BRIDGE OF SOULS

Vibrant and engaging concluding volume of the Australian high fantasy trilogy, following Blood and Memory (2005).

Former general Wyl Thirsk is the recipient of “Myrren's Gift,” a magical force that allows his soul to live on after death by taking over and inhabiting another’s body. Now in the body of his sister Ylena (his third body after his death), he's all but helpless to prevent his love, Queen Valentyna of Briavel, from marrying the evil tyrant King Celimus of Morgravia. Meanwhile, Wyl's friend, the mercenary Aremys Farrow, is a prisoner of Caliech, the Mountain King, but manages to win the king's trust, and attempts to broker a peace agreement between Caliech and Celimus, Aremys's former employer. Thanks to this possible accord, along with the pending marriage of Celimus and Valentyna, multiple kingdoms are headed for an age of peace the likes of which they have never seen; but Celimus cannot be trusted, and Myrren's Gift intends for Wyl to become the sovereign of Morgravia, so in order to fulfill his destiny, more blood will have to be shed. Amid a sea of bland high-fantasy novels, this is a good one, an intricately plotted tale of love and politics, set against the backdrop of a rich fantasy realm with interesting magic, and peopled with characters whom the reader grows to care about.

A fast-paced and enchanting page-turner.