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Semana Denerre nô Ravalis, Exiled Princess and Deadly Sorcerer

Mask’s true identity was revealed at the end of Shadow of the Winter King: she is none other than Princess Semana, thought dead these long years. She has used the horrid guise of the sorcerer assassin Mask to find those responsible for betraying and murdering her blood, but her revenge was a Pyrrhic victory at best. On the run from the newly crowned Lan Ravalis, Semana makes her way into the winter wilderness of the north with only her supposed father to guide her, seething with a need to reclaim her birthright. And when she sees an opportunity, she will seize it.

The feigned frailness of her body was only partly an act: Semana is stronger than she looks, but still weakened by her constant use of polluting magic. She wears the armor of Mask as though it will protect her from all things: weapons, words, and feelings. She has learned Blood Magic from the sorcerer Vhaerynn and still carries some of her relics (though she is without her fire-casting gauntlet). She has started to use her relics in other ways than for attack and is quickly proving how adept and resourceful she can be. Lastly, she has only recently discovered her latent Frostfire and is still learning to wield it.

Regel Winter, Weathered Guide and Devoted Warder

After the events of Shadow of the Winter King, Regel has rediscovered hope. Now he refocuses on protecting his wayward daughter at all costs. The years have left him weakened and damaged, and he walks with a limp and obvious pain. But he is determined to see Semana safely to the only place in the World of Ruin he can think to keep her: Necthana, City of the Deathless.

Regel has only just discovered an innate magical gift: to repair living flesh at a touch. His magic fuses him temporarily with anyone he touches, and he feels their pain and shares their sorrows and joys. He keeps this power a strict secret. That, and he has not told Semana that he revived Ovelia after she had mortally wounded her.

Ruin Herself

The two strike out into the wilds of an unforgiving, magic-blasted world, where the snow burns like fire and the water dissolves the unwary into bloody bones. Even if they escape the Ravalis on their heels, barbarians twisted and mutated through magic radiation haunt their every step, and Ruin promises far greater dangers along their trail. For this crumbling world contains power and peril as yet undreamt of.

How will the two survive, and when the time comes, will they cling to one another or pursue separate paths?

A Note about Chronology

All knives on the table, this is the third book in the World of Ruin series, but it takes place at roughly the same time as Shield of the Summer Prince. You could theoretically read them in either order.

The epilogue of this novel is a little spoilery for that book, though, so be warned.

Scourge of the Broken World

Yes, there will be a fourth book in the series. Look for it in 2018, or possibly really late 2017 if I get really crazy with the writing. 🙂

Happy reading, and may you ever escape Ruin’s sight.