The selka are a race of sea people egineered by the wizards to fight in wars. It is on board this ship they come under attack for stealing pearls that belong to the selka. Bannon works on the wave walker, his captains ship. They are charged with finding the city of Kol Adair, which is at the other end of the DHaran Empire.Įnroute to Kol Adair, Nicci rescues a young man who is about to be killed by the name of Bannon. Braving some hazardous swamps to ge there, they find out they have another mission and that is to save the world and make Nathan whole. It genuinely feels as if Goodkind has rediscovered his love for the genre with Death's Mistress, and that bodes well for future volumes in the series.Ĭoming off the heels of the last adventure with Emperor Saluchan and putting the Omen Machine back to the under world and ending all prophecy for good, Nicci and Nathan are summoned to the layer of Red the witch woman. Bannon is perhaps the greatest surprise in the book, a nuisance side character who develops alongside Nicci and Nathan, and who ultimately becomes a genuinely heroic character about whom we'd be happy to read more. As for Nathan, I generally loathe it when characters are stripped of their powers, but here it actually frees him to be something more than just the dangerous mouth of prophecy. Nicci has always been cold, harsh, and somewhat one-dimensional, but here she has a chance to breathe and grow emotionally. Along the way, we get to visit new lands, meet new characters, and enjoy some fantastic battles that mix a sense of wonder with genuine danger.Īt the same time, we get some real character development - both for characters old (Nicci and Nathan) and new (Bannon and Thistle). There is one last prophecy to give the quest purpose, but it's more of a roadmap than a defining aspect of the story.
Instead, it's a rather simple tale, with Nicci sent off to spread the word Richard's triumph over Emperor Jagang. Like I said, this is very much a traditional quest novel, with no overarching conflict or political upheaval against which we're to struggle.
Nicci and Nathan are allowed to carry the story here, taking us far beyond the known borders of the original books, and deep into lands never before mentioned. It's hardly anything new - in fact, it feels very much like a traditional 'quest' fantasy - but it breathes fresh life and real excitement into the world that Goodkind has created. Let me just say, right now, that Death's Mistress was a book I thoroughly enjoyed, from the first page to the last.
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