ESCAPE TIME!  with KC Heath

MOREVI: THE CHRONICLES OF RAFE AND ASKANA
Lisa Lee & Tee Morris
Dragon Moon Press 2002
Trade PB 361 pages (with map)
ISBN # 1-896944-07-8

 

This is complex court intrigue with swashbuckling action: a genuine page turner set partially in King Henry VIII's England but mostly across a magical barrier called The Rift.  Morevi is an enchanted land where Askana "The Black Widow" (a very lethal lady) is queen.  Rafe, "The Sea Wolf" (the most notorious of pirates) is a privateer captain who cunningly navigates The Rift in escaping three Spanish ships only to find himself and his crew in more danger on the other side.

Morevi is land-locked, her neighbors to the sea being Arathelle--where the Elves live--and Eyrie, Morevi's enemy.  Merchants from Eyrie engage Captain Rafe Rafton in the pillaging of Morevi's junks for shared profit.  But Rafe refuses to take arms against Morevi when Eyrie moves to conqueror that rich land to the east ruled by women.  Morevi's queen contracts this outlaw privateer because of her desperate need for assistance in finding out who in her court is allied with the enemy.

These two characters immediately repel each other: both are arrogant, neither bowing easily to the other's demands.  This conflict becomes hilarious at points where Rafe genuinely tries to assist Her Highness only to be slapped in the face for his brashness.  But they fight well together against the many foes who come against them.  Rafe and Askana make an unbeatable team, unbeatable that is by all except their true enemy, a dangerous mage with dark secrets.

This story travels through all four realms (Morevi, Eyrie, England, and Arathelle) and the high seas between.  Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana is sword and sorcery at its best, with a flavor of the orient, and piracy too.  It is full of good humor and well written action.  The characterization is wonderful, the plotting thick....  Turn the pages into Morevi and lose yourself in an enchanted world.

Highly recommended for fantasy and action fans, especially those who appreciate a good battle between the sexes.