Introduction: In the third volume of this astonishing Nebula Award-nominated fantasy series, the many plot strands created in the first two novels become more tightly interwoven--as the time of the cataclysm nears when people and places long sundered by magic will once again reside in the same time and universe..."The best thus far...I can now honestly say I am rabid for the next book."--B&N Explorations Praise for the Crown of Stars series: "Well-thought-out, well-structured, and well-crafted... There's a bone-deep reality to the world." --Fantasy & Science Fiction...