Just when I thought 2009 had said all it was going to say I see the announcement over at Black Gate that the fourth book in the Imaro saga — that’s right, the never-before-read-or-seen-by-human-eyes fourth book — has just been released from Sword & Soul. With less than twelve hours left in the year, this might actually be the biggest news of 2009 . . .
If you don’t understand why this is such a big deal, then you haven’t read my reviews of the previous Imaro books: Imaro and Imaro II: The Quest for Cush, and Imaro III: The Trail of Bohu (and let’s not forget one of the most finely realized female warriors in fantasy fiction, Dossouye). Simply put, this series is every bit as good as the very best the genre of Heroic Fantasy and Sword & Sorcery has to offer, and it’s been badly handled by publishers at every turn.
Now Imaro: The Naama War is out — a book that has never before seen print. Reading through the first three, I got the sense that Charles Saunders was just getting started — after all he was leading up to a continent-wide war for his land of Nyumbani:
Warfare on a cataclysmic scale is convulsing the continent of Nyumbani from north to south. Soldiers fall. Cities burn. Blood reddens the sea. Sorcery sears the land. Deities gather in opposite dimensions, poised to unleash unimaginable cosmic power on a land already battered by the conflict between the Cushites of the north and the Naamans of the south.
In the midst of this massive struggle, Imaro, warrior of the Ilyassai, wages a personal war against his nemesis, the sorcerer Bohu of Naama. This individual vendetta mirrors the larger clash between the forces of good and evil – a confrontation that threatens to tear Nyumbani apart.
The destiny for which Imaro has been honed like a living weapon now lies directly before him. Imaro vs. Bohu. Cush vs. Naama. War. Magic. Blood. Fire. The losers in this wide-ranging battle for the fate of a continent face oblivion. But the winners will not emerge unscathed.
If you’re a fan of fantasy and you haven’t read Saunders . . . what on earth are you waiting for?
Get Imaro: The Naama War right here (as well as The Trail of Bohu and Dossouye). You can bet I’ll be reviewing it very soon.
