cover image Godfire: Book 2: Heart's Wound

Godfire: Book 2: Heart's Wound

Tim Waggoner. Five Star (ME), $25.95 (307pp) ISBN 978-1-59414-446-2

In the process of destroying one another, two battling gods-one good, one evil-vested everyone in the land of Athymar with some sort of magical ability, a transformation called ""The Change."" This lackluster sequel to 2006's The Orchard of Dreams carries on the adventures of Tarian, an ex-soldier with healing powers; his wife, Lowri, now an evil winged demoness; and their son, Phelan, who now contains a wolfish creature of darkness. While Lowri assists Tarian's malicious doppelganger, Scion, in his murderous search for her husband, Tarian and Phelan embark on a quest, as in the previous novel. This time, they team up with a royal wizard, a priestess, an elvish warrior and a swordswoman to find and resurrect the daughter of one of the dead gods. The stock characters, standard quest and uninspired writing are enlivened only by encounters with common folk who possess minor gifts like understanding the language of birds or the ability to turn brown cows bright pink.