The Wizard Hunters: Book One of the Fall of Ile-Rien (The Fall of Ile-Rien, Bk. 1) - Hardcover

Wells, Martha

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380977885 ISBN 13: 9780380977888

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2003

Synopsis

Reviewers nationwide, as well as fellow artists in the fantasy arena, have already marveled at the astonishing voice and vision of Martha Wells. With this, the first book in an extraordinary new epic trilogy, the Nebula Award–nominated author of The Death of the Necromancer and Wheel of the Infinite dazzles as never before -- bringing a stark and breathtaking reality to an imperiled world of magic. . . .

Ile-Rien faces the grim specter of its own imminent demise. Once a fertile and prosperous land, it is now under attack by the Gardier, a mysterious army whose storm-black airships appear from nowhere to strike without warning. Every weapon in the arsenal of Ile-Rien's revered wizards has proven useless -- their magic quickly identified by the enemy and rendered instantly impotent, their conventional arms spontaneously and inexplicably exploded. And the last hope of a magical realm under siege rests within a child's plaything.

The tiny sphere was created for Tremaine Valiarde's amusement when she was a child of twelve, presented to her by her uncle Arisilde, the greatest of all sorcerers. But the mage -- among the first to identify the impending Gardier threat, along with Tremaine's notorious father, Nicholas, and one of the first to die because of it -- secreted a power within the orb capable of defeating the invaders. And now, years later, it falls to a young woman lacking any magical knowledge and abil-ity to release it.

Tremaine's initial attempts have disastrous consequences, transporting her to a strange world far removed from anything she has ever experienced or imagined. In this terrible and wondrous place -- where primitive magic cultures lag far behind Ile-Rien's sophisticated sorcery, where noble warriors clash with dark wizards, where starving demons prowl for prey and the Gardier prepare their assaults -- Tremaine must somehow unlock the sphere's powerful secrets . . . before the slow and monstrous awakening of a hideous evil is complete.

About this title

About the Author

Martha Wells is the author of five previous novels: The Wizard Hunters, the first book of the Fall of Ile-Rien, The Element of Fire, City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite, and The Death of the Necromancer, which was nominated for the Nebula Award. She lives in College Station, Texas, with her husband.

From the Back Cover

Reviewers nationwide, as well as fellow artists in the fantasy arena, have already marveled at the astonishing voice and vision of Martha Wells. With this, the first book in an extraordinary new epic trilogy, the Nebula Award–nominated author of The Death of the Necromancer and Wheel of the Infinite dazzles as never before -- bringing a stark and breathtaking reality to an imperiled world of magic. . . .

Ile-Rien faces the grim specter of its own imminent demise. Once a fertile and prosperous land, it is now under attack by the Gardier, a mysterious army whose storm-black airships appear from nowhere to strike without warning. Every weapon in the arsenal of Ile-Rien's revered wizards has proven useless -- their magic quickly identified by the enemy and rendered instantly impotent, their conventional arms spontaneously and inexplicably exploded. And the last hope of a magical realm under siege rests within a child's plaything.

The tiny sphere was created for Tremaine Valiarde's amusement when she was a child of twelve, presented to her by her uncle Arisilde, the greatest of all sorcerers. But the mage -- among the first to identify the impending Gardier threat, along with Tremaine's notorious father, Nicholas, and one of the first to die because of it -- secreted a power within the orb capable of defeating the invaders. And now, years later, it falls to a young woman lacking any magical knowledge and abil-ity to release it.

Tremaine's initial attempts have disastrous consequences, transporting her to a strange world far removed from anything she has ever experienced or imagined. In this terrible and wondrous place -- where primitive magic cultures lag far behind Ile-Rien's sophisticated sorcery, where noble warriors clash with dark wizards, where starving demons prowl for prey and the Gardier prepare their assaults -- Tremaine must somehow unlock the sphere's powerful secrets . . . before the slow and monstrous awakening of a hideous evil is complete.

Reviews

"It was nine o'clock at night and Tremaine was trying to find a way to kill herself that would bring in a verdict of natural causes in court, when someone banged on the door." So begins Nebula-nominee Wells's entrancing return to the world of The Death of the Necromancer (1998), and if the rest of the book doesn't quite fulfill the promise of that first sentence, it comes very, very close. On Ile-Rien, a world besieged by the mysterious and well-nigh invulnerable Gardier, Tremaine is recruited to help devise a spell that can break through the Gardier airships' impregnable shields. Yet instead of creating a weapon, the spell transports Tremaine and a small band of cohorts to another world with a secret Gardier base, giving them a chance to spy on the enemy of which they know so little. Tremaine makes an engaging and resourceful heroine, if a reluctant one, while her well-drawn fellow adventurers add plenty of human interest. Where the book falters is in the repetitive action, as various characters fall into the hands of the Gardier, then escape, return to rescue comrades left behind or to attack, get recaptured and escape again and again. Wells's ability to keep the reader wondering what will happen next, however, more than compensates for this relatively minor flaw.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The land of Ile-Rien is under attack by the magic and the black airships of the Gardier. Tremaine Valiarde, daughter of the protagonist of Wells' Death of the Necromancer (1998), gives the defenders the magical sphere that is her homeland's last hope of defense. But the sphere's unpredictable powers fling her and assorted comrades into another world, more primitive magically and technologically but in which the enemy has a base. The subsequent story seems intended to combine elements of high fantasy and cross-time travel, as if it were a collaborative work by Andre Norton and S. M. Stirling. Thanks to Wells' narrative skill and considerably above-average characterization, it largely succeeds in those intentions. Before starting this trilogy-opener set in Ile-Rien, it helps to have read Death of the Necromancer, which introduced it and the Gardier. But even the slightly confused readers who skip such preparation may conclude that the trilogy is off to a promising start. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0380977885
• ISBN 13: 9780380977888
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400