The Exiles Saga - Parts One and Two

                       By James Judge

1) The Ruins Of Ambrai
2) The Mageborn Traitor

"A thousand years ago the Mageborn fled prejudice and persecution
to colonise the planet Lenfell. But as well as their magic, they
brought hatred and Lenfell was soon devastated by a war between
rival Mageborn factions. A war that let loose Wild Magic across
the land, over the sea and through the air and unleashed the
hideous spectres known as the Wraithenbeasts.

"Generations after the war the land has recovered, but the old
rivalry between the Mage Guardians and the Lords Of Malerris lives
on. And another war is being planned.

"Bound together by ties of their ancient bloodline, torn apart by
the magical intrigues and political ambitions of their elders,
three Mageborn sisters are about to find themselves on different
sides in a terrifying new conflict.

"Glenin, initiated by her father into the secrets of Malerissi
magic and now eager to claim the power and position she believes
to be her heritage.

"Sarra, fostered under a name not her own and now intent on
championing the underground movement called the Rising and
protecting the younger sister whose very existence is a secret.

"Cailet, destined from birth to become the last and best hope for
the Mage Guardians, but ignorant of her abilities and her destiny.

"The war they will fight could release the Wild Magic and the
Wraithenbeasts once again to wreak havoc on the world."

So begins the sleeve of The Ruins Of Ambrai. Melanie Rawn was, to
me, a new author, although she has had a couple of previous books
published, but now she is among one of my favourites, having just
ploughed through the first two books of this awesome and
captivating saga.

From the word go, the books tempt and entice the reader from one
thrilling encounter to the next as we slowly meet the cast in this
epic and are introduced to this wondrous new world of Lenfell
which has many parallels to our own politics-wise, but has the
major exception of women being the dominant gender, with the males
left to be the good house-husband and raiser of children.

The story slowly unfolds that, after a terrible massacre in the
political and magical centre of Lenfell (the "state" of Ambrai)
three sisters are split by fate and know nothing of one another,
or their true heritage.  However, after growing up, magical powers
blossom within them and they find themselves thrown into the
forefront of the last war between the two opposing factions of
magic in Lenfell.

There are the Mage Guardians, who believe that magic is a
benevolent force, and those born with the gift should enable
society to run, instead of dictating how it should be run. These
are the "good guys" of the books.

Then there are the Lords Of Malerris. This group believes that
they are the ultimate power on Lenfell and, through a complex
structure of leadership, feel that they must control the fate of
all individuals on the world, to create the most perfect tapestry
from their Weaving of lives.  Unsurprisingly these are the
characters who are most likely to sit in over-sized leather
chairs, stroking a white cat and muttering "Soo, Miss-ter
Bond....".

The two books chronicle the life of these three sisters, from when
they are very young, up to a point where they have attained (in
their respective positions and philosophies) control over the
world, bringing death and turmoil to a great many in the process.

Melanie Rawn writes in a flowing style that never fails to deliver
the goods on the excitement stake, but lends itself easily to
explaining the intricacies of the socio-political structure of
this new world, which is realised with crystal sharp precision,
but never becomes soporific, but is an important element to the
story. Fans of Robert Jordan and Anne McCaffrey will be instantly
at home - both with the scope of the books, as well as with the
intimacy Rawn conveys from chapter to chapter.  There's even a
wicked sense of humour evident, that is very dry and subtle, but
lends itself extremely well to the whole thing.

By the sounds of things in the first book (author's notes etc.)
the saga will continue with the final book The Captal's Tower, but
this has yet to be released (written?) and I wouldn't be surprised
if subsequent books did follow, but maybe that's just me being too
hopeful.

Other books by this master storyteller are: Dragon Prince, The
Star Scroll, Sunrunner's Fire, Stronghold, The Dragon Token and
Skybowl and they are all available from Pan Books.


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