cover image Worldbinder

Worldbinder

David Farland. Tor Books, $24.95 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-7653-1665-3

Two worlds collide in the sixth installment of Farland's Runelords epic (after 2006's Sons of the Oak). When the Seal of Creation was broken, the original, peaceful home of humanity shattered into thousands of flawed worlds, of which Earth is one. Seeking to mend the Seal of Inferno, which was damaged by the evil Queen of the Loci after her escape from the netherworld, flameweaver Fallion Orden instead reunites Earth with another world, causing strange meldings of bodies and landscapes. As inhabitants of both worlds struggle to comprehend the changes to themselves and their surroundings, various evildoers take advantage of the chaos, and Fallion and his companions must do what most heroes do: save the world and stay alive. Farland excels in dreamlike imagery that describes much but explains little, and the wildly complicated plot and lack of backstory may frustrate new readers.