The Shield of Weeping Ghosts by James P. Davis

Deep in the heart of Rashemen lies the only remaining token of the forgotten Kingdom of shandaular: the Shield. A thousand years ago, the city and the Kingdom it was a part of was brought down by demonic forces, and presaged by a group of seven children shackled together who brought fire and destruction in their wake.

Now, the Vremyonni Bastun has been accused of the murder of his mentor. Instead of death, he chose the verdict of exile from Rashemen. The Witches of Rashemen, woman all, allow no men into their ranks, so men who can cast spells have two choices: Exile or becoming a cloistered Vremyonni, who live in isolated fastnesses and study magic and spells endlessly.

But Bastun's sentence can only be passed at the Shield, and he's being escorted there by a Fang of Rashemi Berserkers and an old friend of his, a Rashemi Witch named Thaena, and her guardian, Duras, also an old friend of Bastun's. Once, all three had grown up in the same village together, and been close friends, but when Bastun's young sister had spied on a sacred ritual and gotten caught, she was put to death. There had been another with her, and it was suspected that Bastun had also been with her, but there was no proof, so he escaped death.

Bastun isn't unhappy to be going to the Shield, for that's what he and his mentor were researching before his mentor was killed. But once in the city, he discovers that the Nar have invaded the city and slain the Witch stationed there along with her berserker defenders. They seek to re-awaken the dead of the Shield for some purpose that none can tell. And this makes Bastun somewhat happy, as he wishes to search the Shield for an old magical weapon said to be hidden within, known as the Breath.

But the fact that he chose exile from Rashemen as his punishment has made all the Berserkers believe him to be a traitor, and none of them trusts him any more. So when he goes missing inside the shield, they believe that the Nar and Bastun are allies, and that he is working with the Nar to bring down the whole of Rashemen. Can Bastun change their minds, and more to the point, does he want to? And what of Anilya, a former Witch who disagrees with the council that runs Rashemen, does she have something to do with the Nar being at the Shield and the attack on the people stationed there?

But the shield will reveal a number of things that Bastun never knew, clear his name, and provide him a reason to stay in Rashemen forever. The question is, can he last long enough to see the future, or will the treachery and Ghosts of the Shield be his end?

Rashemen is a very underutilized area in the Forgotten Realms, and it was nice to see a book set there. The last character that we saw from Rashemen was Fyodor, companion to Liriel Baenrae of the Drow, a character who had been kicked out of his homeland for his uncontrollable berserker rages. Here, we get to see not only Bastun the Vremyonni, but two witches of Rashemen and a fang-leader of Rashemen, characters who are very different from each other, but also from characters we have seen in other Forgotten Realms books.

Lest I forget, the Shield of Weeping Ghosts should count as a character in its own right, one who might end up killing all the characters in the book. In the end, to be laid to rest, the ghosts must accept their fates and realize that their long-ago tasks have been fulfilled. And the book keeps you on tenterhooks with the fate and the loyalties of the main characters. Will Bastun end up betraying his homeland to gain the Breath, Will he ally with Anilya, who claims to love and want to defend Rashemen, just merely in a different way than the witches? Will Thaena ally with Anilya or defect from the witches to join her sect, the Durthans? And will Duras stand by while Thaena appears to join Anilya in her beliefs?

The book itself is strange in appearance, as the art for the Shield appears to be shown upside down, which lends the book a strange and disquieting look. This may have something to do with the whole "life turned upside down" opening to the book, or it may have just been a strange art choice.

In any event, I found the book to be an interesting read- somewhat chaotic and difficult to understand in places, but the ideas stay with you long after the occasionally confusing writing have passed by the wayside. And I loved the ending of the book, and how Bastun's choice played out. Well done, Mister Davis! Recommended.