An adventure of epic proportions continues as Ehomba, a man bound by honor, travels through exotic and perilous lands on a quest to find and protect a beautiful princess he has never met. Drawn into his journey are Simna the swordsman and the great feline Ahlitah, and both are as much fascinated as they are confused by Ehomba's commitment to the imprisoned royal. Together, they travel great distances and encounter fantastic beings, but to save the princess, they must confront the greatest evil that lies ahead: her captor, Hymneth the Possessed.

I

The most powerful man in the world couldn't sleep.

At least Hymneth the Possessed thought of himself as the most powerful man in the world, and since those few who might have contemplated disputing him were no longer alive, he felt comfortable with having appropriated the title to himself. And if not the most powerful man, then he was certainly the most powerful mage. Granted that there might be a handful of imprudent individuals foolhardy enough to stand before him as men and women, there were none who dared confront him in the realm of the arcane and necromantic. There he was the Master of masters, and all who dabbled in the black arts must pay him homage, or suffer his whims at their peril.

Yet despite the knowing of this, and the sum of all his knowing, he could not sleep. Rising from his bed, a graven cathedral to Morpheus that had taken the ten finest wood-carvers in the land six years to render from select pieces of cobal, redwood, cherry, walnut, and purpleheart, Hymneth walked slowly to the vaulted window that looked out upon his kingdom. The rich and populous reach of Ehl-Larimar stretched out before him, from the rolling green hills at the base of his mountaintop fortress retreat to the distant, sun-washed shores of the boundless ocean called Aurel. Every home and farm, every shop and industry within that field of view acknowledged him as supreme over all other earthly authorities. He tried to submerge his soul in the warmth and security of that understanding, to let it wash over and burnish him like a shower of liquid pleasure. But he could not.

He couldn't shake the accursed dream that had kept him awake.

Worse than the loss of sleep was his inability to recall the details. Nebulous, hazy images of other beings had tormented his rest. Awake, he found that he was unable to remember them with any degree of resolution. His inability to identify them meant it was impossible to deal with their condition or take steps to prevent their return. He was convinced that some of the likenesses had been human, others not. Why they should disturb him so he could not say. Unable to distinguish them from any other wraiths, he could not formulate a means for dealing with them directly. The situation was more than merely irritating. Priding himself as he did on the precision with which he conducted all his dealings, the persisting inexactitude of the dream was disquieting.

He would go out, he decided. Out among his people. Receiving their obeisance, grandly deigning to acknowledge their fealty, always made him feel better. Walking to the center of the grandiose but impeccably decorated bedroom, he stood in the center of the floor, raised his arms, and recited one of several thousand small yet potent litanies he knew by heart.

Light materialized that was solid, as opposed to the feeble sunbeams that entered through the tall window. Taking the form of small yellow fingers that were detached from hands, it set about dressing him. He preferred light to the hands of human servitors. The feathery touch of commandeered glow would not pinch him, or forget to do up a button, or scratch against his neck. It would never choose the wrong undergarments or lose track of a valuable pin or necklace.

 

The bestselling author of The Dig and the Flinx series delivers the sequel to Carnivores of Light and Darkness in his popular new fantasy trilogy, Journeys of the Catechist. The third volume, A Triumph of Souls, is also available as an eBook. A single-volume eBook of the entire series is also available.

"Top-drawer Foster, featuring a fast-paced mix of wry humor, high fantasy and amazing new places and creatures."

 

"Odd and engaging . . . a wondrous journey."

 

"Carnivores of Light and Darkness was like a cross between Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Carroll's Alice in Wonderland! Will curiosity kill the Catechist? Read this wonderfully unique book to find out!"

 

Alan Dean Foster is the bestselling author of dozens of science fiction and fantasy novels, including Warner's own Spellsinger series and The Dig, the popular Flinx series from Del Rey, and many more. He has traveled all over the world, from French Polynesia to Africa to New Guinea to the "green hell" area of southeast Peru (photographing giant otters and pan-frying piranha). A former Hollywood resident, he now lives in rural Arizona.

 

Into the Thinking Kingdoms by Alan Dean Foster
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