THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE

Volume one of a new series, this is epic fantasy with an Important Moral Lesson.

Prejudice is wrong. Just in case you didn’t get the memo, this novel drives the message home with sledgehammer subtlety. Lici, a vengeful basketweaver with the gift of blood magic, curses her baskets with pestilence that attacks the Y’Qatt, a religious sect that believes using their magical powers is sinful. Back in Lici’s former home of Kirayde, Besh the village elder seeks to understand the motives behind her actions. Meanwhile, Grinsa, a protagonist from Coe’s previous series, Winds of the Forelands, takes his wife Cresenne and baby daughter to the Southlands to escape the fear and distrust the people of the Forelands hold for Weavers, those who bear multiple magical gifts. However, they quickly discover that the Southlands has its own brand of fear and distrust, as well as those who would co-opt Grinsa’s magic for their own purposes. Will Grinsa and Cresenne ever find a true home and acceptance? Can Besh prevent Lici’s baskets from killing all of the Southlands magic users? The answers almost certainly lie in future books. But it might not be worth the bother of finding them, as the weakly drawn characters fail to sustain the tension in this mildly interesting but ultimately limp sword-and-sorcery tale.

For the author’s fans, and for younger readers who may still find freshness in fantasy of this type.