Fortress of Eagles

C.J. Cherryh - Fortress of Eagles

The wizard Mauryl Gestaurien cast his greatest spell to create Tristen. Armed with a book of spells he can't read and a magic sword bearing the words "Truth" on one side and "Illusion" on the other, Tristen rides into battle for Cefwyn against the Shadow spawned by Hasufin, Mauryl's greatest enemy.

Fortress in the Eye of Time

Despite a few brief, shining moments, Cherryh's (Foreigner) new fantasy novel (her latest SF novel is reviewed below) proves an overwrought concoction. After a moderately interesting foray involving Mauryl, the aging wizard who conjures a "Shaping" named Tristen, the meandering of the nearly empty-headed Shaping takes center stage for far too long. Tristen sets off upon a quest knowing neither who he is nor what he seeks. Fortuitous happenings eventually bring him to Cefwyn, a prince in line to rule the land, and to Cefwyn's wizard, Emuin, himself a former student of Mauryl's. (The villains here are of two types: nebulously motivated men and erotically minded women.)