This is classic Epic Fantasy at its finest. There are forces of pure evil locked away on a separate plane; waiting for the unwary to provide them with a meal. There is magic and mayhem. Dirty politics and personal agendas. Prejudice and jealousy. But there is also love, loyalty and friendship. Nothing is simple and nothing comes easily. This entire story is full to the brim with a host of struggles resulting in outcomes both tragic and triumphant.
King Charald is cursed with a half-blood mystic son. Sorne is raised to be a weapon against the mystics. Desperate to win his father’s respect, Sorne steals power to trigger visions. Unaware King Charald plans their downfall, the mystics are consumed by rivalry. although physically stronger, the males’ gifts are weaker than the females. Imoshen, the only female mystic to be raised by males, wants to end the feud. But the males resent her power and, even within her own sisterhood Imoshen’s enemies believe she is addicted to the male gifts.
Sorne tries, but cannot win the respect of true-men. When he has a vision of half-bloods in danger he has to ask himself where his loyalty lies.
Convinced he can destroy the mystics, King Charald plans to lay siege to their island city. Will Imoshen win the trust of the mystic leaders and, if she does, will she believe the visions of a half-blood?
Prejudice, betrayal, jealousy, ambition and endless scheming fill all 672 pages of this truly epic fantasy. If you love a complicated multi-tiered magic system, a fully realized secondary world, secrets, personal agendas, and a multitude of racial issues, this story has all that and so much more.
For over three hundred years the mystics have lived alongside the true-men, until King Charald lays siege to the mystic’s island city.
Imoshen, most powerful of the female mystics, is elected to negotiate with the true-man king. the male mystics still resent her, but she has an ally in Sorne, the half-blood, who was raised by true-men. even though he is vulnerable to her gifts, he gives Imoshen his loyalty. In return, she gives him the most dangerous of tasks, to spy for her.
She negotiates exile for her people. They must pack all their valuables, reach port and set sail by the first day of winter. But to do this, they have to cross a kingdom filled with true-men who are no longer bluffed by their gifts. Meanwhile, there are mystics living in the countryside, unaware that their people have been exiled.
King Charald announces any mystics who remain behind after they are exiled will be hunted down and executed.
If there was a word that described a complex, complicated, intense, nail-biting, leg swinging, edge of your seat, dramatic, action filled story filled with omg moments... I'd use it. Instead you'll have to be content with the above run on sentence. {Grins}
