The Trouble with Demons
Lisa Shearin
Ace, May 2009, $$7.99
ISBN: 9780441017126
On the Isle of Mid is the most advanced magical college in the known world. The island is considered a neutral sanctuary though different factions want control. Raine Benares has come there because she has become the bond servant of the rock known as Saghred, who feeds on souls while granting immense power to its minion. She hopes the mage-professors can either destroy the rock or at least rip asunder her bondage. The battling groups each seek to use Raine as an expendable tool to gain Isle and world supremacy.
Two men are especially interested in Raine. The dark horse Tamnaisn Nathrach is a mage coming back from the darkside of magic into the light; and Paladin Mychael Eiliesor who is the head of Conclave Guardian.. The acting archmage Carnadius Sylnanius wants Raine executed as he claims she is demon tainted at a time when traitors on Mid open a Hell’s Gate enabling demons to cross over in exchange for more power. The demon queen wants the soul of her husband released from Saghred captivity; and once he is freed she wants him placed in a new chosen body that is special. Raine as a seeker is the best person for the job; with her “marital” bond mates Michael and Tam, she begins a quest, but her agenda is to save Mid from the demonic invasion.
Romance, danger and magic combine to make an enchanting fantasy. For a Switzerland type location, Mid is filled with treason, double and triple dealings, deadly intrigue that place the heroic trio in jeopardy as the answer to whom do you trust is no one; everyone has an agenda. Raine is a fascinating lead character who holds the plot together as an elf who does not want the goblins to obtain the Saghred as that malevolent species would use it to eradicate the elves. Constantly under fire, the heroes struggle to save the island while new enemies keep surfacing in a sort of Escape From New York way.
Harriet Klausner
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