Land of the Burning Sands

For a day, a night, and a day slave Gereint hide in the two story deep basement while the desert claimed the newly abandoned city of Melentser, hoping to lose the geas connection he felt to his master. On the second night Gereint sat in the broken sandy city and watched the sun set. As he did, he saw the bright griffins fly over him. Feeling no pull on his geas, Gereint heads North East, opposite of the other refugees and his master. Only to fall under geas to another man and see more griffins fly by. We start off with a whole new story. We follow Gereint through his journey after the destruction of Melentser. We learn more of his life, how he fell into the trap of slavery of the geas. But most of all, we learn of the person Gereint is. I started to understand more of the country Calmantium. If you read the first book, you will remember this is the country where the Griffins first resided, and now have come home. Through the book you get the feel for how the people and Cold Mage are apposed to the griffins. In more than just dislike. Their is a deeper feeling that these two different magics don't mix very well, and this is shown to you through the acts and feelings of the characters. I learned more of the Cold Mage and of the Makers that are from Calmantium. This book struck me as it could be read on its own, not having to have read the first book in the trilogy since we are placed in Calmantium instead of Feierabiand and the story doesn't revolve majorly on the happenings of the first book. I felt this book was a story of its own. We do start to touch on the happenings in Lord of Changing Winds around page 72, but remember the people of Calmantium really don't know what happened in Feierabiand, and what you need to know for this story is given to you. I didn't interact much with the griffins in this read. They are a constant and are visual through the book. But not much interaction between the characters and griffins until close to the end of the book. In this way there is some suspense built to wonder what they are doing and what will happen. Along with the griffins there is a few characters who come back in this one. The one main character, which I enjoyed in Lord of the Changing Winds, was Lord Bertaud. And we have many new characters. I came to enjoy these new characters very much by the end of the book. In all I enjoyed this read and will look for the third book of this trilogy. A wonderful classic fantasy style with a new element...griffins.

Land of the Burning Sands is the second book in Rachel Neumeier's new Griffin Mage Trilogy. Sophomore books are hard. You've written the first book, and now the freshness and newness of your stuff as a writer is gone. You have to come up with a second act, and have something new to say, and, worse improve on your previous book. If you are writing a series, especially a trilogy, and your sophomore book is the *middle* book in the trilogy, that is really putting yourself behind the eight ball. Even high class writers have trouble with middle books in trilogies. Still, given the promise of the first book (Lord of the Changing Winds), I picked up this book with the hope that Neumeier would be able to carry the story and world forward well enough, even given the disadvantages and problems outlined above. I need not have worried. Land of the Burning Sands takes place, temporally, not long after the battle at the end of Lord of the Changing Winds. The focus, however, is no longer on Feiebriand, but rather on Casmantium, the antagonists of the first novel. We are introduced to Gereint, whose crime has made him a magically bound servant, and who has the opportunity to take advantage of the triumph of the Griffins in book one to work his way toward freedom. Along the way, he meets allies, a romantic interest (who is far more than just an ornament for the hero), and surprisingly, not as many Griffins as the first book... But that last part is all right. This book is something different than the first. Rather than focusing on Kes and Kairaithin (the latter appears, but only in the climax of the book), this book focuses on Gereint, the Amnachurdan family, and Beguchren, the (now) last real cold mage left in the entire kingdom. We also see Lord Bertaud from Feiebriand, and the Arobern, but otherwise there is no overlap between the two books in terms of character scope. This second novel is a book that focuses tightly on these characters, as they react to the consequences of the battle of the first novel, and the Griffins desire to punish Casmantium by taking excessive advantage of their victory. Advantage enough to possibly destroy the kingdom entirely, or change it beyond recognition forever. Without the problems of logistics and battles that I had in the first novel, many of the weaknesses that I found in the first novel simply are not an issue in this second book. This novel plays to Neumeier's strengths in a stronger way than the first novel did, although I don't think that this novel is really readable without reading the first. We get to see more and new magic, and like the first book, learn that when people in Neumeier's fantasy world come to terms with burgeoning magical power, they can literally move mountains. And characterization, a strength of the first novel, here, helps humanize and personalize the antagonists of the first novel, and puts them front and center as real human beings with their own concerns and problems. We learn

The Kingdom of Casmantium used griffins and the magic of fire to annex territory from its neighbor Feierabiand, but the subsequent war ended in abject defeat (see Lord of the Changing Winds). However, inside Casmantium, the loss has led to a power struggle as the fuming griffins have filled much of the void and are overtly hostile to the other sentient species especially the last surviving mage. Convicted to a life of slavery Gereint Enseichen also believes the debacle has given him a chance to escape from his servitude. However, instead of freedom across the border, he finds himself caught in the middle of trying to prevent the griffins from turning the kingdom into a graveyard of burning sand as they are doing with the city of Melentser; ceded to them during the peace treaty. His mentor Amnachudran rescues Geraint from his botched plan; he and his wife send Gereint to Bredichboden to become an assistant to their brilliant absent minded scientist daughter Tehre. Back in his home city, the adventures continue as Gereint fears he will be caught while the King tries to save his throne. While the griffins who starred in the first book take a bit of a respite, Gereint picks up the mantle of driving the story line as he tries to stay free. The story line is fast-paced from start to finish and the aftermath of a bitter defeat is made worse when everyone expected the glory of victory which is the vivid focus of this terrific fantasy. The middle Griffin Mage Trilogy thriller is a terrific entry as the action never stops coming while the cast is superb especially the convicted slave and the scientist. Harriet Klausner

While Lord of the Changing Wind took place in the kingdom of Feierabriand, we are now transported over the mountains to Casmantian. The Griffins, who won back the city of Melentser in the peace treaty, are busy returning it to their magical desert. While Book One concentrated on the griffins, Book Two follows the story of Gereint Enseichen as he tries to escape his criminal sentence of slavery. Yes, the Griffins still make an appearance but this story is shifted to deal with human concerns. This switch to a more human-driven plotline actually makes Burning Sands, far exceed it's predecessor, Changing Wind. Instead of wondering if we will be able to bond with our characters we are giving tortured Gereint who wants to return to being a free man; his benefactor Amnachudran; the architect maker Tehre (another, strongly reminiscent of McKillip, heroine though more approachable); the mage Beguchren; and Bertraud (the Feierabriand king's right hand man introduced in Book One). Gereint plans on taking full advantage of the destruction of Melentser by the Griffins. He has it all planned... hide out... let everyone flee the griffins' wrath and then he'll quietly sneak over the border, effectively escaping his life of servitude and slavery. However, things go awry when he fails to plan quite as thoroughly as he thought (proving book knowledge only goes so far), and gets rescued by Amnachudran. After a few adventures (which I don't want to spoil for you by posting about), Amnachudran and his wife hatch a wonderful plan to help Gereint: the former slave is to travel to Bredichboden to meet their daughter Tehre, an absent minded genuis who needs an assistant. Agreeing to go to Bredichboden where he might be re-captured into slavery is probably the weakest part of the book. I personally would have told Amnachudran, thanks but no thanks, grabbed a pack and hiked over the mountains to freedom. Regrettably for Gereint, he does travel to the city of his birth and after some entertaining interactions between him and Tehre (some of the best scenes in the book involve her), gets, predictably recaptured. However, the Casmantian king and his powerful mage, Beguchren, have a bigger destiny for Gereint: take the maker back to Melenster (where the griffins have decided to destroy the kingdom of Casmantian) and use Gereint to defeat them. However, the bid to gain his freedom, may be at a bigger price then Gereint dreams or even the King's Mage, Beguchren imagines as triumph means remaking the very kingdom of Casmantian. As I've wrote in review of Book One review this series, Neumeier admits to a love of the works of Patricia McKillip. Here again you will see a homage to some of the themes that McKillip has in her works, though not in a slavish or copy cat manner. Book Two is far more subtle but because I've read McKillips' works backwards and forwards, they popped out to me. First, there is Tehre, a new heroine in the series that the reader really needs and who mak

After reading the first book of this trilogy, "Lord of the Changing Winds" I was a little put off by the coldness of the main character Kes who turned away from humanity, but loved the griffins and harsh beauty of their world and the bleakness of their choices to survive. Imagine my surprise that the second book takes a secondary character from that book, Lord Bertaud, and weaves him seamlessly into this story about a whole new cast and set in a new country. The after effects of the "war" in book one have devestating results, both political and ecological which this new cast must fight. I loved the idea of slavery in this land being both physically and magically destructive, and the main character, Gereint, does everything in his power to constantly remain human, even when placed in horrific situations. He is so fully drawn that his anger and apparent helplessness make the conclusion a believable miracle. Neumeier started off with her first book that only slowly opened to me, but keep reading, because if book two is any indication, then the third book will blow your socks off. I can't wait!