Description:

In this third novel in her acclaimed Tears of Artamon saga, Sarah Ash once again transports readers to a realm where sorcery collides with political intrigue...and where one man haunted by a dark legacy is locked in a fierce struggle between the forces of good and evil battling for supremacy within him....

Gavril Nagarian is believed dead–perished in the heat of battle. But the Lord Drakhaon of Azhkendir lives on. Now he is entrusted with a sacred mission: to rescue the aged Magus, who has been kidnapped and in whose possession are the five priceless rubies that compose the fabled Tears of Artamon. Ancient law decrees that whoever possesses the coveted stones has the power to impose his rule over the five princedoms in the Empire of New Rossiya.

But the task exacts a cost. The Drakhaoul that destroyed his forebears has penetrated Gavril’s psyche and is gaining power over his soul. With the dark forces inside him seeking immortality, Gavril must feed on the blood of innocents–or die.

Toppled by the loss of the Tears of Artamon, Emperor Eugene of Tielen is tormented by his own daemon. Now he must defend his lands against King Enguerrand of Francia, who claims ownership of the Tears. But both men share a common goal: to destroy Gavril Nagarian and the Drakhaoul that lives within him once and for all.

Ingenious and unforgettable, Children of the Serpent Gate delivers a thrilling conclusion to the epic trials of a man of honor in a world run amok–a calamity that can be laid to rest only by an Emperor’s Tears.

From the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of the rousing conclusion to Ash's fantasy trilogy (after 2004's Prisoner of the Iron Tower), King Enguerrand of Francia has the five Tears of Artamon, the magical jewels that give their possessor claim to Novaya Rossiya. This means a crisis for Novaya Rossiya's Emperor Eugene, particularly since the Francians have kidnapped his chief magus, Kaspar Linnaius, and are going to burn him at the stake. Eugene makes an alliance of convenience with Gavril Nagarian, Lord Drakhaon of Azhkendir, who goes to Kaspar's rescue. Meanwhile, Gavril's prematurely aged lover, Kiukiu, must travel just as far in the opposite direction to find a cure; Eugene's pregnant empress, Astasia, runs away to Francia; and Eugene's daughter, Karila, has to go into hiding from would-be usurpers. The large cast may be hard to follow for new readers, but is uniformly well-developed and convincing, as is the whole world of the trilogy, with its vivid 18th-century European flavor and fallen angels who evoke Paradise Lost. Lovers of big, complex fantasy sagas (think Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin) will be well pleased.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gavril Nagarian's Drakhaoul daemon, Khezef, has lived among humans long enough to be taking on human characteristics. But Khezef is no longer the only daemon-dragon roaming the world. Four other Drakhaoul are free and plotting to gain the Tears of Artamon, which together will open the Serpent Gate and free the Drakhaoul prince Nagar from the Realm of Shadows. Then they will destroy the world. Meanwhile, the royal children of New Rossiya's five princedoms are growing sick and weak, and the Spirit Singer Kiukiu dreams of other, terrified children trapped in the Realm of Shadows. The connections between the shadow children, the royal children, and the Drakhaoul aren't clear to Kiukiu, but she knows that helping them all is critical. Finally, Kiukiu may have to discover deep magic within to heal the seemingly insurmountable evils threatening her world. Themes of redemptive transformation, a labyrinthine plot, and the spectacular Drakhaoul memorably conclude the Tears of Artamon trilogy, begun in Lord of Snow and Shadows (2003) and continued in Prisoner of the Iron Tower (2004). Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved