Bridge of Dreams

Bishop adds a third chapter (after Sebastian and Belladonna) to the story of the living world Ephemera. Protagonist Lee is a Bridge, able to join disparate chunks of the fractured world. Still dealing with his disquiet over the deep changes in his sister, Glorianna Belladonna, whose act of self-sacrifice saved Ephemera but split her personality, Lee is taken prisoner by evil wizards who want to use him to get to his family. Blinded and imprisoned in an asylum in the distant city of Vision, Lee finds an unlikely ally in the asylum’s Keeper, a shaman named Danyal, and an even less likely romance with his caretaker, Zhahar. Together, they must face the threat that ambushed Lee and now looms over Vision, even as Zhahar’s magical secrets add a new complication. Strong on world-building but light on action, Bishop’s romantic fantasy focuses more on character interaction than on exploring the possibilities set up by its premise. Agent: Jennifer Jackson, the Donald Maass Agency. (Mar.)