Martha Wells, The Ships of Air

The Ships of Air

Martha Wells

Eos, Jul 2004, $24.95, 416 pp.

ISBN: 0380977893

Using magic, the mysterious off-worlders Gardier has conquered Ile-Rien though the embattled Rienish wizards have learned how to open an inter-world portal. Another defeated foe of the Gardier, the Syprians fear magic due to its misuse by evil wizards Their Chosen One, Giliead, is resistant to most magic.

Meanwhile Tremaine Valiarde knows that the soul of the great wizard Arisilde rests inside a magical sphere that is the last hope that the Rienish wizards have to defeat Gardier magic. She and her fellow exiles on Syprian pull a passenger liner through the portal that upsets the locals and bring them to the attention of malevolent wizards who want the sphere. To ease the minds of the anti-magic local populace about her motives, Tremaine marries Gilead's brother Ilias, a freedom fighter who has killed several evil wizards. The intrepid Tremaine leads a raid on the Gardier, but she and others become trapped inside an enemy airship that a wizard transports from this orb to what she assumes is the enemy's homeworld with no exit for her and her allies.

The WIZARD HUNTERS, the second Book of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, is an exciting epic fantasy that contains realistic worlds and genuine races occupying the orbs. The story line is fast-paced and action-packed as the beleaguered Rienish are nearing a last stand with no hope of defeating the conquering Gardier. Tremaine, daughter of the champion of DEATH OF THE NECROMANCER (same world, but outside this series), is a fantastic heroine, as she feels the hopelessness that her race feels. With two great stories already printed, readers will look forward to an all's wells that ends well finale.

Harriet Klausner