Wyst is a young man from a small village where life is simple and straightforward, not like the city he gets banished to. Banishment comes when the village goddess seeks him out she gives him a cryptic message about stopping a plague and a white mark on his chest and sends him on his way. In the city, life is tough and so very different than what he’s used to. He finds help along the way through Gamomal, a city exterminator. Also, he finds a job collecting dead plague victims, something not so popular among the city folks. Through Gamomal, Wyst finds just what he was meant to find.

Even if the beginning of this story was a bit confusing Eric Del Carlo quickly brings the reader to understanding through his descriptions of the setting. Through Wyst’s eyes I got a clear, beautiful picture of the village and what life was like for the people who lived there and later of the city Wyst travels to. Eric Del Carlo’s style of writing, especially when it came to setting description, is not to be rushed through. This, along with the slow pace of the plot made for the story cumbersome to read at times, however he more than makes up for it by creating a setting that could be ‘anywhere’ USA, minus the harnessed lizards of course.

Reviewed by: April