SINNER
begins some forty years after the conclusion of STARMAN.
Caelum now rules Tencendor and on the surface all appears
peaceful. But there are tensions. Askam, son of Belial and
Cazna, controls much of the trade between north and south
- to the detriment of Zared, Prince of the North (son of
Rivkah and Magariz). Many of the Acharites are concerned
that while Axis left the Icarii with their Talon and (eventually)
gave the Avar their own Mage-King, their Acharite monarchy
was destroyed. Many among the humans hunger for a king of
their own - still subordinate to Caelum of course, but a
king of their own. Zared, as the only legitimate son of
Rivkah, the last of the royal line, not only has the claim,
but the insignia of office (Axis gave them to Rivkah after
he defeated Borneheld in the Chamber of the Moons in ENCHANTER).
And if Zared decides to resurrect the throne of Achar, does
that mean that age-old hatreds, as the Seneschal, might
also be revived?
As
there are tensions in the land and among the peoples of Tencendor,
so there are tensions among the SunSoar family itself. Axis
and Azhure now walk with the Star Gods - they rarely bother
themselves with Tencendor. Drago has grown into a surly and
resentful man. He cannot remember the events that saw him
stripped of his Icarii power; all he can see and know is that
while his brothers and sisters revel in power and youth, he
ages under the restrictions of his human blood. RiverStar,
never loving, turns her spiteful tongue against her family,
inciting the tensions beyond anything she anticipated. Zenith,
the youngest of Axis and Azhure's children, is deeply troubled.
She has disturbing dreams - memories that she should never
have surface and eat away at her peace of mind. Caelum has
problems of his own. He sits the Throne of the Stars ruling
Tencendor, yet that brings frightful responsibilities - and
sometimes Caelum listens to the wrong advice.
Add
to the tensions within the SunSoar family a gruesome murder
- I challenge my readers to name me the murderer as I have
challenged you to guess the true identity of WolfStar - and
the family will split in two, disastrous at a moment when
Tencendor is challenged from beyond the Star Gate.
WolfStar
had always surmised that other worlds existed beyond the Star
Gate, and he had always worried that the Star Gate provided
a portal through which a people could invade. His worries
bear fruit when it is realised that 'something' is
coming through the Star Gate, intent on recovering whatever
it is thatlies buried in the depths of the Sacred Lakes. But
are these beings evil, or is their mission justified? And
why do they bring with them the children that WolfStar had
murdered some four thousand years previously? With the children,
intent on her own revenge, comes StarLaughter, WolfStar's
wife, whom he had cast into the Star Gate when she was pregnant
with their son. With her, she brings their undead child, born
among the stars and somehow peculiarly ... vacant.
Adding
to the mystery and the worry is the realisation that whatever
lies beneath the Sacred Lakes are growing and literally spreading
tentacles throughout Tencendor ... and controlling events
in their own strange way.
What
should be feared more? What (or who) comes through the Star
Gate? Or what (or who) lies at the foot of the Sacred Lakes?
