Ehomba and his companions, the swordsman Simna ibn Sind and the giant cat Ahlitah, have conquered all the magical perils of the Unstable Lands -- only to discover they must still reach the distant, fabled port of Hamacassar if they hope to find a ship that would dare to sail the impassable Semordria Ocean. And the travelers must cross kingdoms unlike any the tribesman has ever seen: "civilized" lands that are worldly, prosperous, clean... and lethal. Where honest questions are answered with lies, where treachery prevails, where citizens destroy anything they cannot control, where birds are spies, and even flowers are at war.
Ehomba has guided his friends through jungle, veldt, and desert. Now he must rely on memories-memories powerful enough to bring the sea to dry land or a warrior from the past -- to survive a city where thinking is a crime, a country haunted by demons too horrible for hell, and a realm guarded by moats of captive Time.
And throughout the journey, the herdsman must keep one secret from his companions. For two seers, separated by continents, have each told Ehomba that his quest can end only in defeat... and death.
Multiple bestseller Alan Dean Foster continues his triumphantly inventive, critically acclaimed epic Journeys of the Catechist: the impossible quest of a uniquely compelling hero in a world of boundless wonder. A humble herdsman from an isolated tribe, Etjole Ehomba has a simple sense of honor that requires him to fulfill a stranger's dying wish-even if it means Ehomba must cross a world and battle an unstoppable evil to rescue a woman he has never met... The journey will conclude with A Triumph of Souls.
Cover design by Don Puckey
Cover illustration by Keith Parkinson
