April 15, 2002
Cross-world Travis Wilder, known on the world of Eldh as the Runebreaker, finds himself trapped on 1880s Earth, a century before his own time. In present-day Eldh, his fellow traveler Grace Beckett makes a journey to an icy land where she learns of her destiny as the adversary of the Pale King, whose power would destroy both Eldh and Earth. Anthony's epic tale of a war in two worlds features a pair of strong, reliable protagonists as well as a supporting cast of complex and varied individuals with compelling stories of their own. A good choice for most fantasy collections.
Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 1, 2002
The next-to-last volume of the Last Rune saga continues to combine the realm of Faerie with time travel in the mundane world. Travis Wilder and three Faerie companions are stranded in an 1880s Colorado mining town. Meanwhile, Grace Beckett, the Earth-raised woman who in Faerie is the powerful Blademender, discovers that her destiny is to face the Pale King. To do this, she must unite forces with Travis, after, of course, rescuing him from mundane Victorian Colorado! Should she fail, both Earth and Faerie Eldh are doomed. The suspensefulness of her rescue effort will keep readers turning pages despite relatively slow pacing overall. Even readers familiar with the saga will find the magic sequences this time more conventional than before, and since so much backstory is lacking here, saga newcomers will have to retreat to the earlier installments or tolerate a certain fuzziness of apprehension.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)