The Silver Caul was forged years ago, binding the realm of Faerie to the mortal Shadowlands; but now both worlds are dying, poisoned by the Caul's influence. To save Faerie it must be destroyed, but the Caul is gone: Stolen by a mortal. To find it, the queen's exiled sister Vinaver dispatches the sidhe maiden Delphinea, but first she imparts a secret: Delphinea is destined to be Faerie's next queen. But first Faerie must survive, and Delphinea races against time to retrieve the Caul and locate the missing Prince Finuviel before the world falls completely into madness -- and before a brutal goblin army succeeds in breaching the fragile barriers that keep it from invading Faerie.

Faerie's turmoil is mirrored in the human lands, where the power-hungry Duke Cadwyr makes -- and betrays -- an alliance with the sidhe, wielding silver weapons that make his forces the bane of all Faerie. Against him stands the widowed Cecily of Gar and her tiny army. Cecily is supported by the druids, but their rituals are powerless ceremonies long stripped of any real power. It is left to Nessa, a blacksmith's daughter coming into her own mysterious abilities, to unlock the secrets to the druids' true magic. Nessa, too, has a stake in the coming battle: Both her parents have been stolen by Faerie, and her beloved, the half-mortal Artimour, is Vinaver's brother. Though Artimour claims no good ever comes of a union between Shadow and Faerie, it will take the combined efforts of both mortal and sidhe to destroy the Silver Caul and save two worlds.

SILVER'S BANE is a busy book, encompassing a wide array of dramatis personae. The result is a cast of interesting characters made weak by a lack of sufficient development, and a disjointed storyline apt to leave readers confused, feeling as though they've missed a number of significant events in the overall plot. This book is an ambitious attempt to relate a rich, earthy tale of political intrigue and high fantasy, but it falls short of truly enchanting.