Sean Russell, The Shadow Roads

The Shadow Roads

Sean Russell

Eos, Nov 2004, $25.95,448 pp.

ISBN: 038974916

For over a century, the Wills and the Renne have fought over who will rule the One Kingdom. Alliances constantly shift as treachery and intrigue are the norm in this 100-plus-year-old war. Making matters worse, the constant battles have awakened the sons and daughters of the Wyrr, powerful sorcerers who have slept for decades in the Wynnd River.

The Wyrr siblings hate each other and unless they can be stopped from fighting one another, the world will be destroyed in a battle to end all battles. Elise Wills and Alaan, host of two of the less belligerent sorcerers, join forces to cast out their brother Caibre from Haffydd as he has made a compact with the most malignant sorcerer ever, the darkest of beings, once bound in another realm for the safety of everyone else. Caibre will released this evil from his imprisonment to abet his war efforts; in exchange for that malevolent assistance, the wickedest one will have freedom to experiment with the blackest of magics. The sorcerers battle with magic of pandemic destruction.

In a world troubled by constant wars, the two sorcerers team up to fight their brother and by doing so begin to turn towards the light. They are the heroes of THE SHADOW ROADS as they could have joined forces with the sibling to easily conquer and rule the world. Mankind plays a role in the fate of this embattled realm as humanity must turn the swords into plows or else continue to feed the dark. Those trying to bring peace are the unsung heroes working to end the crisis. Sean Russell has written an enthralling work filled with deep characters in a world on the brink.

Harriet Klausner