Shadow Over Kiriath: Book Three of Karen Hancock's "Legends of the Guardian-King" Series (2005)

Karen Hancock's Christian allegory fantasy series begins to take a darker turn in its third installment, Shadow Over Kiriath. Picking up six months after the end of The Shadow Within, Shadow Over Kiriath opens on the day Abramm Kalladorne is formally crowned the thirty-sixth king of Kiriath. Abramm is still coming to grips with the injuries he sustained during his battle with a demonic beast called a morwhol at the climax of The Shadow Within. That fight has left him with some permanent scars and cost him the use of one of his arms. He also must prepare Kiriath's military forces to defend the kingdom against Esuhr's Army of the Black Moon, which are advancing closer to Kiriath.

Abramm seeks an alliance with Chesedh, Kiriath's eastern neighbor. To forge this alliance, he agrees to marry Chesedh's crown princess, Briellen, who is also the older sister of Lady Madeleine, a close friend of his. Abramm does not truly love Briellen, and he is pursuing this marriage out of political/strategic necessity, hoping that he and the Chesedhen princess will learn to love each other later.

Demonic forces called rhu'ema, which are determined to destroy the king, are aware of the feelings Abramm and "Maddie" hold toward each other, feelings each is, at first, unaware the other also holds. The rhu'ema exploit those feelings as a vulnerable area in which to attack Abramm and Maddie, stirring up lustful passions in an attempt to lure the two into sexual sin prior to the king's wedding. The ensuing scandal would destroy the proposed alliance between Kiriath and Chesedh, leaving the two kingdoms isolated and vulnerable to attack.

In addition to Esuhrites and rhu'ema, Abramm has other enemies waiting in the wings. Gillard, his brother, awakens from a six-month coma to find his body severely weakened from his encounter with the morwhol. The younger Kalladorne has also been kept under guard for the last six months during his slumber, imprisoned in a tower. Gillard is removed from the tower by members of the Mataio, the cult-like priesthood which Abramm was a member of for eight years. The Mataians offer to help Gillard gain vengeance on his brother and ascend the throne in exchange for his joining the priesthood. And Renalf, the ex-husband of Abramm's sister, also wants to take revenge on the king in addition to reclaiming his former wife.

Once again, Hancock has crafted a brilliant story, further developing the characters, taking them to the next phase of their spiritual journey. The author builds up to a shocking climax which leaves the ready eager to dive into Return of the Guardian-King, the fourth and final installment of this series. If you love Christian/inspirational fiction, or if you just love good fantasy fiction, Shadow Over Kiriath is one book you simply must read.

Reviews of other novels of interest:

The Light of Eidon: Book One of Karen Hancock's Legends of the Guardian-King Series

The Shadow Within: Book Two of Karen Hancock's Legends of the Guardian-King Series

Firebird by Kathy Tyers: A Re-Write of a Classic Sci-Fi Novel