The Shining Ones

As he seeks to recover Bhelliom, the lost jewel of power, Sparhawk meets the Shining Ones, beings whose touch brings death. By the author of The Seeress of Kell. 250,000 first printing. $150,000 ad/promo.

Sir Sparhawk and his wife, Queen Ehlana of Elenia, encounter ever more sinister plots in the second book of The Tamuli , following Domes of Fire , as they try to help the emperor of Tamuli take a firm grasp of the government. In a world of many gods, whose powers depend on the number and fervor of their worshippers, the royal couple find themselves pawns in the struggle of one entity to free his followers, albeit bloodthirsty and un-neighborly, from constraints placed upon them eons previously. Unrest spreads throughout Tamuli, with indications of sorcery and meddling by various gods, prompting the goddess Aphrael, reincarnated as the royal couple's young daughter Danae, to retrieve the powerful sapphire-rose jewel Bhelliom, hidden a few years earlier after being used to destroy the evil god Azash. While Sparhawk, Aphrael (now in the guise of the child Flute) and various companions race through a hostile countryside, encountering the mythical and abhorred Shining Ones, the queen and emperor play a more stylized game to keep the enemy at bay. Neatly blending simplicity and complexity, this tale of comradeship, dastardly doings, multiple gods, strange races and noble and ignoble humans is vintage Eddings.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Two of Eddings's latest trilogy (Domes of Fire, 1992): a second set of yarns about the Pandion Knight, Sparhawk, his wife, Queen Ehlana, and a supporting cast of thousands. This time out, our heroes quickly learn who is behind the latest crop of troubles: Zalasta, the Styric sage, who for hundreds of years has secretly nursed a virulent hatred of the child-goddess Aphrael, her sister Sephrenia, and the good guys in general. Sparhawk, meanwhile, learns to communicate with Bhelliom, the powerfully magical blue jewel that he has just retrieved from the sea with Aphrael's help. He has also made contact with the legendary Shining Ones, supposedly ghoulish types whose touch is death; they turn out to be victims of Zalasta's treachery and a centuries-old misunderstanding. The Shining Ones, in the process of becoming transcendental, need Bhelliom's assistance; in exchange, Xanetia, who can read minds, will help to expose the conspiracy that Zalasta created against the emperor Sarabian. Behind Zalasta, it emerges, is the god Cyrgon; he's prodding the Trolls to go to war by pretending to be their gods (they are actually trapped inside Bhelliom), so again Sparhawk must do rapid negotiating: the Troll-Gods, in return for their freedom, agree to restrain their Trolls and help defeat Cyrgon. Finally, Ehlana, left idiotically unprotected, is kidnapped by the bad guys. And so to volume three. Very little action, a great deal of chat, and lots of rather pointless embroidery. At least those who enjoyed volume one should be happy; non-fans need not bother. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.