Centuries before, an evil Empire gained control of the lands through the use of dark magic. Two groups formed an alliance of sorts, a sorcerer-based society, the Renegai, and a group of assassins training within a complex system of caves. The Renegai Elders are to send a tutor to train the assassins to use their magical abilities to further their murderous missions. This alliance is supposed to be aimed at destroying the mighty Empire. In other words, the peaceful Renegai get the assassins to do their dirty work then look down on them as murderers. The two previous tutors died within the assassin’s caves so the Renegai Elders send young Ileni to be the tutor. A promising future used to be hers, as perhaps the most powerful sorceress in generations, but her magical powers are leaving her, so the Renegai see her as useless. They might as well send her to be the new tutor with the mission to solve the murder of the previous teachers. She knows she is on a death mission, surrounded by trained assassins willing to die at the command of their master.

Extremely Good! I am a fan of the author’s other published fantasy novels and now this is my favorite. It appears to be the first in a series with more to come. Soren, the complex assassin assigned to Ileni had better be in the next book, but new characters are anticipated to be introduced to complicate my character alliances. This engaging read is sure to find a loyal following. Highly recommend.

eGalley review Publication date 3.4.14