Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has there beensuch an epic tale of heroism and magic that so captures the imaginationas this monumental new work by a master storyteller. In The FifthSorceress, Robert Newcomb conjures a time and place wrought withexquisite detail, characters vividly drawn and deeply felt, and ahistory rich in glory and horror, splendor and secrets....
"We gave them a chance once, long ago.... We offered to share powerequally, and in peace. But they refused and chose war. With them it wasall or nothing. Wizard against Sorceress. Male against female. Lightagainst dark."
It is more than three centuries since the ravages of a devastating warnearly tore apart the kingdom of Eutracia. In its wake, those whomasterminded the bloodshed—a quartet of powerful, conquest-hungrySorceresses—were sentenced to exile, with return all but impossibleand death all but inevitable. Now a land of peace and plenty, protectedand guided by a council of immortal wizards, Eutracia is about to crowna new king. And as the coronation approaches, the spirit of celebrationfills every heart. Except one.
Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the"endowed" blood that will give him the power to master magic, anddestined by tradition to succeed his father as ruler, he is a rebelsoul. And when he discovers the ancient, hidden caves where strange redwaters flow—possessed of their own mysterious magic—it only makeshim yearn all the more to escape his future of duty... and succumb tothe stirrings of enchantment within him.
But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The veryexistence of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long centuries ofpeace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something toounspeakable to ponder. And if indeed the old evil has returned, hungryto wreak vengeance, Tristan's role in an ages-old prophecy must befulfilled—or the cost to his kingdom and his people will be beyondimagination.
It will be a battle like none ever known, against an enemy whose thirstfor blood and domination is depthless and unyielding. And for Tristan,it will be the ultimate challenge: facing an adversary whose greatestweapon is the person he loves most—transformed into the instrument ofhis annihilation... and the catalyst that will doom Eutracia forever todarkness.
