The Rainbow Abyss

Book Description

When Rhion the banker's son met the Master Wizard Jaldis, Jaldis said, "Come." Rhion came, leaving everything behind to answer the call in his blood. And through long years of drudgery and persecution, he had no regrets. Thus he became a wizard.

A noble burned out Jaldis' eyes to please some god; Rhion made magic glasses so he could see. Together, they opened the dark well to the Abyss between universes, and a cry for help came from a world that had lost all magic. Could that happen to their world? Though forced to flee again, Jaldis was determined to reach that world through the Abyss, to help and to find how the magic was lost.

Rhion had nightmares over that. Jaldis was blind without magic. Rhion could not let him go alone. Yet the Abyss terrorized Rhion. Guided only by a voice without magic, they might land on the wrong world or drift forever in the hell of the void. And how could they ever return?

The idea made Rhion shudder to the depths of his soul. Yet he was sure that someday the nightmare must come true!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly A blind, crippled and mute wizard named Jaldis--who can see only by virtue of his magic--and his pupil Rhion discover a world on the other side of a Dark Well in which magic does not exist. This concept frightens the two mages for, while wizards are pariahs in the alternate world they inhabit, magic is very much a part of it. ("It's an element," says one of their fellow wizards, "like the light of the sun, like the air we breathe!") Suddenly exiled from their home, the two wizards are forced to abandon the Well, and it is seven years before they make contact again. This first volume in a new series is typical Hambly ( Dragonsbane )--too much narration and not enough dialogue--and the closing cliffhanger, in which the Jaldis and Rhion land in the magicless realm, is more of a curbhanger. The unidentified world is obviously our own Earth, so the mystery of the finale is diluted. However, the alternate world, in which wizards are considered without souls (killing them is no more or less an offense than killing an animal) yet are constantly sought in secret by people wanting assistance (usually a love potion), is fascinating, and Rhion is a very likable protagonist. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review "Barbara is a fabulously talented writer who can write well in any genre." --Charlaine Harris --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.