From Publishers Weekly
This hefty prequel, set 1,000 years before Lisle's Secret Texts trilogy (Diplomacy of Wolves, etc.), which chronicled a struggle between the good-wizard Falcons and the bad-wizard Dragons, lacks the trilogy's polish but is likely to appeal to the same adolescent and adolescent-at-heart audience who will be attracted by the teenage-vampiry jacket art. The original Hars Ticlarim empire, overtly run by the Dragon Council but in fact manipulated by the super-secret cadre of Inquestors, offers its ruling elite fabulous mansions in the clouds and beneath the seas all fueled by incinerating the bodies and souls of hordes of hapless Warreners, people kept obese and mind-numbed by their fiendish rulers. Young Wraith, born in the Warrens but mysteriously able to resist Dragon magic, escapes to the upper city, where Solander Artis, talented son of a powerful Dragon, befriends him and helps him found a rebellion led by the elusive playwright Vincalis the Agitator, against the Dragons and the Inquestors. Wraith and Solander hurtle feverishly from one perilous predicament to another, the would-be breathless narrative pace mostly hamstrung by the author's awkward melange of contemporary technobabble and supposedly magical lore. Even Lisle's arch villain, Luercas, is defanged by his reliance on such modern conveniences as a "panic button." For all its fast, often bloodthirsty action, this intended duel between lukewarm good and mingy evil comes off as an inflated contest of whiners. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
The empire of Hars Ticlarim is a utopian society of marvelous undersea cities, in which potent magic removes drudgery and danger from the average citizen's life. The empire's dark secret is that the power for that magic is drawn from slaves killed to become sorcerous fuel. A quirk of fate brings together a child of slaves who is capable of passing through the wards around the slave quarters and an apprentice sorcerer who wants to study such unusual powers. That study leads to both youngsters learning too much about the empire's secrets, and that every faction supporting the status quo is determined to fight against any change to the death--and beyond. With brisk pacing, superior characterization and world building, and a plot full of interesting twists and variations distinguishing it from the fantasy-adventure pack, Lisle's evocative page-turner is a highly satisfactory prequel to her Secret Texts trilogy (Diplomacy of Wolves [1998], Vengeance of Dragons [1999], and Courage of Falcons [2000]). Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Realm Of Pain
The Hars Ticlarim was an empire built on the suffering of others. Its builders wanted it that way. They didn't want to take responsibility for their own spells; they didn't want to limit what they could do merely to defense. More magic use meant that they could expand the empire, or keep in line the parts of it already acquired. But what wizard would use magic if he had to take the cost of the spell from his own flesh and blood and bones and life? Why would he do that, when he could channel both the power to fuel his spell and the rebound from it into caged creatures that he had convinced himself were not truly human? Who was going to overturn three thousand years of "this is the way we do things"?
Holly Lisle's acclaimed trilogy The Secret Texts is the epic adventure of heroes battling a resurrected evil that had nearly destroyed the world a millennium before. Now Holly Lisle takes readers back to the days before that ancient apocalypse-and to the decadent heart of a fantastic, doomed empire...
Glory Of The Dragons
Based on a science of sorcery called Dragon magic, the Hars Ticlarim is a miraculous place of mansions built on clouds and gardens blooming diamonds beneath canopies of captive stars. But this incomparable beauty hides a dark core: Dragon magic draws its power from the agony of slaves who are killed for sorcerous fuel. And for three thousand years, no one has dared question the empire's inhuman cruelty...until now.
Wraith, a boy with an uncanny power, seeks the art to foment a revolution within the Hars Ticlarim. Solander, a brilliant young mage, believes he has discovered a totally new form of magic. Luercas, a sadistic noble, will commit any crime that furthers his ambition. All three are clever, resolute, driven-and naive. For they challenge the rulers of a globe-spanning power that has endured for millennia-rulers who will do anything to stay in power forever...

SYNOPSIS

Vincalis "Wraith" Padeuay befriends the children of the Dragons -- the ruling wizards who enslave and tax the souls of the people -- and is imprisoned. Transformed into Vincalis the Agitator, he escapes and starts a rival wizard group, the Falcons, defending humanity against the Dragons...

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This hefty prequel, set 1,000 years before Lisle's Secret Texts trilogy (Diplomacy of Wolves, etc.), which chronicled a struggle between the good-wizard Falcons and the bad-wizard Dragons, lacks the trilogy's polish but is likely to appeal to the same adolescent and adolescent-at-heart audience who will be attracted by the teenage-vampiry jacket art. The original Hars Ticlarim empire, overtly run by the Dragon Council but in fact manipulated by the super-secret cadre of Inquestors, offers its ruling elite fabulous mansions in the clouds and beneath the seas all fueled by incinerating the bodies and souls of hordes of hapless Warreners, people kept obese and mind-numbed by their fiendish rulers. Young Wraith, born in the Warrens but mysteriously able to resist Dragon magic, escapes to the upper city, where Solander Artis, talented son of a powerful Dragon, befriends him and helps him found a rebellion led by the elusive playwright Vincalis the Agitator, against the Dragons and the Inquestors. Wraith and Solander hurtle feverishly from one perilous predicament to another, the would-be breathless narrative pace mostly hamstrung by the author's awkward m lange of contemporary technobabble and supposedly magical lore. Even Lisle's arch villain, Luercas, is defanged by his reliance on such modern conveniences as a "panic button." For all its fast, often bloodthirsty action, this intended duel between lukewarm good and mingy evil comes off as an inflated contest of whiners. (Mar. 1) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA - Kim Carter

Prequel to the Secret Texts trilogy (Warner, 1999+), this novel brings readers into the heart of an empire built on decadence and privilege. In the Warrens, villages where people mindlessly await their next ration of drugged "way-fare," Wraith is an anomaly, untouched by the magic that binds people's lives to the powerful Dragon wizards. Serendipitously making the acquaintance of Solander, the gifted son of a Dragon Master, Wraith escapes the Warrens, bringing a young orphan, Jess, along. With the help of beautiful Velyn, Solander establishes fake identities for them, enabling them to be raised as members of the elite class. When Wraith and Solander discover that the energy source for their world's magic is the burning of the bodies￯﾿ﾽand eventually the souls￯﾿ﾽof the Warrens inhabitants, they pledge their lives to revolution. Solander immerses himself in researching an energy source that does not require human sacrifice, while Wraith produces powerful plays that challenge people's complacency. The playwright, Vincalis, is sought by many, but only four￯﾿ﾽWraith, Solander, Velyn, and Jess￯﾿ﾽknow that Vincalis is none other than Wraith himself. Talents, loves, ambitions, desires, and greed interweave in a complex dance, ultimately resulting in the apocalyptic demise of a three thousand-year-old empire. A profound exploration of humanity, social structure, governance, and fate, this book is packed with deft characterization, richly complex human relationships, and a compellingly taut plot. "That which you cannot live without you must pay the price to live with." What price are you willing to pay? VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal;Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2002, Warner Aspect, 391p,

KLIATT