The Lost Clans of Lydania

by Alin Silverwood

Expert archer/hunter Rhinan is haunted by ghosts since the tragic death of his parents. Thinking himself mad or a danger, he leads a solitary but mischievous life. When his reckless actions draw the attention of the oppressive king of Lydania, who has banned magic and weapons, he finds himself on the run from the ruthless general, Gethor Dran. Left only a magic gem and an unusual sword (both outlawed under the king's decree) by his parents, he must learn of his mysterious heritage if he hopes to survive.Silarrah, dear to him like no other, is captured by Dran and interrogated by the king. But she is mysteriously rescued by a secret cabal at the Lore College, where the knowledge of the divine Lore Givers is shared. Their interest in Rhinan (they believe he is in some way important to restoring magic to Lydania) leads her to revelations about him, and even more surprisingly about herself.As he flees toward the dead and distant lands where the lost Ylvan Clans once dwelled, Rhinan is joined by his loyal hunting companion - a beardog, plus a disapproving village guard, a Hegana teacher/warrior (the secret sect dedicated to restoring magic to Lydania), a rock gnome (called "rock walkers" for their ability to travel into stone at one place and exit another stone far away), his troubadour friend, and others - including the ever-present ghosts. Facing dangers both from General Dran and in the wild, some will pay the ultimate price on his behalf. But the secret of the gem, its connection to the lost clans, and Rhinan's own fate may prove to be the most dangerous of all.

529 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2017

Reviews

[Eve Orio]

I'm one of those people who often doesn't the finish books I start. It takes a LOT to keep me interested enough to keep going, especially on a 500 pager. I not only made it through this one, I did it in record time and was left wanting more. This is an epic fantasy with well-developed characters and story. It's also noticeably without explicit sex and violence. Yes, people fall in love and terrible things happen, but like an Alfred Hitchcock movie, we get the gravity of what's happened through great storytelling. If you need Game of Thrones-style descriptions, this might not be for you but I absolutely loved it and I'm ready for the sequel NOW.

[Michelle]

DNF at 47%. It started off really, really well, but then things started to go south. Some of the sentence structure was mightily confusing. I had to keep reading certain sentences over because I thought, "Wait, what did he just say?" Then the viewpoint changed. Oh how I hate multiple POVs. But the final nail in the coffin for me was the inexplicable behavior of the characters. A given character would be grieving, then joking, and then back to brooding, sometimes in the space of a few sentences! This happened more than once. I like consistency. Another issue with a character was what I think of as the flipped switch syndrome. This character was antagonistic to the MC, and before I knew it, poof! They're bosom buddies.

[gordon musgrave]

Disappointing

Why does every character have to hate magic?Personally I would be very happy to do magic!!But all the writers of these books think otherwise!!Nothing is original about this book..the main character b!ames himself for everything..I'm bad blah blah.It is a slow book and not very interesting.

[Andrei Magasiner]

I really thought that this book was excellent. Definitely worth reading. Great main character and all kinds of interesting magic and history. The book creates all kinds of complex political puzzles and intrigue in the midst of races through a terrific world and well written battles or encounters with rich characters. I have been looking out for news re the next installment ever since.