Restoration (book 2 of The Rai-Kirah) by Carol Berg
01/01/2003 . Source: Jacqueline Kirk 
pub: Orbit/Time Warner. 471 page enlarged paperback. Price: £10.99 (UK). ISBN: 1-84149-111-X. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. Check out website: www.orbitbooks.co.uk
Seyonne, Warden of Souls, has returned to his homeland after saving Prince Aleksander, his old master, from the demon that tried to possess him. He lives almost as an exile with his own people who think he is no longer pure after his years of slavery.
He is the only Warden left and it is up to him to save the souls possessed by demons. After a particularly long and gruelling session, he returns to his wife, only to find she has given birth to their child but the baby is nowhere to be found. The baby was born demon-possessed and such babies are left out in the forest to die.
Only later does Seyonne find out his son was taken to a missionary in secret but not before it has caused an irreparable damage to his marriage.
The next soul he enters he meets a very different demon to the ones he usually battles which then leads him to question the ways of his people. But because he let a demon live he is put on trial and banished from his Warden duties. Sickened by their narrow-minded ways he leaves his home to try and find out more about the unusual demon he encountered.
His journey leads him to the outlaw Blaise who was born demon-possessed and can change into a falcon. Blaise knows where Seyonne's son is but refuses to tell him saying the baby is safer away from his own people who would have killed him.
Seyonne begins to realise that his people have been wrong about the demon-possessed babies who all seem to be able to transform into animals but the down side is they go mad if they deny the change and can remain as animals permanently.
In an effort to help Blaise and subsequently his son, Seyonne seeks out the one man who would know about the strange demon. Unfortunately this man is the one who devised the ritual that stripped away Seyonne's magic to leave him a slave. He finds him in an old Ezzarian temple where there is an old mosaic on the floor that tells of a history not known in any Ezzarian book.
The Ezzarians and demons (called Rai-Kirah) were once one being but an ancient evil that had been imprisoned meant they had to leave their old land, which was a paradise. When they cast the spell to close off the means of return to this paradise they sundered the people and became two entities - the Rai-Kirah who constantly strive to return and the Ezzarians who battle against the Rai-Kirah.
To find out the truth, Seyonne allows himself to be captured by the demons that know of him and relish in their brutal torture of him. Finally he is saved by another demon that has more power than his tormentors. Weeks past and he remains prisoner there, not being able to remember why he had come but finally he breaks the spell that had been cast on him and starts to realise how wrong his people have been all this time.
He agrees to help the demons return to their land but in order to do so he must allow one of them to possess him. Reluctant at first as it goes against everything Seyonne has stood for. He finally agrees but is rather dismayed when the most powerful demon of all possesses him.
He gets to the right place and opens the portal to allow the demons through but is captured by his people and condemned to death. Tied to the ground and left to bleed to death he is rescued by Blaise and Aleksander much to the outrage of the Ezzarians.
This book is just as good as the first with many original twists. Berg writes in the first person, which I don't usually like, but Seyonne is such a great character that she keeps you reading.
To be quite honest Seyonne should be a saint! He's captured and spends about twenty years as a slave. He then returns home only to find that his own people mistrust him because he is no longer pure.
His wife doesn't even tell him she sent their son away instead of killing him as custom decreed. Seyonne spends weeks being tortured by demons only to become possessed by one and then to top it all when his people catch him they condemn him to death! The man is trying to save his people and all they can do is try and kill him! Talk about ungrateful!
Prince Aleksander is not in this second part very much which is a shame because he is another good character. Blaise is charismatic and Fiona, Seyonne's watchdog, is very irritating making your palm itch to slap her! Seyonne seems to be a very tortured character, always trying to do the right thing but alienating himself more and more from the people he loves.
It will be interesting to find out if everything turns out okay for him in the third part!
Jackie Kirk |
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