The time for the prophecies to come true is at hand, and they all seem to center around around Tamir. This is the third book in the series, and until just recently, Tamir had been known as Tobin, the young nobleman born of a mad mother and sister to the king nad her country lord. It turns out that Tobin was actually a girl, and with the use of magic, her father and his compatriots used the death of her twin brother to force her into the form of a boy. She was raised that way.

You are probably asking yourself why they would need to do that. Well, their country of Skala is fated to be safe as long as a queen of the line of Gheralaine holds the throne. Tobin/Tamir's uncle usurped the throne, bringing dark times to Skala. If he knew that there was a rightful female heir alive, he would hunt her down.

In the conclusion of the last book, Tamir had confronted her uncle, bringing Skala into civil war. He died in the fight, but his son Korin saw it as an opportunity to live up to his title of Prince. Korin and Tamir were raised as friends as well as cousins, making the fight between them even more difficult for the young princess.

It is up to Tamir not only to survive, but also to bring an end to the fighting so her country can be reunited once again in prosperity. The question is whether she can do it while sorting with the horrors of her own past and the things she might have to do in order to achieve it.

She is joined by her former squire, and love, Ki as well as a group of Champions sworn to protect her. There is a band of renegade wizards that might just hold the future of magic in their hands and a mysterious male witch along to help. As the quote on the cover of the book says, "It's one thing to accept one's destiny. It's quite another to live it."

This is actually a prequel trilogy that goes alone with Flewelling's Nightrunner series. One of the things that draws me to the series is that it tends to have GLBTQQ themes running through it's stories. The first trilogy centers around a pair of gay/bisexual lovers that may just be the only thing to keep Skala safe from its invading neighbors, who have a tendency to use necromancy when they want to get the job done. This series centers around what could be a male-to-female transexual as well as a number of same sex relationships filling in the background. For the most part, the relationships are just accepted as being the norm.

Throw int the fact that the stories are full of fun and are great examples of epic fantasy, it is a perfect read for me. Maybe it would be a good read for you as well!