From Amazon.co.uk
The latest of James Barclay's series about the Raven mercenary company,
Elfsorrow handily picks up on various loose ends. The war between the Colleges of Magic has ever more terrible consequences--the mages of Xetesk steal magic from a remote temple triggering a curse that will exterminate all elves. The Raven mage Erienne is racked with guilt over her failure to save her daughter and her possession of the vast magical power that burned her daughter out. The witch-hunters of the Black Wing are busy exploiting the situation and recruiting dispossessed farmers for a massive pogrom of magic workers. Barclay's work is always at its best when conveying a sense of urgency and of people caught up between bad choices; he is also not frightened of killing his characters off, which means that the sense of jeopardy here is real. We know, by now, that the Raven is more than individual vulnerable warriors--it is a way of life and a commitment to muddling through to righteousness. Barclay has many of the faults of pulp fantasy--his dialogue is unmemorable and his characterisation perfunctory--but his well-paced tales have both emotional force and a sense of being about things that matter.
--Roz Kaveney
Product Description
Barclay's Dawnthief was a huge bestseller. Now, this master of fantasy is back with another action-packed adventure featuring the Raven, a band of mercenaries consisting of six men and one elf. The rivalry between the four colleges of magic in the land of Balaia has done nothing but bring misery to the citizens. Now, the elves are dying by the thousands, struck down by a terrible and mysterious affliction. Ilkar, one of the Raven, knows he is in a unique position to discover the cause of the suffering and stop it. Over many years the group's prowess and sheer lethality have become legendary. But, even heroes, like elves, are mortal.