Transformation: Book One of the Rai-Kirah (Rai-Kirah S.) [Paperback]

Sixteen years of slavery have left Seyonne with little sense of who he is, or who he used to be; Carol Berg's Transformation is the story of how he gradually comes to know himself and becomes a player in the game of empires and kings.

Prince Aleksander is the heir to the Derzhi Empire and is a spoiled brat with no sense of the consequences of his endlessly rash actions. When Seyonne, whom he has whimsically bought as a secretary, realises that the obnoxious youth is in danger from demonic sorcerers, he has no option for self-preservation but to save the prince from them. Then he realises that Aleksander, by this point disgraced, on the run and cursed with shape-changing, has the spark of mystical goodness in him that his own people have been searching for for generations.

Berg has created a world in which there are several sorts of magic that hardly overlap, and whose local bigotries --Seyonne, once a leader of his people, has been dishonoured forever by capture--are credibly unpleasant. This is an evocative, passionate sword-and-sorcery thriller with some vivid characters and set piece scenes; Aleksander is a fascinating creation, with the stuff of greatness in him but on the brink of corruption.--Roz Kaveney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A humdinger of a plot ... vivid characters, a tangible atmosphere of doom (SFX )

A truly remarkable first novel (DREAMWATCH )

This well written and thoroughly original fantasy grabs the reader by the throat on page one and doesn't let go! ... Wonderful (STARBURST )

Her novel is made memorable by its characters ... a superbly entertaining book! 'INTERZONE ('A splendid tour-de-force of fantasy.’ )

'A truly remarkable first novel'

'Her novel is made memorable by its characters ... a superbly entertaining book!'

TRANSFORMATION is a dazzling debut novel from a new star in the fantasy genre.

Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for sixteen years and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power that enables him to step into a human soul and do battle with demons. But Prince Aleksander, heir to the Derzhi empire, has been possessed by the very demons that Seyonne once fought - demons now allied with the savage Khelid nation. Seyonne must recover his power and cast down the Demon Lords before they destroy both the Prince and his empire. Look out for more information on this book and others on the Orbit website at www.orbitbooks.co.uk

Book One of the Rai-Kirah series, TRANSFORMATION is the first novel by a brilliant new fantasy storyteller.

Praise for Carol Berg

'A humdinger of a plot … vivid characters and a tangible atmosphere of doom' SFX

'A truly remarkable first novel' DREAMWATCH

'This well written and thoroughly original fantasy grabs the reader by the throat on page one and doesn't let go! … Wonderful' STARBURST

'Her novel is made memorable by its characters … a superbly entertaining book!' INTERZONE

TRANSFORMATION is Carol Berg's first novel and will be followed by REVELATION.