Deborah J. Ross

The long-awaited continuation to the popular science fiction saga is the story of Darkover's ruling class, the comyn, and their struggles to reclaim their realm from the devastating effects of the Terran Federation.

A sequel to The Seven-Petaled Shield finds fierce warrior woman Shannivar joining forces with Zevaron, the heir to the magical Seven-Petaled Shield, to battle monstrous stone-drakes from the far northern regions who serve a legendary, evil embodiment of chaos.

After a widowed queen, the guardian of the magical Seven-Petaled Shield, is separated for her son, her son believes her to be dead and vows chaotic vengeance, but only his mother and a nomadic horsewoman can heal his heart and prevent him from descending into pure evil. First in a new trilogy.

"For Shannivar, warrior of the Azkhantia Steppe, the future is grim. She faces twin threats: the mighty Gelon empire, ruthessly conquering independent nations like her own, and the malevolent entity of Fire and Ice, unleashed from its prison in the Far North. And she must face them alone. After meeting Zevaron, an exiled prince in search of aid from Azkhantia, Shannivar and Zevaron had traveled together and fallen in love. But their journey to the north to investigate dangerous omens failed when Zevaron was enthralled by the monstrous Fire and Ice. Now Zevaron's hatred for Gelon, the empire that destroyed his kingdom and killed his mother, threatens to consume not only him, but all the living world"--