Air Logic

Marks brings her much-loved, long-unavailable Elemental Logic series (most recently 2007’s Water Logic, and all recently republished by Small Beer) to a superb finale in this fourth novel set in the world of Shaftal, where the four primary elements determine allegiances among the people, inspire magic, and create turmoil when thrown into imbalance. Karis, the G’deon leader, is striving to unite her kingdom in the wake of the cruel occupation of the Sainnites when the Death-in-Life, a rogue militia that takes exception to her rule, attempts to assassinate her. This precipitates a suspenseful pursuit across the kingdom when the assassins flee with Karis’s paladin, Emil, in their clutches. As in the previous books, Marks keeps the expression of the magic subtle, grounding her story in human drama. The vivid characters include Zanja, whose intimate relationship with Karis subjects her to visions that may be potentially ominous portents, and Chaen, a failed assassin whose punishment estranges her from her air witch son, Maxew. The fullness with which Marks has thought out the particulars of her world and its characters, and the logic by which her story’s events proceed, complete an extraordinary fantasy saga that’s well worth revisiting or exploring for the first time. (June)