The Wizard Hunters
Martha Wells
(Reviewer - Colleen Helme)
2003 Eos/HarperCollins
ISBN: 0380977885

Once a fertile & prosperous land, Ile-Rein is attacked by the Gardier, a mysterious invader. Storm-black airships appear from nowhere & strike without warning.

The last hope of a magical realm under siege rests within a child's plaything created by her uncle Arisilde, the greatest of all sorcerers for Tremaine Valiarde's amusement when she was a child of twelve. Among the first to die in the war along with Tremaine's notorious father, the mage, had secreted within the toy sphere a power capable of defeating the invaders.

Now, years later, it falls to a young woman lacking any magical knowledge & ability to release it.

Associate Reviewer Colleen Helme writes:

This is book one of The Fall of Ile-Rein & begins auspiciously with the heroine, Tremaine Valiarde, trying to find a way to kill herself so it won't look like suicide. Her guardian, Gerard, who is in desperate need of the last sphere designed by her uncle, Arisilde, interrupts her. They find that the sphere only responds to Tremaine's touch & so she must go with Gerard, who is a sorcerer himself, to the Viller Institute's Defense project outside the city in hopes of finding a way to use the sphere to win the war & destroy the Gardier.

Things don't happen as expected & they find themselves transported to a strange new world far away, where they encounter a different society whose primitive magic lags behind Ile-Rein's sorcery. They also find the Gardier. In many twists & turns through clashes with demons & dark wizards, Tremaine must find a way to unlock the sphere's powerful secrets before it is too late.

The Wizard Hunters is a great read with terrific characters, especially the heroine, Tremaine. It also has a wonderfully satisfying ending that is unusual in the first book of a series. The world building & setting are unique & interesting, but it is the characters & their adventures that give this book it's three-dimensional qualities.

I highly recommend The Wizard Hunters to readers of all ages who enjoy great fantasy!

More from Martha Wells:
The Death of the Necromancer
City of Bones
The Element of Fire
Wheel of the Infinite
(11/16/03)

Colleen
2003©Colleen Helme
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I have been an avid reader “forever” & live in the Rocky Mountains with my husband & four children. In my spare time (when I'm not reading!) I do watercolor paintings, make music, & WRITE! My first fantasy novel, Child of the Flame, is being published this year by American Book Publishing.