Product Description

The Node has failed, rendering humanity's battle clankers and the Aachim's constructs useless. With the battle lost, hordes of alien Lyrinx are swarming from the tar pits of Snizort, intending to fall upon the survivors and destroy them to the last man. Tiaan, crippled and unable to walk, is held prisoner by the vengeful Vithis, who is determined to extract her geomantic secrets at any cost. For his failings, Nish has been cast out and branded a traitor, while Irisis, accused of high treason, is forced to flee for her life. The fate of humanity is dependent on the survival of one wily old man, the Scrutator Xervish Flydd. But Flydd has been blamed for the defeat at Snizort and is condemned to die a brutish death as a slave - hauling ironclad clankers out of the battlefield mire until his heart bursts under the strain.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #554181 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

About the Author
Ian Irvine lives in the mountains of NSW, Australia.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic!
Alchymist is the third book of four in the Well of Echoes series. As each book is at least 700 pages long then getting involved with the series shouldn't be taken lightly. This is because it is entirely captivating, and if you do get caught up in the story, you will NEED to keep reading.
Alchymist follows the same kind of pace, structure and writing style as other Ian Irvine books i.e. it is extremely well written in terms of its characters and narrative and builds a staggering amount of momentum in the epic scale of its' story. In fact this is probably the best book that he's had published so far.
Having read the two previous novels in the series is really essential to understanding this book.
The beliefs and ideas I held about each of the characters (all flawed and very believable) were changed or entirely subverted by the twists and turns of the book.
The book as well as the world upon which it is set is dark, yet full of adventure.

I won't reveal as single detail of the plot of this book as half of the real excitement about Ian Irvine's writing is the unknown.
If you haven't read any of the well of echoes series, buy the first book "Geomancer" and I guarantee you will love it.

If you have, I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Great fun - riveting read
Ian Irvine has produced a fantasy world (Santhenar) that is utterly believable and peopled by characters that leap out of the page in vivid realisation. Mr Irvine proves himself to be a consummate story teller with an extremely fertile imagination that has you completely identifying with the problems faced by Nish, Irisis, Flydd and even the Lyrinx. I found this and the other books in the quartet grabbed my attention and made it impossible to put the book down without a struggle.

I cannot recommend the Well of Echoes too highly.

Wonderful
Not the best author in the world, but this series really sucks you into the story, often unputdownable, occasionally moving and never dull. Read the first book first though!