Publishers Weekly Review: Canadian author Bakker’s impressive, challenging debut, the first of a trilogy, should please those weary of formulaic epic fantasy. Bakker’s utterly foreign world, Eärwa, is as complex as that of Tolkien, to whom he is, arguably, a worthier successor than such established names as David Eddings and Stephen Donaldson. Bakker creates an…
Continue ReadingPublishers Weekly Overview: Friedman delivers a rushed second installment of the Magister Trilogy (after 2008’sFeast of Souls), set in a casually grim world where cloak-and-dagger political intrigue is necessary for survival. Kamala, witch turned immortal Magister, flees north to the barrier called the Wrath of the Gods in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth…
Continue ReadingAbout the book by Publisher’s Weekly: In this imaginative, deftly plotted fantasy from Friedman (The Wilding), the first of a new trilogy, a female witch’s magic comes at a terrible cost: her own finite life force, which drains away with each spell. Nearly immortal male Magisters, on the other hand, tap a more murderous fuel…
Continue ReadingFor what started out as a fairly standard entrence into an epic fantasy series, I was quickly surprised. The plot starts out with strife in the land. The king and his sister are battling over succession. Interspersed in this is the story of two main characters who each have hidden pasts that neither knows about…
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