Deepwood: Karavans # 2 (Karavans Series)

Diviners have told Audrun that the child she carries must be born in a haven of peace, far from her war-scourged homeland, but as she flees she finds only far greater danger. For her karavan is overtaken by Alisanos, the deepwood, a dangerous magical forest that harbors not only demons, gods, and other otherwordly creatures, but also its own sinister intentions-and which may have already claimed Audrun and her child for its own.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Roberson's complex sequel to Karavans (2006), the mysterious sentient forest, Alisanos, which has moved for the first time in 40 years, surrounds series heroine Audrun, who has given premature birth to a daughter, Sarith. Rhuan, the demigod disguised as a karavan guide who tried to protect Audrun's family, continues to guard mother and child, calling upon his semidivine cousin, Brodhi, for grudging assistance. Other denizens of the deepwood offer aid to Audrun's four older children as Alisanos begins to transform them. In the human world, the karavan settlement has been destroyed by Alisanos's movement. Injured Ilona, the diviner, has lost her gift of reading hands. Jorda the karavan-master, Mikal the tavern-owner and Bethid, a courier, help the few survivors while furthering plans of rebellion against their cruel Hecari conquerors. Readers will be impatient to see what happens in the next volume. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

After the disaster that ended Karavans (2006), pregnant Audrun, Davyn, and their four children have left their conquered homeland and joined a karavan to seek out a new home. But Alisanos, the deepwood, a sentient, mobile forest, is on the move. Home to many dangerous creatures, Alisanos actually takes humans, who thereafter are either never seen again or transformed into hideous monsters. The deepwood attacks the karavan, but Audrun and her children fall in with Rhuan, one of the guides. She gives birth in the forest four months early, yet the baby appears to have been carried full term. The forest wants the child, and Audrun must protect and provide for all five children while trying to escape and reunite with her husband, who is frantically searching for them. Meanwhile, Alisanos' nonhuman inhabitants are fighting internecine battles. Rhuan is in the middle of one, and willy-nilly, Audrun is drawn in, too. Lots of action, competently drawn characters, and a world in which anything can happen. High-quality action fantasy. Murray, Frieda

About the Author

Jennifer Roberson is the author of the Sword-Dancer Saga and the Chronicles of the Cheysuli, and collaborated with Melanie Rawn and Kate Elliott on the historical fantasy The Golden Key, a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. She has also published three historical novels, and several in other genres. An exhibitor and breeder of Cardigan Welsh Corgis, she lives on acreage in Northern Arizona with eight dogs and two cats. She is currently working on the third Karavans novel, with prologue available at her website, http://www.cheysuli.com/author/Index.html.

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