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.
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.
