ISBN: 0-671-87891-3 Order from: Amazon.com
With a plot that puts its life-like protagonists through pain and loss, this book has fighting, magic and predictable but still warm romance.
Reviewed by David on February 27, 1999
Genre: Fantasy (Magic, Intrigue)
Synopsis: Reandn, the hero of Touched by Magic and the commander of the law-enforcing patrol of Wolves, loses his temper at a nobleman's deadly incompetence.
Relieved of his position, Reandnd takes an undercover assignment to protect the Highborn Kalena, a young woman traveling to King's Keep to negotiate for the splinter province of Resiores. The mountain passes through which Kalena's party must pass are treacherous at the best of times, but now there appears to be a conspiracy aimed at preventing the spoiled Kalena from ever reaching her destination.
Reandn, whose allergy to magic gives him an ability to detect spellcasting, but puts him into deadly danger if overexposed to enchantment, faces deadly danger in the magic and blood-filled trip through the mountains.
There is considerable amount of fighting, and, as one comes to expect from Durgin's books, the horses are a well-described and important part of every journey.
Full Review: The book has its fair share of red-shirts: the characters introduced briefly only to be killed. From the members of Reandn's remote patrol, to a handful of Hounds and Locals (police-like personnel), there are people who die to demonstrate the brutality and danger of the struggles in the country of Keland, where the return of magic after many years of absense finds a stressed and barely unified land.
To compensate, the major characters are well defined and behave realistically. Reandn's handicap—his allergy to magic—is a major plot attribute, and proves a serious challenge in world newly filled with magic.
The competence of the King's Court that would allow a sensitive, threatened mission to travel with only a couple of guards and an incompetent wizard is in serious doubt, and presents a somewhat hard-to-swallow picture of the Court's role in Keland. There is also a tense, but somewhat unlikely scene where hardened rebels change their minds after a few minutes of speech.
On the other hand, the deepening relationship between Reandn and Kacey is a pleasant addition, and the mystery, peril and beauty of magic is powerfully reflected by the wild unicorns that make their appearance in the book. Kacey's sister, the magic-imbued Rethia, and the injured Wolf Teya are developed well enough to gain affection and to alternately support and counterbalance the two main characters.
The novel end on a note of hope, and a feeling of uncertainty. A reader is left satisfied, and curious about the future fate of Reandn, Kacey and Rethia.
Overall: 6; Plot: 6; Characters: 6.5; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 6.5;
Copyright date 1998, Baen Publishing Enterprises (Baen), September 1998, Mass market paperback, 387 pages
ISBN: 0-671-87891-3 Order from: Amazon.com