The Far Kingdoms

August 30, 1993
In a thoughtful and well-crafted epic fantasy, a weary old man recalls the search for legendary lands he and another made and the lasting effect those attempts wrought on the inhabitants of a fearful, stagnating city. As a dissipated young merchant, the narrator, Amalric Antero of Orissa, comes to his senses after being rescued from a procurer by Captain Janos Greycloak. The two decide to seek the ``land of fabled wealth and wizardry,'' the Far Kingdoms, where Greycloak hopes to further his (illegal) studies of magic. Their dreadful voyage brings them close, but betrayal by the conjurer Evocator Cassine, who accompanied them, forces their return to Orissa. Tales of their voyage inflame the imaginations of fellow Orissans. Inspired to oppose the ruling Evocators, they organize a new, grander expedition, led by Greycloak. Antero stays home with Deoce, the wife he married on the initial voyage. The loss of most of the second expedition and additional natural disasters nearly destroy Orissa's newfound resolve, while the deaths of Deoce and their child nearly destroy Antero. Then he and Greycloak set out on a final voyage. Cole and Bunch wrote Empire's End .