Book Feature: Bill Hiatt, Part 1
Many teenagers struggle to find their identity, but for Taliesin Weaver, that struggle has become life or death--and not just for him. Tal, as he prefers to be called, believes in reincarnation, and with good reason. When he turned twelve, his mind was nearly shattered by a flood of memories, memories of his past lives, hundreds of them. Somehow, Tal managed to pull himself together and even to make good use of the lessons learned and skills developed in those previous lives. He even had the ability to work magic--literally--and there was no denying that was cool. No, his life wasn't perfect, but he was managing.
Now, four years later, his best friend, Stan, has begun to suspect his secret, and Stan isn't the only one. Suddenly, Tal is under attack from a mysterious enemy and under the protection of an equally mysterious friend whose agenda Tal can't quite figure out. An apparition predicts his death. A shapeshifter disguised as Stan attacks him. An old adversary starts acting like a friend. He and some other students get hurled into Annwn (the Otherworld), face Morgan Le Fay, and only just barely get back alive--and that’s just during the first month of school!
By now Tal knows he is not the only one who can work magic and certainly not the only one who can remember the past. He realizes there is something that he is not remembering, something that could save his life or end it, some reason for the attacks on him that, as they escalate, threaten not only him but everyone he loves as well. In an effort to save them, he will have to risk not only his life, but even his soul.
Taliesin Weaver faces more challenging mysteries than he has ever dealt with before. Unfortunately, solving them means the difference between life and death—and not just for Tal.
He must find out why the spirit of murder is stalking the people of Santa Brigida. He must find out why a war god wants him dead. To keep a powerful enemy from going free, he must find and retrieve an ancient artifact from a realm he did not believe existed, a realm which he cannot enter, and which none of the inhabitants can leave. Along the way he must also try to figure out if one of his friends is really Alexander the Great reincarnated, how someone could be spontaneously resurrected, and whether a madman is really as mad as he seems.
As if these mysteries were not enough, Tal must also confront opponents stronger than ever, armies of them…and this time they aren’t going to take prisoners. Not only that, but another one of Tal’s friends will betray him, and in a way that will make the earlier betrayal seem like an act of kindness.
Betrayed by a trusted ally and cut off from any magical assistance, Taliesin Weaver’s friends face their greatest challenge yet: can they defeat evil forces of unimaginable power without Tal to lead them? Some of them have been captured already. Others have been magically warped into enemies. The only hope of those who remain may be to join forces with Dark Me, Tal’s evil alter ego. Considering his track record, that’s not much of a choice—but if they don’t join him, they may be dooming Olympus, Annwn, and even Earth.
Nor is that their only dilemma. Tal’s friends find him—but so altered he can’t help them. In fact, he desperately needs their help. However, finding a way to save him may mean losing the time they need to save everyone else. They might be able to save both Tal and the world, but only if they trust a stranger with powerful magic—and a hidden agenda.
In a universe in which nothing is what it seems, will making a deal with the shadow assassins save Tal’s friends or damn them?
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