The Shadow of the Sun

Mercury Retrograde founder Ish debuts with a clumsy but enthusiastic epic fantasy piled high with Celtic-themed fantasy tropes, conventions, and clichés. Disgraced former wizard Ellion has turned away from gods, magic, and conflict. When a power-hungry wizard begins conquest in the name of the old religion, Ellion flees to the Tanaan realms, but assassins pursue him, as does a dynastic crisis. As his allies fall one by one, Ellion is forced to choose between the talents he forswore and the triumph of evil. Ish's prose is competent without being noteworthy. The grander conflict that drives the book will be familiar to readers, but Ellion gives hints that his eventual solution to his inner conflict—to be resolved in future books—may yet demonstrate a bit of welcome innovation. (Mar.)