“The great city of Windwir, repository of all learning literally religiously gathered and guarded by the venerable Androfrancine Order, headed by the Pope, is suddenly destroyed in an incredible magickal conflagration. The Brothers of the Order had perhaps discovered some ancient knowledge that was too dangerous, it was thought. The power-vacuum inevitably leads to a battle for supremacy and war between various factions.
The characters involved in this are varied and interesting. There is Rudolfo, sometime good-time boy and dandy, otherwise, Lord of the Ninefold Houses and General of the Wandering Army, the crack military Gypsy Scouts. He has seen the fiery clouds of destruction of Windwir, which he was in alliance with, and recovers one of the Order's metal men in the ruins. The mechanical Servitor, dubbed Isaak by Rudolfo, is in anguish, believing itself responsible for the destruction of the City. Rudolfo discovers that a renegade apprentice of the Order had tampered with the Servitor, programming it to give voice to an ancient magick that called down destruction upon the city.
The apprentice was in the pay of Lord Sethbert, Overseer of the Entrolusian City States and the Delta of Three Rivers. He is unwisely boastful of the City's destruction, leading even his own military to question his sanity. Sethbert has brought his army with him, to happily (or unhappily) view the destruction of Windwir, and to secure all power to him, particularly from the Gypsy King, Rudolfo, whose army stands in opposition to his. Sethbert has set up a cousin as the new Pope of what Androfrancines are left, and has told him to declare Rudolfo shunned as having caused the destruction of Windwir.
What follows is war and intrigue, with crosses and double-crosses, and plots and machinations that reach back for generations. Involved with all this are other characters, such as the Lady Jin Li Tam, formerly consort of Sethbert, but foremostly, daughter and agent of the House of Li Tam, one of the most powerful trading houses in the Named Lands. And there is young Neb, raised by the Order and hoping to become a Brother some day, who barely escaped death in the city, but lived to see the destruction with his own eyes, including the death of his father and everyone he's ever known. And there is the mysterious Petronus, who claims to be a simple fisherman.
The book has a solid ending and reads almost like a stand-alone. But from the "Palms of Isaak" subtitle listed on-line (but nowhere in the actual book), it seems this is the first in a series and the story will continue. With its interesting characters, strong world-building and involving plot, most readers should find a sequel most welcome.
”
aprillee wrote this review Sunday, July 19 2009.
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