The Seventh Sigil

Weis and Krammes wind up their Dragon Brigade high fantasy trilogy (after Shadow Raiders and Storm Riders) with this inflated YA-style concluding clash of good versus evil in a complicated sociopolitical setting. Former Dragon Brigade leader Stephano de Guichen and Sir Henry Wallace, representing their warring nations of Rosia and Freya respectively and each supported by a rich cast of colorful characters, reluctantly agree that their countries must unite against a common threat, the Bottom Dwellers. Thrust into the depths of the planet five centuries earlier by misguided and malignant religious forces, the Bottom Dwellers are driven by fanatical leaders, who use fearful contramagic reinforced by “blood magic” of torture and human sacrifice, to invade Rosia and Freya. This hefty excursion into a complex world of spymasters, derring-do captains, sorceresses, maturing heroes and heroines, and benevolent and sinister monks and nuns often reads like a hasty transcript of an interminably breathless role-playing game, but it fitfully comes to life with the help of enormous dragons, who provide an engaging extra dimension to this predictable would-be epic. (Sept.)