The Fortress of Glass

At the start of Drake's solidly crafted fantasy, the first of a trilogy that will wrap up the author's Lord of the Isles series (_Goddess of the Ice Realm_, etc.), Prince Garric is voyaging far in an effort to bring all the Isles under his rule. After landing on a new shore, Garric finds the local king, Cervoran, dead and his heir, the youthful Prince Protas, in dire need of help against an outbreak of wizardry. Before Garric can act, more wizardry propels him to another world, where he enlists the aid of a strange creature called the Bird against the monstrous flesh-eating Coerli that terrorize this other world. When King Cervoran returns to life, Garric's sister, Sharina, and his consort, Liane, must try to settle the question of who rules in Garric's absence. Drake, whose world building has been weak in past books, makes the most of his setting based on the classical Mediterranean world, and he's no longer uncertain in his handling of female characters. (Apr.)
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Lord of the Isles, Drake's grand fantasy saga set in an adapted classical Mediterranean world, takes on new dimensions in the opening volume of a new trilogy that will bring down the curtain on the whole shebang. In trying to bring all the isles under his rule, Prince Garris lands with a fleet in a kingdom whose wizard king has just died. Unfortunately, the monarch's death doesn't end the wizardry, and Garris is snatched away to fight a whole new set of battles in another universe, while his companions have to decide who shall rule in his absence. Wizardry is definitely on the march. Heck, the wizard-king even comes back to life and discovers the secret of levitation, and opposing his side are arrayed various monsters and the Green Woman, who travels about to do mischief from her citadel, the Fortress of Glass. Drake possesses every skill necessary to make this story thoroughly absorbing, even to new readers. Those who have sailed with him through the preceding two Isles trilogies ought to eagerly demand it. Roland Green
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