When Shan was fifteen-years-old, dark soldiers came out of the west, like a cloud of evil boiling over the soft hills of his homeland. They commanded terrible beasts, which killed with hook claws like scythes and cold eyes that dripped icy fire. The soldiers wore helmets that looked like fiends, tusked and snarling and sneering.
The terrible consequences of war have left the boy Shan wounded in body and mind by the invading army of Magravandias. He's taken from his devastated village by the magus Taropat, chosen by the master's mysterious impulse to become the wizard's pupil, and a weapon against the invading empire.
"Storm Constantine is a literary fantasist of outstanding power and originality. Her work is rich, idiosyncratic and completely engaging. Her themes, constantly explored and re-examined through her novels, have much in common with Philip K. Dick--the nature of identity, the nature of reality, the creative power of the human imagination--while her sensibility reminds me of Angela Carter at her most
Michael Moorcock
"Constantine crafts her characters beautifully and with a sure hand: These are people with whose pains and shortcomings one can readily identify, caught up in a story redolent of myth, magic and political intrigue."
