This book got me really mad when I finished it.
Why?
Because it is one of two, Kingmaker, kingbreaker books. Usually when you read a series, there is some resolution at the end of the book. OK, you know there are others to follow, but this one, like I say, got me mad. The book ends, literally, on a cliff edge....a true cliff-hanger.
Saying all that though, I thouroughly enjoyed the book, and was just annoyed that I don't yet have the next one. (My personal theory is, that maybe Karen Miller wrote the two as one story, and was told by her publisher that they wouldn't print a 1000+ page book, as Innocent Mage had over 600 pages. So they just split the book.)
The story is about Asher, a fisherman's son in the country of Lur, who decides to go to the capital to make his fortune, then retrun home and keep his Dad in luxury. He gives himself a year to achieve this, and quite luckily lands a job working for the Doranen prince, Gar. In the kingdom of Lur there are two races, the Doranen, blond, and gifted with magic, and Olken, darker and have no magic, so the Doranen are the ruling class. All is not how it appears though, and there are Olken who can work magic, but their's is a secret magic, in tune with the earth, whilst Doranen magic is flashy, showy magic controlling weather, repairing houses and such. Gar however has been born with no magical abilities, but has a good heart, and works well in his father's name.
The kingdom of Lur is proected magically by Barl's wall.Barl, being the founding magician, who is considered a god, she is said to have built the wall to protect her peoples from the wildness beyond the wall.
As the plot unfolds we learn more about the politics of the palace, and the hidden magic of the Olken. It turns out that the appearance of Asher in the capital had been predicted, and he has a destiny to fulfil.
I will be toddling off to the bookshop for Awakened Mage, soon.
I must admit whilst I was reading this book, I did wonder if Lur could be either Australia, or South Africa, with the white/blond assuming power over the darker/original residents who are closer to nature. Just a thought.
http://www.karenmiller.net/index.cfm?page=5 If you read that, it should be one story, not two, it obviously got too big.