The Fifth Sorceress

Not since Terry Goodkind unsheathed the Sword of Truth has there been such an epic tale of heroism and magic that so captures the imagination as this monumental new work by a master storyteller. In The Fifth Sorceress, Robert Newcomb conjures a time and place wrought with exquisite detail, characters vividly drawn and deeply felt, and a history rich in glory and horror, splendor and secrets. . . . It is more than three centuries since the ravages of a devastating war nearly tore apart the kingdom of Eutracia. In its wake, those who masterminded the bloodsheda quartet of powerful, conquest-hungry Sorceresseswere sentenced to exile, with return all but impossible and death all but inevitable. Now a land of peace and plenty, protected and guided by a council of immortal wizards, Eutracia is about to crown a new king. And as the coronation approaches, the spirit of celebration fills every heart. Except one. Prince Tristan is a reluctant monarch-to-be. Though born with the endowed blood that will give him the power to master magic, and destined by tradition to succeed his father as ruler, he is a rebel soul. And when he discovers the ancient, hidden caves where strange red waters flow possessed of their own mysterious magic it only makes him yearn all the more to escape his future of duty . . . and succumb to the stirrings of enchantment within him. But more than tradition compels Tristan to ascend the throne. The very existence of Eutracia depends upon it. For after these long centuries of peace, dreadful omens have begun to appear, heralding something too unspeakableto ponder. And if indeed the old evil has returned, hungry to wreak vengeance, Tristans role in an ages-old prophecy must be fulfilledor the cost to his kingdom and his people will be beyond imagination. It will be a battle like none ever known, against an enemy whose thirst for blood and domination is depthless and unyielding.