From Publishers Weekly
In the conclusion to Dalkey's brilliant trilogy begun in Goa and continued in Bijapur, Thomas Chinnery, an apprentice apothecary whom fortune and the Fates have set adrift far from his native England, winds his way ever deeper into the labyrinthine interior of India. There magic and medicine peel away the layers of accepted reality, and dread spirits and forbidding gods fight for possession of his body and soul. Thomas is trying to revive his dead Hindu ladylove, Aditi, by bringing her to the source of the miraculous potion rasa mahadevi (literally, the "blood of the goddess"). On this dangerous quest, he is surrounded by characters both historical and fictional, all with their own deeply held faiths and conflicting and complex motivations. They include a brutal Catholic inquisitor who?himself returned from the dead?has begun to doubt both his profession and beliefs; an angelic Christian boy-child with an eclectically erudite nature; a Sufi mystic traveling a difficult path to enlightenment; a Scottish scholar with mysterious allegiances; a battalion of hostile soldiers; a noble Hindu leader and his venal foil; and various fantastical creatures personifying myth and madness. Dalkey's touch is sure, as deft at describing the lore surrounding an herb as at luring her readers into devouring her tale. Rarely has research, religion and fine writing been blended into such a literate and lively elixir.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Having survived the tortures of the Portuguese Inquisition, English herbalist Thomas Chinnery travels to the fabled city of Bhagavati, reputed as the source for a wondrous powder capable of raising the dead. Dalkey's conclusion to a stunning fantasy series that includes Goa (Tor, 1996) and Bijapur (LJ 4/15/97) combines the mythology of India with the legends of ancient Greece, creating an unusual and exotic historical fantasy that belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
