Community - Review - Bookwire - The Changing Tides

In this sequel to The Impending Storm, Empress Karleena has been kidnapped, and with her disappearance the delicate negotiations to unite the human and non-human races have fallen apart. Even as Imperial Investigator Adonis searches for clues to Karleena's whereabouts, the situation worsens. Winton, pawn of the evil Zoldex, has claimed the throne for his own and is furthering the fragmentation of the Seven Kingdoms. The Imperium has entered its darkest days.

Accused of participating in Karleena's kidnapping, the delegation of dwarves and elves at the unification talks are thrown into prison. The band escapes to the dwarven homeland, only to learn that a huge number of Zoldex's forces are poised to conquer the mountain. Against this background of chaos, the mystral warrior Solara has sworn revenge against the men who murdered her lover, the noble Warlord Braksis. She tracks them across the land, but the rage that threatens to consume her may be her downfall.

The Changing Tides is the second novel in the Fall of the Imperium trilogy, and here author Clifford B. Bowyer picks up where The Impending Storm left off. But the main characters from the first novel are out of the picture−Braksis dead, the Empress kidnapped, and the elf Kai banished by Mages to a fold in time and space−so a host of new characters takes center stage. As in the first novel, the book follows three main adventures as the storylines weave across each other. The mixed band of elves and dwarves are particularly captivating, as they develop from near-strangers to a tightly knit band that battles and grieves together.

It is easier to keep track of the characters here than in the first novel, but those with no knowledge of Bowyer's Imperium universe may find The Changing Tides hard-going. Two of the storylines from the first book are continued here−the unification efforts and the story of Braksis and Solara−but the Chosen One storyline about a young girl poised to save all the races is mentioned only in passing; this is perhaps not surprising as Bowyer has written a separate series about the young Chosen One.

If there is any complaint to be made about Bowyer's writing, it is that his books are sometimes just overwhelming, with too many characters and too many stories to keep track of. His books require concentration and are not light beach-reading fare. But Bowyer's imagination is fertile, and his adventures are rousing. Fans of Fantasy will find much to like in this book and the entire trilogy.

Clifford Bowyer is the author of the Fall of the Imperium saga, as well as The Adventures of Kyria, a series of fantasy books for younger readers. Bowyer lives in Massachusetts.