Book one of "The Sacred Texts" is set in a world considerably more urban and urbane than traditional fantasy quest epics. Dirigible balloons ("airibles") coexist with Machiavellian plotting, Borgia-like malevolence, and deadly rivalry of great families resembling the Montagues and Capulets of Romeo and Juliet. There's magic too, forbidden but still furtively used: each clan has its secret corps of "Wolves", black magicians who conduct cruel sacrifices and may become physically monstrous from spell backlash. Young heroine Kait is a trainee diplomat and secretly a shapeshifter--that is, accursed and marked for death if ever exposed. After a horrific clash of wizardry and assassination that almost wipes out her clan, she takes ship in search of the ancient "Mirror of Souls" that
… read more...legendarily can bring back the dead. But legends may be booby- trapped: Kait and other characters become guided by helpful spirit voices, gods with their own agenda and no love of humanity, and the Mirror's real function may be altogether different. Meanwhile, a long-dead sorcerer who opposed the gods with his own white-magic cult awaits rebirth.... The magic and its transforming side effects are exhilaratingly horrid; the novel ends with a whopping cliffhanger. Whatever next? Highly readable. --David LangfordRead More read less...