Talaza Bane is a Quall Assassin, devoted to his clan’s survival. No race endures on planet Tora without trial. Tora is kept off the grid to keep its unworldly dark secrets hidden. Talaza has seen the metal fire birds land like thunder before, but last time was different. To them he is an instrument. Sometimes instruments rebel. Talaza Bane is a Quall assassin. He lives and breathes the clan’s code. All races known to him have one name for his world, Tora. It means - to engage. No race survives on Tora without trial or loss, not even the invincible Scarzen warriors south of his mountain. On the next dawn of his world, all Talaza has known to be true will be tested. Not his stealth nor skill with blade and poison will help his choice and consequences of his actions will reach farther than the wisest of his clan could ever conceive.
Worlds outside Tora and its star system were made beyond reach for good reason long ago. Agents from both spirit-sider and mortal worlds explore Toran forests and the imposing hinterlands only to leave without engagement. Talaza has seen them arrive in their metal birds that sound like thunder.
The last Sky Lord’s visit was different. They did something. Hex, the Dark Star now stirs. He has lived on Tora in their dreams and spoken on the wind long before Quall lived on Black Mountain. Hex is not of Talaza’s world. The mystics always taught that Hex came from the sky.
Book review by Michael Radon.
"'For what you have done to my Analuke, I allow you to see my true face. Consider this a parting gift.'"
On the planet Tora, a conflict of warring clans is threatening to bubble up to the surface and bring the entire continent of Ludd into battle. Talaza and his wife Analuke belong to the Quall, a four-armed race of assassins that live in the mountains, stick to the shadows, and carry out their contracts with precision and without mercy. When the couple receives orders to ambush a supposed peace talk between the warrior clan of Scarzen and the duplicitous Flaxon, they have their reservations but are honor-bound to fulfill the request. Before he can finish scouting, Talaza is intercepted by the Star Lord and his canine companion and informed that he must abandon his duty in order to protect the whole land from a terrible tragedy. Worrying about his wife’s decisions and skeptical of his abductor’s true purpose, Talaza can only watch and hope that things resolve peacefully.
The Citadel 7 Superverse series continues in this fifth novella, highlighting the code and behavior of the reclusive and mysterious Quall. Those that have been following the story will be familiar with the world and some of the more prominent characters already, but because of the nature of this series, it’s not at all prohibitive for newer readers to start here and work their way through the other books at their own whim. Despite the shorter form of a novella, the author does a splendid job of building out the world of Tora and its differing races, cultures, and natural features. Blending the genres of science fiction and fantasy, this story is an imaginative, entertaining read and worthy of consideration for any reader who likes to be thrust into an unfamiliar situation, working out the details as they go along.
