In the finale of The Summon Stone, Ian Irvine’s first book in the latest chapter of his ‘Three Worlds Cycle’ series, most of the marauding hordes of the Merdrun are stuck on one side of the gate, their advance scouts and warlords on the other. Their planned invasion of Santhenar is temporarily halted, and their magiz, a powerful sorcerer who draws energy by consuming the life force of her captive victims, is trying to connect with the summon stone in order to open the portal again.

Now in The Fatal Gate, the next book in the series, Sulien is lost among the Whelm. They were servants to Yggur but his fall from the Great Council and eventual death has left them masterless. Sulien has been taken captive and held against her will. Her mother, Karan, moves through time and space to find her, but Sulien is feeling less confident as time passes that she will get to rescued in time. A powerful, magic-sensitive child, Sulien can sense what is coming and the lengths that evil will go to in order to triumph.

Llian, father of Sulien and Great Tale teller, is pushed through a portal in a search for the summon stone. His journeys result in finding a path to redemption and victory, but the answers lie in the hands of an untested alchemist girl, little more than a trainee, and her ability to unlock the mystery of one of the most elusive and powerful substances in the universe. In other words, they need to make the impossible possible.

Ian Irvine’s gift for creating an immersive world his readers can lose themselves in is evident here. As part of his overarching cycle of tales involving the Three Worlds, Irvine has crafted and shaped a universe that will entice and entrance all readers of fantasy.

Reviewed by David Johnson