November 4, 1996
In this second volume (after Beyond Ragnarok) of her Renshai Chronicles, set some 300 years after her Renshai Trilogy, bestselling fantasy author Reichert takes readers deeper into the saga of Colbey Calistinsson and his determination to restore the balance between Law and Chaos. The ambitious dark elf Dh'arlo'me and his supporters have managed to substitute one of their own as King of Bearn, but the subterfuge is revealed when a loyal band of adventurers returns safely with Griff (rescued from an elven dungeon in Beyond Ragnarok), the last heir to the Bearnian throne. Dh'arlo'me also holds the powerful Staves of Law and Chaos, the heart of Bearnian succession and power. Retaining the Staff of Law, he offers a dangerous challenge: Colbey must find a warrior to wield the Staff of Chaos and face Dh'arlo'me in single combat for ultimate control over the fate of the world. The last half of this heavily plot-driven novel takes a strangely misogynist turn, as a plague of sterility temporarily reduces even the mighty Renshai swordswoman Kevral to the status of royal brood mare. An excess of melodrama and too many convenient plot twists make this second novel an uneven and unsatisfying middle piece to Reichert's latest trilogy.