The Quest
Lindsay McKenna
Silhouette Nocturne, Feb 2008, $5.25
ISBN: 9780373617807

The search continues for the gems that make up the Emerald Necklace. Two Tage Warriors for the Light and their soulmates have already successfully completed their missions (see UNFORGIVEN and DARK TRUTH). Archaeologists Kendra Johnson and Nolan Galloway of the Ecuadorian based Vesica Pisces Foundation are sent to work together to uncover clues to the whereabouts of the third stone.

The pair has a torrid history that ended in guilt and tragedy in which only his telekinetic power saved his life; both are wary but still in love. Besides these two Warriors for the Light, the evil Tupay send super villain Victor Guerra to follow them and if they succeed, kill them and take the gem as chaos on earth remains their objective and the jewel can help them achieve their strategic goal.

The third Warriors for the Light romantic suspense fantasy is an exhilarating entry that though the overall plot is similar in tone to the first two novels retains its own freshness due to the previous relationship between the lead couple. Nolan and Kendra were selected because their skills complement one another making achieving their quest a strong possibility; however their trek on the Colorado in the Grand Canyon left her younger sister Debbie dead and their relationship shattered. Thus both must overcome the ghost of her sibling if they are to succeed on the mission with a lethal adversary on their tale and perhaps forgive the past with their love for each other. Lindsay McKenna provides a deep entry in a strong saga.

Harriet Klausner

Queen Ferris
S.C. Butler
Tor, Nov 2007, $27.95
ISBN 9780765314789

After the escapades with the three powerful wizards who gave him the selection between being their puppet or being their puppe tbecause they planned to put him on the thrones of Wayland and Banking (see REIFFEN’S CHOICE). However Reiffen endured their abduction until he was rescued, but also knows for him to survive and keep the thrones that are rightfully his, he must face the enemy in their lair and find a way to defeat them. Thus, he decides to leave the comfort of friends Avender and Ferris and his mom to return to the malevolent wizards’ home in Ussene. There he hopes to persuade them that his time with them has turned him to the dark.

However, the wizards did not become so powerful by being stupid. They demand Reiffen prove his conversion by performing some ugly tasks. He reluctantly agrees to misuse his power to perform nasty deeds although he fears his inner soul will become tainted forever.

Whereas the first book of the Stoneway’s saga was more a coming of age tale starring a twelve years old sheltered boy, the second book is more a morality play that is relevant in the world today. Reiffen justifies his behavior of performing evil deeds as a means to achieve a worthy end. His choices are much more complex and potentially hurtful to others than he had to face in the previous tale as for the most part only he was directly impacted. Thus Reiffen is even a more complicated protagonist leading fans of all ages to enjoy his latest adventures.

Harriet Klausner

Queen of Dragons
Shana Abe
Bantam, Dec 2007, $18.00
ISBN 9780553805284

The Drakon are a unique species who look human except they have the uncanny additional abilities to change into smoke or dragons. The English Drakon has believed they are the last of their people until they learn from correspondence that a tribe exists in the Carpathian Mountains.

In Darkfrith in York, the elated English alpha Drakon aristocrat Kimber Langford hopes that a “lost tribe” has surfaced. She sends trusted aids to Transylvania to meet with the Carpathian tribe led by alpha Princess Maricara. Her brother is the puppet ruler, but he serves as her front as he is non-alpha. However, Kimber is stunned to learn his agents are massacred by an unknown force. Maricara travels incognito by herself to York to warn Kimber that a secret organization is dedicated to the objective of Drakon genocide.

The third Drakon romantic fantasy (see THE DREAM THIEF and THE SMOKE THIEF) like the previous tales is fantastic entry that adds to the Abe mythos starting with the fascinating English egocentric belief that the Carpathian group is a found “lost tribe”. Kimber is a full blooded Drakon lord while the Princess heats is blood to a boiling once they meet. The courageous QUEEN OF DRAGONS actually owns the plot as she risks her life to warn her brother tribe of the dangers from an adversarial opponent who looks upon the Drakon as evil. Sub-genre fans will appreciate this strong entry, but those who read the previous Drakon entries already know this is one of the best sagas on the market today.

Harriet Klausner

Queen of Candesce
Karl Schroeder
Tor, Aug 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765315441

Venera Fanning is falling into the large artificially contained nothingness of Virga. Finally, after what feels like eternity, she lands on the ancient nation of Spyre, an orb whose cylinder shape is rotting to the point that this planet is doomed.

Venera quickly does what she does best alienate people although she finds a few allies almost as amoral as she is. Trusting no one, she knows she must respond rapidly to determine who can insure her survivability on this strange world even if it means some of her new cohorts are expendable. However, Venera also possesses the Key of Candesce that can change entire worlds, but her prime goal remains to live until she can avenge those who sent her into free fall even as she understands that her first encounter arrival causes a civil war between the status quo and the reformists.

The second Virga science fiction saga (see Sun of Suns) is a terrific thought provoking entry that is loaded with action yet causes the audience to ponder deep philosophical concepts. For instance as the amoral Venera plots vengeance and causes a civil war, readers will consider what is human in light of rebellious artificial intelligence and how human culture evolves around its environment especially the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome concept for turning Manhattan into airless space.

Harriet Klausner

The Queen of Wolves
Douglass Clegg
Ace, Sept 007, $23.95, 320 pp.
ISBN 9780441015238

He is called the “Anointed One”, the Maz-Sherah, named so by Merod the Priest of the Blood. He feels no different than any other vampyre as he flees with Pythia, a mortal vampire since she put on the Gorgon Mask, from a land torn apart from feuding vampires who want totke over another vampyre’s land and believe they have the right to do so. Although Aleric doesn’t trust Pythia, she is carrying his child and so he keeps an eye on her knowing she can turn on him at any second.

The veil between the worlds is thinning, and Medya, The Dark Mother, is trying to return to the realm she was exiled from and lay waste to all that opposed her. On the battlefield where the sorcerers fight the crusaders, Pythia and Aleric raise an army from the dying who choose to accept the Sacred Kiss. Aleric, with another vampire, travels to the ccity of Myrrad. There the serpent God gives him the weapons needed in the upcoming battle against Medya and the Myrrydanai priests at Taranis-H, also called White Robes. Inside the city are Pythia and his two mortal children. If Aleric loses the war, all he loves will be destroyed.

This is the last book in the Vampyricon Trilogy and it ties up all the loose ends and ensures all the key questions not addressed in the previous two books are answered. Although more action oriented than the first two books (see THE PRIEST OF BLOOD and THE LADY OF SERPENTS) in this fabulous series, the characters are fully developed and readers get a better understanding of what motivates them. Douglas Clegg is equally a good storyteller in the horror realm as he is the fantasy area and readers who like him in one genre will also like him in the others. His world-building is so magical that spellbound readers find themselves transported into the Clegg realm to trek alongside Aleric.

Harriet Klausner

The Quest for the Trilogy
Mel Odom
Tor, Mar 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 0765315173

After Grandmagister Edgewick “Wick” Lamplighter vanished while searching for rare books and fighting off evil doers, his assistant recently promoted Grandmagister Juhg wants to stay home studying how to establish schools throughout the realm. However wizard Craugh directs him to continue Wick’s quest so Juhg searches for three encrypted journals that belonged to the missing Grandmagister.

Upon completing the first leg of his literary quest by finding the journals, Juhg reads the Wick entries of seeking three magical weapons lost after the battle of Fell’s Keep. Craugh says these artifacts are needed to stop an evil person from employing a weapon of mass destruction. As he goes into the field on his quest, Juhg also battles the malevolent Goblinkin who care little that the world is in peril.

This is a terrific entry in one of the best fantasy series on the market today (see LORD OF THE LIBRARIES). The story line is fast-paced even when the plot pays homage to libraries. Especially fascinating is Juhg “reading” Wicks’ journals as if he is Wick (that segment is worth the price of admission). Fantasy quest fans will appreciate Mel Odom’s latest thriller in which once again the hero hopes to prove that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Harriet Klausner

The Quest
Wilbur Smith
Dunne, May 2007, $27.95
ISBN: 0312318421

It has been seven years since Taita, the magus ad lose friend of Pharaoh, and his comrade Meren visit the Temple of Knowledge and Regeneration where those who follow the path of Truth (good) go to have their third eye opened truth. It is not an easy operation and once the adepts mistakenly open it to a follower of the follower of the Lie (Evil). Taita goes ahead with the surgery as he is a savant with considerable power.

Taita and Meren return to Egypt to see the Nile has dried up except for small trickles of poisoned blood; the land is filled with poisonous toads and hordes of locusts. Pharaoh sends Taita to search for the reason why the Nile has dried up. Taita believes Eos, a follower of the Lie, is behind the catastrophe ands she lives near or near a volcano because the fire strengthens her power. Taita travels to the source of the Nile to deal with the cause only to find hostile tribes wanting to kill him. To his astonishment and elation he meets the young woman Fenn, who is the reincarnation of Pharaoh Regent Lostris, the only women he ever loved. They find the city of Joria made up of legions that disappeared when Lostris sent them to find the Nile’s source. It is a place controlled by Eos who wants to drain Taita of his wisdom and knowledge before she kills him.
The showdown that is coming will take place in an unusual place and manner and Taita
does not know if he will win over a millennia old immortal witch.

This is the fourth book in the historical fantasy saga starring Taita and as with the previous thrillers (see RIVER GOD, THE SEVENTH SCROLL, AND WARLOCK), Ancient Egypt is a key element as Wilbur Smith brings the land of the Pharaohs to life. Magic is considered as ordinary everyday occurrence by people who take for granted that mages have these skills. Taita is respected by everyone because he seeks the Truth and is kind and caring and can be ferocious when need be to protect those he cares for and loves. This entry is a terrific look at the lifeblood of the Sahara during a drought that impacts everyone.

Harriet Klausner

Troy: Shield of Thunder
David Gemmell
Ballantine, Apr 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 0345477014

Helen resides inside the safe walls of Troy under the protection of her husband Menelaus. Her former lover Paris fumes helplessly outraged by his beloved being in the arms of another. Meanwhile using the rescuing of Helen as a ploy, King Agamemnon of Mycenae begins to gather armies and a thousand ships to sail across the Great Green Sea with plans to invade Ilium so he can loot and destroy the great city of Troy. King Priam of Troy prepares his city for the war by arranging a marriage between his son Hektor and Princess Andromache of Thebe as he anticipates the Greek siege that he feels he can outlast until his new marital ally arrives to help him; Priam also believes the Princess will one day bear the legendary Eagle Child monarch and so having her inside the walls adds to his confidence of survival.

Across the Great Green Sea men seeking to become heroes or running away from troubles merge under Agamemnon’s banner. However, strange bedfellows arise when Priam debases King Odysseus of Ithaka, who planned to remain out of the war. Insulted Odysseus leads his mighty military joining Agamemnon’s assault on Troy as the war ignites on the Plains of Ilium.

The second Troy thriller as did its precedent (see TROY: LORD OF THE SILVER BOW) pays homage to Homer, but also to talented author David Gemmell who passed away recently. Mr. Gemmell provides a deep look at the legendary figures involved in the tale of Helen of Troy as he gets behind the scenes to “expose” those who used her to launch the thousand ships. The tale remains true to its Ancient Greek roots, yet has a modern day feel to it as political intrigue and avarice become key motivators. As with the Lord of the Silver Bow, Shield of Thunder is a superb rendition of a classic that can be read without the first story, but clearly builds on the saga of Troy as Mr. Gemmell provides a fitting tribute as a great legends teller.

Harriet Klausner

The Outback Stars
Sandra McDonald
Tor, Apr 2007, $25.95
ISBN: 0765316439

The Colonial Freedom project blew up the Yangtze leading to Lieutenant Jodenny Scott risking her life to save the people trapped in the broken ship. After spending three boring months healing on Kookaburra she finagles a berth on the Aral Sea and is assigned to head of Underway Stores; a job that was supposed to go to outraged Lieutenant David Quenger. She leads a colorful crew of malingerers, criminals, and oddballs with one member Terry Myell being accused of rape but the witnesses dropped all charges.

Although Terry Myell was let out of prison, many of his shipmates assume he is guilty and only freed by a technicality that he caused. Jodenny decides Terry is an honorable person but cannot help him when his many enemies constantly beat him up, as he refuses to whistleblow on any of his brutalizing mates. While traveling using the Alcheringa, the artificially constructed space warp made by an extinct alien species, Jodenny manages to shape up the Underway Stores. When they land on the next planet on their route, Jodenny and Myell stumble onto a top secret operation the Wordinna Transportation System developed by the aliens who created the Alcheringa. This system can transport people to various planets without ships. Back on the ship problems arise with the dingoes (robots) as units mysteriously break down and portins of their memories stolen. These two different problems can get Myell and Jodenny killed.

THE OUTBACK STARS is a fantastic military science fiction thriller similar to the Honor Harrington sagas. Like David Weber’s heroine, the characters are three dimensional as their concerns and hurts, and their socializing seem plausible making them in turn real. The relationship between Jodenny and Myell enhances a deep plot with a fascinating mystery as the senior officer risks her career and eventually her life for her mate.

Harriet Klausner

All Acts of Pleasure
M.R. Sellars
Willow Tree Press, Oct 2006, $14.95, 335 pp
ISBN: 0967822130

Rowan Gant is a Wiccan, a witch who practices magick but he is also a medium who channels the dead and it is in that capacity he helps the St. Louis police department in solving homicide cases. When a prominent judge is killed, Rowan’s wife freelance photographer Felicity, is called on to take pictures of the crime scene. Voodoo symbols are found in the motel room and there is evidence that S&M sex was going on before the judge was killed.

A second victim, a police office is murdered in a similar manner with the same voodoo symbols in the room with the body. Felicity starts acting strangely and starts calling herself Miranda and her husband realizes she is possessed by a Lwa, an ancestral spirit. Now Rowen and Felicity are shut out of the investigation until his best friend arrests Felicity for the two murders based on DNA evidence. Since she suffered from blackouts when the Lwa committed the murders, Felicity isn’t sure her body did the ritualistic killing. Before Rowen can act, the police let her go because the DNA was not a perfect match but close enough to be a female sibling which Felicity doesn’t have. When the Lwa possess felicity once again, Rowen realizes that he must find the Lwa Miranda and battle her on the etheric plane.

M.R. Sellars writes a fantastic mystery with a beautiful romantic sub-plot. This page turner is full of action yet the characters of Rowen and Felicity and their relationship is explored in great depth. Explosive secrets are finally revealed that gives answers but no solutions to getting rid of Miranda. Readers will root for Felicity to make it through her ordeal without psychological damage and hope Rowen finds the answers but alas, readers won’t find out the answers to these questions until the next book in this great series which comes out in 2007.

Harriet Klausner