The wealthy Governor Saxa, of the great city of Carce, has generously and lavishly subsidized a theatrical/religious event. During this elaborate staging of Hercules founding a city on the shores of Lusitania, strange and dark magic turns the panoply into a chilling event. The sky darkens and the waves crash in the flooded arena. A great creature rises from the sea: a huge, tentacled horror on snake legs. It devastates the city, much to the delight of the crowd.
A few in the audience, although not
Saxa, understand that this was not mere stagecraft, but something much
darker and more dangerous. If all signs are being read right, this
illusion could signify a dreadful intrusion of supernatural powers into
the real world. Saxa’s son, Varus, has been the conduit for such an
event once before.
This new novel in David Drake’s chronicles of
Carce, The Books of the Elements, is as powerful and elaborate as that
fantastic theatrical event, a major fantasy for this year.
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David Drake (born 1945) is an American science fiction and fantasy author.
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