Our heroine from ‘Geomancer’ returns
in Part 2 of ‘The Well Of Echoes’ quartet. There's a clue
then that very little will be resolved with two more books
to follow.
No matter, Tiaan, Nish, Irisis and Ullii all
have their parts to play in the history of Santhenar.
Following a foolish belief in the man of her
dreams, Tiaan has allowed an army of conquest access to Santhenar.
Humanity is already fighting a losing battle against the powerful
Lyrinx and another player makes the odds against peace breaking
out any time soon fairly unlikely.
Tiaan, having let the Aachim through the gate,
is branded a traitor and Nish is determined to bring her to
justice. Tiaan manages to get away in a construct left by
the Aachim. Better still, she is able to make it fly. A skill
the Aachim have lost which evens up the odds between the opposing
forces.
She determines to deliver the construct to her
own side despite fears for her personal safety. The amplimet
she has been using since its discovery in the mine guides
her instead to Booreah Ngurgle and its strange inhabitant
Gilhaelith, who also has more than a passing interest in the
construct and the amplimet.
Forced onto a different path, Nish starts to
develop into a character that the reader can relate to and
start to admire. Irisis also becomes much more admirable and
works to the good of Santhenar. Even Ullii comes out of her
extreme self-seclusion as she develops a fierce loyalty to
Nish. Behind them all is the power of Jal-Nish, father of
Nish, and he has a personal hatred of all the players, including
his son.
Ian Irvine is constructing a team of people
who will work together by the final instalment and solve all
the problems. They seem to be moving closer and the narrative
thread is becoming more insistent. In the lattice that only
Ullii can see, they all form knots. Each one is moving through
challenges that continue to make them better humans. Together,
they will have the knowledge that will unlock the final conflicts.
Families are disintegrating and friends and
lovers form new allegiances. It is about difference and similarity,
intolerance, education and eliminating the differences that
make us enemies. It also looks like the lyrinx will have something
to share with us in the next instalment.
Irvine writes grippingly and the narrative moves
at a good pace although occasionally I became lost in the
lattice myself especially when Tiaan is building the construct
and when she is learning about geomancing. As the narrative
switches between the main cast with pleasing regularity it
builds up to a suitable cliff-hanging finish that leads nicely
up to the next instalment.
Sue Davies
