SummaryThe inventive national bestselling author of the Samaria
novels returns with the first book in a stunning new fantasy
saga.
Award-winning author Sharon Shinn has been hailed as "the
most promising and original writer of fantasy to come along
since Robin McKinley" by Peter S. Beagle. Now, she weaves a
new world wrought with magic and mayhem, in which the fate
of a troubled land may rest in the hands of those few who
would remain loyal to their king-and each other...
In the land of Gillengaria, ill feeling toward magic and
those who use it rises to a dangerous level. The king
dispatches the Mystic woman Senneth on a journey to see
first-hand how dire the situation is. Accompanying her are
Shapeshifters and Riders-unlikely allies who will enter a
land under the sway of a fanatical cult that would purge
Gillengaria of all magic users.
They will face death-and worse. And they will come to
realize that their only hope of survival lies in standing
together, Mystic and Rider, side by side.
| 
