Monday, November 29, 2010

Spellweaver-Lynn Kurland

Spellweaver
Lynn Kurland
Berkley, Jan 4 2011, $15.00
ISBN: 9780425238639

Although an offspring of Gair the dark mage, Ruithneadh of Ceangail concealed his magical skills by ignoring what he inherited from his evil sire following the deaths of his family (see the Nine Kingdoms’ first trilogy). However, the daughter of a witch whose only magic is “seeing spells”, Sarah of Doire asks for his help on her seemingly futile quest to save her brother Daniel from the dark side (see A Tapestry of Spells).

The Nine Kingdoms remain under attack from what his dad wrought on them. He reluctantly agrees as he no longer can hide in the shadows of being a raging wizard while ignoring what his malevolent father did. The two adventurers seek his sire’s spells as his father deploys them against the Nine Kingdoms. The only hope resides in their teamwork with her seeing the spells and his destroying what she sees. However, in spite of their risking their lives, foes of his father either covet what they assume he possesses or want him dead for what they assume he possesses.

The second Ruith-Sarah quest fantasy contains a complicated story line as the pasts of both champions are depicted in depth as each has quite a blood line that impacts their current dangerous situation and the potential of a future together as their initial doubting trust has begun to turn to love. This is an excellent entry due to the complex lead characters whose heritage implies each will be the end of their respective gene pool as the sins of the parents to include fear of a repeat lead many enemies wanting both dead.

Harriet Klausner

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