THE OUTLANDERS

Second entry in a projected fantasy trilogy (The Children of Amarid, 1997) about the attempted invasion of rural, magic-powered Tobyn-Ser by technology-powered, industrialized Lon-Ser. The mages of Tobyn-Ser have learned from their Outlander prisoner, Baram, that the attacks on their land emanate from a vast, polluted city called Bragor-Nal, even though the sovereigns of Lon-Ser deny all knowledge of the attacks. So the mage Orris agrees to travel to Lon-Ser to try and sort out the situation, and also to return the stir-crazy Baram to his home. In Bragor-Nal, meanwhile, the Overlord Cedrych, originator of the attacks, engages Nal-lord Melyor to renew the invasion attempt. When Orris arrives, he soon wins over the ambitious Melyor, whose ancestors were exiled Tobyn-Ser magicians; but the sovereigns don’t want to get involved, and it seems the only way to stop a new invasion is to kill Cedrych. Typically long-winded but reasonably innovative and engaging.