The Secret Texts Trilogy
                             By
                        Holly Lisle

                  Reviewed by David Froude

I came across this author by accident (or fate!) while on holiday
in June 2002 during a trip to Haye-on-Wye.  Browsing through the
shelves in one of the many bookshops I chanced upon the first book
in the trilogy and on reading the back leaf of the book, decided I
was interested and a further search located the second of the
series.  Later in the day I located the third and final book at
another bookshop.

The Secret Texts trilogy is the story of a fight against the
forces of evil magic in the world of Matrin.

Secret Texts 1: Diplomacy of Wolves

The volume mysteriously commences with words about a lost
artefact, the Mirror of Souls, which has waited for more than 1000
years for the return of magic to awaken it so that it may complete
the task for which it was created.

In a well-depicted fantasy world, the principal character is a
young noblewoman and diplomat. Kait Galweigh is working to keep
the Galweigh Family powerful, honourable and respected.  She has
to ensure that the arranged marriage of her flighty cousin, Tippa,
is not compromised either by Tippa's own foolishness or by those
who would see the Galweigh fortunes founder.  At a ball in
celebration of the New Year and Tippa's marriage into another
Family, Kait discovers a plot in progress against her Family. This
turns out to be even more devious than she first believes, and
endangers her in particular, since she has secrets of her own that
she has been trying to keep from the world.  Unfortunately, she
has to use her own powers, which are considered so accursed that
her kin would kill her on the spot if she revealed them.

Magic is forbidden but still furtively used.  Each Family has its
concealed corps of "Wolves," black magicians who conduct cruel
sacrifices and can become physically deformed from the backlash of
their spells. After a horrific clash of wizardry and assassination
that almost wipes out her Family, she takes ship in search of the
ancient Mirror of Souls, which according to legend can bring back
the dead.  Kait and other characters become guided by helpful
spirit voices, gods with their own agenda and no love of humanity.
Meanwhile, a long-dead sorcerer who opposed the gods with his own
white-magic cult awaits rebirth. The magic and its transforming
side effects are exhilaratingly horrid; the novel ends with a
cliffhanger.

Diplomacy of Wolves is a tantalizing introduction to the trilogy.
This was my first experience of Holly Lisle's novels and I could
not wait to start the next volume.

Secret Texts 2: Vengeance of Dragons

The story picks right up where 'Diplomacy of Wolves' left off and
the pace continues.  In search of the Mirror of Souls, Kait
believes that the Mirror's magic will reincarnate her Family that
were massacred by the Sabre Family.  Crispen Sabre, a Sabir
wizard, believes the Mirror will make him a god.  Both will be
disappointed for the Mirror contains the spirits of the Dragons,
long dead sorcerers who once conquered the world with their arcane
magic and will so again if they cannot be stopped.  Trapped for a
millennium, they await their release, as foretold by the Secret
Texts. But their time has not been wasted. The Dragons have
studied the Texts carefully, ensuring they can control the
prophesies to their own advantage.

Kait's finds the Mirror but has been shipwrecked.  Ry Sabir,
another shape shifter with whom she shares a psychic bond, has
followed her. When Ry catches up with Kait, she resists his allure
only by keeping in mind that he's a hereditary enemy.

One good Dragon, Solander the Reborn, opposes the evil Dragons,
and the prophetic Secret Texts insist he'll triumph.  Eventually,
though, Kait receives irrefutable proof of Solander's death. What
then of the prophecy?  Do the Dragons win by default, or can Kait
somehow still prevail?

Secret Texts 3: Courage of Falcons

Kait Galweigh, Ry Sabir and his cousin Ian have captured the
Mirror of Souls.  The artefact that can confer immortality, but
only at huge cost to the innocents whose souls must be used to
feed it.  Kait had hoped to use its magical powers to restore her
slaughtered Family but she knows its evil is too great and that it
must be destroyed.  To do that, and to ensure that the Sabir
wizard Crispin doesn't get his hands on the Mirror, Kait becomes a
Falcon like her uncle, one of a group of wizards sworn to the
service of good under the aegis of the god Vodor Imrish.  This
decision binds her more surely than any iron chain.

The Falcons, a band of fugitive wizards, and the shape shifters
Kait Galweigh and Ry Sabir, struggle to wield ancient magic in
their desperate battle against the immortal, soul-devouring
necromancers called the Dragons.

A thousand tribes of long-banished Scarred declare war on the
civilized lands, with a prophesied messiah uniting them into an
unstoppable army.  Bent on conquest and revenge, the Scarred don't
care that their new leader, Luercas, is a being so evil that even
the Dragons fear him.

To defeat the Dragons, Kait and Ry must destroy the source of the
sorcerers' power, the Mirror of Souls.  However, if they succeed,
they will lose the only weapon that can stop Luercas from becoming
a demonic god who will enslave the entire world . . . forever.

Finally

The Secret Texts series is very good. Holly Lisle understands that
for a gripping tale she needs to get right down to the action and
keep the story moving. She has constructed some interesting
characters that stay in the reader's memory and encourage them to
read the subsequent volumes of the trilogy.

She has balanced an interesting mix of adventure, magic, romance
and political intrigue. Each character comes vividly to life and
you can't help feeling you're a part of their world. If you are a
fan of fantasy you would be cheating yourself by not reading this
trilogy.

5 August 2002














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