Elisha Magus

The second novel in Ambrose's Dark Apostle series (after Elisha Barber) continues the magical adventures of a barber and surgeon in an alternate 14th-century England. After killing King Hugh, Elisha must negotiate both his friendship with Duke Randall of Dunbury and the growth of his own magus gifts. He gets caught in the struggle between Hugh's sons: Alaric, now king, and husband to the witch Brigit, who loved and betrayed Elisha and bears his child; and Thomas, a fugitive on the run from his brother. Elisha, whose magical powers are linked to death itself, must learn control to save Thomas, the kingdom, and himself. With the introduction of a merciless necromancer, the magical milieu grows increasingly strange and horrifying. Though the book is crammed with graphically violent incidents all the way to the last page, the pacing rambles, as if the story might have been contained in one novel but has been stretched out into a series. (July)