A demon, Kai, has been held captive underwater for years. Water strips him of his powers, making his consciousness dormant. When a group of men enter his prison and try to capture him for their own nefarious purposes, they soon realize that Kai is much, much more powerful than they thought. Kai drains their life force and regains some of his power. His dear friend, Ziede, has also been captured, and after he releases her, they, along with a young orphan child brought to the prison to become a weak, easily controlled body for Kai’s mind, try to find out what has been going on. Ziede’s wife, Tahrin, is missing. Who has imprisoned them, and why? They embark on a mission to find Tahrin and discover who has betrayed them.
At the same time, another plotline that describes the past details Kai’s story and his rebellion against the Hierarchs, invaders who have been destroying cities and peoples everywhere.
The book was pretty heavy reading. It featured numerous names, a lot of history and intrigue, with little background supporting the events. There was a list of characters at the beginning of the book, but it was incomplete and poorly organized. We never really learn many details; we never know the exact capabilities and powers of the characters, and we never find out how “intentions” (some kind of magical contraptions) work or what their limitations are. I believe that the book would have worked better if the plotlines had not been so intricate and the past events had been described first (with more details and fewer time jumps) instead, followed by the current events as the second part of the book. This structure would have made the plot easier to understand. As it is, everything was often confusing, and since some of the magical powers seemed to come from nowhere, they almost felt like deus ex machina solutions at times. I didn’t really get into this book, and it won’t be among my top choices for the Hugo vote.
415 pp.
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