From Publishers Weekly
Llywelyn (The Last Prince of Ireland) and Scott (Tales of the Bard) have set this entrancing novel, their first collaboration, in a semimedieval, far-future fantasy world. This concocted realm serves them exceptionally well as they layer shades of gray into the politics of their heroes while doing devilishly evil things with their amoral villains. Some of the most compelling evil magicians to appear in current fantasy are the Duet, a brother-and-sister team who use their incestuous relationship to raise tantric magic and control the powerful Voids. Youthful hero Caeled loses his mother in the wake of one such display. As the stunned boy wanders away from his devastated village, he is rescued by a monk who believes he may be the Spoken One, a prophesied hero who will be able to wield the magical implements of the Arcana. But before the monk can safely deliver Caeled to his superiors, the pair are attacked by a weredog and the boy loses an arm. The monks use long-dormant technologies to construct a prosthetic silver hand for the youth?a symbol that holds great mystical power. Caeled then sets out to seek the Arcana. This rich tale shows how good fantasy can be when its authors neither denigrate their audience's intelligence nor obscure their ideas with overwrought language and overblown symbologies. Major ad/promo. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Young Caeled lives in a Celtic-like future or alternate world that is spotted with areas of "gray nothingness" marking pockets of the Void in which nothing can exist. Returning to his village, he finds every organic thing has dissolved into a reeking, gelatinous sludge. He heads south and ends up in a community of scholars in which he learns his destiny is to be the Spoken One, the instrument for defeating the evil Duet--royal twins, brother and sister, who through their sexual passion can use the Void to kill. Although this tale lacks the lyricism and the depth of Celtic lore expected of coauthor Llywelyn by readers of such fine novels as Lion of Ireland (1980) and Finn Mac Cool (1994), it is a compelling, fast-paced fantasy that begins a projected series called the Arcana. Sally Estes

ANNOTATION

From the acclaimed author of Lion of Ireland comes the first novel in a groundbreaking new fantasy series. Book One of The Arcana tells the story of Silverhand, who is destined to save the world from Chaos and begin the long climb to a world that lives on only as the inner secret of every heart's desire.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

They are The Arcana. Collectively, they are the ultimate symbols of cosmic power. Millennia ago they were the treasures of the gods of creation, honored and cherished in four great cities since swept away by the rivers of time. The Spear of Light came from Gorias. The city of Falias contained The Stone of Destiny. From Murias came The Cup of Blood. The Sword of Flame was enshrined within Findias.

Properly used by an adept, these four together have the power to create worlds -or to destroy them. The volumes of The Arcana tell of the desperate quest to rediscover the ancient tools of creation and restore a world that lives only in memory. A world everyone longs to return to, in their most secret dreams. The lost world at the outermost limit of human desire.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Llywelyn (The Last Prince of Ireland) and Scott (Tales of the Bard) have set this entrancing novel, their first collaboration, in a semimedieval, far-future fantasy world. This concocted realm serves them exceptionally well as they layer shades of gray into the politics of their heroes while doing devilishly evil things with their amoral villains. Some of the most compelling evil magicians to appear in current fantasy are the Duet, a brother-and-sister team who use their incestuous relationship to raise tantric magic and control the powerful Voids. Youthful hero Caeled loses his mother in the wake of one such display. As the stunned boy wanders away from his devastated village, he is rescued by a monk who believes he may be the Spoken One, a prophesied hero who will be able to wield the magical implements of the Arcana. But before the monk can safely deliver Caeled to his superiors, the pair are attacked by a weredog and the boy loses an arm. The monks use long-dormant technologies to construct a prosthetic silver hand for the youth-a symbol that holds great mystical power. Caeled then sets out to seek the Arcana. This rich tale shows how good fantasy can be when its authors neither denigrate their audience's intelligence nor obscure their ideas with overwrought language and overblown symbologies. Major ad/promo. (Apr.)

BookList - Sally Estes