Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher:   Eos (HarperCollins)
Release Date:  August 2003
ISBN:   0-06-105178-0
Awards:  
Format Reviewed:  Hardcover
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Genre:   Fantasy
Reviewed: 2003
Reviewer:   Jo Rogers
Reviewer Notes:  Violence

Journey into the Void
The Sovereign Stone Trilogy, No. 3
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman 


     In the first volume of The Sovereign Stone Trilogy, Well of Darkness, King Tamros received the Sovereign Stone from the gods. He split it into four parts, one for each of the four races: human, elf, dwarf and ork. His youngest son, Dagnarus, fought his older brother for the crown of the kingdom of Vinnengael. He wanted the Sovereign Stone as much or more than he wanted the throne. His quest ended in disaster with the destruction of the Vinnengael and the loss of the Stone.

     Guardians of the Lost, the second volume, begins two hundred years later. Dagnarus has extended his life by using the Dagger of the Vrykyl to steal the souls of others. He is now Lord of the Void and has gathered the alien army of beast-like creatures, the taan, to conquer New Vinnengael and steal all four parts of the Sovereign Stone.

     Now, in Journey into the Void, the Dominion Lords must keep Dagnarus from his goals by carrying the four parts of the Stone away, where Dagnarus can’t find them. They must also find a way to drive him and his taan from New Vinnengael. In this they fail, for the king and his son have been murdered, and the boy king’s body is now inhabited by a Vrykyl. The child urges the people to make Dagnarus king in return for saving the city from the taan. Dagnarus allows them to slaughter five thousand of his taan, including slaves and children. Can he ever be stopped?

     The cultures of taan, elf, dwarf and ork is richly detailed. This gives the book an air of reality that compels the reader to continue. The plot twists certainly do nothing to dissuade the reader from barreling along with the characters toward salvation or disaster. Though this is a classic “good versus evil” tale, the outcome remains in doubt until the end.

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