Bret M. Funk, Sword of Honor

Sword of Honor

Bret M. Funk

Tyrannosaurus Press, 2003, $19.95

ISBN: 0971881901

The orphan Jeran and the former slave Dahr thought their mission would end once they warned King Mathis that the "boundary" that entrapped the Darklord Lorthas is weakening (see PATH OF GLORY). The concerned monarch understands how difficult it was to incarcerate Lorthas when the four races united a millennium ago; he fears defeat since there is much more disharmony between the people now. He assigns the messengers and his son Martyn to rally allies among the other races and warn them that Lorthas is coming.

Jeran and Martyn meet with the elves, who detest commingling with other species, to persuade them to join in a new alliance; Dahr goes to rally his race, the Garun'ah, against a not-so-common foe. As Lorthas mentally crosses the Boundary to devastate the teen messengers when they dream, others plot to use his return to overthrow the King. The elves are divided as some feel Lorthas was right and they should stay out or join his side of the dispute. The Garun'ah have doubts about renewing the ancient alliance.

Book two of the Boundaries Fall saga is a terrific, coming-of-age, epic fantasy in which Bret Funk makes his five races worshipping different Gods seems genuine as if the Middle East relocated to Madryn. The complex storyline contains two prime subplots, the split adventures of Jeran/Martyn and Dahr on their separate treks though other themes are also explored. The cast enables the audience to comprehend how each race sees the world so differently. Though it would be better to have read the previous book first as references to events in BOUNDARY'S FALL would prove meaningless, fans will enjoy this deep fantasy.

Harriet Klausner