ACE Fantasy (Paperback), ISBN: 0-441-00871-2
Set some twenty years following the conclusion of Scion's Lady (the sequel to Lady in Gil), Lady Pain features Tigrallef's son Vero as the narrator. Although Lady Pain deals with substantially the same characters as before, the shift in narrators changes the story's focus, robbing the book of the interior conflict that made the earlier books in the series so compelling. Meanwhile, despite new and different action, the plot remains the same -- finding a way to relieve Tig of the Lady (or the Old Sow as he calls the presence that resides within him).

The Lady (properly called "It") named itself Harashil. Vero and the rest of the crew call it the Pain. A very old being, Harashil carried many names over the years. Five thousand years before, people called it the Great-of-Fangs and after that the Burning Child, White Dragon, Master of Hands, and a few others before it became lodged in a statue called the Lady of Gil. In a time of travail, Tig destroyed the statue, and the being became his body mate.

Tig keeps it penned through pure stubbornness, because if Harashil manages to break free it will lay waste to Tig's world. Tig and his family travel the seas, looking for the clues that will lead them to the weapon that will help Tig win his battle. The presence keeps him eternally young -- making him look like Vero's younger brother -- but Tig walks a narrow path, one that is perilously close to insanity.

Their search leads them back to Gil, Tig's old enemies and a new prophecy (one that sets Tig up as the savior to come). Time runs fast and either Tig or the Pain will win -- and soon -- unless the weapon can be found.

If you read the first two books, this one ties everything together. If not, I suggest you do so, because Vero makes numerous references to earlier events that otherwise may leave you baffled.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White's latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I've Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.

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