Ring of Intrigue (Dance of the Rings, Book 2) - Softcover

Fancher, Jane S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0886777194 ISBN 13: 9780886777197

Publisher: DAW, 1997

Synopsis

The three Rhomandi brothers attempt to unify their strife-torn families and thus ensure the security of the Rhomatum Syndicate of Nodes, but their satellite worlds are threatened by an impending war with Mauritum. Original.

About this title

About the Author

Back in an era when she was frequently the only female in her classes, Jane S. Fancher intended to be an Astronomer. To reach this lofty goal, she majored in Math, Physics, Astronomy . . . and minored in Anthropology. Naturally, all this education culminated in drawing Graphic Novels and writing Science Fiction and Fantasy---which she's been doing full time since the 1980's.
     She's also raised and trained horses, flown planes and built a 4000 gallon koi pond (with waterfall) with a mantis tiller and lots of rock picked up from roadsides throughout the country. At age 51, she took up a new hobby: figure skating.
     In 2009, with fellow authors C.J. Cherryh and Lynn Abbey, she embarked on a journey into the brave new world of ebook publishing with the creation of Closed Circle Publications, a source for backlist and new works by these three authors.

From the Back Cover

The Pride of Princes

Deymorin, Mikhyel, and Nikaenor were the descendants of Darius Rhomandi, the man who three centuries before had rebelled against the tyrannical ruling priesthood of Mauritum, and founded Rhomatum--a new city based upon his dream of democracy.
Now Rhomatum is the most influential city in the world, supported by a Syndicate of loosely allied satellite cities. But the sudden death of the ringmaster of Rhomatum--the person responsible for channeling and controlling the magical leythium which fuels the city, throws the nation-state into chaos, threatening the rule of the Rhomandi dynasty and leaving Rhomatum open to plots of conquest both from its ancient enemy Mauritum, and the Syndicate satellite cities.
As Deymorin desperately strives to resurrect defenses that have lain fallow for generations, and Nikaenor struggles to bring order to s city in shock, Mikhyel finds himself following a trail of secret agreements and ancient feuds--a trial which leads him from the depths of Sparingate prison, to the teeming trade city of Shatum, and finally to the decadent courts of Khoratum, and a fight for independence that penetrates to the heart of the leythium web itself!

From the Inside Flap

The lure of magic...

Mikhyel reached a curious fingertip to the nearest leythium pillar. He had no sense of texture, nothing of liquid or solid, only of warmth and a rhythmic throb...like a heartbeat. He pressed deeper. His entire hand disappeared.
But that warmth slid away form him, down his arm and off his fingertips, leaving no sense of residual substance, only a memory.
For the first time, that presence took firm mental form. Directly before him, seemingly solid leythium expanded upward, twisting, contorting into a vaguely human-like form.
Fangs, scales--or perhaps the crystalline webbing that fluttered so freely all around them--faceted eyes...utterly inhuman, utterly beautiful.
The creature extended a graceful hand, palm upward. A sense of attraction. Interest...Hunger. This was the source of the curiosity latent in the very air Mikhyel breathed.
{Come...}
"No..." Mikhyel whispered, having no breath for more, and he took a blind step backward. The ground gave beneath his bare foot, but he quickly steadied himself, determinedly human in the face of this inhuman entity. This creature wanted him, not the other way around. He would dictate the terms of this encounter, not this creature of the ley. And with that decision, his fear vanished along with the shrinking uncertainty.
Humor filled the air, his mind, his body. Rich, internal, full-bodied laughter.
{Where have you been?} The creature's mind asked.
"Right overhead."

Edition details

• Publisher: DAW
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0886777194
• ISBN 13: 9780886777197
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 752