by the White to teach a class of superviolets, the prism meets Aliviana Liv Danavis, Corvan's daughter and the only other person in the Chromeria from Rekton. Her tuition is paid by a sponsor from the Ruthgari Satrap, the sister of the current governor of Garriston. Her sponsor repeatedly blackmails her into spying on the Prism for Ruthgar, though her words and the lengths of cruelty she is willing to pursue to keep her hold suggest it is more a personal vendetta than any specific order. Knowing none of this, the Prism gives Liv official recognition of her bichrome nature (her second color was deemed too expensive to invest in by her contract-holder), in exchange for her teaching Kip the basics of drafting. While Kip and Liv catch up, the Prism meets with his father, Andross Guile, to speak about Tyrea. When he mentions the box Garadul took from Kip, Andross immediately asks if it is "the white luxin," a supposedly mythical substance. His brother Gavin was aware of it as well, and Andross—not knowing Dazen isn't Gavin—assumes he knows what it is. Gavin can't ask, lest his disguise be discovered. Andross Guile orders his son to defeat Garadul's armies, but at all costs retrieve the dagger. Kip, Liv, the Prism and Ironfist leave for Tyrea to defend Garriston from Garadul's armies. Corvan reaches Garriston at about this time, and agrees to be Dazen's general again. Despite their friendship in reality, they must both pretend to hate and distrust each other deeply. Liv questions her father about it, but he refuses to tell her the truth. She assumes the Prism is blackmailing him with her life, and silently vows to make him pay. Liv and Kip run away to free Karris from Garadul's captivity. Ironfist leaves a few hours later, to see to their survival. Liv infiltrates successfully, while Kip is recognized and captured, though not before drafting sub-red for the first time. Karris, meanwhile, is taken to meet Lord Omnichrome, a color wight who heads Garadul's drafters. She recognizes him as her brother Koios, thought killed by Dazen in overzealous self-defense before the war. Ironfist helps Karris and Kip escape, and they both go after Garadul directly. Kip sees Lord Omnichrome give Zymun (a red drafter Kip knows from Rekton's burning) his mother's rosewood case, but Kip decides to help Karris. Playing on her disgust with the Prism and Chromeria, Omnichrome persuades Liv to join his cause in return for aiding Kip and Karris. Omnichrome intends for Garadul to die, so Corvan and Dazen try to save him. They are unsuccessful; Kip kills him in a rage before he can be stopped. Kip, Karris and Corvan retreat to the docks, along with the Prism. Kip saves Ironfist's life before chasing the ship that's already left the dock. As Kip runs across the water, he sees Zymun attempting to stab the Prism from behind with the white luxin dagger, and tackles him off the ship. He retrieves the box and leaves Zymun for the sharks before escaping with the Prism's ship. The Prism gives Kip the case, thinking the dagger lost. In it, Kip finds a note from his mother, telling him to kill the man who raped her, and that she loves him. Kip discovers that one of the clear diamond-like stones on the dagger's handle is now a sapphire-colored stone. At about this time, Gavin escapes from his blue luxin prison after nearly killing himself, only to find himself in an identical green luxin prison. The book ends as Dazen discovers that he can no longer draft blue. | 14 |
Always Coming Home | fantasy | The book weaves around the story of a Kesh woman called Stone Telling, who lived for years with her father's people—the Dayao or Condor people, whose society is rigid, patriarchal, hierarchical and militarily expansionist. The story fills less than a third of the book, with the rest being a mixture of Kesh cultural lore (including poetry, prose of various kinds, mythos, rituals, and recipes), essays on Kesh culture, and the musings of the narrator, "Pandora". Some editions of the book were accompanied by a tape of Kesh music and poetry. Pandora describes the book as a protest against contemporary civilization, which the Kesh call "the Sickness of Man". Pandora muses that one key difference is that the Kesh have solved the problem of overpopulation—there are many fewer of them than there are of us. They use such inventions of civilization as writing, steel, guns, electricity, trains, and a computer network (see below). However, unlike most neighboring societies, they reject government, a non-laboring caste, expansion of population or territory, disbelief in what we consider supernatural, and human domination of the natural environment. They blend millennia of human economic culture by combining aspects of hunter-gatherer, agriculture, and industry, but reject cities; indeed, what they call towns would count as villages now. | 15 |
Dragon Rider | fantasy | As the novel begins, a dragon clan receives word from a rat named Rosa that humans are going to flood their valley. In frightened disbelief, most of the dragons refuse to accept this news and decide to either hide, fight, or take flight to find safe refuge somewhere else. Slatebeard, the oldest and wisest dragon in the valley, tells the dragons of a great valley he once inhabited as a child, the Rim of Heaven. He believes this to be one of the last places on Earth for the dragons to hide from humans, and urges them to seek it. Firedrake alone heeds Slatebeard's message and sets off with Sorrel, his brownie companion, to find it, but not before Slatebeard warns him to "beware the Golden One". Rosa Graytail suggests before their departure that they should see her cousin, Gilbert Graytail, to pick up a map. They do so, but since Gilbert resides in a large city, Firedrake is forced to hide in an abandoned building. There they meet Ben, an orphaned human boy. Ben is astonished but not terrified by the dragon and quickly learns of his plan. He offers to aid Sorrel in her trek to the mapmaker's home. Though reluctant to be helped by one of her perceived enemies, Sorrel agrees and accepts the company of the boy. Sorrel reaches Gilbert's abode only to discover that he has been unable to, despite constant efforts, to locate the Rim of Heaven. He does mention that the pair's queries are similar to those of some mysterious ravens who visited him recently. Returning to the warehouse with a general world-map, Sorrel and Ben, who they decided must stay, gather up Firedrake and set out from the city. Becoming lost, they encounter a group of dwarves. One of them, named Gravelbeard, conveys news of the party's presence to Nettlebrand, a golden-scaled, draconoid occupying a nearby castle. Nettlebrand, whose only passion is hunting and killing weaker silver dragons, excitedly sets his armor-cleaner, a tiny "homunculus", called Twigleg to spy on Firedrake and his party in the hope that they will lead him to other dragons. Firedrake, Sorrel, and Ben fly onward, but are soon swept off course, arriving on the shore of Egypt. Encountering a basilisk and a band of zealous archaeologists, the party eventually befriends a kindly scientist named Professor Greenbloom. Sorrel is initially suspicious but soon warms up to him. Professor Greenbloom gives Ben one of two freezing-cold metallic scales, which unknown to the humans, once belonged to Nettlebrand. Twigleg relays the news to Nettlebrand, who immediately makes his way to the dig site to find Professor Greenbloom and recover the scales. Meanwhile, the three searchers set out on the advice of the professor to seek the advice of a Djinn, whose thousand eyes can see everything. Ben succeeds in fulfilling the Djinn's arcane requirements with the question: "Where does the Rim of Heaven lie?" The answer to the question appears in two of the Djinn's thousand eyes; it is a path, marked by the Indus River, by a mountain range, and by a monastery. Beyond this monastery is the Rim of Heaven. In the monastery, Ben must break the moonlight on the stone dragon's head. The Djinn also gives them a prophecy: "When that day comes, twenty fingers will point the way to the Rim of Heaven, and silver will be worth more than gold." Meanwhile, Nettlebrand tracks down Greenbloom, who manages to escape him. Twigleg is discovered but is allowed to stay due to his almost-perfect ability to understand and translate any language. He has been grown very attached to Ben, and he begins relaying false information to his master. While flying over the ocean, a lunar eclipse occurs and Firedrake (who lives off of moonlight), cannot fly. He falls and lands on the back of an initially frightening but amiable sea serpent. She agrees to take the friends to Pakistan, where they will rendezvous with a Dracologist, Zubeida Ghalib. She alone knows a way to help Firedrake fly without moonlight. Along the way, the Serpent tells them (among other things) about Nettlebrand and his army of red-eyed Ravens. As the peaceful voyage atop Serpent-back continues, they are spotted by one of Nettlebrand's raven spies. Annoyed, Sorrel throws a stone which she has smeared her adhesive saliva. The stone sticks to the Raven's wing and sends him panicking to shore. In Pakistan, the friends enter a village where Zubeida the Dracologist is living and also find Professor Greenbloom. His wife and daughter, Guinevere, have joined him on account of the incident with Nettlebrand. Deeply worried, the two parties compare their findings, which all point to a single grim fact—Nettlebrand is hunting the Dragons who live in the Rim of Heaven, and expects Firedrake to find them for him. Dr. Ghalib reveals a legend of a Dragon Rider who once lived in the village. Ben is his reincarnation, and his destiny is to save the silver dragons from a terrible enemy. No sooner have they heard the legend than two more of Nettlebrand's ravens descend on them. Sorrel attempts the saliva trick again, with one variation: a few sparks of Dragon-fire are added to the mix. The stones do not adhere, but the Ravens are indeed changed before the eyes of all, into a few crabs. This new strangeness on the part of Nettlebrand disturbs the searchers, ultimately inducing Twigleg to reveal his original intentions as Nettlebrand's spy. He also reveals Nettlebrand's origin—an alchemist created Nettlebrand as a dragon killing machine to obtain the Dragons' horns which he used in his experiments. Twigleg, and eleven other miniature men, were made as Nettlebrand's caretakers. When the Silver Dragons went into hiding, Nettlebrand killed the alchemist and eventually ate all of Twigleg's brothers, then went hunting on his own. Zubeida shows Firedrake and company not only the tomb of the original Dragon Rider, but also a species of flower which collects moonlight in the form of dewdrops on its leaves. Having drunk this "moon-dew", Firedrake is able to fly in the daytime. The two parties split up to lose Nettlebrand's pursuit in the mountains. After a hazardous encounter with a Roc, they are forced off course and must take refuge in a valley. Nettlebrand continues tailing a boat wherein are Professor Greenbloom and his family, knowing they will lead him to Firedrake, but is seen by Guinevere. In the valley, help comes to Firedrake and company in the form of Lola Graytail, Gilbert's niece. Lola had been cartographing the country for her uncle and she guides them to the monastery. There, they are welcomed by the monks, who look on Firedrake as a bringer of good fortune. Also it is here that Ben "breaks the moonlight"--- actually a moonstone kept by the monks for this purpose. Ben shatters the moonstone and summons the aid of a four-armed brownie, named Burr-Burr-Chan. He agrees to guide Firedrake, Sorrel, Twigleg, and Ben to the Rim of Heaven. He warns, however, that Firedrake's kin have degenerated into earthbound cowards as a result of hiding from Nettlebrand. Whilst waiting for the moment of departure, the company discover Gravelbeard (who was threatened by Nettlebrand into becoming another spy) but fail to catch him. They fly on their way swiftly, with Nettlebrand in pursuit. To Twigleg's dismay, in the center of the Rim of Heaven is a great lake, a perfect gateway for Nettlebrand, who can travel by water. To make sure that he is right, Lola takes Twigleg in her miniature airplane to investigate and distract Nettlebrand, while above the others seek the Dragons' cave. There, they meet with a she-Dragon, Maia. She is the only living dragon there, as the other twenty-two have since turned into stone through lack of moonlight. Outside, Lola and Twigleg find Gravelbeard. In the struggle that follows, the Dwarf's hat (which functions as an altitude compensator), is taken by Twigleg. Promptly Gravelbeard is struck with mountain sickness, allowing himself to be taken a prisoner. Nettlebrand, who now knows their location, is coming. No one knows how they could ever stop him since he is twenty times as strong as one dragon as well as immune to other dragons' firepower. In disgust, Sorrel spits on the golden scale which the Professor gave to Ben. Inspired by his success with the Ravens, Firedrake breathes fire on it and reduces it to gold paint. Twigleg comes up with a plan. He frees Gravelbeard and sends him back to Nettlebrand. The Golden One, elated by upcoming success, orders the Dwarf to polish his armor. Unfortunately for Nettlebrand, the armor polish has been replaced with Brownie spit. Nettlebrand enters the cave, and is at once dive-bombed by Firedrake, Maia, and Lola in her plane. At last, the Dragons come together and set Nettlebrand afire. The Brownie spit reacts at once, dissolving Nettlebrand's armor and weakening him. He melts to reveal nothing but a toad underneath. As the company stare in wonder at this transformation, Gravelbeard enters. He has seen the marvelous gemstones and rock formations in the cave, and wishes to enhance them with his own skill, revealing that doing so will bring the petrified dragons back to life. Within a few days, all the silver dragons are awakened again. Firedrake and Maia fly with Sorrel and Burr-Burr-Chan to bring the other members of their species back home. Ben and Twigleg go to live with Professor Greenbloom and his family. Two months later, news reaches the humans that Firedrake has convinced the silver dragons to come with him to the Rim of Heaven. Eager to see their friends again, Ben and Guinevere occupy their time with other investigations of "imaginary" creatures until they can visit the silver dragons again. | 16 |
Darkwalker on Moonshae | fantasy | The novel and its trilogy use the Moonshae Isles as its setting. Kazgoroth, the Beast, has come into the world to destroy the power of the Earthmother. Changing its shape as needs be, the Beast goes across the island of Gwynneth, corrupting everything in its way. Its destination is a large gathering of Northmen raiders at Oman's Isle, in the middle of the Moonshaes, where they are preparing an assault on the kingdom of Corwell. The Northmen don't realize yet that this is going to be more than just a plundering raid. They don't know that their leader isn't King Thelgaar Ironhand, but the Beast, who has killed the king and assumed his shape. Meanwhile, the Earthmother, aware of the danger and hurting from the corruption brought to the land, her body, by the vile presence of the Beast, awakes her children - the Leviathan, the Pack, and Kamerynn, the Unicorn. They will try to stop Kazgoroth in different ways, but that won't be enough. At Caer Corwell, the seat of the king of Corwell, rumour brings word of war coming to the kingdom. Preparation is under way, but the Ffolk don't know where the enemy will strike. It is up to Tristan to organize the Ffolk against this both human and demonic threat. In his fight against the odds, helped by Robyn, he will grow into the responsible leader that should inherit his father's kingdom. | 17 |
Valiant : A Modern Tale of Faerie | fantasy | The book follows the life of runaway Valerie Russell in New York. Valerie is the child of a single mother and is quite tomboyish. At the start of the novel, Val attends high school, is a lacrosse player, and is best friends with the eccentric lesbian-identified Ruth. Val discovers her boyfriend, Tom, and her mother are having an affair. Betrayed and not sure where to go, Val runs away to New York City. She meets up with a group of teen-squatters, including Lolli (as in lollipop), Dave, and Luis. Val earns the nickname "Prince Valiant" after she helps a drag queen locate her shoe. This may be a homage to Hal Foster's comic strip, Prince Valiant or Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur. Though she earns the trust of the rest of the group, Luis remains wary of Val. She soon learns about the group's contact with a troll, Ravus. He lives beneath a bridge, a reference to the traditional fairy tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Ravus also makes 'Never' that faeries in exile use so their bodies can be resistant towards iron. These exiles are dispersed throughout the city, and Dave and Luis must deliver the glamour to them. 'Never', according to the novel, can be used as a drug by humans. When used, humans are given magic for a short period of time. It's highly addictive; a comparison can be drawn between it and heroin. Lolli and Dave introduce Val to taking "Nevermore," as they refer to it. Val, like the other squatters, is soon hooked. Ravus, despite Val's first impressions, is much kinder than he appears. He begins to teach her swordplay and the bond between them strengthens. Val's mounting problems and addiction take a nasty turn, and the trust Ravus has in her is threatened. Many of the Seelie court exiles are being poisoned. Ravus is blamed for the crime. When Ruth arrives, attempting to convince Val to come home, she refuses and Ruth insists she won't leave without Val. Val agrees to go home, but says she must say goodbye to Ravus before she leaves. She attempts to find him in his alcove, but he is not home, so she finds Ruth, Lolli and Luis by Belvedere Castle. Luis, all the while making sexual thenceforwards with Lolli very unexpectedly, informs her Dave has angrily stormed off, and they all fall asleep in a terrible state. In the middle of the night, Val awakes to see a tree-spirit faerie, who leads her to a festival by the water, where faeries and humans called "sweet tooths" run around freely. Ravus arrives, and delirious and half-starved, Val kisses him. He is pleased, until Mabry arrives as well, and when Val realized Mabry is the one who killed all the Fey. She tries to tell Ravus but Mabry cuts in, telling Ravus Val has been stealing his potions, and she flees as he becomes enraged. Ruth and Val go to find evidence of Mabry's murders, and they find a harp in which Mabry has strung the hair of those she's killed, including that of Tamson, Ravus' best friend and Mabry's ex-lover. When the hairs are plucked, they sing of their deaths, revealing that Mabry is responsible for Tamson's death and Ravus' exile. The girls also find Luis. The three of them come back to the other Luis and Lolli, and they realize that Dave is impersonating Luis, uncontrollably high off Never he got from Mabry after putting poison in Ravus' potions for her. Dave takes off his glamour, laughing, and falls unconscious. Ruth rushes him to the hospital as Lolli runs off, and Luis and Val rush to find Ravus so he can cure Dave. They find that Mabry has cut out Ravus' heart, and she runs off to the Unseelie Court with it. When she leaves, Val pulls back the curtains and turn Ravus to stone, and Val and Luis pursue Mabry into the Unseelie Court. She challenges Mabry to a first-blood duel for Ravus' heart with the glass sword belonging to Ravus, and after a moment's decision to never use Never again, she fights Mabry on talent alone, stabbing Mabry in the throat. She and Luis rush back to Ravus, and after placing his heart back into his chest, he instantly heals. Ravus gives Luis the tools to go heal his brother, and he and Val finally admit their love for one another. Eventually, Val decides to leave the streets and return home with Ruth. She and Ravus continually see one another, and Val says she plans to go to NY for college so she can see him. The two kiss, and Val is happy her life is back to normal, with the exception of having a faerie for a boyfriend and never being able to introduce him to her mother. Some fans have pointed out that Lolli, Dave and Luis are similar to Lutie-loo, Gristle and Spike from Tithe, respectively. Note: In the book Roiben and Kaye make appearances. Silarial and Nicnevin are referred to by Mabry. | 18 |
Yendi | fantasy | Six months after he took control of his own territory in the criminal Organization, Vlad engages in his first turf war with a rival boss. Each chapter's epigraph is a quote from its chapter. Vlad narrates this story from a point in his life before the events of Phoenix. He quickly summarizes the series of turf wars and assassinations that led him to rise in the ranks of the Organization from low-rung assassin to the boss of his own neighborhood. As the story begins, Vlad has held his territory for six uneventful months, but then he receives word that a neighboring boss, Laris, has started to move in on his territory. A turf war between Vlad and Laris erupts. Vlad receives indirect help from several of his powerful friends in the House of the Dragon, but remains one step behind the better-prepared and better-informed Laris. Vlad survives several attempts on his life, but eventually two of his bodyguards betray him and allow him to be attacked by two female assassins, a Dragaeran and an Easterner. Vlad's lieutenant had received timely warning of the attack and sent word to Vlad's friends, Morrolan and Aliera, who teleport to the scene. They kill the assassins but are unable to rescue Vlad, who is killed by the Easterner assassin. Aliera revivifies Vlad as well as the two assassins. Vlad meets the Easterner assassin, Cawti, and the two quickly fall in love. Aliera discovers that Cawti's partner, Norathar, is the former heir of House Dragon, having fallen into disgrace as a bastard some time ago. The current heir, Aliera, is looking for a way out of the position, and does a genetic test to determine the legitimacy of Norathar's claim. Vlad turns his attention back to his ongoing turf war, now with the help of Cawti. After yet another failed assassination attempt, Vlad begins to suspect that his war with Laris is only a ruse for some larger plot. After Norathar is confirmed as the legitimate heir, Vlad reasons out that the genetic test that incorrectly dubbed her a bastard was part of a plot to keep her from the throne. Further investigation suggests that Vlad's whole war with Laris has been orchestrated to get Norathar killed and to discredit Morrolan and Aliera. Vlad quickly reasons out that the Sorceress in Green, a prominent Yendi, has been working in consort with Sethra the Younger, an ambitious Dragonlord, to put a Dragon heir on the throne who will appoint Sethra as Warlord. Sethra wants to invade the Eastern Kingdoms and needs to install a sympathetic Emperor to achieve her ambitions. Sethra's namesake, Sethra Lavode, learns of her former apprentice's plans and teleports her away to deal with her personally. Morrolan, Aliera, Vlad, Cawti, and Norathar all pursue the Sorceress in Green, who leads them into a trap. Morrolan, Aliera, and Norathar fight through the Sorceress's thirty guards and magical defenses while Vlad and Cawti watch. Once most of the guards are slain, Vlad sneaks behind the Sorceress, destroys her magical wards with Spellbreaker, and threatens to kill her with a Morganti dagger if she does not give him Laris's location. She complies without hesitation. Vlad backs away and allows the battle to reach its conclusion, with Norathar killing the Sorceress. Vlad summons his enforcers and storms Laris's office, killing him without difficulty. Later, he learns that Aliera revived the Sorceress, believing that her humiliation was sufficient punishment (and also, they have used a mind probe on her and wrote down all the schemes in which she is involved). Sethra Lavode tells him how she teleported Sethra the Younger to an alternate dimension to do penance. Vlad and Cawti get engaged to be married and visit Vlad's grandfather. | 19 |
Fengshen Yanyi | fantasy | The novel is a romanticised retelling of the overthrow of King Zhou, the last ruler of the Shang Dynasty, by King Wu, who would establish the Zhou Dynasty in place of Shang. The story integrates oral and written tales of many Chinese mythological figures who are involved in the struggle as well. These figures include human heroes, immortals and various spirits (usually represented in avatar form like vixens, and pheasants, and sometimes inanimate objects such as a pipa). Bewitched by his concubine Daji, who is actually a vixen spirit in disguise as a beautiful woman, King Zhou of Shang oppresses his people and persecutes those who oppose him, including his own subjects who dare to speak up to him. King Wu of Zhou, assisted by his strategist Jiang Ziya, rallies an army to overthrow the tyrant and restore peace and order. Throughout the story, battles are waged between the kingdoms of Shang and Zhou, with both sides calling upon various supernatural beings -- deities, immortals, demons, spirits, and humans with magical abilities -- to aid them in the war. Yuanshi Tianzun bestows upon Jiang Ziya the Fengshen Bang, a list that empowers Jiang Ziya to invest the gods of Heaven. The heroes of Zhou and some of their fallen enemies from Shang are eventually endowed with heavenly ranking and essentially elevated to their roles as gods, hence the title of the novel. | 20 |
Magic Lessons | fantasy | When a golem pulls Reason into New York, she calls Danny Galeano, Jay-Tee's eighteen year old brother, for help. Danny allows Reason to say with him while she tries to trace the golem, although her feelings for him grow until she eventually sleeps with him, despite Danny continually says that it is not right. Meanwhile, Jay-Tee nearly dies while running, and Tom is forced to give her some of his magic. Reason, who is 15 finds out that she's pregnant with Danny's baby and the whole concept is greatly welcomed. Reason's mother was pregnant with Reason at 15. | 21 |
Jarka Ruus | fantasy | In the 20 years since the events chronicled in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, Grianne Ohmsford has become High Druid, or Ard Rhys, of the new Druid Council, but not without misgivings by many over her former life as the evil Ilse Witch. In a bid for power, a group of Druids led by Shadea a'Ru use unorthodox magic called "liquid night" to send Grianne out of the Four Lands and into the Demon-infested world of the Forbidding. Tagwen, Grianne's loyal Dwarf aid, sets out to restore her, seeking the aid of her brother Bek Ohmsford. Finding Bek and his wife Rue Meridian otherwise disposed, Tagwen joins forces with their son Pen, who has a supernatural ability to commune with nature. Advised by the King of the Silver River, they set out in search of the legendary Tanequil tree, which they are told can provide a means to reach Grianne in the Forbidding. They are joined by the elf Ahren Elessedil, now a Druid, and his niece Khyber (heir to the magic Elfstones), as well as the mysteriously empathic Rover girl Cinnaminson, for whom Pen develops strong feelings. Along the way, they are stalked by traitorous Druid minions and their spider-like assassin accomplice, Aphasia Wye. They manage to defeat one of the pursuing Druid airships, but at the cost of Ahren's life and Cinamminson's capture. Meanwhile, Grianne finds the Forbidding to be a dark mirror of the Four Lands. Exploring this horrific land known locally as Jarka Ruus, she encounters an enigmatic and somewhat annoying creature called Weka Dart. After defeating a dragon like creature and knocking Weka Dart out of a tree, she has a frightening encounter with the shade of Brona, the most legendary evil from the Four Lands, and Grianne is captured by a party of Demons. | 22 |
Zahrah the Windseeker | fantasy | In the northern Ooni Kingdom, fear of the unknown runs deep, and children born dada are rumored to have special powers. Thirteen-year-old Zahrah Tsami feels like a normal girl, she grows her own flora computer, has mirrors sewn onto her clothes, and stays clear of the Forbidden Greeny Jungle. But unlike other children in the village of Kirki, Zahrah was born with the telling dadalocks. Only her best friend, Dari, isn’t afraid of her, even when something unusual begins happening—something that definitely makes Zahrah different. The two friends determine to investigate, edging closer and closer to danger. When Dari's life is threatened, Zahrah must face her worst fears alone, including the very thing that makes her different. In this novel, things are not always what they seem: monkeys tell fortunes, plants offer wisdom, and a teenage girl is the only one who stands a chance at saving her best friend's life. | 23 |
Daggerspell | fantasy | Events are listed here not in chronological order, but in the order they were originally presented in the novel. ; Year 1045 The sorcerer Nevyn sees an omen indicating that a person whose Wyrd, or destiny, is intertwined with his own has been reborn, and sees the infant Jill in a vision. ; Year 1052 Jill, a seven-year-old girl who sometime has precognitive dreams, loses her mother Seryan to a fever. Because her father, Cullyn, is a mercenary soldier — known as a “silver dagger” for the weapon he carries — and visits irregularly, Jill is taken in by a local tavern owner. Cullyn arrives in Jill’s village a month later. Finding Seryan dead, he decides to take Jill with him on his wanderings, which he calls “the long road.” For seven years, Nevyn has been searching for Jill, with nothing more than luck and intuition to guide him. He finds a clue when he meets the ten-year-old lord Rhodry Maelwaedd, and sees that the boy’s destiny is linked with his and Jill’s. ; Year 643 Galrion, a prince of Deverry, has secretly begun studying dweomer. He begins to fall in love with dweomer power, and out of love with Brangwen of the Falcon clan, his betrothed. Galrion considers breaking his betrothal so that he will have more time to devote to his dweomer studies. Galrion’s father, King Adyroc, is infuriated when he discovers that his son has been studying dweomer, and puts Galrion under house arrest, though the prince escapes by a ruse. Adyroc soon finds his son and sends him into exile, taking from him all his rank, titles, and property. He even takes Galrion’s name from him, and gives him a new name, Nevyn, meaning “no one.” Adyroc also breaks Nevyn’s betrothal to Brangwen, who then falls into an incestuous relationship with her brother Gerraent, and the two promise to end their lives together when autumn comes. When Gerraent’s sworn friend, Blaen of the Boar clan, discovers the incestuous relationship, Gerraent kills him. Gerraent is in turn killed by Blaen's brother. Nevyn takes Brangwen away from the Falcon lands, but the distraught girl drowns herself. Overwhelmed by guilt and grief, Nevyn rashly swears an oath that he will not rest until he sets things right. Thunder booms from a clear sky — the Great Ones have accepted Nevyn’s oath. ; Year 1058 When Jill turns thirteen, Cullyn, who has been teaching his daughter swordcraft, buys Jill a silver dagger like his own for a birthday present. Otho, the smith who made the dagger, notices that Jill can see spirits called Wildfolk, and tells her a riddle. “If you ever find no one (nev yn), ask him what craft to take.” Some time later, Otho tells Nevyn about Jill. Unable to find her, Nevyn returns to his home province of Eldidd, where he saves the life of Rhodry Maelwaedd, earning the gratitude of his mother Lovyan, the local tieryn (an intermediate rank of nobility). Nevyn receives a prophecy about the boy — Rhodry’s destiny is somehow bound to that of the entire province. ; Year 696 Nevyn comes to Deverry province to banish an unnatural drought. Here he finds the bard Gweran (Blaen reborn), his wife Lyssa (Brangwen reborn), and a rider called Tanyc (Gerraent reborn). When Tanyc angers Gweran by his behavior towards Lyssa, Gweran takes his revenge by subterfuge. He provokes Tanyc into attacking him — but as a bard, Gweran’s life is sacrosanct. Tanyc is hanged for his crime. While this is happening, Nevyn meets Lyssa’s elder son, Aderyn. He teaches the boy a little herbcraft, and eventually takes him as his dweomer apprentice. ;Year 1062 Lovyan discovers that Rhodry has fathered a bastard child on a common-born girl, and decides to put the child into fosterage with one of her noble servitors when it is born. In the meantime, Lovyan, is having trouble with some of her vassals. A number of minor lords are sitting on the edge of rebellion over matters of succession and taxes. Lovyan’s own overlord, Rhys, the Gwerbret of Aberwyn (who is also her eldest son), makes it very clear that he won’t intervene unless she disinherits Rhodry. Cullyn, meanwhile has taken a hire guarding a caravan heading toward the kingdom’s western border to trade with the mysterious Westfolk. On the way, Jill sees the errie Loddlaen, a councilor to Lord Corbyn of Bruddlyn. At the trading camp, Jill meets Aderyn, an old Deverrian man who lives with the Westfolk. She also learns that Loddlaen is both half-human/half-Westfolk and a fugitive murderer. At the conclusion of the trading, Aderyn and several of the Westfolk accompany the caravan back to the city of Cannobaen, to begin legal proceedings against Loddlaen in Lovyan’s malover, or court. On the way to Cannobaen, the caravan is attacked by bandits, and flees to an abandoned dun fort to make their stand. Aderyn transforms himself into an owl to spy on the bandits. He discovers that they aren’t bandits at all, but warriors from several different lords, including Corbyn. Cullyn sends Jill to beg the tieryn for aid. By a stroke of luck, Jill comes across Rhodry and his entire warband on the road, in the midst of a day-long training exercise. Meanwhile, the attacking army has reached the dun. The defense is thin: two swordsmen, two archers, and six stavemen. Albaral, a man of the Westfolk, is slain, but the attackers are defeated when Rhodry and his warband arrive. | 24 |
Cats of the Clans | fantasy | In the introductory chapter, "Three Lost Travelers", the kits Mosskit, Adderkit and Blossomkit have somehow walked from StarClan to Rock's home under the earth. Rock tells the three that they did not live long enough to learn about their Clanmates. He says he will answer their questions "about the cats you left behind." Rock describes himself as "the keeper of the world beneath the one your former Clanmates walk." The remainder of the book consists of Rock's stories about each Clan, and various cats (or a group of cats) within the Clan. Rock describes major events in the cat's life, and often comments on why the cat is special or acted as he/she did. There are also stories about a few cats from the Tribe of Rushing Water, SkyClan, and BloodClan in addition to some loners and kittypets. Although Rock, as the narrator, claims neutrality, the book does not treat each Clan equally, devoting more space to ThunderClan cats and being highly critical of one of the other Clans. This is to be expected since readers get to know more of the ThunderClan cats from series than those from the other Clans. | 25 |
The Unwilling Warlord | fantasy | ~Plot outline description~ --> The Kingdom of Semma is on the verge of war but the VIII Hereditary Warlord has died. The King sent out a search party to the Hegemony of Ethshar where with the aid of magic they track down the heir to the title, the Unwilling IX Warlord Sterren. The story evolves as Sterren, along with assorted others hired to help in the war, is hauled off from his career as a low stakes gambler to Semma. One of his companions is Vond, a master Warlock who is feeling the Calling and who is seeking to get as far away from Aldagmor as he can because once a Warlock gives in to the Calling they are drawn to Aldagmor and are never seen again. Vond takes a liking to Sterren who was actually apprenticed as a Warlock for three days before being dismissed as unable to perform. Of course it is against the Guild law for any magician to practice in more than one field so Sterren was disqualified to take up any of the other studies. Not long after arriving in Semma, Vond discovers a second source of power for Warlockry and quickly becomes the most powerful magician in the Small Kingdoms. | 26 |
Keeper | fantasy | After unintentionally ruining a blue moon day by messing up her guardian's crab gumbo and breaking her favorite wooden bowl, causing a friend's ukelele to break, as well as wrecking the plants of her elderly neighbor, Keeper decides to make everything right. Taking with her seven wooden figurines of different mermaids, her dog BD, and a charm she had since she was a girl, Keeper sets out to find her mother, Meggie Marie, who has not been seen in seven years. | 27 |
Ptolemy's Gate | fantasy | The British Empire is falling apart. Many commoners are unhappy with the current government, though none of the commoners claim responsibility for the status quo. The magician's demons are being assaulted by the children's natural abilities to see and resist the demons. (All of the magicians in the government were originally commoners whose parents sold them to the government at a young age, so it is not hard to understand why they are such a heartless group of people, concerned only with power and wealth.) Some commoners advocate slow reform, while others advocate open revolt, while still others say the commoners should learn how to summon spirits of their own to combat those spirits belonging to the magicians. Ptolemy's Gate concludes with a council of surviving magicians and important commoners trying to work out a government that is beneficial to everyone. Kitty Jones eventually unearths the reason why humans and spirits are locked into the endless cycle, that humans do not understand the nature of djinni and summon them only as powerful, but dangerous, slaves, not equals. This theory is confirmed by Bartimaeus who states that his greatest master, Ptolemy, was the only human who treated his servants as equals and tried to build a bridge between djinni and humans. However, Ptolemy misguidedly believed many others would follow in his footsteps; the only other person to ever successfully cross into the Other Place was Kitty. England's domestic turmoil has taken its toll on John Mandrake. Mandrake is friendless and constantly watched by his numerous enemies. In the three years since The Golem's Eye there have been several attempts on Mandrake's life. His years as a high ranking government official have made Mandrake merciless, and he treats all of his servants cruelly, especially Bartimaeus. However, events in Ptolemy's Gate shatter Mandrake's confidence in what he has become. The transformation from Mandrake to Nathaniel is much more rapid than the one from Nathaniel to Mandrake. Nathaniel drops the name John Mandrake all together, as well as the fear of others knowing his true name, humbly telling it to Kitty, with whom he seems to have struck up a newfound friendship, and boldly proclaiming it to the spirit Nouda. With the end of Mandrake, Nathaniel becomes all that Ptolemy hoped to be. Nathaniel willingly allows Bartimaeus to share his body to combat Nouda and his army of hybrids, using Gladstone's staff, a fusion that forever bridges the gap between humans and djinn. However, at the last moment, he dismisses Bartimaeus and then sacrifices himself to destroy the spirit Nouda. This incident was similar to what Ptolemy did in the moments before he died. | 28 |
The Roots of the Mountains | fantasy | The story is set in the Burgdales, a group of small Germanic settlements in the valleys at the foot of a mountain range, and the neighboring woodlands and pastures. The area is inhabited by the interdependent Dalemen, weavers, smiths, and traders, Woodlanders hunters and carpenters, and Shepherds, respectively. Their society is challenged by disruptions from the outside world in the form of the Sons of the Wolf, the descendants of the Wolfings from the previous novel, and the invading Huns or "Dusky Men." The Sons of the Wolf, driven from their original country to the Burgdales by the Huns, continue to resist the invaders as a frontier force guarding their new home. The somewhat troubled integration of the Sons of the Wolf into the society they are protecting is told in the story of five lovers representing both peoples, four of whom eventually marry. Morris projected a sequel to The Roots of the Mountains to be called The Story of Desiderius, which was never completed. | 29 |
Dragon War | fantasy | The Boneless King captures Shimmer, Monkey, and Indigo. They manage to escape and attempt to retrieve Baldy's cauldron, in which Thorn's soul is now sealed. However the Boneless King turns the tables on them and traps them in an underground cavern beneath Egg Mountain where he was formerly imprisoned with the river poisoned and cavern sealed up. Indigo figures out that water is the exclusion to the barrier spell as the river can flow in, so transformed into ice versions of themselves, they are able to escape. Returning to the Boneless King's tomb disguised as soldiers, they find that he has finished his excavation and left. The three catch up to where the pack train is camped for the night, but are unable to bluff their way past the pickets and are forced to transform into horses. They discover that some of the guardsmen and horses have been poisoned from drinking the river water and that the pack train is transporting the stone soldiers that were found in the Boneless King's tomb. Still disguised, they accompany the pack train on its journey. On the way, mysterious gases emitted by the statues follow the pack train, arousing such resentment and fear from the population such that "the countryside was almost ready to rise in rebellion" by the time they reach the capital, Ramsgate. The pack train is nearly attacked by villagers at the capital's gates, but is saved by reinforcements. The statues are buried in a pit on the palace grounds. The three manage to follow the Boneless King disguised as guardsmen to the harbor and onto the flagship of his war fleet, necessitating a change in disguise to being sailors. Determining that Thorn is in the captain's cabin, they manage to convince the Boneless King's puppet wizard Horn to let them in, but rouse his suspicions and that of his massive white dog Snowgoose, who he had rescued from his island. Unable to retrieve Thorn in time, they transform into fleas and hide on Snowgoose's collar. Able to smell them but unable to determine where they are, Snowgoose gets so upset that the Boneless King loses patience with her and has her locked in a storeroom. They leave and return to the deck just as the fleet sets sail. Pomfret arrives after the fleet is underway to relay intelligence of the dragon army gathered at the Hundred Children, an archipelago formed from an undersea mountain chain. He also recognizes that the strange, deep sea creatures that suddenly attack the fleet are illusions cast by dragon mages, resulting in the Boneless King dispelling them. The fleet is confronted with a wall of fire as it nears the Hundred Children. As the Boneless King attempts to disperse it, Shimmer makes her move to rescue Thorn, but she and Monkey are captured. At that moment the dragon army advances towards the fleet despite counterattacks on the vanguard with a flammable liquid that can burn in water. As the Boneless King prepares to use the cauldron to boil the ocean, Shimmer and Monkey escape and leap into the sea. Along with Indigo in dragon form, they are chased by Pomfret and marines transformed into alligators. They are nearly captured while attempting to lose their pursuers within the caves of the Hundred Children which Shimmer played in when she was younger, but by using the buoyancy properties of the needleweed juice that Indigo has been carrying all this time, Pomfret and the marines are rendered helpless as they are carried to the surface. As they make their way towards the dragon army which has been forced to retreat and given 24 hours to surrender, Shimmer tries to convince Indigo to seek safety on the mainland. However Indigo adamantly refuses to go and vows to continue on with Shimmer, as Shimmer is “the only thing” she has ever loved given her rough existence, aided by Monkey’s suggestion that she may have a role in carrying out Civet’s prophecy. Catching up with the dragon army, on the way to Sambar’s palace they are met by badly injured members of Shimmer’s clan, who insist on escorting her. At the palace, Shimmer confronts her uncle, offering the dream pearl as temporary collateral for Baldy’s cauldron and better treatment of the Inland Sea dragons, and asking for help in rescuing Thorn. News is then received that the krakens have begun a large scale invasion, capturing the other forts and forges and forcing the Inland Sea dragons to flee. Sambar has a change of heart and vows to fight alongside Shimmer, who will direct the effort against the Boneless King while he handles the krakens. Indigo devises a plan to use the exotic creatures found in Sambar's larder to terrify the humans, enabling to her to exact some payback on the kitchen staff who formerly mistreated her and earning the respect of the Inland Sea dragons who help her out. After Shimmer's band of dragons is assembled, they receive intelligence on the Boneless King's dispositions from a mage named Bombax who spied on the humans in the form of a gull. It reveals that the Boneless King has erected a series of prefabricated forts on the Hundred Children, and that he is at one of the forts with Thorn and Pomfret. After Indigo observes that the defenses are oriented towards the east, Shimmer decides to use the dream pearl to cast an illusion augmented by the Grand Mage Storax's fog bank, while the other dragons hit the fleet from the west and Monkey rescues Thorn. When they are in position, Shimmer casts a great illusion of a dragon army approaching from the east, but the dream pearl physically drains her and nearly claims her life. Monkey is forced to destroy it to save her as Storax and his fellow mages create a fog illusion to mask that of the fake army. Monkey then infiltrates the fort where the Boneless King is and impersonates Pomfret, succeeding in getting the real Pomfret attacked by a second flame bird that the Boneless King had deployed. During its pursuit of Pomfret, this flame bird sails among the warships gathered in the channel, setting them ablaze and crippling the fleet. Monkey rescues Thorn just as the dragons begin their attack. They infiltrate the forts disguised as humans and disposing of the living fire bombs and sinking the remaining ships. He returns to the battle after leaving Thorn with Shimmer and Indigo, during which the unleashing of the exotic creatures of Sambar's larder on the forts proves the last straw for their garrisons, resulting in their surrenders. After it is over however, it turns out that Pomfret was able to steal Thorn back disguised as Monkey. Shimmer, still exhausted from using the dream pearl, along with Indigo and Monkey set off in pursuit. They catch up to Pomfret, who is transporting the Boneless King, Horn, and Snowgoose. He flies into Ramsgate, which has erupted in revolt, and is chased all the way to the palace. There, faced with a revolt of his own ministers, the Boneless King openly declares himself for who he is, offering greater rewards to Pomfret who throws his lot in with him. The Boneless King then unleashes the stone statues from his tomb that were buried in the palace grounds, which suddenly brought to life, begin to attack his enemies. Monkey uses clones of himself to distract them and get them to attack each other, just as the Smith and Snail Woman arrive and lend their assistance. Leaving them to deal with the statues, Monkey, Indigo and Shimmer to chase after the Boness King. Inside the palace, they realize that Thorn bears a striking resemblance to the last king before the Butcher, Emerald III, making him the crown prince. They confront the Boneless King in the throne room where they fall into an ambush, with Shimmer and Monkey getting bound with magical iron collars while Indigo is turned into a bronze statue. The Boneless King decides to send them all back to "before there was time...back to when nothing had form or shape", from which not even he himself could escape. While he casts the spell, Pomfret tries to convince Shimmer that he was right, based on the vision of him as the king of all the dragons that he as seen in the World Mirror, which was found in the Nameless One's tomb and reflects the possibilities that could have been and could be, but does not make predictions. With Monkey's help, Shimmer gets Pomfret to see that if the Boneless King rules the world, all possibilities are revealed to be a wasteland with no signs of life. As Pomfret has a change of heart, the Boneless King finishes summoning the portal to before time then turns on him and binds him. As he begins to have Shimmer dragged into the portal, Pomfret, realizing the magnitude of what he has done, with a final effort throws himself at the Boneless King, carrying them both into the portal chased by Snowgoose. The Boneless King's spells are dissipated, freeing Monkey and Shimmer and restoring Indigo. The news is broken to Lord Tower, the chancellor, that Thorn the crown prince is trapped in the cauldron. The Smith and the Snail Woman agree to help restore Thorn, taking a sample of one of the Boneless King's stone statues to study. The war between the dragons and humans over, Shimmer and her companions are later accompanied by the Inland Sea dragons and many humans from Ramsgate to River Glen, where the Inland Sea waters are boiled away with the cauldron. They then travel to the site of the Inland Sea, where its waters are poured out from the cauldron and restored. The Lord of the Flowers arrives and restores Ebony's tears, after which Indigo decides to join Shimmer's clan as she has lived among dragons for most of her life, being transformed into one by Storax. The Smith and the Snail Woman reappear with the news that they cannot fully restore Thorn to his human form, but can attempt to turn him into some form which will keep him as both part-cauldron and immortal, to which Thorn agrees, felt as a tingling when the cauldron is held. The Lord of the Flowers then reappears with Monkey's master, the wizard known as the Old Boy, who reveals that he left Thorn in the village of Amity as an infant. After he helps the Smith and the Snail Woman, Thorn is brought back in human form, but makes creaking sounds when he bends his joints. He is convinced to and agrees to assume the throne. Sambar later arrives following his victory over the krakens and bringing material aid and labor to help restore the Inland Sea. Disappointed that Thorn as the cauldron has been changed back, he accepts Thorn's pledge of friendship between the dragons and the humans. Monkey then departs the Inland Sea just before the arrival of the dragon King of the Golden Sea, from whom he had stolen his magical rod. | 30 |
Emperor Mage | fantasy | Daine is sent with a delegation that includes both Sir Gareths of Naxen, Alanna the Lioness, and Numair Salmalin, to the Emperor Mage of Carthak, in hopes that she can smooth the international relations by helping with his prized birds. All seems well in the elaborate court of the charming emperor, who continues to proclaim his innocence in stirring up troubles in Tortall and seems to truly care for his prized aviary. This soothes the nervous delegation, though the situation is complicated by Numair, who had to flee Carthak and Ozorne's ire several years before. Daine makes several friends in Carthak, including Numair's former teacher and close friend Lindhall Reed, Ozorne's heir and nephew Kaddar, and a marmoset named Zekoi. She also is reunited with the Stormwing Rikash Moonsword, who seems to bear her no significant ill will and in fact warns her several times about the trouble brewing in the empire. Despite her best efforts, she gets caught up in not only the political situation, but a religious one as well. Emperor Ozorne Muhassin Tasikhe has been neglecting the worship of the gods, primarily the chief Goddess of Carthak, the Graveyard Hag. To Daine's surprise and later chagrin, she realizes that the Graveyard Hag has given her the ability to revive dead bodies, which leads to a series of mixed episodes which includes the revival of an only partly assembled Archaeopteryx skeleton and culminates in the revival of a whole nest of dinosaur eggs and nestlings. The reanimation of the nest results in Daine killing herself and having to get forcibly revived by the Badger god. During the time she is "dead," she gets a brief image of her mother with a mysterious horned stranger. Daine fights her newly given "gift," which cannot be taken away except by the Graveyard Hag, who has supreme power in Carthak as the primary goddess. It is noted that the only one more powerful in Carthak is the Black God, god of death, but she is his daughter and he listens to her in matters involving Carthak. The Graveyard Hag urges Daine, as her vessel, to act by causing chaos with the revival of the human dead to get Emperor Ozorne to remember the gods once more. Daine is understandably disinclined to do so. During her time healing the birds, Daine realizes that the birds illness is caused by metal paint that they are eating saying that it tastes good (it contains salt as well iron) When she tells this to Ozorne, he congratulates her and gives her a drug to make her sleep in her food. Meanwhile, the Tortallan party is planning to leave Carthak, but Numair will not leave his "magelet" behind. Daine is resccued from the dungeon by Zek, who is very fascinated by keys. She then meets up with Prince Kaddar. He tells her that Ozorne had Numair killed. Daine is overcome with fury. Using her power to revive dead beings to create an army out of the hall of bones. While looking for Ozorne, she meets with Numair's ex-lover. Daine tells her that Numair is dead. Daine finds the Hyenas and transforms into one. Using their excellent sense of smell, they hunt down Ozorne. They are about to attack him when he stabs himself with the Stormwing feather given to him by Rikash. Ozorne turns into a stormwing and flies away with the rest of them. Daine turns around to see Kaddar, Lindhall, and Numair. Losing her grip on her Hyena self, Daine transforms into her human, naked self. Nuamir gives her his robe and tells her that a Simulacrum of himself was caught and "killed" by Ozorne, not the real Numair. Then, the graveyard hag comes and takes the power of reviving the dead from Daine. Four days later, Daine wakes up to find Alanna at her side. She then goes to talk to His Imperial Highness, Kaddar. He tells Daine that she can have whatever she wants for saving his life (his uncle was planning to have him accused of treason of plotting against him). Daine asks that the people who have wild magic and the emperors mutes must be released from slavery. <!-- | 31 |
Conan the Liberator | fantasy | Following the events of the story "The Treasure of Tranicos", Conan joins a conspiracy of former comrades-in-arms to overthrow Numedides, the mad and tyrannical king of Aquilonia. As commander of the rebel forces, he has the prospect of becoming king himself if they succeed, but he has not only Numedides' loyal troops, led by General Procas, to overcome, but the spells of the evil sorcerer Thulandra Thuu. Chronologically, Conan the Liberator overlaps the events of the story "Wolves Beyond the Border", and is followed by the story "The Phoenix on the Sword". | 32 |
Curse of the Mistwraith | fantasy | Born on a splinter world, Lysaer and Arithon are half-brothers raised apart in enmity. Cast through a Worldsend Gate, they arrive in Athera, the ancient world of their ancestors cloaked in the fog of the malicious Mistwraith. Found by the Fellowship of Seven and urged to fulfill a prophecy which will free Athera from the Mistwraith and allow the clans of the Old Bloodlines to rule again. Putting aside their differences in the new world, the brothers find common cause and through paired gifts of light and shadow, succeed in binding the Mistwraith with help from the Fellowship. Unbeknownst to the brothers and their Sorcerer guides, one wraith escaped containment and seeks retribution against the two. During Arithon's crowning as Athera's first High King in more than five hundred years, the wraith binds Lysaer into irrational hatred of his half-brother, a curse he transfers to Arithon after the botched ceremony. Rather than succumb to the curse, Arithon flees into a winter storm, finding solace in the outlawed clans dwelling in the forest. Lysaer gathers an army to follow Arithon, led by the vicious bounty hunters who capture, kill and sell members of the clans. Though initially resistant to the idea of leading a guerilla war against the army, Arithon reluctantly assumes command upon realizing it is the only alternative to the extinction of the clans. The battles that ensue exact horrific slaughter on both sides, eventually resulting in a stalemate that forces Lysaer to withdraw without killing his brother. Arithon in turn has his mage-gift crippled through guilt. While Lysaer returns to the cities to muster a greater army and more support for his fratricidal war, Arithon becomes apprenticed to Athera's Masterbard, departing the clans in disguise. | 33 |
Archangel | fantasy | Angels and mortals, who need one another but have a love-hate relation, inhabit the land of Samaria. The angels have wings and fly, and are taller and stronger than humans. Legends state that angels were made by Jovah to oversee Samaria under the guidance of the Archangel. The angels are supposed to protect humans, answer their petitions, solve their problems, and intercede to god for them by petitioning the god Jovah through song, especially for rain when the crops need it and the sun when it is stormy. In addition, the angels must sing to Jovah at the annual Gloria held on the Plain of Sharon, otherwise god would destroy the world. The Archangel and his consort, the Angelica, lead this mass in praise of Jovah. Archangels do not serve for life, but every twenty years Jovah selects a new Archangel. Samaria is divided into three regions, Gaza, Bethel and Jordana, separated by rivers. Each region has an angel hold or fortress that acts as the governing center for the region. However, god destroyed that of Jordana, at Windy Point. The citizens of Gaza, the Manadavvi, are highly cultured and wealthy. The Jansai, who are calculating and greedy merchants, and run the Edori slave trade inhabit Jordana. The Edori are the wanderers and frequently become enslaved by the Jansai. The Oracle has declared that the angel Gabriel is to be the next Archangel. However, Raphael, the current Archangel, who is corrupt and uses his position for himself, does not want to step down. Gabriel has an additional problem in that he procrastinated getting married. He tracks down the mortal that god has selected be his wife, but she has her own thoughts about the marriage and the expectations of her as the archangel’s consort, the Angelica. Rachel, an Edori slave, dislikes angels because of what they had done to her family when she was younger. Gabriel is faced with many trials having to contend with Raphael on the one hand, and his reluctant wife, who is a constant thorn-in-the-side. But the trials and tribulations confronting Gabriel and Rachel brings them close together and they finally realize that they love each other. The story ends with Gabriel and Rachael singing together at the Gloria, thus satisfying the wishes of god. * Archangel (Samaria book 1) (Ace Books, 1997) * Jovah's Angel (Samaria book 2) (Ace Books, 1998) * The Alleluia Files (Samaria book 3) (Ace Books, 1999) * Angelica (Samaria book 4) (Ace Books, 2003) Set before the first book Archangel. * Angel-Seeker (Samaria book 5) (Ace Books, 2004) | 34 |
The Manticore's Secret | fantasy | The book begins initially by showing the return of the ravians to the world, which they now call Obiyalis. The vamans loyal to the ravians (called the rebel union of marginal labour) and Manticore open the ravian portal to this world. Three champions of the ravians, Myrdak, Peori and Behrim, promptly kill the vamans so as to make sure there are no traitors to inform the world of the return of the ravians. Meanwhile in the newly constructed dark tower of Izakar, Kirin is facing trouble. Most of his council of rakshases are issuing mad orders in his name, while all he wanted was to stop the war. Aciram warns Kirin of the return of the ravians and their plan to take over the earth. It seems that they are more dangerous to the humans now than to the dark lord. Nasud, a cousin of Kirin, grows tired of Kirin's peace efforts and declares a kin strife. Kirin kills him with a lightning bolt. Meanwhile in Kol, a secret society of the shapeshifters, called the Rainbow Council, prepare to battle against the mind-controlling foes who threaten history. Many Hero and villain guilds are formed in Kol in the wake of Kirin's acsension as dark lord. Arathognan (or Thog the barbarian) was one of these. In one of these encounters, Thog kills four jaykinis who were trying to eat children. However he notices that he is being followed by a mysterious girl, later revealed to be Peori. Asvin and Maya have fallen in love. Maya is now having doubts about Kirin, who was her former best friend. Asvin, however is eager to battle the hordes of the dark lord and still believes the ravians to be noble heroes who would save humanity. Red, the shapeshifter, is part of the rainbow council.She had named two voices in her head and was never able to make up her mind about anything. It is also revealed here that the heart of Kol and the seven Hero mirrors where actually created by the shapeshifters although earlier they had been credited to lord Simoqin. The ravians Myrdak and Peori attack the palace of Kol one night with the intention of kidnapping Maya and using her to get rid of Kirin. They encounter the Silver Dagger and battle with the shapeshifters but finally manage to escape with Maya. Asvin and Red (in the guise of Rukmini) follow her to the great forest of Vrihataranya. Red falls in love with Asvin on the way (although this may be because of the alter ego Rukmini she had named in her mind). In the meanwhile Behrim, whose task had been to assassinate the dark lord is shocked to learn that the dark lord is in fact Kirin. In an attempt to talk to Kirin, he is detected by the rakshases but barely managed to escape.However he is then caught by the werewolves who nearly kill him. He is healed within the dark tower, where he tells Kirin that it is his destiny to become a great leader of the ravians. Peori visits Ararthogorn and reveals to him that he is a descendant of the kings of Kol. She points out that he had the amulet that proved it so.She told him of the existence of a third Simoqin prophecy, that when the dark lord rose, the true king of Kol would return and with his hands strike down the evil powers which ruled Kol. She convinces him to assassinate Lady Temat. Thog tries to infiltrate the labyrinth but is easily caught. Meanwhile, Maya has managed to escape from Myrdak and is lost in the forest. She comes across some little fat men,whom she initially suspected to be dangerous but turned out to be harmless. They arrive at the temple of the black Star, where Myrdak recaptures her. Myrdak challenges dark lord Kirin to a duel, knowing he would come to rescue the girl he loved. Kirin seeks the advice of Behrim, who states flatly that he could not be defeated in an open duel as he was the greatest ravian warrior alive.Behrim rather suggests that they go to Asroye and seek help from the ravian council. Kirin agrees to this and leaves on a dragon along with Behrim, ignoring pleas by Aciram .As soon as Kirin leaves, Aciram, who probably aspired for the throne of Danh-Gem himself, takes on Kirin's face. Rakshases in the forest attack Myrdak and Maya manages to escape from the manticore. She takes shelter in Vanarpuri but Myrdak finds her. She escapes again with the help of Djongli and arrives at a peculiar place guarded by knights of Ventelot, called the Desolate Gard. Myrdak finally catches up with Maya and tells her that it was a ravian portal, and the nundu would give its blood to activate it. Maya then meets the unwaba, who tells her about the gods playing with this world. Myrdak leaves for his duel with Kirin. Kirin and Behrim arrive at the ravian outpost of Epsai, only to find it deserted. Behrim realizes that Myrdak and Peori are traitors to the council and the ravians had not yet returned in their numbers. Both of them feel very tired and want to play with some apparently harmless little fat men. However these creatures turn out to be monsters, who eat only ravian. Behrim is devoured by them but Kirin is saved by Qianzai,mother of dragons. It is revealed that these creatures are these world's response to the arrival of the ravians. He then goes along to the duel. Meanwhile in Kol, Peori has successfully infiltrated the labyrinth but runs into some minotaurs. She underestimates them and one of them gashes her. The Dagger appears and tells her they have some scores to settle. Peori raises the splintered glass to kill the dagger but Steel-bunz, who was small enough not to figure as dangerous nipped her from behind. This momentary distraction enabled the Dagger to throw his dagger and kill her. Asvin is guided by a firebird to the temple of the black star.Red keeps a watch on him. when he is attacked by the manticore, she changes it into a frog. Kirin's duel with Myrdak, which lasted for many hours resulted in Myrdak getting the upper hand, even though Kirin was armed with his shadowknife and his rakshas powers. After some time Asvin appears. He initially decides to fight against Kirin as he was the son of Danh Gem, however he realized that Myrdak was only interested in getting his armor and turned upon him. Myrdak whirled his sword in a blur and cut off his head. The duel continued. Myrdak then pushes Kirin into a state of trance duel, in which Kirin had no experience at all. He wins the trance duel, but as he emerges back into the real world intending to strike Kirin down, the shapeshifter Red kills him with his own sword. | 35 |
Tarzan Triumphant | fantasy | Backed by Chief Muviro and his faithful Waziri warriors, Tarzan faces Soviet agents seeking revenge and a lost tribe descended from early Christians practicing a bizarre and debased religious cult. | 36 |
Rushing to Paradise | fantasy | Dr. Barbara is a disgraced doctor who forms a small band of environmentalists to attempt to save the albatross from nuclear testing by the French government on the remote Pacific island of St.Esprit. Neil, a naïve 16 year old, joins the group and the story is told from his perspective. During an illegal landing on the island, Neil is caught on film being shot in the foot by a French soldier. The subsequent news coverage makes Neil, and their environmental campaign, media celebrities. This allows a return visit to the island with a larger and more eccentric group of campaigners. Whilst attempting to land, a French navy frigate collides with their boat. This event is broadcast live to the world by the cameraman who dies in the collision. The subsequent adverse news coverage causes the French to leave the campaigners unmolested on the island. The coverage also leads to a deluge of gifts from well wishers all over the world, a steady stream of visitors and a growing collection of endangered animals which are meant to use the island as sanctuary. Visitors include a representative from Club Med who investigates whether the island can be turned into a resort. These excesses cause Dr. Barbara to manipulate Neil and other residents to commit ever greater acts of sabotage to cut themselves off from the outside world. Gradually, the male residents of the island (except Neil) become ill and slowly die under the 'care' of Dr. Barbara. As fewer able bodied residents are left, the endangered animals they are supposed to be saving are killed and eaten. Slowly, Neil realises that his role is to father as many children as possible from the female residents. As more visitors arrive on the island, the female members stay and the male members disappear. When another young man arrives on the island, Neils role as stud is in jeopardy and he too becomes ill whilst the new arrival is kept healthy. Slowly, over the course of the story, the environmentalists change from being the sane ones in an insane world into total insanity as Dr. Barbara's all female 'paradise' is constructed. Neil and the remaining residents are rescued in the nick of time by the French navy after a couple who only just manages to escape alerts the authorities to what is really happening on the island. | 37 |
Heir Apparent | fantasy | Giannine receives a gift certificate for a Rasmussem Gaming Center as a birthday present from her father. Unfortunately, when she arrives at the local center, a crowd from "CPOC," the "Citizens to Protect Our Children," has come for a demonstration against such games. Dodging the protesters, she enters the arcade and gets hooked up to Heir Apparent, a single-player RPG in which there are practically endless ways to win or lose. Giannine's character, Janine de St. Jehan, is the illegitimate child of the recently deceased King Cynric, who pronounced her heir to the throne, passing over three legitimate sons. Her task is to survive the three days (which will only last thirty minutes in the real world) before her coronation. Anytime her character dies, she will automatically be sent back to the beginning of the game. Janine finds herself on a sheep farm, where she meets her foster mother and Sir Deming, who delivers the news of her ascendancy to the throne. Ignoring her foster mother's advice to say goodbye to her foster father, Janine heads off to the castle. There she meets Queen Andreanna and her three sons Abas, Wulfgar, and Kenric. Andreanna orders Abas to kill her right there. Abas takes out his sword but is stopped by Kenric, who points out that other people have seen Janine enter the castle. Her life is spared, but her reputation is damaged when she perceives a thunderstorm that none of the other characters can see. Outside the throne room, the guards bring before Janine a boy caught poaching deer. They expect her to order the boy's execution, but instead she lets the boy go. Nigel Rasmussem briefly enters the game to inform her that CPOC broke into the arcade and damaged the equipment, hence the crazy thunderstorm. She cannot exit the game prematurely without risking brain damage, but she cannot stay in the game for too long without risking death in the real world. She therefore must win the game as quickly as she can. He tells her, "And next time, don't forget the ring." Shortly after he vanishes, the guards assassinate Janine, upset by her lenient ruling. As she goes through the game again, she is on a constant lookout for the ring. Deming and Andreanna are wearing rings but will not relinquish them to her. She varies her decisions but keeps getting quickly killed—once by Abas, once by a strange animal in a topiary maze, and once by the poacher boy's father. Back on the farm, she finally rushes at Sir Deming in frustration and tries to bite his ring off his finger, but he takes out a knife and stabs her. The last thing she hears is her foster mother explaining that the ring she seeks was left with her foster father. In her next life, Janine realizes she must no longer skip the step of saying goodbye to her foster father. She ends up before the statue of Saint Bruce the Warrior Poet, where the ring now resides. At the castle, barbarian invaders led by King Grimbold kidnap Janine, hoping to ransom back a crown they claim Cynric stole from them. Her own kingdom doesn't value her enough to provide the ransom, and even the ring fails to save her. In her next life, she thwarts the raid, and in the ensuing battle Abas beheads King Grimbold. She learns that Cynric gave the stolen crown (which grants the wearer a temporary Midas Touch) to a dragon that terrorized the land many years earlier. The next day, a meeting with magicians is interrupted by an attack by Grimbold's people, who send a message that they won't stop until Janine is dead. Kenric and Orielle poison Janine, once again sending her to the beginning of the game (deeply frustrating her, for she had made it halfway through). She uses her past mistakes to plan her decisions better and gain more allies, no longer experimenting with the ring as she previously had. The next time she deals with the boy poacher, she gets Kenric to accompany her. Unlike the previous times, she listens to the evidence with an open mind, makes Kenric feel like he's taking part in the decision, and sentences the boy to a month of hard labor rather than killing him or freeing him. She once again thwarts the raid on the castle, but because the warlike Abas isn't present, King Grimbold isn't killed. She invites Grimbold to the castle, where they all discuss their grievances in a civilized manner. He agrees to cease the attack for two days, while she retrieves the crown from the dragon. When the magicians arrive the next day, they determine through a scrying glass that the dragon is a week's journey away, but they give her several magical artifacts that help her reach the dragon quickly and survive the confrontation. She retrieves the crown and returns to the castle, but the dragon follows her. As it clutches her in its talons and is about to devour her, she quickly dons the crown and turns the dragon to gold. She gives the crown to Grimbold, making peace between the two kingdoms and gaining the respect of her compatriots. At a celebration, she thinks Kenric has poisoned her again, but he insists he has not. (What's really happening is that her time in the game has run out, and she is on the verge of dying for real.) At his suggestion, she uses the ring to make Andreanna treat her fairly and not incite the princes against her. Giannine awakens in the arms of Nigel Rasmussem, who turns out to be just sixteen. At first she thinks she is still in the game, being held by Kenric. It turns out that Nigel based Kenric's appearance on himself, and Nigel's appearance in the game on Nigel's uncle. He personally explains to Giannine exactly what has happened, and there is implied romantic attraction between the two. The book ends with Giannine's father coming to take her home. | 38 |
Durandal | fantasy | A Crusader, betrayed by a scheming emperor and pursued by Muslim swordsmen, discovers the sword of Roland. | 39 |
The Crystal Palace | fantasy | Sorcerer Cray Ormoru and his friend, the seer Feldar Sepwin, craft an enchanted mirror that allows whoever gazes upon it to see their heart's desire. For Cray himself, the mirror remains blank for many years, until one day he sees in it the image of a young girl. With no idea of who she is, he watches the girl transform into a lovely woman over the years, and Cray realizes that he is destined to find her. When he does, he learns that this is Aliza, a sorceress who lives in a crystal palace which is partly within the demon realm and who is dedicated solely to the study of her craft. Cray finds Aliza to be a skilled young sorceress, but also cold, aloof, and entirely focused on sorcery. Cray encourages her to take an interest in the outside world and forms a budding friendship. However, this friendship is strongly discouraged by Aliza's sorcerer grandfather, Everand. Despite Everand's disapproval, Aliza and Cray travel to the demon realm and also to the home of Cray's sorceress mother, Delivev. During this latter journey, Aliza looks into the mirror of heart's desire and causes it to shatter. This causes some initial confusion, but it is quickly revealed this is because Aliza's soul has been stolen from her. Ultimately, her grandfather Everand is shown to be a villain of the worst degree. He uses Aliza's soul and his capture of Feldar as leverage to demand Aliza and Cray's obedience. However, Cray rallies his allies from the demon realm in order to confront and defeat Everand and free Aliza's soul. With her soul freed, Cray and Aliza realize their love for each other. | 40 |
Small Gods | fantasy | The Great God Om tries to manifest himself once more in the world, as the time of his eighth prophet is nigh. He is surprised, however, when he finds himself in the body of a tortoise, stripped of his divine powers. In the gardens of Omnia's capital he addresses the novice Brutha, the only one able to hear his voice. Om has a hard time convincing the boy of his godliness, as Brutha is convinced that Om can do anything he wants, and would not want to appear as a tortoise. Brutha is gifted with an eidetic memory and is therefore chosen by Vorbis, the head of the Quisition, to come along on a diplomatic mission to Ephebe. However, Brutha is also considered unintelligent, since he never learned to read, and rarely thinks for himself. With the help of Ephebe's Great Library, and the philosophers Didactylos, his nephew, Urn, and Abraxas, Om learns that Brutha is the only one left who believes in him. All others either just fear the Quisition's wrath or go along with the church out of habit. While in Ephebe, Brutha's memory aids an Omnian raid through the Labyrinth guarding the Tyrant's palace. While in the library of Ephebe, Brutha also memorizes many scrolls in order to protect Ephebeian knowledge as Omnian soldiers set fire to the building. Fleeing the ensuing struggle by boat, Brutha, Om and a severely injured Vorbis end up lost in the desert. Trekking home to Omnia, they encounter ruined temples as well as the small gods who are faint ghost-like beings yearning to be believed in to become powerful. Realizing his 'mortality' and how important his believers are to him, Om begins to care about them for the first time. While Brutha, Vorbis, and Om are in the desert, the Tyrant of Ephebe manages to regain control of the city and contacts other nations who have been troubled by Omnia's imperialistic interactions with the other countries around it. On the desert's edge, a recovered Vorbis attempts to finish off Om's tortoise form, abducts Brutha, and proceeds to become ordained as the Eighth Prophet. Brutha is to be publicly burned for heresy while strapped on a heatable bronze turtle when Om comes to the rescue, dropping from an eagle's claws onto Vorbis' head. As a great crowd witnesses this miracle they come to believe in Om and he becomes powerful again. Om manifests himself within the citadel and attempts to grant Brutha the honour of establishing the Church's new doctrines. However, Brutha does not agree with Om's new rule and explains that the Church should care for people while having a tolerance for other religious practices. Meanwhile, Ephebe has gained the support of several other nations and has sent an army against Omnia, establishing a beachhead near the citadel. Brutha attempts to establish diplomatic contact with the generals of the opposing army. Despite trusting Brutha, the leaders state they do not trust Omnia and that bloodshed is necessary. At the same time, Simony leads the Omnian military to the beachhead and uses Urn's machine of war in order to fight the Ephebians. While the fighting occurs on the beachhead, Om attempts to physically intervene, but Brutha demands he does not interfere with the actions of humans. Om becomes infuriated but obeys Brutha, but he travels to an area of the Discworld where gods gamble on the lives of humans in order to gain or lose belief. While there, Om manages to unleash his fury, even striking the other gods. This causes the soldiers to cease fighting on the battlefield, thinking it a sign from the heavens. In the book's conclusion Brutha becomes the Eighth Prophet, ending the Quisition and reforming the church to be more open-minded and humanist. Om also agrees to forsake the smiting of Omnian citizens for at least a hundred years. The last moments of the book see Brutha's death a hundred years to the day after Om's return to power and his journey across the ethereal desert towards judgement, accompanied by the spirit of Vorbis, whom Brutha found still in the desert and took pity on. It is also revealed that this century of peace was originally meant to be a century of war and bloodshed which the History Monk Lu-Tze changed to something he liked better. | 41 |
Hawk of May | fantasy | Hawk of May is a bildungsroman centered around Gwalchmai ap Lot (Gawain in other literature). Gwalchmai is the middle child of Morgawse and Lot. He lives with his family in the northern Orcade isles located north of modern day Scotland. Gwalchmai struggles to learn the arts of war his brother, Agravain, so easily masters. During his training, a great war is going on to the south in Britain. The Saxons are encroaching upon British soil and the other kings are disorganized by blood feuds and the recent death of Uther Pendragon. In the midst of war there is one man, Arthur, who seems to be winning against both the unruly British kings and the Saxons. While his father, Lot, and Agravain go to war, Gwalchmai is frustrated by his failures and turns to his mother, Morgawse, to teach him to read and write as well as the secrets of dark magic. Where Gwalchmai struggled with war skills, he learned swiftly in the arts his mother taught him and quickly became enthralled by the darkness. He maintains his relationship with the dark until the eve of Samhain where he discovers his youngest brother, Medraut (Mordred ), has also committed to the darkness. Horrified by this revelation, Gwalchmai interrupts Morgawse’s ritual and flees the promised wrath of Morgawse and Medraut. After his escape, Gwalchmai begs the help of an ancient kin and deity called Lugh of the Long Hand. He is then transported to the Isle of the Blessed, a mystical land of unknown origin that keeps it’s inhabitants forever young. Here, Gwalchmai converts to the Light, obtains his sword Caledvwlch, and is then transported to an unknown area in the greater isle of Britain. During his stay in the Isle of the Blessed, Gwalchmai has aged three years. He is initially captured by the Saxons who believe him to be a British thrall, or servant. Under this cover, Gwalchmai is eventually able to escape the Saxons on the back of a powerful horse from the Isle of the Blessed named Ceincaled. He and Ceincaled flee towards Arthur’s domain where they split up and Gwalchmai earns a ride to Camlann with a farmer after helping fix his cart. On their way, however, Gwalchmai is met by some knights - namely Cei, Bedwyr and Agravain. The latter doesn’t initially recognize his younger brother until Gwalchmai addresses him by name. After the brothers reunite they go together to Camlann where Gwalchmai finally meets Arthur. Arthur, however, does not accept him. Instead, Gwalchmai is forced to try and try to gain Arthur’s trust. He goes with the ‘Family’ on many battles, helping even to win in some grievous affairs, but Arthur refuses to acknowledge him. It’s not until the final chapter where Gwalchmai finally proves himself at par with Arthur’s standards and is finally accepted into the Family. | 42 |
Tunnels | fantasy | The main influence in fourteen-year-old Will Burrows' life is his father, Dr. Burrows, and together they share an interest in archaeology and a fascination for the buried past. When Dr. Burrows begins to notice unusual people where they live in Highfield and then promptly goes missing, Will and his friend, Chester, go in search of him. They discover a blocked passageway behind bookshelves in the cellar of the Burrows home and re-excavate it. The passage leads to a door set into the rock, and beyond the door is an old lift that takes them to a cobblestone street underground. Lit by a row of orb-like lamps, they come across houses that appear to be carved out of the walls themselves. They are soon captured by the police of the underground community known as the Colony. In prison, Will is visited by Mr. Jerome and his son Cal. They reveal Will was actually born in the Colony, and they are his real family. Will is eventually released from the prison and taken to the Jerome home. There Uncle Tam is delighted to see him, and informs Will that his stepfather was recently there, and had willingly traveled down into the Deeps — a place even deeper in the Earth than The Colony. Will learns that the Styx, the religious rulers of the Colony, are either going to enslave Chester or banish him to the Deeps to fend for himself. Will refuses to abandon his friend, and Uncle Tam formulates a plan for him to rescue Chester, and to take him back to the surface. Will and his brother Cal try to rescue Chester, but the Styx arrive and they are forced to leave Chester behind. They avoid the Styx soldiers who patrol the city with their vicious stalker attack dogs, and eventually emerge on the bank of the Thames. Will makes for his home in Highfield, but there Will's health deteriorates, so Cal helps him to his Auntie Jean's flat where he recovers. Soon they return underground to find his father and attempt a second rescue of Chester. They encounter another Styx patrol, and Uncle Tam kills the leader of the Styx, whom he calls Crawfly, but is mortally wounded in the fight, then the strong willed Uncle Tam choses to stay behind. With the help of Imago Freebone, a member of Uncle Tam's gang, Will and Cal escape and go on to find Chester. They find Chester in the train going to the Deeps and travel there with him. In the book's final scene, Will's sister Rebecca, who is a Styx implanted in his family to monitor him, kills Imago by poison. | 43 |
The Mists of Avalon | fantasy | Mists of Avalon is a generations-spanning retelling of the Arthurian legend, but bringing it back to its Brythonic roots (see Matter of Britain). Its protagonist is Morgaine, who witnesses the rise of Uther Pendragon to the throne of Camelot. As a child, she is taken to Avalon by High Priestess Viviane, her maternal aunt, to become a priestess of the Mother Goddess and witnesses the rising tension between the old Pagan and the new Christian religions. At one point, she is given in a fertility ritual to a young man she will later learn is Arthur, her half-brother. Unbeknownst to Arthur, Morgaine conceives a child, Gwydion, later called Mordred, as a result of the ritual. After Uther dies, his son Arthur claims the throne. Morgaine and Viviane give him the magic sword Excalibur, and with the combined force of Avalon and Camelot, Arthur drives the invasion of the Saxons away. But when his wife Gwenhwyfar fails to produce a child, she is convinced that it is a punishment of God: firstly for the presence of pagan elements (a stance which Morgaine deeply resents), and secondly, for her forbidden love for Arthur's finest knight Lancelet. She increasingly becomes a religious fanatic, and relationships between Avalon and Camelot (i.e. Morgaine and herself) become hostile. When the knights of the Round Table of Camelot leave to search for the Holy Grail, Mordred seeks to usurp the throne. In a climactic battle, Arthur's and Mordred's armies square off, and in the end Avalon and Arthur are magically removed from the circles of the world. It is Morgaine alone who lives to tell the tale of Camelot. | 44 |
The Simoqin Prophecies | fantasy | The story begins in the expected year of the rakshas Danh-Gem's return. Asvin, prince of Avranti is sent on an Aswamedh, a journey supposed to bring him fame and glory. But as soon as he reaches the forest, his guards turn on him and tell him that he would be executed at sunset. This is in accordance with the laws of the secret brotherhood, which ensured that all younger princes of Avranti who were too eager for glory would be dealt with this way. However he is rescued by the Silver Dagger and his men, on the orders of the Chief Civilian of Kol, who wanted him to be the prophecised hero. In Kol, the Chief Civilian is very worried about the sudden emergence of the danavs of Imokoi along with their city asur cousins. Also the skuans under their lord Bjorkun are planning something. Manticores have been seen in the forest. It is later revealed that this is a plot to bring back Danh Gem, instigated by Bjorkun and Bali, later on joined by the asur king Leer, and Omar of Artaxerxeia. This group is called the secret Brotherhood of Renewal, dedicated to bring Danh-Gem back. The spellbinders notice that magical levels all over the world are rising. Maya, a powerful spellbinder discovers that her best friend Kirin is in fact a ravian. Kirin himself had discovered this fact only a short while back and remembers that he is actually over two hundred years old. He recalls his memories back from his earlier days when he lived in the forest with a roving band of ravian warriors. The he remembers the day the ravians had departed from the world. Somehow he was turned into stone at that time and didn't remember anything until Spikes, a pashan unlike any other, caused him to wake up. This is a great mystery which Maya is determined to solve. Bali is convinced that the pashans are the key to Danh-Gem's return after learning about the secret of pashan birth from the storks. He tries to steal books called Untranslatables from the library of Enki, as they were written by Danh-Gem and are sure to have information on how to bring the rakshas back. He succeeds, and nearly kidnaps Maya as well, but Maya escapes by setting fire to his tail. Snow trolls under the orders of Bjorkun try to abduct the pashan Yarni, but they fail. Many including the vanar lord Bali, are looking for Spikes. The Chief Civilian sends Asvin to study with Mantric, best of the Koli spellbinders, who was now on a vacation on the island of Bolvudis. He is accompanied by Maya, Kirin, Spikes, the Dagger(under the name of Amloki), a centauress Red Pearl, and a vaman Gaam. During this journey they are attacked by a nundu. They also meet Sir Cyr who seemed to be a harmless knight of Ventelot. Kirin discovers a book in the library of Kol which is full of magic and purported to be written by Narak. This book speaks to him and reveals that his task was to slay Danh Gem when he rises again, but until then, he would have to work with the followers of Danh-Gem. The book convinces him to leave the others as he will bring danger to them. Kirin leaves with Spikes. Red pearl follows him. Bali catches up with Kirin while on the trail of Spikes. During the confrontation, Bali kills Red Pearl from behind. Kirin is furious but remembers what the book said remains silent. He thus joins the Brotherhood of Renewal feigning to be a Karisman. Kirin translates the Untranslatables that Bali had stolen earlier. It mentions five objects to be brought together for Danh-Gem's return. Kirin steals the Tear of heaven from Avranti and the Gauntlet of Tatsu. Asvin goes on a series of quests, earning renown as well as many magical objects. The two most remarkable were his visit to the rakshasi Akarat, which earned him the ring of Akarat and the sword of Raka, and his journey through the pyramid of Elaken to get the armour of the scorpion man. On the day of Danh Gem's arising, the brotherhood meets in the circle of Imokoi and lays down the five things needed. All but Kirin are turned to stone. Danh Gem materializes as a ghost like form Kirin tries to kill him but cannot as he is not in material form. Danh Gem reveals to him, in style reminiscent of star wars, that he is actually Kirin's father. Kirin understands he is being offered a choice, between becoming a dark lord and trying to put things right in this world, or to let the brotherhood create havoc by starting the war. Kirin chooses the former as he decides the latter is too heroic. He ascends to the throne as Dark Lord. | 45 |
A Feast for Crows | fantasy | The War of the Five Kings is slowly coming to an end. Robb Stark, Joffrey Baratheon, Renly Baratheon, and Balon Greyjoy are all dead, and King Stannis Baratheon has gone to the aid of the Wall, where Jon Snow has become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. King Tommen Baratheon, Joffrey's eight-year-old brother, now rules in King's Landing under the watchful eye of his mother, the Queen Regent Cersei Lannister. Cersei's father Tywin is dead, murdered by his son Tyrion, who has fled the city. With these two men gone, as well as no longer having to deal with Joffrey, there are no more checks on Cersei and she is essentially Ruling Queen of the Seven Kingdoms in all but name. Now that Cersei finally stands at the height of power and her enemies are scattered to the winds, in a grim irony it quickly becomes clear that she is incapable of wielding the power she has killed and manipulated so many to acquire, and she spirals into self-destruction. Meanwhile, Sansa Stark is still in hiding in the Vale, protected by Petyr Baelish, who has secretly murdered his wife Lysa Arryn and named himself Protector of the Vale and guardian of eight-year-old Lord Robert Arryn. It soon becomes apparent that while Cersei is skilled in the methods of intrigue needed to seize power, she is not very skilled in the actual day-to-day running of the kingdom. Cersei's reign is marked by rampant cronyism as she tries to solidify her rule by staffing her councils with incompetent loyalists. Making matters worse is Cersei's increasing distrust of the Tyrells, particularly Margaery, who wed the new boy king Tommen after his brother Joffrey died at their wedding. Increasingly paranoid over a prophecy she believes foretells the deaths of her children and herself by the hands of her missing brother Tyrion, Cersei develops a dependency on alcohol, despite her disgust of alcoholism within the late king Robert. Her reign runs into problems from massive debt from before and during the war, compounded by her incompetent administrators' inability to resolve the situation. Most of the debt is owed to the Iron Bank of Braavos and the Faith of the Seven. Cersei flippantly brushes off representatives of the Iron Bank, announcing that she is deferring their payment for the (indefinite) duration of the continuing rebellions. In response, the Iron Bank freezes all of the realm's assets, refusing to grant new loans while calling in all outstanding debts, which leads to a banking crisis that nearly cripples the economy of Westeros. To settle the crown's debts to the Faith of the Seven, Cersei agrees to the restoration of that religion's military order, the Faith Militant, despite the large number of zealots that are gathering both in the city and in Westeros, many of whom believe the accurate charges of adultery leveled against her. Cersei does not have the foresight to realize that this is only trading one problem for another, as now that the Faith has armed soldiers at its command it feels less compelled to accept her authority. Hoping to weaken the Tyrell influence over the court, the masses, and King Tommen, Cersei dispatches Ser Loras Tyrell to lead an army and force a quick (and she hopes foolhardy) end to the siege of Stannis Baratheon's forces on Dragonstone. Ser Loras is gravely injured by boiling oil during his storming of the island fortress, and left clinging to life. Cersei tactlessly gloats about Loras' horrific injury to his sister Margaery. Rather than lessening the threat from the Tyrells, this action drives Margaery Tyrell to actively pursue destroying Cersei, causing the Tyrell-Lannister alliance to crumble. A scheme to have the Faith put Margaery on trial for largely invented accusations of adultery backfires when the newly-powerful religious leadership arrests and imprisons Cersei herself on similar (and accurate) charges. Cersei's brother and ex-lover Jaime travels the Riverlands to re-establish order and royal control in the war-torn region. He has become somewhat estranged from his sister and newly concerned with his own honor, which he believes is tarnished by past misdeeds. He is also deeply disturbed about the state of the Kingsguard, with Cersei raising unworthy knights to the elite group. After ending the siege of Riverrun bloodlessly, one of the last holdouts against his family's authority, he receives word that Cersei wants him to return and defend her in a trial by battle; however, Jaime learns from Lancel Lannister, who killed the late King Robert at Cersei's behest, that Cersei was indeed having an affair with him as Tyrion had told Jaime when he escaped King's Landing. Jaime also receives news of Cersei's involvement in the siege on Dragonstone. This waste of loyal soldiers and betrayal of much-needed allies is the last straw for Jaime, who burns and ignores Cersei's letter. Brienne of Tarth's quest for Sansa leads her all over the Riverlands, where she observes the devastation and villainy that the war has wrought among the smallfolk. She notices a boy following her, only to discover Podrick Payne, former squire to Tyrion Lannister. Since he has had no real training, she agrees to teach him, promising to send him to bed with blisters and bruises every night. She also meets up with Ser Hyle, a knight from her past who was with her and King Renly before he was murdered. He believes that she did not kill Renly and he joins her on her quest, witnessing her battle prowess when she confronts three outlaws. She also meets up with Lord Tarly, who despises her and insults her despite Ser Hyle's praise of her battle prowess. Eventually she is captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners and sentenced to death by Stoneheart, a reanimated Catelyn Stark, who wrongly believes Brienne has betrayed her. Brienne is told she will be allowed to live if she agrees to find and kill Jaime Lannister. Refusing, she and some of her companions are hanged, and as the nooses strangle them she screams out one as-yet unrevealed word. In the Eyrie, Sansa poses as Petyr's bastard daughter Alayne, befriending young Robert Arryn, managing the household for her "father," and receiving informal training in royal politics from him. During this time, Petyr appears to be carefully manipulating his murdered wife's former bannermen, and his once precarious hold on the Protectorship of the Vale is beginning to seem less tenuous. He eventually reveals that he has betrothed Sansa to Harrold Hardyng, Robert's heir; when the sickly Robert dies, Sansa will reveal her true identity, and reclaim her family stronghold of Winterfell, aligning it with the Vale in the process. On the Iron Islands, Aeron Damphair calls a Kingsmoot in order to decide who would succeed Balon Greyjoy as king of the Iron Islands. Hotly contested by Balon's brother Victarion Greyjoy and daughter Asha Greyjoy, eventually his brother, Euron Greyjoy, the exiled "Crow's Eye", is chosen as king due to his promise that he can control dragons with a recently acquired horn, which will help the islanders conquer all of Westeros. Asha wanted to make peace with the mainland while they were still ahead, and Victarion wanted to continue raiding, but Euron intends to conquer the entire continent outright. Asha and Victarion realize this is absurd, as the Ironborn do not have the numbers for this, nor are their forces skilled at land warfare, once they advance beyond the coasts. The fleet of the Iron Men attacks and captures the Shield Islands at the mouth of the River Mander, threatening House Tyrell's seat at Highgarden. Victarion considers this mere show however, estimating that once the Redwyne fleet returns (from the siege at Dragonstone) they will once more lose the islands. Euron then sends his brother Victarion east to woo Daenerys Targaryen on his behalf, but a bitter Victarion, whose wife was raped by Euron (then killed by Victarion), instead plans to marry her himself. In Dorne, Doran Martell is confronted by three of his brother Oberyn's eight bastard daughters—known collectively as the Sand Snakes—who all want justice for their father's death. They are not appeased by the prospect of receiving the head of Gregor Clegane, since it was Oberyn himself who killed him. They all want war, but in a different manner. They are inciting the commonfolk, so Doran has seven of the eight Sand Snakes confined to cells in the palace, even the very young ones, so that no one can use them against him. A bold attempt by Doran's daughter Arianne Martell and her lover, Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard, to crown Doran's ward Myrcella Baratheon as queen of Westeros under Dornish law is thwarted by Doran. The attempt leaves Myrcella's face scarred, and results in the death of Ser Arys, straining the new alliance with House Lannister and the Iron Throne, even as another member of the Kingsguard is on his way to Dorne with the head of Gregor Clegane, the knight who raped and murdered Doran's sister Elia years before. Though angry with his daughter, Doran reveals to her that he has long had his own subtler plan for vengeance. Her brother Quentyn has gone east to bring back "Fire and Blood." In the prologue, Pate, a young apprentice at the Citadel in Oldtown, is studying to become a maester. He has stolen an important key to a depository of books and records at the request of a stranger in exchange for a reward. After delivering the key, the stranger double-crosses and kills Pate by surreptitiously poisoning him. At the end of the novel, Samwell Tarly arrives at the Citadel to begin his training where he meets a fellow apprentice who introduces himself as "Pate." Jon Snow orders Samwell Tarly to the Citadel in Oldtown via Braavos, where he can research the Others and study to become a Maester. Sam is accompanied by aging Maester Aemon, the wildling mother Gilly, her newborn babe, and sworn brother Dareon. The voyage across the Narrow Sea is underway before Sam realizes Jon swapped the sons of Gilly and Mance Rayder. The ruse was meant to protect the Wildling "prince" from Melisandre's fiery sacrifice but also put Gilly's son at risk, causing her much grief. Aemon gets very sick and they need to wait in Braavos for his health to improve, costing them their ride. Seeming to give up on his vows and companions, Dareon indulges in many harborside sins. After a Summer Islander tells Aemon about seeing the dragons firsthand, Aemon decides that Daenerys has come to fullfill a prophecy. Driven to help his niece fullfill her destiny, Aemon dies shortly after they leave Braavos. Brought together by their own grief, Sam and Gilly become intimate. Arriving in Braavos, Arya Stark finds her way to the House of Black and White, a temple associated with the assassins known as the Faceless Men. As a novice there, Arya attempts to master their belief that Faceless Men have no true identity by both throwing all her treasures into the water (except her sword, Needle, which she cannot throw away due to Needle's symbolization of all she lost and left behind) and posing as a girl called "Cat of the Canals". Once a month (on the night of the black moon) she must tell her mentor, the Kindly Man, three new words and three new things. However, her former identity continues to assert itself in the form of wolf dreams, and also when she kills Dareon for abandoning the Night's Watch and his sworn brother, Samwell Tarly. Sam and "Cat" meet briefly without knowing one another. The morning after Dareon's murder, she admits to the Kindly Man that it was "Arya" who committed it, and is given a glass of warm milk as punishment. After drinking, she wakes up blind the following morning. | 46 |
Kindred Spirits | fantasy | The book narrates the first meeting between dwarven metalsmith, Flint Fireforge and a young Tanis Half-Elven. While working and living in his hometown of Solace creating jewelry, Flint receives a wondrous summons from the Speaker of the Sun, Solostran who admires Flint's work. Flint journeys to the fabled elven city of Qualinost, where he spends every Spring working on jewelry and projects for the Speaker of the Sun. Foreigners are not allowed in Qualenesti, therefore Flint finds himself an outcast. There he meets Tanis, a thoughtful youth born of a tragic union between elf and man. Flint and Tanis, each being a misfit in their own ways, Flint for being a dwarf and Tanis for being of mixed race, find themselves unlikely friends. | 47 |
House of Chains | fantasy | House of Chains takes place immediately after the events of Deadhouse Gates on the subcontinent of Seven Cities. The Chain of Dogs - the evacuation of 50,000 Malazan civilians across 1,500 miles of hostile territory - has ended in the tragic loss of the entire 7th army and its heroic commander, Coltaine. However, with their sacrifice was bought the lives of nearly 30,000 refugees. Meanwhile, the Chain of Dogs has become a legend spreading across Seven Cities, cowing even those responsible for its destruction. Now Adjunct Tavore Paran has arrived at the head of the 14th Army, largely consisting of untried recruits. Their mission is to advance into the heart of the Holy Desert Raraku, the very heart of the rebellion known as the Whirlwind, and destroy Sha'ik and her forces once and for all. The rebels outnumber the Malazans vastly. However, all is not well in Sha'ik's camp and internal conflicts threatens to destroy her army before the Malazans can. Meanwhile, a mighty warrior named Karsa Orlong descends from his mountain fastness on Genabackis, beginning a journey that will live in legend, and the thief Crokus and assassin Apsalar find themselves drawn into a desperate struggle for control of the Throne of Shadow. Finally, a warrior named Trull Sengar is rescued from certain death with news of a terrible new foe arising to trouble all the world... | 48 |
The Magical Mimics in Oz | fantasy | At the start of Snow's story, Princess Ozma and Glinda the Good are planning to leave Oz, to attend the Grand Council of the fairy queen Lurline, held in the Forest of Burzee every 200 years. Dorothy Gale is surprised when Ozma appoints her to rule Oz during their absence; but Ozma reminds Dorothy that she is a princess of Oz. (Ozma's choice is not well-motivated; but it is in keeping with Snow's "Baum-centric" approach, in that it places Baum's primary heroine Dorothy at the center of the coming action.) Chapter 3 shifts attention to the evil Mimics in their lair in Mount Illuso. The Mimics habitually shift "from one loathsome shape to another" — an ape body with a head of an alligator, and a serpent with black butterfly wings, and a toad with a hyena's head are a few of their choices. Their rulers, King Umb and Queen Ra (a play on "umbra"), reveal their plan to counter Lurline's controlling magic and attack Oz. The shape-shifting royals and their minions fly to Oz as big black birds, and waylay Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. By stepping into their shadows, Ra and Umb take the shapes of Dorothy and the Wizard; the originals are paralyzed by the magic, and are carried off to Mount Illuso by Mimics. Ra and Umb, in their stolen forms, search Ozma's library for the antidote to Lurline's magic spell. Umb and Ra are not capable of imitating the Wizard and Dorothy convincingly; people become suspicious, and Toto exposes them — but not before the Mimic royals find what they are looking for. Back in Mount Illuso, they conjure a gigantic red spider that spins a magic web; this negates the influence of Lurline's spell, and allows the Mimics to launch a mass attack against Oz. Dorothy and the Wizard are imprisoned in a cave deep within Mount Illuso. There, however, they see a blaze of brilliant fairy light that restores their power of motion. The light stems from a button on the cave wall. They press the button, and a hidden door opens to expose an elevator and its attendant. Hi-Lo, a living wooden puppet, takes them to the top of the mountain. There, the two Ozites discover Pineville and are led to the fairy Ozana, who had been delegated by Lurline to watch over the malicious Mimics. Ozana has spent her lonely days and years creating her Story Blossom Garden and her wooden puppet people (one of whom has escaped to the outer world, to become Charlie McCarthy). Ozana is shocked to discover that the Mimics have evaded her guardianship; she leads Dorothy and the Wizard back to Oz, flying on giant swans. The attacking Mimics arrive in Oz disguised as beautiful birds, with gorgeous plumage of "Red, blue, green and gold...." The residents are seduced by their beauty, and the Mimics quickly duplicate and paralyze them. The trick works only on humans; fierce beasts like the Cowardly Lion and Hungry Tiger are magically sedated, while the Scarecrow, the Patchwork Girl and other non-human creatures are simply tied up. The Mimics have largely accomplished their ends when they confront the simultaneous arrivals of Ozma and Glinda, and Ozana, Dorothy, and the Wizard. Ozana's magic is powerful enough to subdue Ra and Umb and reverse their spells. The Mimics, back in their grotesque forms, are herded into the mirrored grand ballroom of Ozma's palace; good magic imprisons them in the ballroom's many mirrors, from where they are sent back to the interior of Mount Illuso. Order is restored to Oz, and celebrated with the usual concluding banquet. Ozana is rewarded with an invitation to live in Oz; her Pineville people and her Story Blossom Garden are magically transported to Oz so that she will not miss them. | 49 |
Wisdom's Daughter | fantasy | As Holly points out, the story is told from She’s perspective, and since She claims to have lived for over two thousand years, since Ancient Egypt, there is no way to compare her story with any other sources, or witnesses. She Who Must Be Obeyed says that she was Arabian, by birth; and, given the name Ayesha. Although, in the introduction, Sir H. Rider Haggard, links the name Ayesha to Mohammed's wives, and Arabic or Arabic names, (Arabic: عائشة, Āʾisha), stating that it should be pronounced "Ash/ -ha"; A·ye·sha/ äˈ(y)ēSHə/, is perhaps more common. She claims that her natural beauty and wisdom was so great, it caused wars between the princes, who wanted to marry her. She says that while this was at first a great source of pride among her Father’s people, they soon began to resent her, and spread vicious rumours that she was cursed. Ayesha leads her Father’s people into victory, and revels in the battle; but, the women envy her, and the men lust after her. So, she decides to go into hiding, with her tutor, an Egyptian priest; rather than be turned over to the approaching armies of Pharaoh. She tells about travelling through the ancient world, encountering all the major artists, who want her to model for them; as well as philosophers, and religions of the time, from Ancient Greece and fledgling Ancient Rome to Palestine and Jerusalem. Finally, they return to Egypt, where once again, her beauty and wisdom become a source of contention. She swears an oath of celibacy, to serve Isis the Goddess of the Spirit of Nature, and turn away from Aphrodite the Goddess of Love. But, soon a Greek soldier of fortune, Kallikrates, formerly employed by the Pharaoh comes to her, for sanctuary. He takes an oath to serve Isis; but, the Pharaoh’s daughter pursues him; and, seeing the way Ayesha looks at him, she determines to destroy her, as a rival. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s prophecies as mere parlor tricks. She goads her Father into giving Ayesha away, as a sex slave, to one of his allies. Repeatedly, Ayesha is in danger; but, even in the midst of fire and battle, Isis and her followers save her from ruin and rape. Ayesha’s fame grows so great, that she is called “Isis Come To Earth” and “Wisdom’s Daughter”. Finally, the King of Kings, of the Persian Empire, comes to see her. He laughs that anyone would be afraid of what must be an old hag, as Isis’s Priestess. He spits on Isis’s statues, and burns the old gods. However, again her beauty, which the King glimpses beneath her veil; betrays her; and, he determines to rape her, with the rest of the country. Isis saves her; and, they escape, to reunite with her old Captain, Kallikrates, and the Princess. Ayesha is inspired that Isis wants to rebuild her cult and usher in a new Golden Age, in the world, through herself. She is led to the hidden kingdom of Kor, in Africa, to begin. Once there, Ayesha meets her former tutor, who has been guarding The Flame of Eternal Life, which will make a person young and powerful, for as long as the world endures. He passes this one last mystery onto Ayesha, warning her of its temptation to her vanity. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s fading youth; and feeling ashamed, in front of Kallikrates, Ayesha determines to break her oaths, and make herself and him both immortal, to rule the world, like Gods, by stepping into The Flame. This way she feels she will be as "Isis Come To Earth", indeed. But, "Wisdom's Daughter" is Fortune's Fool, and falls by Love's Folly. Kallikrates is afraid when he sees Ayesha, in her preternatural beauty, after she has bathed in The Flame; and, dies. The others either flee in terror or are killed, overwhelmed by her beauty. Aphrodite laughs at her, and Isis. Now, Ayesha cannot die, or her will be opposed. She is as terrible, beautiful, and deadly as lightning. After Kallikrates' death, the Princess flees, urging Leo’s ancestors to revenge themselves on She, through the artifacts, she passes down, which Holly and Leo find, in the first book, She: A History of Adventure. Ayesha is doomed to wait, in Kor, for his return, through the centuries, becoming weary of the world. She has learned everything the world and Nature has to offer; but, still she must wait, for love and redemption. | 50 |
The Little White Horse | fantasy | Maria Merryweather becomes an orphan at age 13, upon her father's death in 1842. She is sent to the Moonacre Manor somewhere in the west of England, accompanied by her governess Miss Heliotrope and dog Wiggins. There she finds herself in a world out of time. Her cousin and guardian Sir Benjamin Merryweather is one of the "sun" Merryweathers, and she loves him right away, as sun and moon Merryweathers do. Maria discovers that there is an ancient mystery about the founding of the estate. She is aided by wonderful people and magical beasts, but it is only by self-sacrifice and perseverance, too, that Maria is able to save Moonacre, right the wrongs, reunite lost loves and finally bring peace to the valley. | 51 |
Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils | fantasy | After barely escaping an archaeological dig in Tikal, Guatemala with his life, Dr. Henry Jones Jr. makes his way back to New York. Upon his return, he learns of the recent discovery of the mysterious writings of a missing British explorer, Colonel Percy Fawcett. Though Colonel Fawcett himself still remains missing, his rediscovered work tells a story that could drastically change history and challenge several firmly held scientific beliefs. Within those pages, an incredible picture begins to take shape of a long lost city in the jungles of Brazil and the apparently true legend of a red-headed race, possibly descended from ancient Celtic Druids. Fascinated by such a prospect, and with the lovely Deidre Campbell at his side, Indiana Jones sets out for the Amazon. However, as usual, getting there will prove to be the true adventure. And if he does manage to survive the journey, who can tell what dangers await within the mythical city itself. | 52 |
Slan | fantasy | Slans are evolved humans, named after their alleged creator, Samuel Lann. They have the psychic abilities to read minds and are super-intelligent. They possess near limitless stamina, "nerves of steel", and superior strength and speed. When Slans are ill or seriously injured, they go into a healing trance automatically. There are two kinds of Slans. One has tendrils and can read the minds of ordinary humans and telepathically communicate with other Slans. The tendrils are golden in colour, making it easy to spot a slan. These Slans are hunted to near extinction. The other type of Slan is tendrilless. They are still super intelligent but do not have psychic capabilities, only the ability to hide their thoughts from the first type of Slan. Kier Gray is the leader of the human society and promises to exterminate the Slans. As the novel begins, Jommy Cross (a telepathic Slan of the first type) is brought with his mother to the capital, Centropolis. They are both discovered, and Jommy's mother is killed. Jommy is only nine years old and manages to escape. Jommy Cross is not only the heir to the brilliant inventions of his father, but he represents the last hope of his race to save it from genocide. Because of the importance of his mission, he is opposed by various enemies. Jommy seeks to destroy Kier and in confronting him discovers an astonishing secret: Kier Gray is also a Slan. | 53 |
Alice in Verse: The Lost Rhymes of Wonderland | fantasy | What distinguishes this variation on Lewis Carroll's classic from others is that the story is told entirely in rhyming verse. It begins the same as Carroll's original, with a languid Alice perking up "When first she spies the clock of clocks/Within the rabbit's paw". After following the time-obsessed creature Down the Rabbit-Hole Again, she discovers The Bottle & the Biscuit Box in the "hall of many doors," and after drinking and shrinking and eating and growing (and shrinking again), she is "swept away upon a pool of tears." The first real departure from the original text comes in the 3rd verse, where, after being instructed by the Caterpillar in proper Wonderland speech (The Caterpillar's Lesson on Rhetoric & Rhyme), she is given the chance to impress the imperious insect with her oratory skills in The Mariner's Tale, a dark poem more akin to How Doth the Little Crocodile than the You Are Old, Father William poem she quoted for the Caterpillar in Carroll's original book. The Caterpillar gives his earnest (if somewhat slanted) critique of her recital in the 5th verse (The Subjective Review) before taking flight on mechanical wings (as depicted in the accompanying illustration). The 5th verse finds Alice in familiar company once again with The Cook, the Pig, the Cat & His Duchess, as the Cheshire Cat tells her the tale of the conflict between the Duchess and the Cook, offering more insight than previously available. The most pivotal departure from Carroll's original text comes in the 7th verse, The Tea Party Resumes, where it is first hinted at (by a sleep-talking Dormouse) that the Knave of Hearts may not in fact be responsible for the theft of the Queen's tarts. Through rapid wordplay and cunning juxtaposition, both the Mad Hatter and March Hare attempt to muddy the facts and confuse Alice — though, the astute reader will glean much from the Dormouse's revelation on the matter of the Queen's missing tarts. The 8th verse, offers a brief respite from the main action with A Slight Detour Through the Looking-Glass, which serves not only as a catchall recap of Carroll's follow up book but also as an introduction to the subsequent three verses: Dee & Dum (the 9th verse) and The Battle (the 11th verse) which function as a wraparound for the 10th verse, The Walrus & the Carpenter Head Back (the epic sequel to Carroll's masterpiece The Walrus and the Carpenter), in which the tables are turned on titular characters "who once dined on the shore." The 12th verse, In the Garden of Hearts, returns Alice to Wonderland, "where the trial (of the Knave of Hearts) is about to begin!" In the 13th verse (The Trial Begins) the King of Hearts presides over the court just as he did in Chapters 11 & 12 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with the Queen at his side, and the White Rabbit in the role of the court reporter, reading the now famous single stanza verse the Queen of Hearts (a second stanza has been added that only further accentuates the absurdity of the charge against the accused). The major departure from Carroll's original here is that instead of appearing as jittery witnesses, the Mad Hatter and March Hare are cast as Counsel for the Defense and Prosecutor, respectively. After the charge is read, the Hare addresses the court with an opening statement that more or less vindicates the accused, before turning his accusing eye upon the court itself for failing to serve tea with the evidence (the tarts). The King concurs and calls for a brief recess, during which the bulk of the evidence is consumed by all present. The trial resumes in the 14th verse with The Hatter's Defence, in which the Hatter presents an alternately flattering and damning portrait of the accused. In the 15th verse (The Hare's Rebuttal & the Hatter's Rebuke) the jury is making ready to deliberate when the Hare suddenly chimes in again with a counter argument that is more damning to himself and opposing counsel than it is to the accused, and only after a decisive rebuke from the Hatter does the Hare retract his "erroneous rebuttal", at which point the King allows there is "time for yet one final pleading." In the 16th verse The Knave of Hearts Repents with a haunting poetic plea directed specifically at the Queen of Hearts, who offers her own poetic response in the 17th verse The Queen's Sentence. The 18th Verse, The Royal Flush, pandemonium breaks out, much the same as it did in Carroll's original, with Alice challenging the court, while the Hatter and Hare try to trap the Dormouse who has run amok, and the jury takes flight. As the Queen demands "Off with his whiskers! Off with his head!", a voice calls to Alice from just outside of her dream. Alice wakes suddenly in the 19th and final verse (Waking), with the events of the previous 18 verses recurring to her in reverse order, like memory folding back over itself, until the final line of the final stanza affirms the sentiment that the rhyming poem is both valid and "well worth defending." | 54 |
The Lady Decides | fantasy | The novel concerns a man with a dream and an allegorical quest through Spain. | 55 |
Sword Quest | fantasy | There is war in the kingdom of birds, which was started by the prehistoric birds known as the archaeopteryxes. In the only place where birds are still safe, a magical island called Kauria, the King, Pepheroh the Phoenix, orders his birds to make a sword as a result of what the Great Spirit tells him. Once the sword had been forged, a tear gem from the Great Spirit, a godly entity watching over birds, lands in the hilt of the sword, and seven other gems, each a color of the rainbow, are scattered around the world. These gems are the Leasorn Gems, and hold clues to where the magical kingdom of Kauria and the sword are found. A bird destined to be a hero will take hold of the sword at the fifth full moon three years from then and rescue the warring world. However, should the sword fall into evil hands, the world of birdkind shall be in peril. Hungrias the Second, Ancient Wing (or king) of the archaeopteryxes, sends Sir Maldeor, his top knights, and his son, Prince Phaethon, to a tribe of doves, who have the orange Leasorn Gem. The mission fails, as a monstrous four-winged bird/reptile creature attacks and eats Phaethon, who was in possession of the orange gem. The creature bursts into blue flames and Maldeor sends his troops to kill all the remaining doves. However, a dove named Irene manages to escape and lays an egg. When the egg hatches to reveal a fully feathered hatchling, she names him Wind-Voice. Meanwhile, the four-winged creature, named Yin Soul, is stuck between the world of the living and that of the dead, and can only escape if he can find the body of a likely hero that can get the Hero Sword, or else he will die a painful death. Yin Soul attempts to take control of Wind-Voice, but Wind-Voice sees through Yin Soul's illusion and refuses. Before meeting Yin Soul, it was revealed that Wind-Voice's mother had been killed, and he was made a slave. Wind-Voice later meets a wood-pecker scribe named Ewingerale, nicknamed Winger. Winger had been imprisoned after his tribe was destroyed. The archaeptyx were planning on fattening Winger up and eating him for supper. Wind-Voice breaks Winger out, is attacked by an archaepteryx guard, and is brought to Hungrias, where he is put over a spit to cook for supper. On the spit, after he faints from the heat and is brought to Yin Soul's realm, Wind-Voice escapes and meets Fisher, a battle scarred crane, in a tribe in the surrounding swamp, as well as Winger. Fisher begins to teach Wind-Voice how to fight with a sword and later tells him of the Leasorn Gems. Wind-Voice is determined to find the gems and finding the hero, who will bring peace to the world. Before leaving to find the gems, Fisher gives them a map to finding Fleydur, who will help them on their journey. Also coming along is Stormac; a myna who can't resist his temptation for riches. Wind-Voice, Winger, and Stormac meet a golden eagle, who is revealed to be Fleydur. The group head out into the desert and battle a group of an archaeopteryx, who are in possession of the red Leasorn. Winger and Fleydur manage to escape with the gem, but Stormac is mortally wounded and is later found by a group of parrots, who heal him with the use of there green leasorn. Wind-Voice has been captured and taken to the castle of the archaeopteryx, where Maldeor is the new emperor. Maldeor is revealed to be Yin Soul's apprentice and had wing chopped off and then exiled by Hungrias for losing Prince Phaethon. After nearly dying in a blizzard, Yin Soul summons Maldeor and gives him a new, bat like wing. But the wing needs a potion every new moon to keep it going. Maldeor goes to Hungrias, takes the throne and then kills him. Maldeor throws Wind-Voice in the dungeon and later attempts to have him executed by tying him to a log and throwing him off a waterfall. Wind-Voice survives and meets up with Stormac, who now has the green Learson gem. The two go to Sword Mountain and gain the purple gem. Meanwhile Winger and Fleydur are heading over the ocean the land of the penguins in search of the teal Learson. Along the way Fleydur reveals that he is actually a prince exiled from his home of Sword Mountain because of his belief that music can bring joy and healing to the world. Wind-Voice and Stormac are also heading over the ocean and end up in the Island of the Pirates, were they find the blue Learson gem and on Byrdsfish Island; the seagull tribe. Stormac is attacked and killed by a group of pirates lead by Captain Rag-Foot and Wind-Voice heads alone to Kauria. Yin Soul attempts to take control of Maldeor but is rebuffed and left to die. Later Maldeor launches an attack for Kauria, but ends up in the land of the penguins and most of the forces are defeated or killed. Maldeor and his remaining army head to Kauria, where he sees a recently reunited Wind-Voice, Winger, and Fleydur. An army of free birds arrive to battle against the archaeptyx forces. Wind-Voice and Maldeor both head to the island and the two begin to battle. Wind-Voice escapes from the fight and manages to find the Hero's Sword, but doesn't take it. Maldeor however has taken a false Hero's Sword and attacks Wind-Voice. The real Hero's Sword appearance in Wind-Voices claws and Maldeor is killed when the temple that they are in begins to fall apart. The archaeopteryx army leave and begin to form their own tribes and Fleydur is taken back into his family. Wind-Voice is renamed Swordbird by King Pepheroh and it is revealed that Wind-Voice's father is the Great Spirit. The clues on the Leasorn Gems disappear and the day that Wind-Voice became Swordbird is made a holiday called the Bright Moon Festival. Swordbird reveals to Winger in a dream that he too was killed by the rubble and that he is now a spirit and a guardian of peace, and will help any that summon him. | 56 |
The Summoner | fantasy | Martris "Tris" Drayke, second son of the royal family of Margolan, has always been tormented by his older half-brother, Jared Drayke. When Jared murders their father and seizes the throne with the help of his vampire (vayash moru) mage, Foor Arontala, Martris flees the city with his two friends: the bard Carroway and the soldier Soterius. Also, a gruff captain of the guard joins them. As the friends journey on the road to a nearby country to the north, Tris begins to experience powers he didn't know he had, magic left to him by his extremely powerful grandmother, Bava K'aa. As the story progresses, Tris learns that he is the mage heir of Bava K'aa, inheriting all of her former powers of summoning spirits, and perhaps more. As his brother's soldiers close in, Tris hires on the ex-soldier Vahanian, who now lives on the wrong side of the law. Vahanian is haunted by a horrific past, and has sworn not to involve himself in the conflicts of government again. However, through the course of the novel, Vahanian begins to see the urgency of mission's success, after witnessing the horrors King Jared and Arontala inflict upon their own country. He, reluctantly, at first, agrees to train Tris and his friends in the art of streetfighting, breaking them of their rehearsed, almost ceremonial ways of swashbuckling. He teaches them how to kill, not put on a show. Princess Kiara, leader of the small country of Isencroft, for all intents and purposes, finds herself in a bind as she struggles to worm her way out of an arranged marriage with Jared, and worries about her father's failing health, which is almost certainly waning because of evil magic. In a last bid for her country's freedom, she rides upon a Journey given to her by the Eight-Faced Goddess. She ends up joining Tris's band, and rides with him to an almost-forgotten library to discover how she might save her father, and her nigh-doomed country. While there, Kiara is attacked by Arantola, and Tris continues his training under Roysten the Librarian and other Sisters, eventually gaining MageSlayer, a powerful sword guarded by the dead. It is the only blade capable of killing the dead. During this time, Kiara and Tris begin to fall for each other, and Kiara is bidden by the Goddess to assist in their quest. Vahanian and Carina also show signs of romantic feelings, though Carina is desperate to deny them because of something in her past. They then set off for Principality, but they are detained by King Staden of Principality's soldiers, and it is revealed the general of the troops is the brother of the man Carina fell in love with and failed to save when she and her brother were forced out their home for being twins, and mages to boot. Once at the royal court though, the King reveals he escorted them for safety as they saved his daughter Berwyn (Berry), and Vahanian is made Lord of Dark Haven, the vayash moru stronghold as a reward. The king pledges his full support, and Kiara and Tris admit their feelings before Tris goes to continues his training. | 57 |
Xone of Contention | fantasy | Dug, the Mundane who had had an adventure in Xanth through the Companions of Xanth computer game, is now happily married to Kim. His friend Edsel on the other hand is on the rock with his marriage to Pia, Dug's old girlfriend, who wants a divorce. Edsel, not wanting to lose her strikes a deal with her, they take a two week vacation in Xanth, switching with Nimby and Chlorine who want to learn about Mundania, and if she doesn't change her mind, he won't fight it. | 58 |
Wolfskin | fantasy | Eyvind is a young Viking man who wishes to be a Wolfskin (a berserker warrior of Thor) like his brother. Somerled, a quiet boy of the same age, befriends Eyvind and binds him to loyalty with a blood oath. After becoming a Wolfskin, Eyvind voyages to the Isles of Light with Somerled, his brother Eirek, Somerled's brother Ulf (the leader of the expedition) and many others. The Vikings quickly establish a peace treaty with the native island folk and build a settlement. Then Ulf is murdered sadistically, suspended by ropes from a cliff's edge to die of exposure, leaving his position to Somerled- who immediately breaks the treaty. He sends out the Wolfskins to destroy the small army mustered by the natives in retaliation. Eyvind, seeing that the army is composed of the very young and the very old, suffers a breakdown brought on by the moral crisis. The native princess and priestess, Nessa, finds him and cares for him, healing his wounds and coldness of spirit. Alone in a hidden cave, with only an old priestess for company, the two young people fall in love. But Eyvind is soon faced with another crisis: he must face Somerled with newfound proof that the current ruler killed his own brother. In the Viking hall, Eyvind's accusations are smothered with violence and he is imprisoned, despite the efforts of his few remaining friends to help him. Finally, Nessa creates and brings to the hall a harp made out of Ulf's bones, with Ulf's voice (magically restored) as the final voice of truth that cannot be ignored. Somerled is banished from the Isles, bound by an oath to Eyvind to live as long as possible, and Eyvind stays in the Isles. | 59 |
The Waterless Sea | fantasy | By the time this book opens, characters Calwyn, Trout, Tonno, Halassa and Mica are making and enacting plans to rescue chanters from their various underprivileged situations and form a school of chantment; thus integrating the Nine Songs by which nature is commanded, as well as their singers, into society. While Calwyn and her friends are freeing windworkers from pirates' ships, they meet Heben, a former (exiled) princeling from the continent of Merithuros, who was a prisoner of the pirates'. On the island where the rescued windworkers live, Heben tells them that the ironcraft chanter children of Merithuros are being kidnapped, among them his (legal) brother and sister. Calwyn and her friends embark for the desert of Merithuros to rescue the captured children. Trout, the inventor, decides to remain behind. Darrow is alone on his boat Heron, where he reminiscences about his childhood. It is revealed that he was the son of a sea-captain and was nicknamed "Mouse" by the family-like crew. During his pre-adolescent years, Mouse discovered that a crew member named Arram was an ironcrafter, and that he himself could use the same gift. At his request, Arram secretly taught Mouse to use ironcraft, enabling him to manipulate matter by his songs. While docking at a Merithuran town, Mouse sang ironcraft to save his father from falling cargo. A Merithuran sorcerer saw this and took the terrified child away. Calwyn, Tonno, Mica, Halasaa, and Heben travel to Merithuros on the boat Fledgewing. There the outsiders of the group learn of the discontent lives of the common folk, who try to protest the cruelty of the Merithuran Empire. Tonno stays on the ship whilst the others ride on the goatlike "hegesi" to the Palace of Cobwebs where the royalty live. There, the group hope to learn where the kidnapped children are. Along the way, Calwyn and Mica earn the chauvinistic Heben's respect through their use of chantment. After many days of riding, they finally reach the Palace of Cobwebs. Darrow returns to the island of Ravamey, his current refuge, and learns that Calwyn and others have left. He is given cause to think that they have gone to the Black Palace, where the chanter children are actually held. Darrow is revealed to have lived in the Black Palace during his childhood. It is there that he acquired his name, which was derived from the title of his father's ship, Gold Arrow; there that he was given extensive training in the use of ironcraft by the harsh, partisan, cruel Merithuran sorcerers; and there that he first met the power-mad Samis. Calwyn and friends are inside the Palace of Cobwebs. Calwyn, disguised as a noblewoman and the others as her servants, have no success in learning anything useful, though they note the presence of chantment, implying the children to be nearby. Also present is a sorcerer of the Black Palace, Amagis by name, who recognizes their powers but does not confront them. Instead, he persuades Third Princess Keela to ingratiate herself with Calwyn, in hope of learning more about the latter. This is only a partially successful venture. After a parade and during a feast, the aged Emperor suddenly falls ill and dies. In the resulting clamor, the seekers sneak away and split up to search for the children. Darrow is sailing to Merithuros, while recalling to attention that Samis had singled him out as an ally, naming him "Heron". When the old lord of the Black Palace was dying, Samis seized his office and the Ring that signified it. He later attempted to persuade Darrow to join him in the quest to become Singer of All Songs and conquer the world; Darrow refused, cast away the name "Heron", and fled, later to meet Calwyn. Calwyn finds Shada, Heben's legal sister, trapped on a tower. To keep her there, Shada's kidnapper has broken the bones of her feet. Shada explains that five of the kidnapped children, including herself, are hidden in the Palace of Cobwebs, where they sing chantments to keep the palace intact. Halasaa heals Shada and they escape from the pursuing Amagis. The group reunites and search for the four other children. Calwyn and one of the children, Ched, try to warn the inhabitants of the steadily collapsing Palace while the others steal supplies and escape. No one pays attention to Calwyn, except Keela, who tries to take Ched from her. Calwyn and Ched escape, leaving the palace just as the palace collapses. Calwyn uses Ironcraft for the first time to assist in their escape. Falling debris kills Ched. Calwyn overhears some soldiers conspiring to crown the Fifth Prince so that they can control the dimwitted man and rule the Empire through him. Darrow meets Tonno at a Merithuran harbor. At a bar, Darrow meets the leader of the commoners who want to rebel against the empire. Darrow earns a partnership by promising to take the leader, Fenn, to the fabled Black Palace. Calwyn and friends travel towards the Black Palace. Halasaa becomes ill along the way, because of the barrenness of the land. In his telepathic conversations with Calwyn and other characters, Halasaa reveals that Merithuros was once a fertile, generous land, but was reduced to wasteland by humans. When confronted by wasunti (wild dogs), Calwyn uses the Power of Beasts to turn them away. Oron, one of the children, is bitten by one of the wasunti. Halasaa teaches Calwyn the Power of Becoming, with which Calwyn heals Oron. Possibly as a result, Calwyn almost faints from exhaustion. When she awakes, they have been saved by Darrow, Tonno, and the rebels. They head to the Lip of Hathara, which is a stone wall surrounding the Black Palace. Darrow and the children rescued from the Palace of Cobwebs (except for Ched who died) use ironcraft to open a doorway, but do not close it. This leaves an entryway for the army and nobles led by Keela, who are all heading to the Palace. When the protagonists enter, they are attacked by the sorcerers. Oron goes missing, later to be discovered, threatened and suborned by Keela. Darrow reveals the Ring of Lyonssar, making himself the Lord of the Black Palace. This confuses Calwyn, who associates such a manouvere with the desire for control. Later, Darrow explains his methods, whereas Calwyn disclaims any division that he has suspected her of having in her affections. Darrow also reveals that the Black Palace can, if its mechanisms are released, become a wind-powered war machine, similar to a terrestrial warship. Calwyn compares the sorcerers' tradition of living in the Black Palace to the tradition in which she was raised, wherein priestesses hide behind walls of ice, and wishes that the chanters would "come out of hiding". On the roof of the palace, Calwyn and Darrow share a passionate kiss (during which Darrow's ring becomes caught in Calwyn's hair), finally acting on their feelings for each other. In the next morning, the remaining imperial soldiers are advancing toward the Black Palace. Darrow rallies sorcerers, rebels, and his friends, invoking them to build a Republic on the ruins of the Empire, wherein a more generous way of life is followed. When the various factions begin to quarrel, Darrow reveals the soldiers to them as a common enemy, whereupon all unite in their opposition to this. Heben, impromptu, questions the wisdom of war and suggests that all factions co-operate rather than compete. Darrow supports this idea. Tonno discuses with Calwyn their means of getting back to Ravamey. He assumes that Darrow will stay here and assume the role of Lord of the Black Palace. This saddens Calwyn, because despite the fact that Darrow has finally acted on his love for her, she must leave him in Merithurous to fulfill his duty. In addition, Halassa is sick and needs her aid more at the moment than does Darrow. The imperial army attacks; moments later, Oron unwillingly obeys Keela's order to activate the mechanisms of the Black Palace, which are a series of metal pipes. When air is run over the pipes correctly, the pipes create a chant of Ironcraft powerful enough to move the Black Palace itself. As it advances menacingly, Calwyn responds to the needs of the injured land and uses all of her chantment to heal it. In the process, she sacrifices all of her own power to sing. Using chantment, Darrow halts the Black Palace in its path saving Calwyn. As a result of Calwyn's chantment, the region called Hathara becomes the site of a lake, into which all the fighters throw their weapons. Because his sickness and weakness corresponded with that of the land, Halasaa is restored to health even as the land is revived. Keela is captured; although she attempts to talk her way out of trouble, she is imprisoned at Darrow's command. It is revealed that Keela believes Samis to be alive; because Darrow doubts the clarity of his own perception of Samis as dead, he is frightened by this information. Calwyn, upon regaining her strength, is distraught to find that she has lost all of her chantment. She watches aimlessly as Heben, Darrow, Tonno, and the leaders of the various Merithuran factions build the foundations of their new Republic. Eventually, she is approached by Darrow. He attempts to console her without much success. He then reveals that he intends to seek Samis, to discover whether he is in fact alive, and if he is so to kill him. Darrow discusses the future with Calwyn, suggesting that she might go back to Antaris to heal, and eventually asks her to promise him that if she returns to Antaris in search of healing, she will not go alone, but in the company of friends, and to promise him that she will return upon success or failure. When she does not promise to return, arguing that she cannot ensure it, he leaves her, disappointed. | 60 |
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