Where the Moon Has Been: ‘Where the Moon Has Been’ is living in your imagination forever!
I received an advanced review copy of this book…and I’m thrilled I did!Before I started to write this review, I reread the Prologue, and in an instant I was there again, in the mythical land of Miraven, all my senses engaged, seeing, hearing, tasting and feeling that world. The exquisite writing is stealthy – it is woven so tightly that the warp and weft of it seemingly disappear beneath the pictures they are carrying. But make no mistake: the language shimmers and shines as it lures you deeper and deeper into the characters and relationships, the story, the lore, the action, the magic. The Prologue foreshadows the embrace of the story to come.The action and world-building start immediately and vividly. We meet our heroine Tekoah, a young villager who just wants to be left in peace, but whose destiny is as a healer, and also, perhaps, as the thumb on the apocalyptic scales balancing good and evil, dark and white magic. And we watch with her as she witnesses for the first time the hypnotic and brutal powers of Braith, the third, youngest, and most enigmatic Sorcerer to hold power over the land. His love of Tekoah means that he must make a potentially fatal choice as The Mantling, which will end the Age of Sorcerers, hurtles toward them. This love puts him in direct conflict with the Sorcerer Zant, whose every action is aimed at stopping The Mantling, and achieving eternal power.The story is rich with lore – shapeshifting sorcerers, the Anniste healers, rifts in space-time – as well as intrigue and battle. Characters are multidimensional and engaging – sometimes heroic and endearing , sometimes misguided and deeply flawed.There is a world here – a world I found myself caring about, and hoping to enter again. I just read that Lepore is writing a sequel, Mirror of the Sea. Can’t wait!