Forest Mage: Book Two of The Soldier Son Trilogy: 2 - Softcover

Hobb, Robin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060758295 ISBN 13: 9780060758295

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2007

Synopsis

Plague has ravaged the prestigious King's Cavalla of Gernia, decimating the ranks of both cadets and instructors. Yet Nevare Burvelle has made an astonishingly robust recovery, defeating his sworn nemesis while in the throes of the disease and freeing himself--he believes--from the Speck magic that infected him. And now he is journeying home to Widevale, anticipating a tender reunion with his beautiful fiancée, Carsina, and a bright future as a commissioned officer.

But there is no haven in the bosom of his kinfolk, for his nights are haunted by grim visions of treachery--and his days are tormented by a strange side-effect of the plague that shames his family and repulses the lady of his heart. And as the still-potent magic in his blood roars to life, Nevare realizes a terrible truth: that the enemy who seeks to destroy everything he loves dwells perhaps not without but within him.

About this title

Review:

"Gripping."--London Times

"Refreshing. . . . There's a truthfulness to her creation that is lacking in some of the more slapdash fantasies."--Locus

"At once harrowing, unexpected, and morally complex . . . I'm eager to see what happens next."--Locus

From the Back Cover:

The King's Cavalla Academy has been ravaged by the Speck plague.

The disease has decimated the ranks of both cadets and instructors, and even the survivors remain sickly. Many have been forced to relinquish their military ambitions and return to their families to face lives of dependency and disappointment.
As the Academy infirmary empties, Cadet Nevare Burvelle also prepares to journey home, to attend his brother Rosse's wedding. Far from being a broken man, Nevare is hale and hearty after his convalescence. He has defeated his nemesis, Tree Woman and freed himself of the Speck magic that infected him and attempted to turn him against his own people. A bright future awaits him as a commissioned officer betrothed to a beautiful young noblewoman.

Yet his nights are still haunted by dreams of the voluptuous Tree Woman, dreams in which his Speck self betrays everything he holds dear in his waking life. Has the plague infected him in ways far more mysterious than the merely physical?

Despite his fears, Nevare will journey back to Widevale in high spirits, in full expectation of a jubilant homecoming and a tender reunion with his beautiful fiancée, Carsina. But his life is about to take a shocking turn, as the magic in his blood roars to life and forces him to recognize that his most dangerous enemy, an enemy that seeks to destroy all he loves, might dwell within him.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0060758295
• ISBN 13: 9780060758295
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 752