The Red Country (Rihannar Chronicles) [Hardcover]

Sylvia Kelso (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rihannar Chronicles | Publication Date: October 2008

Introducing the princess and the mage.
He doesn’t do well with people. She isn’t so good with tact. But to survive an imperial invasion the wild, beautiful, fragile desert of Hethria will need them both.
She knows about tactics. He understands reality. They both love Hethria. But what if, to save something you love, you have to change yourself?
Some wars you just can’t win alone.

The Red Country is the third book in the Chronicles of Rihannar, successor to Everrran’s Bane and The Moving Water, praised by reviewers for the depth of their world-building and attractive characters. In this vividly realised high fantasy, love and magic are tested to the utmost in the struggle for a land whose spell, once experienced, is impossible to escape.

"...a lovely book ..." - SF Crowsnest

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kelso's third installment in the Rihannar Chronicles (after 2007's The Moving Water) has a rich, imaginative storyline, but that vision is blurred by an excess of invented language that tends to distract. Arrogant, irrational Princess Sellithar runs away from home, followed by her unflappable tutor, Kastir. As they encounter numerous strange creatures and characters from earlier in the series, Kastir pits residents of the desert against inhabitants of the farmlands, and the princess must find a way to patch up both the kingdom and her quarrelsome relationship with Zam, a telepathic mage who becomes her paradoxical love interest. While Kelso's invention is tremendous and his love-hate bantering somewhat engaging, his hyper-stylized narrative drags down the fun.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 273 pages
• Publisher: Five Star (ME) (October 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594147078
• ISBN-13: 978-1594147074
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,465,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sylvia Kelso lives in North Queensland, Australia, and writes fantasy, SF and mystery/time-travel, with analogue Australian settings. Her novels *The Moving Water* (2006)and *Amberlight* (2007) were finalists for best fantasy novel in the 2007 and 2008 Australian Aurealis genre fiction awards. *Riversend*, the sequel to *Amberlight*, was released in January 2009. Her third published long/short story, "The Sharp-Shooter" appeared with New Ceres Press in *New Ceres Nights* in April 2009. Some of her fiction appears for free access and electronic purchase on Book View Café (http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php)

She is currently preparing a third Amberlight novel ms for a possible publisher, waiting to hear about a mystery/time-travel novel from a second publisher, and has just finished judging the Writers in Townsville inaugural poetry award. http://members.iinet.net.au/~sakelso/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy/Romance Crossover, January 15, 2010

By 

Thomas C. Vinson "Tom V" (Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Red Country (Rihannar Chronicles) (Hardcover)

This is the third volume in Kelso's Chronicles of Rihannar, but it can be read stand-alone without getting lost. Here the author definitely crosses over into romance, although the fantasy component is also strong. Sellithar is a young, headstrong princess who loathes the formality of the king's court of Everran. Her life begins to change when she persuades her father to take on a foreigner as her tutor.
The Red Country of the title is based on the Red Centre of Australia. Finding a world populated with goannas, kangaroos and wagtails is a refreshing change from the euro-centric fauna of so many fantasies. After her father dies, Sellithar's attempts at maintaining her country's independence amid its larger neighbors come to nothing. In desperation she heads out into the desert, following a dream about an ancient king of Everran who made the same journey in search of aid. The red country, and the twin wizards who are its protectors, complicate her life even further.
If you are put off by the romance genre or made-up fantasy languages you shouldn't start reading Kelso with this volume. And occasionally I almost expected one of her mentors to address Sellithar as "grasshopper" [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Fu_(TV_series)]. But the romantic tension is generally well-handled, and the way it developed even surprised me a few times. The mentor's guiding philosophy adds to the tension; conflicts are acknowledged and must be wrestled with.