Fantastically rich and complex, this book sucks you right in, slowly. Tiny details worm their way into your brain creating astonishing new insights with every chapter. M A R Barker is a master craftsman with language - never dry or boring, always precisely and beautifully evocative.

What's it about? A young scholar priest, simply, who is sent on a quest of enormous significance... extreme peril - check, love interest - check, alien races - check, complex political situation - check, high action - check, sheer stultifying beauty - check, humour - check, anything missing - nope. The perfect book if you love a story with real, tangible depth and flavour you can really savour... don't rush reading this, take your time.

If you want a romping, fluffy page-turner look elsewhere. And, please, PLEASE do NOT confuse this with the vastly inferior, pale imitation found in "Magician".