Latest—and, according to the author, possibly the last—yarn set in Mithgar (The Dragonstone, 1996, etc.), as gnarled and formulaic as all the others. This time, the immortal elves Riatha and Aravan are in charge of Bair, the Impossible Child (anyone who's baby-sat a three-year-old will know how that feels). Together, in fulfillment of an obscure prophesy, and naturally with time running out, they have to save the world from sundry dreadful dangers. If this sounds exactly like all the other Mithgar yarns—it is. Fans will pounce, others will find better amusement elsewhere.
