Out of the Waters

This imaginative and fast-paced follow-up to 2010's Roman fantasy The Legions of Fire describes a sorcerous threat to the very foundations of reality. When Sen. Gaius Alphenus Saxa stages a religious play, the spectacle is interrupted by visions of a world-destroying monster rising up out of the sea. Some of the audience interpret this as foretelling a threat to the Carcean Empire, and possibly all life. Saxa's children%E2%80%94the bookish Varus and the amazonian Alphena%E2%80%94and their formidable stepmother, Hedia, must confront a horror with roots in the last days of Atlantis. Drake has adapted large chunks of Roman history and culture to create a world so solidly realistic that the fantastic elements become all the more vivid and wondrous. His memorable characters act in accordance with the mores of a society very different from ours, but readers will easily appreciate their stoicism and determination. (July)