Palin is a land still torn by civil war. Here corruption
and greed have taken the throne of power, and the streets
run red with the blood of the people. The king and his
heirs are dead under mysterious circumstances and The
Usurper sits unchallenged, for none dare oppose him. Here a
prophecy is born. It travels on the wind and spreads like
wildfire, for it represents hope and in these darkest of
times, hope is all that's left.
The prophecy is this: a Chosen One will appear to claim the
throne, slay the tyrant and set free the oppressed. It will
be then and only then, that the land will heal and be
returned to its former prosperity. The Chosen will be known
by a dagger-star birthmark. The story spreads, whispered in
the dark and barely believed. Until the Chosen start to
appear...and are just as quickly struck down.
A woman known only as Red Gloves bears this mark. Her
family dead and her birth name long forgotten, Red is a
mercenary. Prophecies, lost causes and ventures with no
sure profit hold little interest for her. Traveling with
her sword-sister Bethral, Red is on the road and looking
for work. Caught in a rainstorm, she stops at a ruined farm
and asks for food and shelter for the night. The goat
herder, the only one currently in residence, takes in the
warriors.
Once the High Baron of Athelbryght, Josiah's "rule" now
extends to the burned out farm and five goats. Where once
he was a mage who commanded great power, now he has none.
Betrayed by the woman he loved, his lands burned, his
people murdered or taken as slaves, Josiah is a man without
much hope. But there is a little -- and the promise of
vengeance, however slight the chance, keeps him alive and
drives him. When he sees Red, he thanks the Gods, for he
knows his prayers have finally been answered.
Although Red isn't in search of her destiny, she has
stumbled across it all the same. Now that it has snagged
her, she is well and truly caught. Against her better
judgment, she throws her lot in with Josiah and the rebels
he's in contact with. She tells herself that a throne isn't
a bad piece of plunder for a swordswoman, but her heart
tells her something different. Her heart longs to heal not
only the land, but the lonely, broken goat herder, as well.
Wow! I can't believe I somehow missed Vaughn's previous
books, The Chronicles of the Warlands trilogy. That's
something I intend to remedy as soon as possible. DAGGER-
STAR is the perfect blend of fantasy and romance. The
romance may help drive the story, but it certainly isn't
the main plot. This is a really enjoyable read. Although
Red and Josiah's story comes to a satisfactory conclusion,
there are a few tantalizing, unanswered questions still
drifting about in the storyline and some secondary
characters just begging for their stories to be told. Since
this is set in the same world as her previous trilogy, I
expect we'll see a return to it. I just hope the wait isn't
a long one.
After captivating readers with her Chronicles of the
Warlands trilogy, Elizabeth Vaughan now returns to that
world with a beguiling tale of daggers and destiny, a cold
and beautiful mercenary known as Red Gloves, and Josiah, a
lone fighter emerging from the torched fields and razed
farms of his homeland. All Josiah knows about the
mysterious woman is her dagger-star birthmark, a sign that
she is destined to free the people from a ruthless
usurper's reign of terror.
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