Enchanter by Sara Douglass

The second book of the Axis Trilogy continues with the struggle of Axis Sunsoar against invading forces into Achar, however his ongoing fight with Gorgrael is really a background plot as focus turns to his battle against his brother Bornheld. We start by reading a short chapter from Gorgrael’s perspective but events closer to home soon overpower this threat and by the end of the book I had almost completely forgotten Axis’ ultimate goal. I would have enjoyed the story more if the author had developed Gorgrael and the Dark Man’s presence. The middle book of a trilogy is always a difficult one to write while still retaining the interest of its readers. It is not entirely new as the reader is familiar with the world and characters, neither is it the ultimate ending with the most impressive finale of all the books. ‘Enchanter’ begins by informing us of everyone’s whereabouts since the end of book 1, but very quickly turns into an account of military tactics, planning and warfare. Almost half the book dictates events that happen rather than how these events affect individual characters and I found myself beginning to lose interest. But I am pleased that I continued, as in the second half of the book the excitement begins. We see characters manipulating others, some torn by mistrust and some by uncertainty in the ones they love, as well as a variety of character developments which I had been longing to see since the characters were first introduced to us. There were a couple of light-hearted moments, such as the comment ‘no birdmen had lost their lives in the battle save one who had suffered a fatal wing cramp and plunged to his death’. This type of insert in a very serious battle really makes its mark on you and the scene felt more believable. I only wish there had been more comments such as this. The lingering rivalry between the two brothers is written in a highly original way, while linking them into both the concerns of the land, the people within the realm, and more importantly the prophecy. I loved reading about Rivkar and her heartbreak at having to watch one of her son’s die and rediscovering the love of a man she had known many years before. The best part of the book came right at the end when we discover secrets about Azhure’s past and her heritage. Looking back you can see the clues and signs which support this newly discovered information, yet could not foresee it until the main characters in the story actually revealed it. This was a cleverly written aspect of the book and left you with some sense of an ending but with many more questions still to be answered in the final book of the series.

Sara Douglass who has me enthralled with Wayfarer Redemption:Battle-Axe has done it again even more so with the sequel: Enchanter. Once again she takes her reader to her war-torn world of dark magic, prophecy, revenge and romance. Axis, who is the Starman seeks to reunite all of the people so they can defeat the evil Gorgrael. Axis's obstacles are many as he must win the trust and the respect of the Iscaii people, battle his cruel and vicious half-brother Lord Borneheld and his backers, the ruthless Seneschal.

Axis also has conflicts of a heart as he is torn between Faraday, the woman he is prophecized to marry and his growing love for warrior woman, Azhure who also plays a part in the prophecy. Douglass' skills as a world-builder become more real in this volume as she describes plot-twists as our heroes must battle Gorgrael's monstrous Skraeling army, Borneheld's forces and a secret Iscaii enchanter who seeks to manipulate the prophecy for his own ends.

The Beauty of this world comes alive in Douglass' able hands and her descriptions of the land and people are so vivid you swear she dwell there herself! The battle scenes of the novel also are excellent as Axis takes the battle to his enemies: Gorgrael and Borneheld. Her characters are so memorable like the hero Axis who can command armies but cannot command his own heart. Azhure-the haunting warrior woman whose beauty and courage impresses all who know her. Ruthless and corrupt Lord Borneheld whose obession to destroy Axis will threaten his own homeland. Faraday-Borneheld's wife who must stay married to man who she loathes while she waits to be free to be with Axis.

Pick up this book and return to Axis and Azhure's unforgettable world of war, prophecy, dark magic and romance!

After finding out that Sara Douglass was an acclaimed author in her home country of Australia and that two complete series were reprinted for the North American market... AND I had finished the first installment "Battleaxe", I was a little hesitate to read book two. After all, I had thought very highly of the first book and generally the second book of any series is the one that either makes or breaks the whole concept. What if this book failed to live up to my expectations? Well it didn't... hardly! The whole book was a wonderfully crafted piece of story telling. The fore shadowing and exciting plot twists kept me on the edge the whole time. The character development continued wonderfully from the first book... showing many new "layers" of all those involved. The best part was the "fore shadowing" of the future potential of these powerfully captivating characters. Don't get me wrong... many books have this so called "development" stage with their characters, BUT Sara seems to have a refreshing way of bringing this about. Only after reading many, many pages do you realize that her hinting was just that... there was no way you (I) could fathom the complexity. This book was so fun to read... it was simply AWESOME. I'm already in the third installment... it's even better then than book two. WOW!