Prisoner of the Iron Tower
Gavril Nagarian has finally cast out the dragon-daemon. The Drakhaoul is gone – and with it all Gavril’s fearsome powers. But now rid of the daemon’s unnatural lusts and desires, he understands how he has betrayed his birthright and his people – he has put the ice-bound kingdom of Azhkendir at risk and lost.
Emerging from his battle with the Lord Drakhaon scarred but victorious, Eugene of Tielen exacts a terrible revenge upon the vanquished. For crimes against the Rossiyan Empire, renegade warlord Gavril Nagarian is condemned to spend the rest of his days in an asylum for the insane – for the absence of the Drakhaoul is indeed slowly driving him mad. But Eugene is motivated by something altogether more sinister. He longs to possess the Drakhaoul – whatever the cost to his kingdom and his humanity.
With Gavril imprisoned in Ironsea Tower, it is left to three women to keep his memory alive. His mother – having returned to her homeland – sows the seeds of rebellion, while a young scullery maid whose heart is broken by Gavril’s incarceration sends her spirit out to quest the Ways Beyond. And even the Emperor’s new wife is haunted by the memory of the handsome young painter who once captured her soul.
As the five realms of a shattered empire are reunited and the last of Artamon’s ruby tears adorns Eugene’s crown, peace comes to New Rossiya. But peace can be as fragile as a rebel’s whisper. Or a captive’s desire to be free.
October 14th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Great follow-on from Book 1. Now looking forward Book 3.
October 14th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
I hope you’ll enjoy ‘Children of the Serpent Gate,’ Len…and many thanks for your kind words.
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:31 am
just finished Lord of Snow and Shadow. Will read 2 and 3 too. You have captured Norse, Greek and other hero sagas and cultural myths just perfectly. You are Queen of this genre.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
That’s a great compliment, Carl, which I really appreciate. My father used to read Greek myths to me as bedtime stories (in the child-friendly versions by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Robert Graves) and I’m sure that fired my love of comparative mythology.
July 11th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I am a reader from Belgium and I read the first two parts of “tears of Artamon” and I absolutely loved them. I like reading in my native language, so I read the translated version (which caused a lot of problems because I couldn’t find “children of the serpent gate” anywhere untill I bought it on the internet), I am going to read the third book as from tomorrow and I hope that it’s as good as the first two which were verry strong fantasy indead. I also have one question: “Are there any plans to translate other books from your hand in Dutch?”
July 15th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
I’m so pleased that you liked the first two parts of the Artamon trilogy – and that you managed to find a copy of ‘Children of the Serpent Gate’ (in Dutch, I’m assuming?)
Thank you for letting me know; it always makes me happy to learn that readers – like you – are enjoying the books.
Sadly, at the moment, I don’t know of any plans to bring any of the other titles out in Dutch… but if I hear anything, I promise to post it on the site!