First in a fantasy saga...set in an ancient United States
Young Fawn Bluefield has fled her family's farm hoping to
find work in the city of Glassforge. Uncertain about her
future and the troubles she carries, Fawn stops for a drink
of water at a roadside inn, where she encounters a patrol
of Lakewalkers, enigmatic soldier-sorcerers from the
woodland culture to the north. Fawn knows the stories about
the Lake-walkers: they are necromancers; they practice
black sorcery; they have no permanent homes and own only
the clothes they wear and the weapons—mysterious knives
made of human bone—they carry. What she does not know is
that the Lakewalkers, as a whole, are engaged in a perilous
campaign against inhuman and immortal magical entities
known as “malices,” creatures that suck the life out of all
they encounter, and turn men and animals into their
minions. Dag is an older Lakewalker patroller who carries his past
sorrows as heavily as his present respon-sibilities. When
Fawn is kidnapped by the malice Dag's patrol is tracking,
Dag races to rescue her. But in the ensuing struggle, it is
not Dag but Fawn who kills the creature—at dire cost—and an
uncanny accident befalls Dag's sharing knife, which unex-
pectedly binds their two fates together. And so now the misenchanted knife must be returned to the
Lakewalkers. Together, Fawn and Dag set out on the long
road back to his camp. But on the journey this unlikely
pair will encounter danger and delight, prejudice and
partnership, and maybe even love. . . .
Start Reading BEGUILEMENT Now
Our Past Week of Fresh Picks
|