In this rich fantasy debut, the medieval-like country of Ile-Rien is threatened by internal turmoil and invasion by the forces of the Fayre. Ile-Rien, ruled in name by weak young King Roland but in fact by the Dowager Queen Ravenna, becomes the staging area for the sorcerer Urbain Grandier\'s vengeance against his native land, where he had been the victim of an inquisition mounted against magic.