There are some tall stories about the caverns beneath the Citadel – about magic and mages and monsters and gods.
Wydrin of Crosshaven has heard them all, but she’s spent long enough trawling caverns and taverns with her companion Sir Sebastian to know that there’s no money to be made in chasing rumours.
Then a crippled nobleman with a dead man’s name offers them a job: exploring the Citadel’s darkest depths. It sounds like just another quest with gold and adventure… if they’re lucky, they might even have a tale of their own to tell once it’s over.
But these reckless adventurers will soon learn that sometimes there is truth in rumour. Sometimes a story can save your life.
Two sell-swords accompany a crippled lord into the ancient Citadel, to plunder its riches. They discover more than they bargained for. Now they need to fix the damage they did, before the world is consumed by fire.
It took me a little while to get into this, because the main characters are not very likeable: Wyndrin is a reckless show-off, Sebastian is gloomy, and Lord Frith is supercilious. Also, the plot takes a while to get going.
But soon enough, things are racing along, and the characters mellow towards each other somewhat. The plot is complex and twisty, as each of the main characters faces growth and salvation. There is a lot of death, and a fair bit of torture. Despite that, it’s not grim-dark, the plot is original and interesting, and the resolution difficult and satisfying.
This is the first of a trilogy. Given the trio save the world in this one, will the next instalment be able to up the ante? I’ll find out soon.
