Synopsis
To the princes of Maggiar, over-mountain was a land they knew only from gran's stories; few people in their little kingdom had ever ventured so far from their valley. But now the wizard Karoly announced that he must make the journey there to seek advice from his witch-sister. For things hadn't been right in Maggiar this last season, not right at all...
The princes Tamas and Bogdan were to go with Karoly, along with the huntsman Nikolai. Yuri, the youngest prince, chafed at being left behind. So when Tamas' dog chased after his master, Yuri followed. Soon the young prince had traveled far enough into the woods to wonder if he might not catch up with his brothers after all.
His brothers had worries of their own. No sooner were they over-mountain, than their party was ambushed and scattered. The kingdoms they had come to find had all been ravaged. The goblins had declared war.
Tamas, separated from the rest, fell in with Ela, a witch's apprentice. He found himself caught up in a battle of magic. For Ela held a shard broken off the goblin queen's mirror, a mere fragment that could wield a magic so strong and unpredictable that no other witch dared touch it. With this single sliver of magic, Ela planned to challenge the goblin queen herself...
Reviews
Cherryh's third book in a scant three months (after Chanur's Legacy and Hellburner) does not meet her usual high standards. When Karoly, a wizard of Maggiar, announces plans to consult with his wizard-sister about recent ominous events, the lord Stani sends along his eldest two sons, Bogdan and Tamas, and other soldiers for protection. Much to his chagrin, the third son Yuri is left behind-but he sneaks off to follow the troupe. Along the way Karoly and his party are attacked and separated. Tamas is rescued by Ela, a sorceress's apprentice who has a shard of the Goblin Mirror, the source of the goblin queen's power. Ela eventually defeats the queen's invaders, with the help of Tamas and a group of rebels against the queen and, eventually, Yuri, Karoly, and the others of their party. While occupied with a favored Cherryh theme, the complexity of nonhuman races--goblins and trolls are more fully dimensioned here than is usual in fantasy--the novel lacks such Cherryh staples as a fully imagined setting, unexpected plot twists and engrossing characters.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Fantasy set in an environment cognate with Cherryh's successful Rusalka trilogy (most recently Yvgenie, 1991) where magic works, ghosts and goblins are real, and everyone who matters is noble or wizardly or, preferably, both. Accompanying the wizard Karoly to investigate some threateningly magical goings-on are the princes Bogdan and Tamas, with too-young Yuri chasing behind after Tamas's runaway dog. Soon the party is ambushed by goblins; Bogdan is killed, Karoly vanishes, and the injured Tamas finds himself accompanied by a horrid-looking but helpful troll and by Ela, a willful and vengeful young witch who possesses a shard of the evil goblin queen's mirror and plans to destroy her with it. Complicating the picture are some noble goblins; led by Azdra'ik, who spares Tamas's life, they claim to be rebels against the queen and, thus, possible allies. Turns out that the mirror is an ancient magical device conjured by the goblin queen as part of an evil bargain with Karoly's sister; Ela and Tamas (he turns out to be a powerful wizard) somehow must wrest control of the mirror away from their foe. Above average; readers who enjoyed Cherryh's previous fantasies will certainly enjoy this. But, for all that, the construction bears signs of haste, the ideas aren't fully thought through; and the texture tends toward the lumpy: Cherryh clearly stands in danger of overextending her considerable talents. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
As a vague sense of menace threatens the small country of Maggiar, three young princes, a wizard, and a huntsman become caught up in a magical battle to save their land from the Queen of the Goblins. Veteran sf/fantasy author Cherryh ( Chanur's Legacy , LJ 8/92) makes good use of Eastern European myth in this otherwise standard fantasy, which combines traditional fairy tale elements--magic mirrors, trolls, and enchanted forests--with modern fantasy conventions. Though not as strong as her Russian-based novels ( Rusalka , LJ 9/15/89, and its sequels), Cherryh's latest work should appeal to fantasy enthusiasts.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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