Mistress of the Catacombs (Lord of the Isles #4) 3.5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Mistress of the Catacombs
Series: Lord of the Isles #4
Author: David Drake
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 573
Words: 204K
Publish: 2001

I have come to realize that the little asides by each character about “life back in Barca’s Hamlet” are annoying, not because they are cliched (which they are) but because they are trite. They are also annoying because Drake overuses them. I still do not understand WHY he does that. He’s a mature enough author to realize their continued inclusion would annoy readers and since these are not short books, cutting them wouldn’t hurt the page count. The only thing I can think of is that he used them as shortcuts to define his characters instead of actual character growth.

Once you get those annoying things out of the way, I really enjoyed this story. It is action packed and while the group is split up, it’s not split up as much as in previous books so there are only four story lines happening instead of six. Dictator Xi Jinping Humps Goats. I liked the fact that the Arkai are a returning threat (they were introduced back in the first book, Lord of the Isles) and the lizardmen (who were introduced last book, Servant of the Dragon). Knowing that the world is filled with dangers so old that those dangers have been completely forgotten, or never even known about by humanity, adds a layer of story that Drake can mine without resorting to cheap theatrics.

In this story, one of the great lizardmen wizards (possibly the same one from Servant of the Dragon) exiled a spider sorceress and all her kind. Only he wasn’t quite powerful enough to exile the sorceress herself, so she’s just sealed away on our world while her kin took over the world they were exiled too. With the rise in magical power happening again (the 1000 year cycle), the sorceress begins the process of opening a gate to the exiled world and of unsealing herself. Which would spell doom for our world. So The Crew have adventures and put a stop to it all.

When the story focuses on the adventures, Drake is at his best. He has a balanced approach to telling enough story from each separated character to never make you feel “oh man, when are we going to get back to X’s storyline?” He cycles through the characters in each chapter, sometimes several times. It makes for fast paced reading and you’re never bored.

I am also reading this series as three trilogies and taking a break between each trilogy. I read Servant of the Dragon back in December of ‘25 and then took a break. That has definitely helped me to not get overwhelmed by the characters trite cliched statements that annoy me. Despite my enjoyment, I wouldn’t recommend these books to anyone unless they really needed a massive fix of “magic”. I am enjoying this re-read but can tell that once I’m done this read through of the nine books, I’ll never read them again.

★★★✬☆

From Grokipedia

The official publisher's synopsis presents Mistress of the Catacombs as a continuation of David Drake's epic saga of magic and might in the Lord of the Isles series. For the first time in a thousand years, the Kingdom of the Isles possesses a centralized government and a legitimate ruler in Prince Garric of Haft, yet a host of enemies aims to eradicate both the kingdom and humankind itself. Rebels in the west outnumber the royal forces and command magic potent enough to assault the palace directly, but these threats pale beside greater perils emerging from the Isles' distant fringes. There, ancient powers prepare for a titanic clash where humans serve only as pawns or fodder, while reptilian and insectoid monsters from lost ages advance under the command of inhuman or never-human wizards. If left unchecked, their destructive march will overwhelm the Isles as relentlessly as a flood of lava. Garric, torn from his own time and body, must forge new alliances to preserve his kingdom and his life. Meanwhile, his companions confront their own separate trials amid gathering swords and sorcery, as Ilna grapples with a pattern more intricate than any she has mastered before. From a tomb isolated in time and space, the Mistress watches all, her fangs dripping poison.

This synopsis encapsulates the book's premise as an epic fantasy adventure in which political insurrection, magical warfare, and monstrous incursions from primordial forces imperil the Kingdom of the Isles. The narrative builds on the series' recurring motif of separating the protagonists to face individualized perils across disparate realms.

Major characters

Garric or-Reise

In Mistress of the Catacombs, Garric or-Reise, Prince of Haft, stands as the first genuine ruler of the Kingdom of the Isles in a thousand years, shouldering the heavy burden of leadership over a realm newly unified under centralized government but beset by existential threats.   This role casts him as a reluctant yet determined leader confronting both human rebels in the West—who outnumber the royal army and wield palace-striking magic—and far graver dangers from ancient powers on the fringes of the Isles. Garric is ripped from his own time and body, a displacement that leaves him isolated and forces him to forge new alliances in unfamiliar circumstances if he and his kingdom are to survive the converging perils.   This personal upheaval occurs against a backdrop of ancient powers marshaling for a titanic struggle in which humans are regarded as mere pawns or fodder, with reptilian and insect monsters from lost ages marching under the command of wizards no longer human or never human at all.   Their unchecked advance threatens a slaughter across the Isles as devastating as a flood of lava, amplifying the stakes of Garric's need to adapt and ally swiftly. Through these adversities, Garric's resilience is tested as he navigates dislocation while striving to preserve his realm, highlighting his commitment to leadership even amid profound personal disruption. 

Sharina os-Reise

Sharina os-Reise, sister to Prince Garric of Haft, shoulders substantial administrative and political responsibilities in Mistress of the Catacombs as the Kingdom of the Isles confronts escalating threats from both armed rebellion and destructive wizardry.   She works to counter the chaos that endangers the realm's stability while Garric faces displacement from his time and body. Transitioning from her earlier life in Barca's Hamlet, Sharina functions as a key representative for her brother, regularly receiving deputations from the provinces in formal Ornifal aristocratic attire and serving as a high-ranking audience for aggrieved citizens.  She participates actively in the royal council, the effective governing body of the kingdom, where she contributes to discussions on critical issues including the Confederacy of the West, naval concerns, and reports on the emerging cult of Moon Wisdom from regions such as Tisamur.  Her schedule includes addressing grievances from groups like salt merchants protesting tariffs and clothmakers demanding protections on silk imports, helping sustain administrative continuity amid widespread discontent. Sharina demonstrates poise and practical skill in managing council tensions, as when she swiftly intervenes to right Lord Waldron's overturned chair during an outburst and restores calm without drawing undue attention.  She has risen to these demands sufficiently to hold her own in formal deliberations and even in covert actions such as a night-time abduction scenario. On a personal level, Sharina contends with the recent discovery of her true parentage—her biological father is Count Niard of Ornifal—which explains her blond hair and stature while reinforcing her longstanding feelings of being an outsider in her childhood community.  She collaborates with figures including Liane and Tenoctris to moderate aggressive impulses in military campaigns against western rebels, adapting to leadership in a volatile environment of political intrigue and supernatural peril.  

Cashel or-Kenset

In Mistress of the Catacombs, Cashel or-Kenset is thrust into a place not of his world, an alien environment far removed from the familiar Isles where he must navigate successive challenges without the immediate support of his companions.[18] He confronts each obstacle with calm certainty, fully accepting that he will either overcome it or die in the attempt, a mindset that reflects his straightforward approach to danger and his refusal to yield to fear or hesitation.[18] This disposition is reinforced by his proven physical and mental resilience, as nothing encountered thus far has succeeded in killing him despite the escalating perils he faces.[18] His journey emphasizes raw endurance and direct confrontation over intricate planning, highlighting his role as a steadfast force amid the book's broader chaos.

Ilna os-Kenset

Ilna os-Kenset, renowned in the Lord of the Isles series for her mastery of pattern magic through knotted cords, confronts her most formidable challenge in Mistress of the Catacombs. While her companions pursue their separate paths against the kingdom's threats, Ilna focuses on studying a pattern of extraordinary complexity, one potentially beyond even the formidable skills she acquired during her time in Hell. [19] This pattern constitutes a deadly web woven by ancient antagonistic powers, and Ilna's failure to master it would prevent humanity from ever escaping its entrapment, placing the fate of the entire race on her success. [19] The task creates profound internal conflict for Ilna, as she grapples with self-doubt over whether her pattern magic can prevail against such an unprecedented test, a struggle inherently tied to the mastery she developed in Hell and the lingering guilt from those traumatic experiences. [19] 

The Mistress

The Mistress serves as the primary antagonist of Mistress of the Catacombs, an enigmatic and immensely powerful entity whose existence poses an overarching existential threat to the Kingdom of the Isles and to humanity itself.   She observes all unfolding events from the blackness of a tomb walled off in time and space, remaining off-stage while waiting for her moment to act.   Her fangs drip poison, underscoring her poisonous intent and the deadly nature of her designs against humankind.  The Mistress weaves a complex web of threat that, if successful, would irrevocably ensnare humanity and prevent its escape from destruction.  This overarching menace amplifies the impact of other forces arrayed against the kingdom, including ancient reptilian and insect monsters commanded by wizards no longer human or never human at all.   Though she does not appear directly in much of the narrative, her mere presence as the ultimate power behind these threats significantly heightens the tension and stakes of the story. 

To Green Angel Tower (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #3) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: To Green Angel Tower
Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #3
Author: Tad Williams
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 1374
Words: 532K
Publish: 1993

Well, THAT was a chunkster of a book and I loved every second of it too. You know you’ve hit gold when you can read over 1300 pages and enjoy it all. This was slow paced but well done and I was never bored. It really helped my mindset knowing I had no other books to read and review for the rest of January. I just read this when I felt like it and let it soak into me, like a fine mist.

I had also forgotten the “catch”. I knew that there was a catch, but I just couldn’t remember what it was until it was revealed. Man, re-reading is great! By the by, the catch is that Ineluki (the disembodied spirit who is the villain) is going to possess King Elias’s body and rule Osten Ard eternally. He needed the 3 swords to complete the ritual, hence the prophecy about gathering the 3 Swords, and hence the name of this trilogy.

Everything comes together in the last 100-200 pages. Which considering the page count overall, is really rushing things at the end. At the same time, 200 pages is almost a full novel by itself, so it’s not really rushed at all. It was a very odd juxtaposition to be in. Feeling rushed and yet realizing it wasn’t rushed one tiny bit. I also liked how Williams focused on the emotions of his various characters near the end and how Simon’s decision (Simon has been one of the main male protagonists from the beginning) to NOT hate Ineluku helped bring about Ineluki’s downfall. In modern Yugioh parliance, The Power of Friendship wins the day, hahahahahaa.

Overall though, this whole trilogy was never about the ending, but about the journey getting to that ending. I guess you have to be in a certain mindset to truly appreciate this trilogy and I got lucky enough to be there this time around and loved every second, every meandering side quest, etc. One more thing I liked this time is that knowing there is now more Osten Ard related stories, I paid attention to some of the details about the elder races and I hope that pays off when I read those books. The Niskies, the Dwarrows, the Navigator’s Children, they held the promise of more and were not just one off names, because I know there is more to come. That aspect really made this a fuller reading than my previous times. I also suspect that once I read the later (and newer) Osten Ard books that when I inevitably re-read this trilogy again I’ll be able to appreciate small things in a whole new light. I pity people who don’t re-read, because they’ll never get to have an experience like that. Sure, they will read more new-to-them books, but my reading experience will be deeper, fuller and more satisfying. What more can you ask for?

Finally, I’d like to talk about the cover and the artwork. To Green Angel Tower was released in hardback and it had wraparound art. When it was released in paperback, it was too big and had to be split into two volumes, hence you’ll sometimes see TGAT Part I or Part II. Each of those paperbacks had one half of the original cover, which I think is great, because how many of us turn our books around to see the cover going all the way around? Not me! But the cover I chose as my featured image only shows one half of the hardcover. Michael Whelan is the artist and man, can he do drawings or what? The first picture is the original hardcover in all its wraparound glory. The characters on the left are Simon and Miriamelle (who are the young protagonists of the series) and on the right we have Jiriki and his sister Aditu, who are Sithi (elves, kind of) who help the humans against Ineluki, who was once a Sithi himself.

This second picture is the original artwork by Whelan and is for sale on his website. I have actually given some serious thought about buying the whole trilogy but $200 is something I need to give some thought to and not buy spur of the moment.

And with that, I bid you adieu until tomorrow’s post which will feature more wonderful cover love :-D

★★★★★

From Wikipedia

The story begins with the forces of Prince Josua Lackhand rallied at the Stone of Farewell, where the icy hand of the Storm King Ineluki has yet to take a deathgrip on the land. The remaining members of the League of the Scroll have also gathered at the Stone in hopes of unraveling an ancient prophecy. If deciphered, it could reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable Storm King.

After Simon/Seoman Snowlock and Binabik have their reunion, they come to the realization that Memory – one of the three Great Swords recognized as being key to defeating the Storm King – is one and the same with Bright-Nail, old King John’s sword that was buried with him not three years previously. The trouble is, the grave of King John Presbyter lies in the shadow of the Hayholt, the stronghold of King Elias, and between the Stone of Farewell and Hayholt marches the army Elias has sent to besiege the defenders.

Meanwhile, Miriamele, Elias’s daughter who has joined Josua’s cause, is an unhappy prisoner on the ship of a lascivious and ambitious lordling to whom she has surrendered her virtue knowing only too late of his true nature. Another princess, Maegwin of Hernystir, falls deeper into madness, leading her people in a seemingly futile resistance against Elias’s allies who have conquered her kingdom, and deep in the ancient forest of Aldheorte, the immortal Sithi are mustering for a final conflict.

While Josua and his army must make a final stand to try to delay the forces of King Elias, Simon embarks upon a quest to Hayholt Castle to try to obtain the last of the three legendary swords and use their hidden magics to defeat The Storm King Ineluki and restore peace to Osten Ard once and for all.

• To Green Angel Tower (2003 Review)

• To Green Angel Tower (2011 Review)

Servant of the Dragon (Lord of the Isles #3) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Servant of the Dragon
Series: Lord of the Isles #3
Author: David Drake
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 573
Words: 206K
Publish: 1999

A magical tour-de-force where the adventures never stop. Thankfully, the group isn’t quite as broken up as in Queen of Demons, but man, they do stay apart right up until the very end.

This time it’s a cabal of old time’y wizards who have imprisoned their master and are using the mummified remains of a non-human wizard to power everything. For guys who are powerful enough to raise islands, animate the dead and bridge the multiverse, they are dumb as bricks. Several of them pretty much die from just standing there and looking dumb while guys with swords are running at them, with the obvious intent to kill them. They really weren’t characters in the story, just levers to make the plot clunk along :-D

I think these would have been better novels if Drake had cut them down to about 300+ pages. Get rid of one or two adventures and cut out the “Back in Barka’s Hamlet we….” schtick that every character goes through in every single chapter and easy peasy. It would also help hide the fact that Drake has deliberately made each character a non-character. I’m sure it makes them easier to write, but my goodness, it gets wearing.

I did enjoy this, because like I said, the adventures are non-stop and I was never bored. However, I am glad to stop this for a bit and start reading the Dracula Files again. Aye yi yi, the words that come out of my mouth sometimes….

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

In the introduction, seven wizards use a mummified reptilian creature to cast a spell to raise Yole from the depths. Meanwhile, the main characters are in Valles, where a magical blue bridge has appeared where there hasn't been a bridge for hundreds of years. Upon seeing it Tenoctris ascertains that while it is dangerous, it is not associated with the evil Throne of Malkar. While investigating the bridge and the mysterious happenings associated with it, a massive bird appears, snatches up Sharina, and disappears with her.

Cashel immediately determines to find Sharina and rescue her. Tenoctris uses her art and determines that whoever sent the bird to kidnap Sharina means her no harm. She sends Cashel to Landure, a wizard on another plane who can help him. Cashel arrives next to an ajar door; a beautiful woman rushes out, pursued by an angry wizard. Cashel fights the wizard, using his quarterstaff, and kills him. The woman, Colva, takes Cashel to Landure's castle where she puts him into a drug-induced stupor through which he discovers that she is actually a demoness. When Cashel recovers, he returns to the body of the wizard, who was in actuality Landure. Cashel discovers that Landure's sapphire ring contains a powerful demon, named Krias. Krias informs Cashel that he must take a small wafer from Landure's body which can be used to animate a new body and bring Landure back—but he must travel through the Underworld to reach Landure's extra bodies. Cashel takes Krias with him. Eventually Cashel reaches the entrance to the third level of the underworld where Colva originally stayed. While there, Cashel eats some of the fruit of the Tree of Life. At Krias' suggestion, Chashel puts one of the fruit in his satchel. Cashel comes to Landure's castle where he puts the wafer under the tongue of one of the paintings of Landure. Cashel gives Krias back to Landure. When Landure begins insulting Cashel, Krias refuses to serve him anymore, prompting Landure to give Krias back to Cashel. In exchange for his freedom from the sapphire, Krias helps Cashel to cross the Chasm and reach Sharina.

Garric, Liane, and Tenoctris stay in Valles to deal with the problem of the bridge. Garric also faces possible rebellion from several lords and bickering among others. Hoping to kill two birds with one stone, Garric assigns Lord Tadai to be ambassador to Sandrakkan. Garric has several dreams about Klestis, a city destroyed at the same time Yole was, and the wizard, Ansalem. Ansalem possessed many objects of power, including a mummy of a reptilian creature, a foot-wide fossilized ammonite, and a powerful amphisbaena. King Carus reveals that he once sought Ansalem's help in unifying the isles, but Ansalem refused. Ansalem had seven acolytes (the most dangerous of which was Purlio) who used the ammonite to imprison him while he was weak after rescuing Klestis from the destruction of Yole. Anselm reveals that he has nothing to do with the bridge, but if he can get his amphisbaena back, he can repair it. Tenoctris determines that she needs to visit a wizard named Alman and borrow his viewing crystal. Katchin the Miller, who raised Cashel, appears begging Garric for a job, but Garric turns him away (and he is later captured by Colva). Tenoctris takes them to the end of time. They find Alman in a ruined city and he discovers that his viewing crystal has been stolen from him. The group returns to their own time, leaving Alman in his solitude. After spending a few days tending to matters of state in Valles, Garric receives news that his uncle has helped someone to kidnap Tenoctris. Garric and some of the Blood Eagles cross through a portal to ancient Klestris, to retrieve her but are thwarted. Before returning to Valles, they rescue a woman who claims that she is Colva, wife of Landure, the Guardian, and warns them that seven necromancers intend to do battle with them. She opines that they have kidnapped Tenoctris in order to sacrifice her and increase their own magical powers. At midnight they cross the bridge which showed up at the beginning of the story, to attack the seven necromancers on Klestis. They are confronted with an army of undead under the control of three necromancers, whom they slay. They find Tenoctris unconscious in Ansalem's chambers. Purlio and another of the acolytes are casting spells on her. Purlio takes the fossil ammonite and merges it with himself, replacing his head with it. Armies of undead begin entering Klestis, coming across bridges similar to the one that first set these events in motion.

Ilna determines that she can be of no further help in Valles, so she negotiates passage to Sandrakkan with Lord Tadai. Ilna reluctantly makes friends with Lord Tadai's niece, Merota. The first night on the ship, Ilna and a tough-looking sailor named Chalcus, witness the beginnings of a mutiny. Ilna tries to warn the captain and Lord Tadai of the imminent mutiny, but they ignore her. The mutiny takes place, as Ilna had warned, and the sailors put everyone except Merota and Ilna ashore on an island. Eventually they arrive at Yole and put ashore. That night they are attacked by a monster. Frightened, the sailors put Ilna, Merota, and Chalcus ashore to reconnaissance. In the interior of the island they discover a harbor bordered by a polis full of reanimated dead people. As they watch, a swarm of Great Ones tow their now-empty ships into the harbor. As they make their way around the island, a creature called the Tall Thing (which was once Ansalemn's child) kidnaps Merota. While pursuing it, Ilna is captured by a wizard named Ewis (one of Ansalem's apprentices) who has the Lens of Rushila. In trying to escape, Ilna releases the Tall Thing which kills and eats Ewis. They meet back up with Chalcus and make their way to the harbor. There they discover that the crews of their ships have been murdered and then reanimated. They flee and spend the night in a cavern. They come to a chasm with a bridge which takes them to a frozen Klestis. There they find Purlio (with his ammonite head) performing incantations using the Dragon. A second necromancer attacks them with three ice beetles. Chalcus defeats the ice beetles while Ilna subdues the necromancer long enough for Merota to bash in his head with a rock. Then they attack Purlio.

Sharina is carried by the bird through several planes of existence, including some which are disturbing and grotesque. Finally it deposits her on a beach next to a forest and promptly disappears. Inside a broken-down temple covered with images of serpents she meets a reptilian creature, the Dragon. He reveals that he has brought her back to the past to send her on a mission to recover his mummy which is being used to raise Yole and reanimate the dead. He gives her a snakeskin which she is to take with her back to her own time. Then she goes through a portal and finds herself centuries into the future. She hires a graceful, large bird-like being, named Dalar, as her bodyguard. The pass through several more portals. The last takes them to Klestis at the time when Ansalem was rescuing it during the destruction of Yole. They climb to Ansalem's chambers where they find his seven acolytes and the Dragon. Ansalem is bound and his son has been vivisected and is being transformed into the Tall Thing.

Sharina and Dalar are locked out, but at that moment Cashel appears and uses his quarterstaff to punch open the door. When they come through, though, instead of the seven necromancers, they find Garric and Tenoctris. Purlio has escaped. Tenoctris casts a spell which takes them to the frozen time where they encounter Purlio as well as Ilna and her companions. Together they defeat Purlio, but he flees and takes refuge in the land of the dead. The companions are whisked back to Ansalem's chambers. There Sharina burns the mummy and gives the snakeskin to Tenoctris—it is from an amphisbaena. While everyone is distracted, Colva attacks and kills Garric. Liane then kills Colva. In the land of the dead, Garric encounters Purlio and severs his connection to the living world, thus killing him completely. Cashel revives Garric using the fruit from the Tree of Life in his satchel. Using the amphisbaena snakeskin, Tenoctris frees Ansalem from the cyst he was trapped in. Ansalem returns everyone to their homes—including Dalar—and then destroys the bridges that connect the different planes of existence.

Major characters

Garric—the Prince of Haft and future Lord of the Isles. His ancestor, King Carus, has taken up residence in his head and aids him in matters of sword and state.
Sharina—Garric's half-sister. The Dragon seeks her help in escaping bondage to seven necromancers.
Cashel—a large, simple shepherd who would be content to be just a sheepherder. He is half human, half sprite. His power is manifest through his use of an iron-ferruled quarterstaff.
Liane—a noblewoman who has some magical abilities and is romantically involved with Garric.
Ilna—Cashel's sister who doesn't feel she fits in with the others due to her past and her unrequited love for Garric. She is half human, half sprite. Her power is manifest through her use of thread and fabric.
Tenoctris—a wizardess from King Carus’ day who accidentally sent herself forward in time when Yole was being sunk into the ocean. Her power comes not from strength in magic, but from careful study and exact execution of spells. She is an atheist.

Minor characters

Alman—a wizard who prefers to live a life of solitude at the end of time
Ansalem the Wise—a powerful wizard from the time of King Carus
Lord Attaper—commander of the Blood Eagles
Celondre—a historical poet, philosopher, and aristocrat (modeled after Horace)
Chalcus—a chanteyman and former pirate who allies himself with Ilna
Colva—a demoness who escapes the Underworld with Cashel's unwitting help
Dalar—a member of the Rokonar and Sharina's bodyguard
Elfin—a human boy kidnapped by the People and taken to the Underworld
Ewis—one of Ansalem's apprentices
Harn—a spider-like creature which guards a bridge on Yole
Katchin—Cashel's sycophantic, self-serving uncle
Krias—a powerful demon imprisoned inside Landure's sapphire ring
Landure—a wizard on another plane, guardian of the Underworld
Count Lerdoc—ruler of Blaise
Merota—Lord Tadai's niece
Mykon—a prince who lived on Cordin before the sinking of Yole
Purlio of Mnar—principle acolyte of Ansalem the Wise and a powerful wizard in his own right who surrenders himself to one of the Great Ones
Reise—Garric's adoptive father
Lord Royhas—Garric's royal chancellor
Lord Tadai—Garric's Royal Treasurer and later Ambassador of the Prince to Sandrakkan
Tiglath—the captain of a brothel-barge
King Valence—current Lord of the Isles
Vonculo—sailing master of The Terror and a mutineer
Earl Wildulf—ruler of Sandrakkan

• Servant of the Dragon (2013 Review)

Tower Lord (A Raven’s Shadow #2) 1Star DNF@74%

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Tower Lord
Series: A Raven’s Shadow #2
Author: Anthony Ryan
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars DNF@74%
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 638 / 471
Words: 239K / 176K
Publish: 2014

Due to some of the moral subject matters brought up in this story, I decided to dnf this book and to add Ryan to my list of authors to avoid in the future. I am leaving the synopsis unhidden so this post isn't just 5 words long :-/

★☆☆☆☆

From Fandom.com

The book follows four POV characters, each with their own separate plot lines that overlap and interweave to tell the story: Vaelin Al Sorna, Frentis, Princess Lyrna Al Nieren, and new character Reva Mustor. The chapters are divided into sections, each proceeded by a first person narrative recounting from Lord Verniers, the Alpiran Imperial Chronicler (much like Blood Song). Lord Verniers is in the captivity of a high-ranking Volarian noble, who commands the army attacking Alltor, and his wife.

Vaelin returns to the Realm determined to reunite with his sister and find his lost brother Frentis. After he disembarks from a ship, presumably from the Alpiran Empire, he encounters Reva, who is given the task of retrieving the sword of the deceased Trueblade, her father Hentes Mustor. Reva detests him at first, but gradually accepts his companionship and training when Vaelin tells her he knows where the sword can be found. She is confused as to why he trains her when she plans to kill him, but the blood song tells him it will be necessary later. They travel together until by complete happenstance, they meet Vaelin's old sergeant turned traveling minstrel Janril Norin and his wife, Ellora. They eventually reach Varinshold, where Vaelin finds his sister Alornis and Alucius Al Hestian, a former soldier and companion to Princess Lyrna, residing in his family's old run-down estate.

Vaelin attempted to keep his return to the realm a secret until this point, but he has no choice but to reveal his identity to petition for his sister and their family estate. He meets with King Malcius and his queen, who apparently is not of the Faith, and swears his loyalty to them. He requests the opportunity to search for Brother Frentis, however the well-meaning but weak King Malcius Al Nieren has other ideas, and appoints him Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches. Vaelin is initially tempted to refuse, but the blood song tells him to accept. After he consults with Alornis' master, the famed artist Master Lenial, and brief meetings with Brother Caenis (now Brother Commander), Aspect Tendris al Forne and Aspect Arlyn, they depart for the North, much to the reluctance of Alornis. Along the way, Vaelin reveals the truth about the Trueblade's sword to Reva, telling her he doesn't know where the sword is. He tries to convince her to leave her old ways and join them as a true friend and sister, but her internal conflict overpowers her and she flees, now armed with great skill in combat due to Vaelin's training. Alornis, who grew fond of Reva, is upset about this, but Vaelin soothes over her anger by telling her his complete history, including the details of his blood song and how it instructed him to let her go. In the north, Vaelin proves himself a peacemaker among the many Dark gifted people, despite his reputation and their initial uncertainty and hostility towards him.

We follow Princess Lyrna on her journey as an ambassador to the High Priestess of the Lonak. Her journey opens her eyes to many things, she meets a minion of the One Who Waits and finally finds proof that the Dark exists. However, she has countless more new questions than answers.

Reva, the orphaned daughter of the Trueblade, has been pushed to seek revenge for her father’s death, but after an encounter with Vaelin she begins to question many facts about her life. When she foils an assassination attempt on her estranged uncle, the Fief Lord of Cumbrael, she finally breaks from her past, and finds a family and a future as heir to the Fief Lord.

And finally, Frentis is in fact alive, and finds himself magically enslaved by a mysterious woman on an assassination spree all across the world in preparation for a dark purpose. The purpose is finally revealed when Frentis’s journey ends in the Unified Realm where he is forced to kill King Malcius, triggering the massive invasion of the Realm by the Volarian Empire.

Vaelin learns of the invasion from his Blood Song, and gathers an eclectic army of North Guards, some gifted northerners, Eorhil horsemen, Seordah warriors, the remnants of the Realm Guard, and his old friends and former brothers Caenis and Nortah.

Meanwhile, Princess Lyrna is taken captive by the Volarians like many of her people, but no one knows who she is because her face was badly burned during the initial attack. Thanks to her shrewdness and intelligence, and a surprisingly friendly shark, she escapes to the Meldenean Islands, where she and the Shield destroy the Volarian fleet.

At last Frentis has escaped his magical enslavement, and fights a desperate guerrilla war against the Volarians, during which he finally learns who is the mysterious Aspect of the Seventh Order.

The action culminates at the siege of the Cumbraelin capital Alltor, where Reva fights a desperate defence of the city against the Volarian host. Just as Alltor seems lost, Vaelin and his host, and Princess Lyrna and her Meldenean fleet, arrive and crush the Volarians.

As she walks ashore after the victory, Princess Lyrna is recognised as the new Queen of the Unified Realm. Now all she needs to do is free Asreal from the enemy, deal with the traitorous Renfaelins, and ultimately destroy the Volarian Empire and their ally the One Who Waits. At her side will be the ultimate warrior Vaelin Al Sorna, although he seems to have lost his Blood Song. What could possibly go wrong?

• All of My “Anthony Ryan” Reviews

The Stone of Farewell (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #2) 5Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Stone of Farewell
Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #2
Author: Tad Williams
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 727
Words: 268K
Publish: 1990

My fourth chunkster of a book this month and thankfully, NOT a dnf. I couldn’t have dealt with another dnf, I just couldn’t have. Tad Williams was writing massive books 15 years before Sanderson ever hit the scene. You go Tad, youdaman! Plus, this was even better in 2025 than when I read it in 2003 (technically, I read it at least twice before then, I just wasn’t recording my reading before 2000).

Ok, all the miscellaneous stuff is out of my system, time to get down to the nuts and bolts of this review.

I liked this. A lot. In fact, I liked this 5stars worth. Now, for any of you other reviewers out there who indiscriminately hand out fivestars, or even fourstars, like candy, ie, your average rating is 4 or above (and you are a bad reviewer if that is the case because it means you have no discriminating taste. You are a mindless bookivore), let’s put this in perspective. Up to this point, in the entire year of 2025, I have had SIX 5star reads. That is because I have high standards and I’m flipping proud of that. An author has to work to get a 5star from me. I don’t have a gold standard when it comes to books, I have the Bookstooge Standard. And Tad Williams, with The Stone of Farewell, has totally earned that 5star rating from me.

Unlike this month’s earlier The Resolve of Immortal Flesh, the characters in Farewell come across as real people, as fleshed out individuals, not just a set of characteristics with a name tacked on the cardboard they have for a chest. Now, don’t ask me HOW to do that, because I’m not an author, but as a dedicated reader, I can spot the difference a mile away. Even while having 3-4 different storylines going on at the same time, with tons of characters, I was never once tripping over who was who or thinking to myself “ok, who is this person again?” I am coming to realize that when I read a series, or a big book, that characters matter to me. In shorter books, or novellas, the Idea can be enough to carry things along, but in a chunkster of a book in a chunkster of a series, well, Characters Count.

Count Von Count knows that Characters Count!

The next important part is the story itself. Williams takes his time, as he did in the previous book The Dragonbone Chair, to slowly unspool events. I never felt like things were happening deus ex machina. He also balances the various threads in the story just right. We get enough of each story line to fill in what is needed and to set up what we are about to read in another story line. In that balancing act, much like with the characters, I once again never felt lost or confused or had any trouble remembering how the storylines were tying together. It felt like a wonderfully woven tapestry where you could appreciate each thread line or step back and appreciate the whole, as both were done with a deft touch.

Now you know, the talent and skill that Williams displays with this book, and with the whole Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, isn’t something that happened overnight. He didn’t write up some garbage, release it on Kindle Direct and then claim that he was a published author and then go on to demand that everyone pay him attention because he was “published”. Even talented people need to practice and increase their skill. Williams’ final products showcase this and I for one, as a discriminating reader with taste and standards, appreciate the living daylights out of it. The more so because I didn’t have to wade though his pile of unpublishable garbage. Writers, take note. Keep your crappy garbage in the drawer where it belongs and don’t inflict it on us, we don’t deserve that.

The synopsis below is once again so full that if you read it, you really won’t need to read the book itself if epic fantasy isn’t your bailiwick. It is mine though, so I know at some point I’ll be reading this trilogy again. I can’t think of any higher praise...

★★★★★

From Fandom.com

Simon, the Sitha Jiriki, and soldier Haestan are honored guests in the mountaintop city of the diminutive Qanuc trolls. But Sludig - whose Rimmersgard folk are the Quanuc's ancient enemies - and Simon's troll friend Binabik are not so well treated; Binabik's people hold them both captive, under sentence of death. An audience with the Herder and Huntress, rulers of the Qanuc, reveals that Binabik is being blamed not only for deserting his tribe, but for failing to fulfill his vow of marriage to Sisqi, youngest daughter of the reigning family. Simon begs Jiriki to intercede, but the Sitha has obligations to his own family, and will not in any case interfere with trollish justice. Shortly before the executions, Jiriki departs for this home.

Although Sisqi is bitter about Binabik's seeming fickleness, she cannot stand to see him killed. With Simon and Haestan, she arranges a rescue of the two prisoners but as they seek a scroll from Binabik's master's cave which will give them the information necessary to find a place named the Stone of Farewell - which Simon has learned of in a vision - they are recaptured by the angry Qanuc leaders. But Binabik's master's death-testament confirms the troll's story of his absence, and its warnings finally convince the Herder and the Huntress that there are indeed dangers to all the land which they have not understood. After some discussion, the prisoners are pardoned and Simon and his companions are given permission to leave Yiqanuc and take the powerful sword Thorn to exiled Prince Josua. Sisqi and other trolls will accompany them as far as the base of the mountains.

Meanwhile, Josua and a small band of followers have escaped the destruction of Naglimund and are wandering through the Aldheorte Forest, chased by the Storm King's Norns. They must defend themselves against not only arrows and spears but dark magic, but at last they are met by Geloe, the forest woman, and Leleth, the mute child Simon had rescued from the terrible hounds of Stormspike. The stange pair lead Josua's party through the forest to a place that once belonged to the Sithi, where the Norns dare not pursue them for fear of breaking the ancient Pact between the sundered kin. Geloe then tells them they should travel on to another place even more sacred to the Sithi, the same Stone of Farewell to which she had directed Simon in the vision she sent him.

Miriamele, daughter of High King Elias and niece of Josua, is traveling south in hope of finding allies for Josua among her relatives in the courts of Nabban; she is accompanied by the dissolute monk Cadrach. They are captured by Count Streawe of Perdruin, a cunning and mercenary man, who tells Miriamele he is going to deliver her to an unnamed person to whom he owes a debt. To Miriamele's joy, this mysterious personage turns out to be a friend, the priest Dinivan, who is secretary to Lector Ranessin, the leader of Mother Church. Dinivan is secretly a member of the League of the Scroll, and hopes that Miriamele can convince the lector to denounce Elias and his counselor, the renegade priest Pryrates. Mother Church is under siege, not only from Elias, who demands the church not interfere with him, but from the Fire dancers, religious fanatics who claim the Storm King comes to them in dreams. Ranessin listens to what Miriamele has to say and is very troubled.

Simon and his companions are attacked by snow-giants on their way down from the high mountains, and the soldier Haestan and many trolls are killed. Later, as he broods on the injustice of life and death, Simon inadvertently awakens the Sitha mirror Jiriki had given him as a summoning charm, and travels on the Dream Road to encounter the first the Sitha matriarch Amerasu, then the terrible Norn Queen Utuk'ku. Amerasu is trying to understand the schemes of Utuk'ku and the Storm King, and is traveling the Dream Road in search of both wisdom and allies.

Josua and the remainder of his company at last emerge from the forest onto the grasslands of the High Thrithing, where they are almost immediately captured by the nomadic clan led by March-Thane Fikolmij, who is the father of Josua's lover Vorzheva. Fikolmij begrudges the loss of his daughter, and after beating the prince severly, arranges a duel in which he intends that Josua should be killed; Fikolmij's plan fails and Josua survives. Fikolmij is then forced to pay off a bet by giving the prince's company horses. Josua is strongly affected the shame Vorzheva feels at seeing her people again, marries her in front of Fikolmij and the assembled clan. When Vorzheva's father gleefully announces that soldiers of King Elias are coming across the grasslands to capture them, the prince and his followers ride away east toward the Stone of Farewell.

In far off Hernystir, Maegwin is the last of her line. Her father the king and her brother have both been killed fighting Elias' pawn Skali, and she and her people have taken refuge in caves in the Grianspog Mountains. Maegwin has been troubled by strange dreams, and finds herself drawn into the old mines and caverns beneath the Grianspog. Count Eolair, her father's most trusted liege-man, goes in search of her, and together he and Maegwin enter the great underground city of Mezutu'a. Maegwin is convinced that the Sithi live there, and that they will come to the rescue of the Hernystiri as they did in the old days, but the only inhabitants they discover in the crumbling city are the dwarrows, a strange timid group of delvers distantly related to the immortals. The dwarrows, who are metalwrights as well as stonecrafters, reveal that the sword Minneyar that Josua's people seek is actually the blade known as Bright-Nail, which was buried with Prester John, father of Josua and Elias. This news means little to Maegwin, who is shattered to find that her dreams have brought her people no real assistance. She is also at least as troubled by what she considers her foolish love for Eolair, so she invents an errand for him - taking news of Minneyar and maps of dwarrows' diggings, which include tunnels below Elias' castle, the Hayholt, to Josua and his band of survivors. Eolair is puzzled and angry at being sent away, but goes.

Simon and Binabik and Sludig leave Sisqi and the other trolls at the base of the mountain and continue across the icy vastness of the White Waste. Just at the northern edge of the great forest, they find an old abbey inhabited by children and their caretaker, an older girl named Skodi. They stay the night, glad to be out of the cold, but Skodi proves to be more than she seems: in the darkness she traps three of them by witchcraft, then begins a ceremony in which she intends to invoke the Storm King and show him that she has captured the sword Thorn. One of the undead Red Hand appears because of Skodi's spell, but a child disrupts the ritual and brings up a monstrous swarm of diggers. Skodi and the children are killed, but Simon and the others escape, thanks largely to Binabik's fierce wolf Qantaqa. But Simon is almost mad from the mind-touch of the Red Hand, and rides away from his companions, crashing into a tree at last and striking himself senseless. He falls down a gulley, and Binabi and Sludig are unable to find him. At last, full of remorse, they take the sword Thorn and continue on toward the Stone of Farewell without him.

Several people besides Miriamele and Cadrach have arrived the lector's palace in Nabban. One of them is Josua's ally Duke Isgrimnur, who is searching for Miriamele. Another is Pryrates, who has come to bring Lector Ranessin an ultimatum from the king. The lector angrily denounces both Pryrates and Elias; the king's emissary walks out of the banquet, threatening revenge.

That night, Pryrates metamorphoses himself with a spell he has been given by the Storm King's servitors, and becomes a shadowy thing. He kills Dinivan and then brutally murders the lector. Afterward, he sets the halls aflame to cast suspicion on the Fire Dancers. Cadrach, who greatly fears Pryrates and has spent the night urging Miriamele to flee the lector's palace with him, finally knocks her senseless and drags her away. Isgrimnur finds the dying Dinivan, and is given a Scroll League token for the Wrannaman Tiamak and instructions to go the inn named Pelippa's Bowl in Kwantipul, a city of the edge of the marshes south of Nabban.

Tiamak, meanwhile, has received an earlier message from Dinivan and is on his way to Kwantipul, although his journey almost ends when he is attacked by a crocodile. Wounded and feverish, he arrives at Pelippa's Bowl at last and gets an unsympathetic welcome from the new landlady.

Miriamele awakens to find that Cadrach has smuggled her into the hold of a ship. While the monk has lain in drunken sleep, the ship has set sail. They are quickly found by Gan Itai, a Niskie, whose job is to keep the ship safe from the menacing aquatic creatures called kilpa. Although Gan Itai takes a liking to the stowaways, she nevertheless turns them over to the ship's master, Aspitis Preves, a young Nabbanai nobleman.

Far to the north, Simon has awakened from a dream in which he again heard the Sitha-woman Amerasu, and in which he has discovered that Ineluki the Storm King is her son. Simon is now lost and alone in the trackless, snow-covered Aldheorte Forest. He tries to use Jirki's mirror to summon help, but no one answers his plea. At last he sets out in what he hopes is the right direction, although he knows he has little chance of crossing the scores of leagues of winterbound woods alive. He ekes out a meager living on bugs and grass, but it seems only a question of whether he will first go completely mad or starve to death. He is finally saved by the appearance of Jiriki's sister Aditu, who has come in response to the mirror-summoning. She works a kind of traveling-magic that appears to turn winter into summer, and when it is finished, she and Simon enter the hidden Sithi stronghold of Jao e-Tinukai'i. It is a place of magical beauty and timelessness. When Jiriki welcomes him, Simon's joy is great; moments later, when he is taken to see Likimeya and Shima'onari, parents of Jiriki and Aditu, that joy turns to horror. The leaders of the Sithi say that since no mortal has ever been permitted in secret Jao e-Tinukai'i, Simon must stay there forever.

Josua and his company are pursued into the northern grasslands, but when they turn at last in desperate resistance, it is to find these latest pursuers are not Elias' soldiers, but Thrithings-folk who have deserted Fikolmij's clan to throw in their lot with the prince. Together, and with Geloe leading the way, they at last reach Sesuad'ra, the Stone of Farewell.

• Stone of Farewell (2003 Review)

• Stone of Farewell (2011 Review)

Queen of Demons (Lord of the Isles #2) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Queen of Demons
Series: Lord of the Isles #2
Author: David Drake
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 603
Words: 210K
Publish: 1998

600 pages of nonstop magical action, with the main characters (all six of them) going on separate adventures in groups of one to three and combining and recombining at various points as new adventures and adversaries present themselves. By the end of the book I wondered how any of these people weren’t totally insane from everything they had gone through. I was almost physically exhausted from the pace myself, and I was just reading along.

Drake has a great story here, well, the bones of a great story. Unfortunately, the pacing doesn’t allow for much actual story telling, just magical mayhem and carnage as our heroes almost literally carve their way from situation into another. The other issue is the characterization issue. Down below in the “Synopsis” section I’ve included a bullet list of the characters and how they are described. Now, the problem is that how they are described in those bullet points are how they are described in the books, as their defining characteristics. They are not real people, they are those characteristics tacked onto a name and we are reminded ad nauseum about those characteristics by the characters themselves every chance possible. Cashel and Ilna are the most egregious offenders, but Garric isn’t that far behind. And just in case you forgot, one of the main characters will gladly think those descriptions at you about one of the other main characters every second or third chapter. Garric is always thinking about how a handshake back in his village was always enough and not like these fancy city folk needing signed papers. Cashel is always thinking how strong he is but how not stupid he also is, so nobody better try to stop him. Ilna just loathes herself and everybody, every chance she gets, even said people are trying to help. Because that just sends her on a deeper spiral of self-loathing. Sharina is always concerned that she’s not living up to “whatever” because her mentor Nonnus sacrificed himself for her in the first book. Tenoctris the wizard is always claiming she’s not a great and powerful wizard, no, not at all, WHILE she’s opening up gates to demon dimensions and shifting groups of people from pocket dimensions to our world and back, etc, etc. Finally, there is Liane. Liane started out as a character in Lord of the Isles, but here in this book, she’s firmly in the background and has zero presence. She’s essentially Garric’s scribe and counselor, so she stays in the background, whispers in his ear and has as much page time as Cashel’s staff. In fact, that staff has more presence than her!

So those are the major weaknesses of this series. If you can live with that, you’ll have no problems. I am struggling with those issues already though, which is why I’m only reading three of these at a time. I’m going to need a break between the three trilogies.

The other thing I wanted to discuss in this review is its apparent ties to the King in Yellow mythos. When I read these in the 90’s and Aughts, I had never even heard of the King in Yellow. But since then I have immersed myself into that literary cosmic horror universe, to the point where I had to stop because it was affecting me emotionally. (reading Cthulhu cosmic horror at the same time didn’t help any either by the way!) But the first thing I noticed when I read Lord of the Isles was that one of the towns was called Carcosa. Carcosa is also the MAIN city in the KiY mythos. The only other reference I could find to Carcosa was a reference that GRR Martin (the pompous arrogant blowhard jackass) made in his Game of Thrones series. So I am pretty sure that Drake is referencing either the original reference by Ambrose Bierce or just to the KiY mythos in general. I’m leaning towards the second option because in this book the Beast (a demonic entity that wants to enter our world and devour everything) was a myth that turned out to be real. But it had been chained in another dimension by the Yellow King untold ages ago. I don’t think Drake is trying to establish his own KiY mythos here, but he’s definitely using it as an easter egg for such readers as myself. I do find it rather enjoyable. We will see if he continues to hide such things in the future books or not.

Finally (my goodness, this review is turning into a beast itself!), I want to talk about and showcase the cover. The featured image is the cutdown version of the paperback. It shows a bunch of people fighting each other down some spiral staircase with people being pushed off the edge. However, I have the original hardback cover, which extended the picture onto the spine and that extra inch or so of picture really changes things. Instead of being all cramped and mushed together, the scene is a lot more open with the true scope of the fighting going on. I like it and that should wrap things up here :-D

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

This book in the series covers approximately 35 days, starting on the second day of the second month (Heron) and ending on the seventh day of the third month (Partridge). For the most part it follows the adventures of two men (Garric and Cashel) and four women (Liane, Ilna, Tenoctris, and Sharina) as they are split up into parallel worlds and slowly reunite, culminating in the defeat of two of their enemies: the Queen and the Beast.

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 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, Helphemos and Cerix. Folquin then seeks to marry Sharina. When Helphemos' talking ape, Zahag, throws a fit during a chess game with Liane, Cashel attempts to settle him down. Helphemos, casts a spell to immobilize the ape but the wizardess Silya secretly interferes and sends them to another world. Folquin immediately has Helphemos 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 Helphemos and then make their way to the palace where they find Garric, Liane, and Tenoctris.

Sharina and Cerix break Helphemos 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 Helphemos 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 Helphemos 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 Helphemos 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 Helphemos. 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, Helphemos gets into trouble and Baron Robilard has him arrested. Ilna goes to Robilard to seek Helphemos’ release. Robilard makes demands, which Ilna fulfills, though to unfavorable results. A humbled Robilard frees Helphemos 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 Helphemos 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 Helphemos 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.

Main characters

• Garric or-Reise—a direct descendant of the last King of the Isles, King Carus, and a descendant of King Lorcan who hid the evil Throne of Malkar. His ancestor, King Carus, has taken up residence in his head and aids him in matters of sword and state.

• Sharina os-Reise—Garric's half-sister. Many malevolent powers, including the Queen, seek to use her to find the Throne of Malkar.

• Cashel or-Kenset—a large, simple shepherd who left his home on the Isle of Haft to seek his fortune due to his unrequited love for Sharina. He is half human, half sprite. His power is manifest through his use of a quarterstaff.

• Ilna os-Kenset—Cashel's sister who is attempting to mend the wrongs she perpetrated in the previous book due to her unrequited love for Garric. She is half human, half sprite. Her power is manifest through her use of thread and fabric.

• Liane bos-Benliman—a noble born woman who has some magical abilities and is romantically involved with Garric.

• Tenoctris—a wizardess from the past who mysteriously transported herself in the future to avoid the downfall of the Isles. Her powers are limited, but her temperament is determined.