16 May 2009

Quentaris- Quest of the Lost City

The Gimlet Eye

by James Roy

Ford Street Publishing. Junior, Young Adult, Fantasy, Australian. Paperback rrp $16.95

Quentaris is a city that floats in the sky. The Archon, ruler of Quentaris, dies at the beginning of the book. His nephew, Florian claims the throne and changes the ways of Quentaris – not for the better. The only person who seems to be benefiting, apart from Florian, is his confident, Janus.

Most of the magicians in Quentaris have been demoted, locked up or have simply disappeared. Tab Vidler, a young magician in training, and her friends are forced to do menial jobs, lucky that they haven’t also been taken to the dungeons.

When one of Tab’s friends, the great thespian Fontagu Wizroth the Third, gets a special invitation to perform a play for Florian’s birthday, Tab realises it is not in Fontagu’s best interests to accept. Fontagu sees only Florian’s recognition of his outstanding talents. But Tab thinks it is a trick.

Then Tab is kidnapped and sent on a mission. A mission that means death to one of her friends, but a mission she must go on or else it will be her death. How can she help Fontagu now?

The Quentarians need to be saved from Florian and his evil ways. And it seems that Tab and her friends are Quentaris’ only hope. Will Fontagu play a part that may just help bring down the evil rule of Florian? Or will Fontagu perform a play for Florian that ends up costing him his own life?

The Gimlet Eye is the third book in the Quentaris Chronicles. Each book has been written by a different author. Book 1, The Spell of Undoing by Paul Collins and book 2, The Equen Queen by Alyssa Brugman. Having not read the first two books I cannot make comparisons on the story or style of writing but I thoroughly enjoyed The Gimlet Eye and look forward to the next book and backwards to the ones I now need to catch up with.

http://www.jamesroy.com.au/

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