Diana Pharaoh Francis, Path of Blood

Path of Blood

Diana Pharaoh Francis

Roc, May 2006, $7.99, 464 pp.

ISBN 0451460820

The realm of Kodu Riik is on the verge of being torn apart, both by civil war and a wizard's spell that didn't work the way it was intended. Plague and Nokulas, magical creatures that were once human, roam the land as a result of the spell and the city of Mysane Kosk, surrounded by magic is the home of the rebels including the sister of the power hungry madmen who raised himself up to be Regent who locked away his father when he became a Nokula.

Reisil, a mage who is banded to her goshawk Saljane, has proved to the rebels in the city that she has the best interests of her world at heart, and she learned to use her considerable magical powers. She is the only hope of saving two worlds. The spell the wizards used is destroying Cemanahautl, a land in another dimension that touches Kodu Riik. To heal both worlds, take care of the Nokulas and deal with evil and dangerous wizards, Reisil must travel to Cemanahautl in the hopes of learning a new kind of magic from female mages who reside there; if she doesn't, two worlds will be destroyed, but she needs time to learn, and her rebels have come up with a plan to give her that time.

There is a romantic sub-plot between Reisil and a man who crossed the dimensional barrier to seek help to stop the magic from leaking out of his world into hers. Theirs is a doomed love, for in a year he will be sacrificed to his god after he performs the last deed he was bred for. The love is in direct counterpoint to hatred of the various groups that want to destroy the rebels in Mysane Kosk. Excellent characterizations, intriguing political maneuvering, and some fascinating battle scenes, both mundane and magical make this sword and sorcery tale a must read for fans of Katherine Kurtz's Deryni Chronicles.