Master Of The Cauldron

Garric or-Reise was born the son of an innkeeper in Barca's Hamlet on the Isle of Haft, but through valor and determination became first a prince and then the Regent and successor to the feeble Valence III, King of the Isles. But the Kingdom is weak, its rule barely extending past the island of Ornifal.

The Isles need a strong king to bring unity, because danger is coming. Magic is stronger now than at any time since the fall of the Old Kingdom in a cataclysm of uncontrolled magic. Evil is growing in the spaces beyond the world, waiting to complete the destruction begun a millennium before. Only if the Isles are united into a strong New Kingdom can humanity survive.

Garric has sworn to become a true Lord of the Isles. Standing with him are his sister, Sharina; his friend and Sharina's lover, the shepherd Cashel; and Cashel's sister, the weaver-witch Ilsa. They have been to Hell and back together in their quest.

The four friends and the armies of the Kingdom have undertaken a Royal Progress to renew the bonds of fealty among the Isles. Now they come to Sandrakkan, which fought a long and bloody war with Haft less than a generation ago.

On Sandrakkan, Wilduf's Countess, Balila, schemes with her court wizard to destroy the boy king from the hated isle of Haft. Strange evils lurk on demon-haunted Volita, and she will wake them all if necessary to make her husband the new King of the Isles.

Rich with action, guile, and heroism in the face of dangers both physical and moral, Master of the Cauldron stands alone or as part of a ground-breaking fantasy epic.

Praise for Master of the Cauldron

"Great, gritty realism on both material and magical planes, and Hell quite literally breaks loose on occasion. The audience for this kind of fantasy saga should prove large and ongoing, and for this volume, at least, it will be well deserved." --Booklist

"Drake's grasp of large-scale action, as well as small dramas, makes him a superb storyteller. The sixth addition to his "Lord of the Isles" series belongs in most fantasy collections."

--Library Journal

"Drake writes this kind of fantasy adventure as well as anyone active in the field, and has a real gift for the intricacies of court intrigues."

--Chronicle

Magic is stronger than at any time since the fall of the Old Kingdom in a cataclysm of uncontrolled magic. The son of a former innkeeper, now the Regent of the Isles, must unite the Isles before the magic overwhelms them all.

David Drake is an attorney who has written military SF and also fantasy stories since the early 1970s. He served in Vietnam, and reads in Latin literature and history for pleasure, from which he borrows many incidents for his fantasy works. He lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.