THE FORTRESS OF GLASS

First book in an epic trilogy, set in the same world as The Lord of the Isles series (Master of the Cauldron, not reviewed, etc.).

While sailing to meet with King Cervoran of First Atara, Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, is informed that the king is dead. Garric presides over Cervoran's apotheosis ceremony, but a meteor disrupts the proceedings. At that moment, King Cervoran rises from the dead, and Prince Garric disappears, only to find himself in another time, in another land—one peopled with strange natives and a race of vicious cat-men. Shortly after the meteor strike, the royal court of First Atara are attacked by a monstrous “hellplant,” which the risen Cervoran claims was sent by a mysterious “Green Woman” to kill him. Cervoran, The Green Woman and a mysterious diadem are the only links Sharina, Ilna, Tenoctris and Cashel have to Garric, and so they must follow the mad, undead king's lead if they ever hope to see their prince again.

A bit trite, but the temporal displacement of Prince Garric adds a new wrinkle to the story.