Product Description

Long ago, the mysterious bearers of a golden, magical jewel retreated to the Lamasery of the Winds, high in the mountains. Then came the avalanche. Many think the lamasery has been destroyed. Others know the truth is stranger by far. Caught between dimensions, its powers persist and grow. But are they powers of good -- or welling, insidious evil? Returning at last to his rightful kingdom, Prince Jemany faces the final conflict in his desperate battle to reunite the sacred Crystals of Orok and defeat his evil rival, the anti-god Toth-Vexrah, whose campaign of conquest is now almost complete. In an icy, midwinter city, ravaged by terrorism, brutal murder and impending war, Jem struggles for clues to his last, most mysterious, and most powerful prize, the searing, sun-like crystal of the sky god Agonis. From its mysterious opening scenes to its devastating climax, Empress of the Endless Dream, the fifth and final volume of Tom Arden's apocalyptic fantasy epic, is a helter-skelter, heart-stopping rush of black humour and horror, murder and mysticism, the divine and the depraved.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #622069 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

About the Author
Tom Arden was born in Australia and now lives in London. A former lecturer in 18th century literature, he is now a fulltime writer.

Customer Reviews

A disappointing end to an interesting series
I was quite impressed with The Orokon in the beginning. Even though the plot in many ways follows the standard High Fantasy formula, there was something unusual and refreshing in the way Arden told his story. The Harlequin's Dance and The King and Queen of Swords were cleverly written, with a well thought out (though somewhat slow) plot.

Sultan of the Moon and Stars started out in the same spirit, but the ending was rather lame. In Sisterhood of the Blue Storm Arden once again was back on track, and I was anticipating a good, if not great, finale in Empress of the Endless Dream.

As it turned out, this book was a disappointment. Instead of a well structured plot, Arden indulges too much in his facination for the grotesque and macabre. This obsession has been evident from the first book in the series, but in Empress it finally got way out of hand.

In addition the ending was quite confusing. It created more mysteries than it solved, and that was not what I had waited five thick books for. If you have read the first four books, you may want to buy Empress of the Endless Dream just to find out how it all ends. However, I advise you to wait until it is available in paperback. It's not really worth wasting your money on the hardcover version.