The Blood Mirror: Lightbringer, Book 4

Bestseller Weeks keeps the pot simmering with many secrets revealed and much verbal sparring in this fourth volume (after 2014’s The Broken Eye) of dramatic epic fantasy warfare in a land ruled by the ruling Chromeria, a council of color mages. Gavin Guile, trapped in the prison he built for his brother, negotiates with his devious father, Andross, for a chance to escape. Gavin’s wife, Karris White Oak, is the most powerful member of the Chromeria; she also tries to join forces with Andross, the council’s war leader, to stop the spreading rebellion led by her brother, the Color Prince, against the Chromeria’s rule. The prince now styles himself the White King, and his forces are consolidating his victories and preparing for the next assault. Kip, Gavin’s adopted son, leads his own counterattack and struggles with a destiny that may force him to be the reformer of the Chromeria’s official religion. Weeks deftly moves the pieces around his chessboard, snapping them with assured feeling onto their new squares in preparation for a climactic confrontation. Readers will need to pay careful attention to catch all the political and social machinations. (Nov.)