Host : A Rogue Mage Novel

In a post-apocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix was nearly driven insane by her powers. She lived as a fugitive, disguised as a human, channeling her gifts for war into stone-magery. When she was discovered, her friends and neighbors accepted her, but warily. Not so the mage who arrives from the Council of Seraphs, who could be her greatest ally—or her most dangerous foe. And when her long-gone sister, Rose, is revealed to still be alive, Thorn must make a choice—and risk her own life in the process. Publishers Weekly The third novel in Hunter's postapocalyptic fantasy series (after 2006's Seraphs ) finds neomage Thorn St. Croix working as a jeweler and town mage in the rural Appalachian town of Mineral City, Carolina. Then her former home, the New Orleans Enclave, sends arrogant metal mage Cheran Jones, ostensibly to instruct her in "media relations" as she is "woefully lacking" in diplomatic knowledge and abilities. When the deadly succubus queen's war on Mineral City provides enough death energy for the powerful Dragon to escape its prison between the planes of reality, Thorn is pulled between the demands of the ultra-lawful Administration of the ArchSeraph and its rivals, the Earth Invasion Heretics, who claim to know the origins of seraphs and demons and the whereabouts of Thorn's missing twin, Rose. Hunter's world continues to expand in this highly original fantasy with lively characters where nothing can ever be taken for granted. (Nov.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information "In the postapocalyptic ice age envisioned by Faith Hunter in Bloodring and Seraphs, humans continue their fight to survive amid the warlike forces of Light and Darkness - and struggle to understand the seraphic and demonic beings who have invaded their world..." "After risking her life to save the residents of Mineral City from a fallen seraph to the underworld, Thorn St. Croix finds herself finally accepted albeit warily. Not so the mage who arrives from the Council of Seraphs, and who could be her greatest ally - or her most dangerous foe." "But a terrible danger threatens Mineral City. The bonds of the Dragon have been loosed and it will soon be free. Darkness and its minions overtake the town setting off avalanches and cutting off communications. At the mercy of Darkness, Thorn must rally the townspeople together - for only as one can they survive. But her loyalty will be tested by someone she once lost to the Dark: her twin sister."--BOOK JACKET In a post-apocalyptic ice age, neomage Thorn St. Croix was nearly driven insane by her powers. She lived as a fugitive, disguised as a human and married to a human man, channeling her gifts for war into stone-magery. When she was discovered, her friends and neighbors accepted her, but warily. Not so the mage who arrives from the Council of Seraphs, who could be her greatest ally-or her most dangerous foe. And when it's revealed that her long-gone sister, Rose, is still alive, Thorn must make a choice-and risk her own life in the process. In a near future world marked by a post-apocalyptic ice, powerful neomage Thorn St. Croix has been accepted by her human friends and neighbors, until a mage arrives from the Council of Seraphs to reveal that her long-lost sister, Rose, is still alive, forcing Thorn to make a perilous choice to risk her own life