IMMORTALIS

Last chorus in the second trilogy of the Demon Wars Saga, capping Mortalis (2000), Ascendance (2001) and Transcendence (2002), making this a four-part trilogy, with Mortalis a separate volume joining the two trilogies—or so we think. With the dactyl demon of the first trilogy slain, Mortalis opens the second trilogy by killing off much of Corona’s population with the rosy plague. While good-hearted but grieving Pony (Jilseponie Wyndon) seeks a cure, plot takes second place to her soul-searching and growth, although the plague has an intelligence of its own that resists gemstone-magic. Ascendance finds Pony, now Baroness of Palmaris, wooed by Good King Danube of Honce-the-Bear, while her supposedly “unborn” son, Aydrian, has been stolen and raised by elves, is tutored in magic by Lady Dasslerond, and is led about by a shadowy being who claims to be Elbryan, his father. Though Aydrian escapes the elves and becomes Nighthawk, the evil ecclesiastical weretiger Marcalo De’Unnero, who slew Elbryan, wants Aydrian to kill Pony and become king. Transcendence ushers in a female war leader, Brynn Dharielle, former schoolmate of Aydrian’s who must free her land from the Behrenese. Now, in this latest outing, Aydrian sets out to conquer all of Corona while his mother, Pony, attempts to rescue him from the evil of De’Unnero, himself filled with an aspect of gemstone magic springing from the power of the demon dactyl that many times has risen from death. With magical gemstones set in the plate of his magnificent armor, Aydrian, still in the grasp of the demon, faces many battles while Brynn and Pony join forces.

Fans will dance with joy.