Romenel: Voyage into Twilight

Anchorage #2

by Sandra C. Stixrude

Commander Romenel Devar fears nothing--except sleep. Something creeps out of his nightmares and tries to drain the life from him. His search for help will lead him to strange lands, voices from a distant past, and answers he doesn't want.




Something is hunting mercenary commander Romenel Devar, a monster disguised as friends and loved ones, so he can't even describe it. He knows it's slowly killing him, though, and he desperately needs help.



Marya and Roke have retired to their house on the steppes, their lives finally peaceful and uneventful. When Romenel collapses on their front doorstep, Marya reminds her husband that no one retires from being a hero.



Their journey takes them to the other side of the world where hordes of monsters lurk and the rules of society are turned on their heads. Romenel needs to understand both this strange new world and the hints from a distant, shared past to unravel the means to stop the monsters' deadly hunts.

Genres: Fantasy

532 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Perhaps 5'3" on a good day, with her shoes on, Sandra has always found the world an amazing (and often large) place. While she has lived all her life in northern Delaware, she travels a good deal and is hard pressed to find a place she truly did not care for.

She has one son, one husband, and two cats, graduated from the local university, worked at various and sundry jobs, took some time off to write, realized she still needed her day job...and still writes.

(Sandra's alter ego writes the steamy stuff under Angel Martinez)

Reviews

[Michelle]

Romenel picks up not long after where we left off in Mayra. He is trying to find her and Roke because he believes they are the only people who can help him.

Something is chasing after him, showing up in different forms and tricking him when he's tired and asleep. And he believes it is slowly killing him. He has kept this from the small company of men (Mardis, Tren, Joris and Bedaren) who are part of his command and has joined him for his journey, as he is not sure whether the creature is real or if he's losing his mind.

Once he is able to locate Mayra, he finds her married to Roke (to his slight dismay), had a daughter and all three boys still with them. Harrel, Feren and Liam are right where we left them developmentally. Harrel is still in his regressed state, Feren looks after him with the help of Roya and Liam has learned the arts of healing from Mayra.

Roya is a little spitfire - her father's daughter. Your hearts hurts for Harrel and you're proud of how Feren looks after him. In addition, Liam has grown into a fine young man, and more importantly, a good healer.

Mayra and Roke take Romenel and his company of men in, ready to help. They find the creature is already calculating, ready to attack. This point where Romenel and his friends have to confront the creature is the platform for the rest of the book and its sequel.

Sandra continues to build her mythopeia in this world and more puzzle pieces come into view as Romenel and his party go in search of the creatures origins. In addition to the world development, we get to see growth in some of our favorite characters, and once again, we are given a taste of what's to come.

This is a well written book, with a world and history that is developed and thorough. She also does a good job of satisfying curiosity while baiting us for more.

I look forward to the next book in the series.