Amazon.com Review
With her latest novel, popular heroic fantasy author Reichert begins a brand new fantasy series. After a terrible mining accident which makes being underground unbearable for him, our hero Tamison seeks other work to feed his family. He has no luck breaking into the powerful guild brotherhood which control commerce in Lathary. Caught stealing food, he spends the next two years in prison, only to discover after his release that his family disappeared not long after his sentencing. Desperate to find them, he teams up with Dallan, a Lathary city guardsman, a mysterious thief named Con, and Rifkah, a foreign fortuneteller. They embark on a dangerous journey to rival city Callos, where Dallan says his family and Tamison's were taken as slaves to serve evil Lord Mannkorus. As they get closer to Callos, however, mutual suspicion pushes the group apart even as their trials draw them together.
In the end they uncover a plot far nastier than any of them expected, one rife with double-dealing and deception, which only their mutual cooperation can defeat. The novel's smaller scale and less-than-obviously heroic characters mark a pleasant change of pace from Reichert's more traditional epic fantasy works. Her fans will enjoy the adventure and intrigue of this fast-paced, if slightly predictable, start to a new series. --Charlene Brusso
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Popular heroic-fantasy author Reichert (The Renshai Chronicles) steps into a brand-new setting for her latest novel. Mentally scarred by a disastrous mining accident, Tamison finds it impossible to obtain decent work in the guild-run city of Lathary. Desperate to feed his growing family, he tries to steal food and ends up spending two years in prison for the crime. When his sentence is over, he returns home to find his wife and children gone without a trace. A city guardsman named Dallan tells him that nearly two years ago they were taken by men of the Brotherhood of rival city Callos to be slaves of evil Lord Mannkorus. Dallan explains that his sister and mother were also taken by the same men; soon he and Tamison team up to free their families. Joining them are Rifkah, a fortune-teller whose talents are not appreciated by the Brotherhood of Lathary, and Con, a mysterious thief who refuses to talk about his past. On the way to Callos, the four find themselves both divided and drawn together by their differences, as danger forces them to depend increasingly on each other. Only when they finally reach their goal do they learn the truth behind the kidnappings and Tamison's imprisonmentAa truth that will force Tamison to decide once and for all what to do with his life. Reichert's many fans will enjoy this change of pace (with a hint of a sequel) from the author's generally more lengthy and complicated books, while its intimate scale is sure to draw in new readers as well. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
