If the witches drain too much life-force, their donors will die. Yes, the Winnowers hunt down and enslave fell-witches. Yes, the Winnowry is run by fanatics and (possibly) led by an eldritch abomination. Not true in this case: the Eborans do because they all come from the same big city, but the humans demonstrate the same range of cultures one would expect in a region as large as the one that features in the novel. Many secondary fantasy worlds have one culture per race. You won’t get it all in the first book of the trilogy. Nota bene: there’s still more plot to come. Bad news: they can’t stop the Ninth Jure’lia invasion. Good news: the trio are on the verge of obtaining vital information about the Jure’lia. She is forced to take refuge with Vintage and Tormalin, who are powerful enough to protect her from the Winnowry. The Winnowry didn’t get to be the fantasy equivalent of the Magdalene Laundries by letting their fell-witches escape.
Convinced her dreams are prophetic, she seizes on an opportunity to escape and flees the Winnowry. Noon has been haunted by dreams of the Winnowry invaded by Jure’lia. She’s a valuable resource, too useful to free. Or it could if she weren’t held prisoner in the Winnowry. Hotter than any mundane flame, Noon’s fire can incinerate spirits.
She can cast winnow-fire at will, provided she has a source of magical energy (aka other people’s life-force ) handy. It can hew spectral flesh, as Tormalin demonstrates on several occasions.Įnter another character, Fell-Noon. It’s lucky that Tormalin took with him the family’s winnow-fire-forged sword Ninth Rain. Nevertheless, they are mortal and incapable of dealing directly with the parasite spirits. Monstrous parasite spirits lurk near the wrecks, disintegrating any living being they touch.Įborans aren’t in any sense human, having quite a lot tree-god about them. Their interiors could tell the natives something as to the nature of the invaders, but investigating the interiors is dangerous. They arrive in great flying vessels the natives call Behemoths. The Jure’lia come from nowhere in the known world. Vintage’s archaeology is surprisingly combat-intensive. Vintage is determined to discover the true nature of the invaders and possibly a way to reverse the corruption each invasion leaves in its wake. Tormalin the Oathless abandons the remnant of once-great Ebora for a life of adventure and debauchery abroad, in the service of Lady Vincenza “Vintage” de Grazon. Since then, the Eborans have suffered a long, inexorable decline. In the aftermath of the eighth invasion, however, Ygseril died. Eight times they fought the Jure’lia, invading horrors from beyond the sky. Once the Eborans were rulers and guardians of their world they were sustained and armed by their tree-god Ygseril. 2018’s The Ninth Rain is the first volume in Jen Williams’ Winnowing Flame trilogy.
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