Just finished reading Beyond the Veil and here is my review:
The title, Beyond the Veil, suggests to me an uncertain, mysterious world, where you must guess at the shape of things by their somewhat misleading impressions. It is a world of fantasy, where deceit abounds. Expecting treachery, an empty armor can be sent to battle as a counter-measure, to fool the eyes of the enemy, veiling them to the truth.
In spite of his resistance Randal is dragged across town, to aid the Stepsons investigate the murder of an assassin, Belize, whose last gasp we have just felt, turning open the first few pages. Randal, the sorcerer who wishes to ascend through the ranks of magic, must read the dead, visit whatever is left of his fading mind. “Even before his palms had gone to the temples of the corpse, as his fingertips touched those cool lips, he got an impression.”
Meanwhile, his reluctant partner, Niko, has withdrawn rather abruptly from Tyse and from the Sacred Band camaraderie. “Here, in windswept Ennina, Nikodermus had repaired to heal his soul and put his life in order.” Randal is charged with bringing Niko back for active duty, with the directive, “Serve as you’re bid, the best you can… Go fetch Niko home.” Despite exchanging ritual salutations when they meet, “Life to you, left-side leader,” “And everlasting glory, right man,” Niko and Randal are comrades by assignment only, and it would take a great effort for them to learn to work together.
Then there’s Tempus, the immortal commander of the Sacred Band. “With all the portents teasing him and events goading him, with Jihan plaguing him and the Mygdonian hostage Shamshi worrying him, he chafed to be upon his way.” In a world where trust can lead into danger, Tempus is careful to examine strangers with a cool mind, until proven worthy. Of his long-lost daughter, Kama, he says at first, “She might just be a child of mine. If so, she bears watching… She’s full of deceit… Keep clear of her,until I decide whether we’ve any use for her.”
“Sacred bands required loyalty beyond question, to their ethos, their commanders and to one another: shoulder to shoulder, to the death, with honor.” Indeed, loyalty is the antidote to deceit, it guides you beyond the veil. In this sweeping epic, you will meet heroes that seem to have stepped out of the pages of Greek mythology—and yet, from time to time, you may find a note that brings a smile to your lips, because the humor in it reflects our own, more prosaic world. When Tempus thinks of his lover, Jihan, the wind-charmer, Froth Daughter born of the sea at the edge of time, “As a bedmate, he found her suitable; as a companion, she wore upon his nerves.”
The title, Beyond the Veil, suggests to me an uncertain, mysterious world, where you must guess at the shape of things by their somewhat misleading impressions. It is a world of fantasy, where deceit abounds. Expecting treachery, an empty armor can be sent to battle as a counter-measure, to fool the eyes of the enemy, veiling them to the truth.
In spite of his resistance Randal is dragged across town, to aid the Stepsons investigate the murder of an assassin, Belize, whose last gasp we have just felt, turning open the first few pages. Randal, the sorcerer who wishes to ascend through the ranks of magic, must read the dead, visit whatever is left of his fading mind. “Even before his palms had gone to the temples of the corpse, as his fingertips touched those cool lips, he got an impression.”
Meanwhile, his reluctant partner, Niko, has withdrawn rather abruptly from Tyse and from the Sacred Band camaraderie. “Here, in windswept Ennina, Nikodermus had repaired to heal his soul and put his life in order.” Randal is charged with bringing Niko back for active duty, with the directive, “Serve as you’re bid, the best you can… Go fetch Niko home.” Despite exchanging ritual salutations when they meet, “Life to you, left-side leader,” “And everlasting glory, right man,” Niko and Randal are comrades by assignment only, and it would take a great effort for them to learn to work together.
Then there’s Tempus, the immortal commander of the Sacred Band. “With all the portents teasing him and events goading him, with Jihan plaguing him and the Mygdonian hostage Shamshi worrying him, he chafed to be upon his way.” In a world where trust can lead into danger, Tempus is careful to examine strangers with a cool mind, until proven worthy. Of his long-lost daughter, Kama, he says at first, “She might just be a child of mine. If so, she bears watching… She’s full of deceit… Keep clear of her,until I decide whether we’ve any use for her.”
“Sacred bands required loyalty beyond question, to their ethos, their commanders and to one another: shoulder to shoulder, to the death, with honor.” Indeed, loyalty is the antidote to deceit, it guides you beyond the veil. In this sweeping epic, you will meet heroes that seem to have stepped out of the pages of Greek mythology—and yet, from time to time, you may find a note that brings a smile to your lips, because the humor in it reflects our own, more prosaic world. When Tempus thinks of his lover, Jihan, the wind-charmer, Froth Daughter born of the sea at the edge of time, “As a bedmate, he found her suitable; as a companion, she wore upon his nerves.”
Five Stars.