Post by matera on May 15, 2013 7:35:55 GMT -8
A Drum Is Empty, 120,000-word fantasy, combines magical adventure, suspense, and humor in a late Ice Age setting.
Radovin is doomed. The young apprentice shaman is bound by an oath sworn on his life. Learning that his cruel master is also a callous killer of good men has left him dangling between safety and morality. After one of the victims gives Radovin a mysterious warning in a dream, his closest friend is found dead, apparently from a fall in the dark. He knows it is no more accident than the previous deaths. Indecision shattered, Radovin flees. If he can find the murder victims' relatives before avenging spirits shred him, his wasted life might have some meaning after all.
His appearance at the annual summer gathering of The People kicks the soup-pot of tribal politics into the fire. Justice seems to fall from the skies. Radovin's former master is struck by a bolt of lightning and his power-hungry cronies are discredited. The fatal vow turns out to have been a nasty trick. Instead of meeting death, Radovin begins a new life with rediscovered family and a good-hearted mentor.
It can't last. The dung hits the foehn when Radovin adds up straggling clues to his late master's darkest secret: an amulet that devours souls and steals power. The tribe's other shamans agree that it must be found and destroyed. Its magical binding has become unstable; anyone trying to use it now could unleash a wildfire of evil forces. The most immediate danger is to Radovin's new mentor, kidnapped by henchmen of a madwoman under the influence of the amulet.
Once more, Radovin is flung into peril but lands running. Thanks to abilities that he is still discovering and the aid of unseen forces, he saves his friend's life and helps restore the balance of power.
Radovin is doomed. The young apprentice shaman is bound by an oath sworn on his life. Learning that his cruel master is also a callous killer of good men has left him dangling between safety and morality. After one of the victims gives Radovin a mysterious warning in a dream, his closest friend is found dead, apparently from a fall in the dark. He knows it is no more accident than the previous deaths. Indecision shattered, Radovin flees. If he can find the murder victims' relatives before avenging spirits shred him, his wasted life might have some meaning after all.
His appearance at the annual summer gathering of The People kicks the soup-pot of tribal politics into the fire. Justice seems to fall from the skies. Radovin's former master is struck by a bolt of lightning and his power-hungry cronies are discredited. The fatal vow turns out to have been a nasty trick. Instead of meeting death, Radovin begins a new life with rediscovered family and a good-hearted mentor.
It can't last. The dung hits the foehn when Radovin adds up straggling clues to his late master's darkest secret: an amulet that devours souls and steals power. The tribe's other shamans agree that it must be found and destroyed. Its magical binding has become unstable; anyone trying to use it now could unleash a wildfire of evil forces. The most immediate danger is to Radovin's new mentor, kidnapped by henchmen of a madwoman under the influence of the amulet.
Once more, Radovin is flung into peril but lands running. Thanks to abilities that he is still discovering and the aid of unseen forces, he saves his friend's life and helps restore the balance of power.