Wit'Ch Storm

James Clemens burst onto the fantasy scene with Wit'ch Fire, a remarkable novel as brilliant as it was original. Now in Shadow of the Wit'ch, the explosive sequel, his talents blaze brighter still, illuminating a war-torn world of dark magicks and darker destinies--where a last, desperate hope for the salvation of all that is good lies in a young girl's hands . . . and heart. Elena bears the mark of the wit'ch upon her palm, the crimson stain that testifies to the awesome power of unimaginable potency: wild, seductive, difficult to control. Only a mistress of blood magick can stand against the foul minions and all-corrupting evil of the Dark Lord. But Elena is not yet the mistress of her magick. Protected by an ageless warrior and a band of renegades, she quests for a lost city where prophecies speak of a mystic tome that holds the key to the Dark Lord's defeat. But if the Dark Lord finds her first, Elena will become his most fearsome weapon. Sy-wen is a girl-child of an ocean-dwelling clan, bond-mates to the terrible and majestic sea dragons. But ancient bonds tie Sy-wen to the land she does not know, to a man she has never seen . . . and to a legend asleep in stone deep beneath A'loa Glen--a legend beginning to wake. Now, as Elena and Sy-wen converge on A'loa Glen from land and sea, will the forces they unleash lead to a future of freedom--or an eternity under the Dark Lord's yoke?

James Clemens was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1961. With his three brothers and three sisters, he was raised in the Midwest and rural Canada. He attended the University of Missouri and graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1985. The lure of ocean, sun, and new horizons eventually drew him to the West Coast, where he established his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California. He is also the author of Wit'ch Fire and the upcoming novel Wit'ch War.<br><br><br><i>From the Paperback edition.</i>