Description de l’éditeur
The long-awaited founding of Valdemar comes to life in this second book in the new series from a New York Times-bestselling author and beloved fantasist.
Baron Valdemar and his people have found a temporary haven, but it cannot hold all of them, or for long. Trouble could follow on their heels at any moment, and there are too many people for Crescent Lake to support. Those who are willing to make a further trek by barge on into the West will follow him into a wilderness depopulated by war and scarred by the terrible magics of a thousand years ago and the Mage Wars. But the wilderness is not as "empty" as it seems. There are potential friends and rapacious foes....
....and someone is watching them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Lackey's gripping second Founding of Valdemar fantasy (after Beyond) finds Kordas, the former Duke of Valdemar, and his roughly 15,000 constituents having escaped the clutches of an evil empire and set up camp along a seemingly unoccupied lakeshore. But their sense of success is short-lived as they discover that the land they're on is already claimed. Kordas has no desire to wage war against the land's rightful inhabitants, leaving him with no choice but to lead his people onward once more. Using magical gates, the expedition tow their barges across uncharted waters and forests, passing through the site of the Mage Wars that wreaked havoc some 500 years ago. There, gruesome creatures lurk among the ruins, and Kordas's convoy must find a way around them to survive. The high stakes and the dangerous journey keep the story moving at a brisk pace. Lackey's characters, meanwhile, are admirable as ever as they learn to work together. Series fans will not be disappointed.
