The Destroyer Goddess: In Fire Forged, Part 2 - Hardcover

Resnick, Laura

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0765308754 ISBN 13: 9780765308757

Publisher: Tor Books, 2003

Synopsis

An epic saga of such grand scale
it must be told in two books

Laura Resnick, author of In Legend Born, has created a novel so epic in power and scope that it could only be told in two parts. In The White Dragon, part one of In Fire Forged, the island nation of Sileria had finally been freed from the tyranny of foreign Valdani rule by Josarian, the rebel leader who became the Firebringer foretold in prophecy. But Josarian was slain by the White Dragon, a creation of Kiloran, the most ruthless of the powerful mages called waterlords, who terrorize those who depend on their mercy for the water that all life must have.
Now that mercy is denied.
As the waterlords begin a reign more terrible than that of the Valdani, Tansen, Josarian's second-in-command, joins forces with Mirabar, a Guardian who is feared and admired for her fire magic, and Zarien, a mysterious sea-born boy.
Mirabar and her bitter enemy, Torena Elelar, the faithless wife of a Valdani aristocrat, contend with prophecies both vague and daunting, each destined to serve the destroyer goddess in her own way as they try to discover the meaning of Mirabar's visions.
The fragile alliances forged by Tansen between the peasant shallaheen and the Guardian resistance begin to crumble as he tries desperately to save Sileria. Zarien, however, is determined to bring Tansen to the sea goddess Sharifar to be her consort. But no goddess is as easy to placate as mortals may think . . . .
And Kiloran will stop at nothing to trap Tansen and crush the resistance in order to maintain his tyrannical reign.
As the power struggle among Sileria's warring factions intensifies to a fevered pitch, the tremors of Mount Darshon increase, threatening to engulf them all in molten death. Kiloran and Tansen prepare for a final confrontation that will change Sileria forever. But no one may triumph unless the destroyer goddess wills it . . . .

With masterful storytelling, Laura Resnick brings this great epic tale to a conclusion that readers will find riveting and enthralling.

About this title

About the Author

Laura Resnick was born in Chicago, Illinois. A childhood of being thrown by horses, bitten by dogs, and terrorized by the Resnicks' notorious exploding water well helped prepare her adequately for her future in the publishing industry.

Resnick went on to study French, Italian, and linguistics at Georgetown, graduating cum laude. Shortly thereafter, she tramped around most of the Old World, looking at lots of cool paintings, working in France, and winding up on a kibbutz in Israel for a while. She studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in London, and spent a volatile but happy year teaching English at the University of Palermo in Italy.

By the time she was thirty, Resnick had sold a dozen romance novels, all but one of them written under the pseudonym Laura Leone, and Romantic Times magazine named her the best new writer in her genre. She then went on an overland journey across Africa. Everything you could ever want to know about that 8-month journey is recounted in the award-winning nonfiction book, A Blonde In Africa.

While she was in Africa, Resnick won the John W. Campbell Award as Best New Science Fiction/Fantasy Writer in recognition of the short stories she had been writing. Having thus warmed up her muscles, she wrote her first fantasy novel, In Legend Born -- a project which made crossing Africa overland seem easy by comparison.

Reviews

Resnick brings her outstanding two-part fantasy saga, which began with White Dragon: In Fire Forged, Part One (2003), to a fully satisfying conclusion. After the defeat of the Valdani conquerors, the land of Sileria faces a threat from its most powerful caste, the Waterlords, who through their control of the water supply can extort obedience from a thirsty populace. Tansen, Sileria's greatest warrior, and Mirabar, a prophetess and fire wizard, lead the rebellion against the water cartels. Mirabar's visions suggest that for Sileria to be truly free, water magic cannot simply be vanquished-it must remain a part of Sileria's future. Tansen, with his deep-seated hatred of Waterlords, may find this notion hard to accept, she realizes. Fast-paced, witty and full of action, the book is a marvel of storytelling, but it's the credible, complex relationships among the characters that elevates this far above the usual fantasy standard. One of the book's greatest accomplishments is the humanization of the mad Waterlord Baran. At its heart, this is a story of family ties-those we choose, and those that choose us. Resnick fans have cause to rejoice.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Resnick completes, for the moment, at least, the stories of Sileria begun in In Legend Born (1998) and continued in The White Dragon (2003). Sileria, whose patron deity is Dar, the volcanic goddess of destruction, has known one conqueror after another. In The White Dragon the rebel Josarian, with the aid of the wielders of fire magic called the Guardians, defeated the most recent overlords, the Valdani. Josarian was killed shortly thereafter, and now his heir, Tansen, must deal with the Waterlords, who control the precious resource for which they are named. The rivalries and feuds continue fast and furious, not to say bloody, and Tansen nearly loses his life. But a mysterious boy from the ranks of the Waterlords saves Tansen to continue his struggle to a breathless and satisfactory conclusion. The tale will certainly keep its series audience industriously turning pages and make them hope Resnick has more in store for them. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0765308754
• ISBN 13: 9780765308757
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480