Molin Torchholder, now a man of many years, is walking home with Lord Serripine's son Atredan. On the way they are attacked by the followers of Dyareelan, known as the Bloody Hand. These trained assassins hold a special hatred in their hearts for Molin, who once destroyed them and freed the children they were training to serve the sagacious goddess. Even though he emerges from the battle a victor, he soon discovers that one of the poison tipped knives had cut into his hip, and now it is only a matter of time before he dies, leaving no heir to take over the protection of Sanctuary, to fight the Bloody Hand. He prays for an heir and one comes to him... but not the one he would have chosen.
Cauvin is a stone mason... and the first to admit that he's not the brightest of people. One of the children that Molin freed when he destroyed the Hand, he is one of the very few survivors left. The family of stone masons that adopted him now have their own son, Bec, and Mina, the mother, no longer feels the need to show any maternal affection to Cauvin, wanting everything for her own blood. Cauvin is willing to leave if he has enough money, and take his girlfriend, Leorin, with him. Bec, by the way, has no such resentments... Cauvin's his hero, to the point where he would rather eat out of the bowl that Cauvin had eaten out of than a clean one... everything that Cauvin had used is automatically made better. When Cauvin rescues the injured Torchholder from a theif taking advantage of the mans injuries, Molin convinces him to take him to a safe place, a place where Molin hopes he can start training him to be his heir. This tutelage is hard because they are racing against time...the poison will take Molins life any day, and the Hand, eager to reclaim the city for themselves, is seeking the only thing they fear might stop them... the Torchholder's heir.
This return to Theives' World is wonderfully orchestrated. Abbey has carefully wrought this transition novel in clever and extremely readable ways. First, and most obvious, is that the power and the focus is transferred from the well beloved and known Molin, who did so much in the past books, to a new protector. The second thing, which is where I think she did some really deft footwork, is that she gives us the whole back story, concealed in the folds of the book in such a way as to make it really interesting to even the people who may already be really familiar with it. She uses the transferring of memories and stories told to Bec, (who loves to make up stories and tell them to his older brother) to catch us up with the past. She also creates a cast of people who are really vivid, and who lay strong groundwork for the future books of this series. Cauvin is the perfect man for the job... hes not as sheep-crap stupid as he... and everyone around... tells you, and he's a person with a good heart. The possibilities this creates for future books as he begins to step into his role will be interesting, since one has to wonder if, even though he has his predecessors memories to guide him, will he have the same powers? Bec is slightly bratty and very endearing. Leorin is mysterious... cold, sometimes, avaricious, we don't know if her actions are because of her terrible past, or something that shes trying to keep hidden from her lover.
In many ways, this book is created to create a clean break from the past. Abbey reminds us of the roots of Sanctuary, showing us how we got to this point, then breaks away from it to start the series anew. It is almost like reading a whole new world...Sanctuary has undergone a lot of changes since Molin first began protecting it, and I look forward to seeing what the future brings.
Sanctuary
Lynn Abbey