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Fortress of Owls

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Overview

"I Dreamed of Owl. That Means Wizardry is Near." Tristen is a weapon in an ancient war between wizardry and sorcery. He is a summoning and a shaping, brought to life by a wizard. And his sword is a weapon as well. Its keen blade, marked Illusion on one side and Truth on the other, once helped Tristen win the throne of Ylesuin for the young king Cefwyn, gaining Tristen the stewardship of the brave country of Amefel. Tristen's rule in Amefel is blessed with two extraordinary friends: one a stalwart and simple warrior, the other a young rebel with royal blood. But the scarlet banners of war are unfolding again, and far more than a kingdom is at stake. Now Tristen must take up the sword--as well as the Sihh magic he has forsworn. He is destiny's own, created a combatant in a far older and more fearsome conflict than any ever imagined by mere mortal man. And he is about to do battle once more.

Editorial Reviews

Tristen, a young man summoned and "shaped" into the world by the wizard Mauryl in Fortress in the Eye of Time (1995) takes up, in the third book of this high fantasy series, as duke of the Southern stronghold Amefel under his lord and friend, King Cefwyn. Although fully grown, Tristen has lived in the world less than a year and is still more magical creature than flesh and blood man, so he has trouble handling the subtleties of politics. He keeps breaking rules: rebuilding old defensive walls, sheltering starving fugitives from his enemy's lands and summoning the Southern Lords to discuss battle in the middle of a harsh winter. King Cefwyn, meanwhile, is learning that the head beneath the crown always rests uneasily. Though he is comforted by his love for his new wife, other troubles distress him his priests and courtiers are conspiring against him, his former lover's imminent marriage provokes much gossip and his foreign-born bride still seeks to retake her native lands amid hostility from his own people. None of these quandaries are resolved in this series entry. Cherryh delights in bringing to the fore the small details of courtly life: the political import of petticoat fashions, the disposition of oxcarts and payment of royal carpenters. Her rich characters are sure to please her many fans (she has won three Hugos) and a detailed, if somewhat drawn out, prologue will bring new readers of the saga up to speed. (Jan.) -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of C. J. Cherryh

A multiple award-winning author of more than thirty novels, C.J. Cherryh received her B.A. in Latin from the University of Oklahoma, and then went on to earn a M.A. in Classics from Johns Hopkins University. Cherryh's novels, including Tripoint, Cyteen, and The Pride of Chanur, are famous for their knife-edge suspense and complex, realistic characters. Cherryh won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1977. She was also awarded the Hugo Award for her short story Cassandra in 1979, and the novels Downbelow Station in 1982 and Cyteen in 1989. Cherryh has traveled from New York to Istanbul, and her hobbies include needlepoint, painting, and refinishing furniture. Cherryh, who also goes by the name Caroline Janice Cherry, resides in Oklahoma.

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Additional Info

Imprint

HarperCollins

Filesize

1.15 MB

Number of Pages

560

eBook ISBN

9780061156656

Excerpt from: Fortress of Owls by C. J. Cherryh

Master Emuin had packed in a night, when His Majesty in Guelemara had decreed a new duke for Amefel. Baskets, barrels, and bundles had gone out of master Emuin's tower room in the Guelesfort in the heart of Guelemara and into wagons that night of storm and departure, and after a slow transit between provinces, up they had come, a week and more later, into the appointed tower in the fortress of Henas'amef.

But when master Emuin's new tower room had reached its apparent limits, as it had on the day following his arrival, why, baskets and bundles coming up for the week afterward had necessarily accumulated on the stairs and on the very small landing, hardly more than a step, that gave a servant, a petitioner, or the new duke of Amefel himself scant place to stand and knock for admittance.

"Master Emuin?"

"Leave it on the stairs! Gods bless, fool, there's no more room!"

"Master Emuin, it's Tristen, if you please."

Footsteps crossed the floor. The door opened. The old man peered out, hair disarrayed and gusting past his face in a cold wind and a white daylight that said the shutters were open despite the snow sifting down outside.

"Master Emuin, you'll freeze." Tristen pushed through the door into the round tower room, where, indeed, shutters were wide to the winds and windows were blazing white with winter sky. Emuin was wrapped in a heavy traveling cloak, and so was Tristen, but for different reasons, Tristen was sure. Master Emuin had kept his room in the Guelesfort in similar state, but in the milder days of autumn, and, however new to his authority over the old man, Tristen was certainly not disposed to tolerate that state of affairs here.

Consequently, he began closing shutters.