Cherry Wilder's The Rulers of Hylor series established a detailed and intricate fantasy world. Katya Riemann completed and polished this last Hylor novel, a tale of warring kingdoms, treacherous advisers and generational conflicts, set in a world of rich physical beauty, vibrant life and a realism leavened with occasional and startling magic.
Gael Maddoc, the child of struggling peasants, leaps at the chance when she is offered training as a kedran, a mounted soldier. She wins glory bringing her charges home safe across a huge desert, seeking aid from the Shee. But the Shee--the dwindling Fair Folk--then recruit her for their own purposes. Her nascent magical talents and her resourcefulness show her to be the Wanderer, a legendary figure for whom they've been waiting.