The third novel in Williams’ Shadowmarch series sees his characters in great trouble. The crippled Prince Barrick has fallen over the Shadowline, where he is eventually befriended by an ancient Qar’ (i.e., fairy) king, though for the king’s own purposes. Princess Briony has landed in a foreign court with only her wits to protect her. Southmarch Castle, home of the prince and the princess, is besieged by the Qar’, and their father has been captured by the mad Autarch of Xis, who wants to use King Olin to release an ancient power. And all that is just at the book’s outset. Williams builds strongly on the plots of Shadowmarch (2004) and Shadowplay (2007), which he summarizes here because knowing them is absolutely necessary to enjoying this book.
