The Sorcerer’s Plague is Book one of the projected Blood of the Southlands Series

In a small Eandi village, Licaldi, an elderly recluse disappears. When the elders enter her home to see if she died, they find evidence that may connect her and her baskets to a Quirsi plague destroying villages overnight. Besh, one of the elders, goes to search for her.

Grinsa, a weaver of diverse magical gift, travels to the Southlands seeking peace for himself with his wife and child; but when they begin their trek across the Southlands, they are captured by the Fal’borna , a tribe of warrior horseman. Their elder holds the family hostage pitting Grinza against other weavers that want to succeed him. Grinza and his family just want peace. Grinza agrees to search for the source of the plague, to win their freedom. If he fails, everything he loves will be lost.

Coe’s plotting is excellent and imaginative. His characters are well-drawn and unique. Besh is not a handsome heroic hunk, but an elderly ordinary craftsman. Grinza, for all his wisdom and powers, is a worried family man. You care about their worries, the plotting and intrigue around them. You even care about Licaldi, the person who created the plague. Place all this in a richly imagined world and you have book to treasure. If the series continues at this level, we’ll have to keep the whole series. I can’t wait to read the next one. - Pam Allan