SAVAGE MESSIAH

Mediocre first entry in a swords-and-sorcery trilogy, set in the same world as The Chronicles of Blood and Stone (The Scrolls of the Ancients, 2004, etc.).

The battle at the end of The Scrolls of the Ancients has left The Orb of Vigors—the source of all beneficent magic—“rent asunder,” causing it to leak destructive magical energy. It plummets from the sky like a meteor, screaming and bleeding as it tears through the countryside, burning and destroying everything in its path. Prophecy indicates that Prince Tristan is the only one who can repair the damage, but first, First Wizard Wigg must find the right “forestallment” to alter Tristan's endowed blood. To do this, the two must seek out The Scroll Master to help them decipher The Scroll of Vigors. Meanwhile, Wulfgar—Tristan's evil half-brother, thought dead—plots his revenge by hiring an assassin to eliminate certain targets even as the new powers he's gained from The Scroll of Vagaries allow him to create a powerful army. The heroes here are simple but likable; the antagonists one-dimensional and unoriginal. Clean prose and breakneck pacing—with liberal doses of action—propel the narrative forward, giving the novel a rather breathless quality that makes for a fast and entertaining read. However, there is nothing new here; it is merely a rehash of what Newcomb and many others have done before.

Yet another Goodkind/Jordan clone that aspires to the heights of George R.R. Martin or Tolkien, but falls far short of the mark.