Product Description

The stunning conclusion to a powerful epic fantasy from the worldwide bestselling author of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile. For sixteen years King Conrig Ironcrown has ruled High Blenholme, battling both to preserve the Sovereignty he ruthlessly established over the four provinces of the island kingdom and to repel the invading Salka monsters that threaten them all. His hope for the future is his heir, Prince Orrion, whose betrothal to a princess of the province of Didion should assure the future peace of High Blenholme. But Orrion has no interest in the girl, and is determined to marry instead his childhood sweetheart, Lady Nyla. Orrion's madcap twin, Corodon, dreams up a scheme to keep Orry and Nyla together by asking the supernatural Beaconfolk, who appear as lights in the sky, for a magical intercession. The twins are unaware that the Beaconfolk are fighting their own battle with others of their kind; to them all humans, even princes, are but pawns to be used in their own conflict. Their granting of Orrion's wish comes in a manner the twins far from expected, and precipitates chaotic infighting amongst the folk of High Blenholme. As battles rage both on the ground and in the sky, the only hopes for peace can be found deep in King Conrig's murky past. His former spy, Deveron Austrey, has secret magical powers and no love for the Beaconfolk. And while many of his subjects no longer remember the King's first wife, Maudrayne, she has never forgotten that her son is the true heir to the throne of High Blenholme.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232057 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 656 pages

Review
'A gleefully complex festival of skulduggery, plotting and intrigue ! a cast of deliciously selfish characters ! a story that is essentially about how power -- both political and magical -- corrupts ! rollicking fun' DeathRay Praise for Julian May: 'A demon's delight of high fantasy to lighten the darkest day' Northern Echo 'A writer of exceptional perception and power' JEAN AUEL 'Julian May has irrevocably placed herself among the greats' Asimov's magazine 'A certain crowd-pleaser' Kirkus Reviews

About the Author
Julian May is the author of the Saga of the Pliocene Exile (The Many-Coloured Land, The Golden Torc, The Nonborn King), The Galactic Millieu Trilogy, Black Trillium (with Marion Zimmer Bradley and Andre Norton), Blood Trillium and Sky Trillium, and most recently The Rampart Worlds. The author lives in the state of Washington.

Customer Reviews

A let down
I was really disappointed with this book. I have been a big fan of the author since reading the Saga of the Exiles etc - brilliant work - however I had the impression that the author had got tired of the characters in this trilogy. The set up in the first book was that the main character had been living in exile and there was a story round that - what we ended up with in the final instalment was an OK book which killed people off like no-one's business, the loose ends speedily tied up at the end in the space of a few pages, followed by a couple of paragraphs of 'what happened next' which read for all the word like a proposal to the publisher for a final volume never to be written, and a sentence along the lines that it was none of our business what happened next in detail with the hero and his wife! If you have read the other two books, then like me you will have to read this one for completeness, but be prepared for a let down at the end.

Not as good as the others but still worthwile
The previous two books were possibly the best books ever. This is not as good but still rates amoung my best. It has everything you would waunt in a book -(but maybe a few more animals?)-Ullanoth plays a rather tame role, but there are some fab new characters. Old ones die off at an alarming rate, but this was overall a good read and I shall be looking out for more by the author.