Title:
The Firehills Of Orland

Author:
Frances Evlin

Published By:
Amber Quill Press

ISBN #:
1-59279-051-8

Release Date:
Available Now

Format:
Electronic

The firehills have been in flux in Orland ever since the powerful Non raged against Prand and the Protector of the Eternal Trees. A desolate land, it is barren of foliage and forests. King Emmil is the Keeper of the Land, Orland’s First Loyal to the Eternal One, and has the magical power needed to quell the eruptions of this providence. But he has been missing for two years.

When Kelber’s father is killed by a fiery eruption from a firehill, Kelber and his brother(,) Trendarmon decide to cross the Great Kind Sea and seek advice from Prand’s Loyal, King Neef. It is there that Kelber discovers that he is a Loyal, bastard son to King Emmil, with the power to convey persons at his command. Returning home, Kelber and Trendarmon find their sister, Fye, has run away. Determined to “save” her, as well as the Orland Loyal, King Emmil, they travel with the Second Loyals of Prand, the newly-wedded Chaff and his sister Princess Haehli, over treacherous openlands to the Night Gleaners. After a botched attempt on Kelber’s life they discover that King Ott is holding the First Royal of Orland captive from King Ott’s son, Prince Lewtri.

Their party numbers growing, they find Fye safe and happy at the Order of the Diviners’ sanctuary in Hynagarla and decide to return to Prand for reinforcements. On the ship the group is captured by pirate smugglers, working for King Ott, who has been planning to take over the Eternal Trees of Prand. Once freed, they travel to free King Emmil only to find themselves battling the Non - the antithesis of the Eternal One - in a tremendous battle between good and evil. As the three Loyals battle this destructive force with the power of love, they are unintentionally hampered by those in their group. Will they win this fight? And if they do, what will be the cost?

Frances Evlin pulls us back into the world of Prand in The Firehills of Orland, with carefully constructed heroes and villains who will capture your imagination. She has painted pictures of lands and creatures that will amaze you. Deceit and subterfuge abound; kings fighting for power, good versus evil, deception around every corner. In this, her second book of her series, we meet Kelber and his brother Trendarmon. Kelber learns he has a special gift, given by the Eternal One to a select few, and that he is the Second Loyal of Orland.

Loyals Princess Haehli and Chaff , from her first book “Eternal Trees of Prand”, return to play pivotal parts in this tale of heroic deeds. Chaff is now a newlywed leaving his bride much too soon after their wedding. And Haehli finds out that the strong and stubborn Trendarmon is not difficult to love, just difficult to understand. The new friendships that are formed, in this tale of fantasy, cement turbulent relations between the two providences. Each discovery of a new Loyal draws this world into a tighter unity, strengthening bonds that will last through generations. I can hardly wait to see what Ms. Evlin offers us next…can you?

Reviewed by: Gayle