Fantasy veteran Watt-Evans (The Summer Palace
) unveils a new series set in a time of civil strife and famine. As noble magicians perform human sacrifice to replenish the land's fertility, the poor riot for food in the capital, Lume. Anrel, a magicless orphan and a stiff-necked cynic, returns home from Lume to learn that his childhood friend Valin has become a hotheaded, treasonous radical. When Valin is killed in a duel, Anrel implausibly swears vengeance and devotes himself to Valin's cause, making impassioned speeches even as the nobility target him for death. While the political plot lines intrigue, they are left underdeveloped and unfinished. Easily accessible and agreeable prose and fast-moving, action-packed scenes fail to distract from the unlikable characters and their many stunningly daft decisions. Only the tight plotting and absorbing new world make this tale readable. (Nov.)
