{4.5\/5} “Do you ever feel that we are at an end of a chapter of history, Mr. Flattery, and that the world as it existed before was so much more alive with marvels? I almost feel this stranger was left from that period. Like lizards are the tiny remnants of the great beasts that disappeared.”<\/p>\n
Beneath the Vaulted Hills<\/strong> by Sean Russell, published in 1997<\/p>\n Erasmus Flattery once spent years as a boy at the home of the mage Eldrich. While there he was taught, but not magic, only saw the mage a few times, and always wondered why he’d been sent there. His old friend Samual Hayes comes to him for help and tells him of his research into a strange incident. A man walked into a village only speaking a language no one knew. He was later whisked away in a carriage — the rumour is that he was taken away by a mage. People in the village who were there at the time wouldn’t speak a word about it, even years later.<\/p>\n This is the 1st book in The River into Darkness<\/strong> duology. It takes place in the same world as the Moontide and Magic Rise<\/strong> duology but earlier in time.<\/p>\n With a unique setting and characters, you’ll want to find out what happens — which will necessitate reading the sequel as well.<\/p>\n It’s about people trying to solve mysteries, some of whom have more information than others. It’s about a secretive mage and a secret society, and a woman whom every man adores.<\/p>\n