THE EMPTY KINGDOM

Wein’s precise and powerful prose brings the tale she began in Lion Hunter (2007) to a fitting close. These two titles are also part of an extraordinary series that marries the Arthurian legend in Britain to ancient Aksum (Ethiopia) and Himyar (Yemen). Telemakos is captive to Abreha, ruler of Himyar, as is his small sister Athena. Although only about 14, Telemakos is deeply gifted as a spy, a tracker, a student of the heavens and a trainer of both dog and lion. Abreha keeps him from Athena, even though she is wild and uncontrollable without Telemakos. In the wary dance that Telemakos and Abreha perform, there are wheels within wheels, secrets and lies, but Telemakos is the grandson of Artos of Britain and by the thrilling conclusion comes into his own. Wein’s evocation of the desert, of the memory of torture, of the forged bond between a possibly autistic child and her older sibling and of Telemakos’s fierce intelligence and cunning, make this extremely riveting. (Fiction. 12+)