The Last and Best of the Neustrian Books!
In this highly-acclaimed fantasy classic and sequel to Gerfalcon and Joris of the Rock, a young woman comes into her own and finds true love amidst danger, intrigue, and war. You'll find impeccable writing, rich characterization, an uncommon complexity of detail, and scenes as thrilling as any in fantasy literature.
"Away beyond the bulk of steel, a brush-tipped tail was waving … huge claws, fully extended, furrowed the smooth sand. The red cavern of a mouth had shut and was opening again. Four deadly corner-fangs, like white pickaxe-blades, ridged grinders ranked behind, a curling tongue like a flat, flayed serpent … a brown chin-tuft brushing the ground … another roar that filled the world… The great shape rose and blotted out the sunlight, Lioncel was already whirling the axe, and flung it hard and true. The roar was twisted to a scream as he ripped out the short sword. Then he was shocked and overborne, crusted and banged and battered; great claws screeched on metal, a hot stink blasted into his helm, and he saw the lion’s palate, ridged like a red tidal beach, above him.”
Filled with the same quality of poetry and song that helped make The Lord of the Rings famous, the Neustrian Cycle is one of fantasy's most beloved works. One reader proclaimed it "Head-and-shoulders above any writing marketed as 'fantasy' today. I am nearing the end of the entire trilogy, and regretting that end is near. The next rereading will not be very far in the future." Another on Goodreads says, "The heroine Yolande is one of the most fully realized and engaging characters in fantasy, and her coming of age is handled so adroitly I hardly noticed how much she'd grown throughout the novel until I reached the end and looked back to the beginning." Yet another Goodreads reviewer proclaims the book "a beautifully written and exciting coming-of-age epic with a loveable introspective hero who learns that peace has a price and that his own heart’s desires are not to be trusted. The prose, though slightly archaic, is easily read and the story is full of incisive insights into (and sometimes gentle mocking of) human behavior."