Silver Wolf, Black Falcon

Popular fantasy writer McKeirnan brings his Mithgar series to a triumphant conclusion with this sprawling story. Right after noting that the great story arc of the series is ""the struggle of those who believe in liberty and freedom... against those who would take those things away,"" McKeirnan introduces two babies, both born under miraculous circumstances and expected to bring about great changes in Mithgar, as predicted by Oracles and ancient prophecy. First is Kutsen Yong, born of a dead woman. Marked with the Yong, the sign of the Dragon, he grows into an arrogant and pitiless lord, the prophesied Mage Warrior King who will command Dragons and rule the world. Meanwhile, good-hearted Bair, the first child born to an Elven mother in Mithgar in millennia, is the long-awaited Impossible Child, ""the Rider of the Planes who will bear the Silver Sword to Mithgar when evil comes to the world."" At 16, Bair joins the Elf Aravan in his search for the evil Necromancer Ydral--High Priest of a cult determined to free the god Gyphon from his prison deep in the earth and help him defeat Adon, Mithgar's defender of free will. The novel moves slowly toward the final confrontation, building tension with bloody combat and magical battles as Aravan and Bair search for the knowledge and weapons needed to stand against Kutsen Yong and Ydral. McKeirnan's fans--as well as those of Terry Brooks and Terry Goodkind--will enjoy his usual array of thin-skinned power-mad evil-doers, hearty, honorable good guys and grand magical fireworks. (June)