Synopses & Reviews
'* \"With this follow-up to
Fire Logic (2002), Marks produces another stunner of a book. The powerful but subtle writing glows with intelligence, and the passionate, fierce, articulate, strong, and vital characters are among the most memorable in contemporary fantasy, though not for the faint of heart. Definitely for the thinking reader.\"
--Paula Luedtke, Booklist *Starred Review*
\"The sequel to Fire Logic continues the tale of a woman born to magic and destined to rule. Vivid descriptions and a well-thought-out system of magic make this a good selection for most libraries.\"--Library Journal
\"Twenty years after the invading Sainnites won the Battle of Lilterwess, the struggle for the world of Shaftal is far from finished in Marks\'s stirring, intricately detailed sequel to Fire Logic. Full of love and humor as well as war and intrigue, this well-crafted epic fantasy will delight existing fans as surely as it will win new ones.\"--Publishers Weekly
\"Laurie Marks\'s rich and affecting new novel Earth Logic . . . is a thought-provoking and sometimes heartbreaking political novel which absorbingly examines the dynamics between two groups of people. Good bread, wine and friendships alone may not save the world, but they make the doing of it much more palatable.\"--Gavin Grant, Bookpage
\"Laurie Marks\' Earth Logic is a dense and layered book filled with complex people facing impossible choices. Crammed with unconventional families, conflicted soldiers, amnesiac storytellers, and practical gods, the story also finds time for magical myths of origin and moments of warm, quiet humor. Against a bitter backdrop of war and winter, Marks offers hope in the form of various triumphs: of fellowship over chaos, the future over the past, and love over death.\"--Sharon Shinn
\"Earth Logic
f0is intelligent, splendidly visualized, and beautifully written. Laurie Marks\' use of language is really tremendous.\"--Paula Volsky
\"A powerful and hopeful story where the peacemakers are as heroic as the warriors; where there is magic in good food and flower bulbs; and where the most powerful weapon of all is a printing press.\"--Naomi Kritzer
'
Review
"A dense and layered book filled with complex people facing impossible choices."(Sharon Shinn)
Review
"Vivid descriptions and a well-thought-out system of magic make this a good selection for most libraries."(Library Journal)
Review
"Full of love and humor as well as war and intrigue, this well-crafted epic fantasy will delight existing fans as surely as it will win new ones."(Publishers Weekly)
Review
"Markss rich and affecting new novel Earth Logic is a thought-provoking and sometimes heartbreaking political novel."(Gavin Grant, Bookpage)
Review
"Earth Logic is intelligent, splendidly visualized, and beautifully written. Laurie Marks use of language is really tremendous."(Paula Volsky)
Review
"The powerful but subtle writing glows with intelligence, and the passionate, fierce, articulate, strong, and vital characters are among the most memorable in contemporary fantasy."(Paula Luedtke, Booklist)
Synopsis
A sweeping drama of war, intrigue, magic, and love
With Earth Logic, Laurie J. Marks continues the epic of her stunningly imagined world of Shaftal, which she first introduced in Fire Logic.
Shaftal has a ruler again, a woman with enough power to heal the war-torn land and expel the invading Sainnites from Shaftal. Or it would have a ruler if the earth witch Karis G'deon consented to rule. Instead, she lives in obscurity with the fractious family of elemental talents who gathered around her in Fire Logic. She is waiting for some sign, but no one, least of all Karis herself, knows what it is.
Then the Sainnite garrison at Watford is attacked by a troop of zealots claiming to speak for the Lost G'deon, and a mysterious and deadly plague attacks the land, killing both Sainnites and Shaftali. Karis must act or watch her beloved country fall into famine and chaos. And when Karis acts, the very stones of the earth sit up and take notice.
About the Author
Laurie J. Marks is a third-generation Californian who came to Massachusetts to go to graduate school and never left. She earned a BA from Brown University and an MA from Northeastern University.
Before settling down to teach composition, creative writing, and science fiction at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, she worked with an anti-poverty program in Mexico, was a crisis counselor in domestic violence and rape intervention, and administered and designed programs for a county-wide literacy agency. She serves on the steering committee of Broad Universe, and is a member of SFFWA and the National Council of Teachers of English.
She lives in Melrose, Massachusetts.