RHAPSODY

First of a much-hyped fantasy series. In Serendair, ex-whore Rhapsody flees an insistent and thoroughly unpleasant former client, only to encounter an enigmatic assassin enslaved by a F—dor, a primordial fire-demon. By swearing kinship with the assassin and renaming him Achmed the Snake, Rhapsody unwittingly frees him. Deeply suspicious of Rhapsody’s Namer magic, the new Achmed abducts and interrogates her. The infuriated F—dor, meanwhile, sends forth the Shing, a thousand-strong army of shadow-beings dedicated to hunting Achmed down. Rhapsody, Achmed, and Grunthor, Achmed’s gigantic warrior-sidekick, head for the Enchanted Forest’s Great Tree, Sagia, whose roots extend through space and time. As they clamber inside Sagia’s vast roots, Achmed explains that he and Grunthor are Bolg, hereditary enemies of the F—dor, whom they kill because the F—dor intend to wake the Primal Wyrm from its slumber deep inside the world, destroying everything in fire. Later, when they come upon the Wyrm, Rhapsody sings it into prolonged sleep. But to escape Sagia, they must pass through the fire at the world’s core, where each is remade: Rhapsody becomes stunningly beautiful (though unconscious of her beauty) and acquires a flaming sword; Grunthor gains the powers of the earth, while Achmed can clairvoyantly sense the path ahead. They emerge on the other side of the world, to learn that 1400 years have passed. Serendair has been destroyed, though immortal survivors have populated this new land. Achmed decides it’s time the Bolg had a king. But a malevolent spirit followed the colonists. Did the F—dor survive too? A well-worked-out backdrop of impressive depth and appeal, and there’s a reasonable if anticlimactic resolution. Despite the hype, though, newcomer Haydon’s still feeling her way. (First printing of 100,000)