THE HANDS OF LYR

This fantasy is set in a world where magic is spelled "magick" and miracles are commonplace and fearsome. It tells the story of the defeat of Razkan, an evil wizard who has enslaved the land, defeated the goddess Lyf, and plans on conquering the world. He has founded a religion and sent missionaries abroad to subvert neighboring countries. The heroes, Alnosha, a determined but wimpish novice priestess, and Kryn, the hotheaded outlaw heir to a fallen noble house, struggle to retrieve the dispersed, crystalline fingers of the goddess in order to restore her powers. They form friendships, are betrayed, but obstinately move forward. Together they overcome a standard set of obstacles, such as frightful beasts, greedy and ambitious nobles, and jealous wives, to prove themselves worthy of their quest. This is a real yawner, a formula fantasy with a formula quest, filled with standard characters, places, and situations of no particular interest except to die-hard fans of SFand-fantasy veteran Norton (Brother to Shadows, 1993).