City of Jade by Dennis McKiernan

The Elven Captain Aravan has lived through Five Ages on Mithgar, mostly in despair that his love, the Mage Maiden Aylis, was riven from him and presumed dead. Now, however, they have reunited, and will be returning to Aravan's first love, the sea, aboard the Elven ship Eroean. First, however, he and the Impossible Child, Bair, must join the Elves and the Magefolk for an attack on a fortress holding the Foul Folk and a contingent of Dark Mages who wrest their "fire" or magic, from death and suffering. And even though the Magefolk have brought nine sevens of their folk with them to clear out the tower, it may not be enough to stand against the twelve dark mages and their leader, Nunde the Necromancer.

In the end, all the Dark Mages but Nunde are slain, and the Necromancer must flee across the Plains to Mithgar, where he plots cold revenge against the one he feels is responsible for his loss, Aravan. Indeed, revenge on the Elf alone is not enough, and he wants to take revenge on everything and everyone that Aravan loves, including Aylis the Seer.

As Aravan and Aylis travel, recruiting a troop of dwarves for the ship, along with a fox-rider named Aylissa, the daughter of two Fox-Riders that once traveled with Aylis and Aravan, the Dark Mage Nunde plots and schemes to bring them down before finally coming up with what he thinks is the perfect plan. He puts into their path the evidence of a city of Jade that actually exists somewhere on Mithgar. Unknown to them, it is a city that entraps a horrible creature known as a wraith. If Nunde can entice Aravan, Aylis and the other members of the crew to the city and entrap them there amidst the Foul Folk and the Wraith that makes it a home, he can slay Aravan, Aylis, and the rest of the crew, making his vengeance complete.

But Aravan's rescue of two Buccan with a talent for climbing and escape artistry might prove the only difference between life and death as the Eroean goes all unknowing to the City of Jade that is a trap for all of them. Can Aravan and Aylis triumph against the wiles of the Necromancer and win the ship and its crew free of the trap, or will Nunde triumph? Or will he fall victim to his own trap, and join the crew and its master in the death he hoped to draw them into?

The actual voyage of the Eroean takes up very little of the story, as more is done with setting it up, from the attack on the fortress of the Dark Mages to the marriage of Aravan and Aylis amongst the Elves and the gathering of the crew for the voyage, that the actual sailing of the Eroean takes up only the second half of the book. Nevertheless, the first part of the book doesn't make you impatient to read the second half of the book.

Since the characters of Aravan and Aylis are effectively immortal (or so it seems, I haven't read much of Mithgar and really can't tell if this is so), the book doesn't have the franticness that such a voyage among two merely human-lived characters might feel. Since almost none of the crew are human, the passage of five years on the Eroean in trading before they find the clue leading to the city of Jade pass with little remark, as it might in a single trading voyage amongst humans. This creates a slow, unhurried feel that even the revelation of the city being a trap set by Nunde can't bring a real sense of urgency to.

Only during the battle in the city does one feel a sense of urgency and time passing, but that occurs near the end of the book, and acts more as close to the story than anything else.

As for the story itself, it seems that it will continue into another volume involving the same characters. Nunde's scheme is foiled, but Nunde is still alive, even if his apprentice is dead along with a great quantity of the Foul Folk. Though Aravan and Aylis are still alive, along with most of their crew, I cannot see either character allowing Nunde to escape punishment and judgement for the deaths among the crew of the Eroean.

Yes, I deeply enjoyed the story, but I feel no great urge to read the next volume in the series right away. Although I enjoy Dennis McKiernan's writing and storytelling, I never feel compelled, after reading one of his books, to seek out and read more of his writing. I'm not even sure why really, as I do enjoy those books of his I read. In any case, this is more of the same. I'll tell those who take out this book from the library that I read and enjoyed it, but not point it out to them as a book they must read right now.