"RELIC MASTER: The Dark City" and "RELIC MASTER: The Lost Heiress," by Catherine Fisher, Dial Press, $16.99, 384 pages (f)
On a planet with seven moons live a few remaining keepers of the old Order, who carefully guard old relics and try to fight the power of the Watch, who aim to destroy all remnants of the Order and the relics left behind by the Makers.
In “The Dark City,” one Relic Master, Galen Harn and his scholar Raffi are in hiding as they try to keep the old faith alive. When they are found in the forest and asked to help with a relic that’s been dug up in a village, Harn consents, knowing that the errand won’t be as told them but going anyway.
Harn has been battling a problem, and when he finds himself given a dangerous offer, he takes it in hopes of solving his problem. He and Raffi end up on a quest to find a powerful relic in the dark city of Tasceron, which is crumbling and perpetually smoldering underground. They must evade the Watch as they search and make alliances with two others who can’t necessarily be trusted.
In the second book of Catherine Fisher’s "Relic Master" series, “The Lost Heiress,” Harn, Raffi and their traveling companions are yet again on a quest for something that could potentially restore the Order and save the planet until the Makers can return.
In this case, it’s a child who is heiress to the defeated Emperor. Allegiances are tested once more and the child, once found, isn’t going to come with her “rescuers” easily.
The books are the first two in a series of four that had previously been published in the United Kingdom more than a decade ago and now are all being published in quick succession for readers in the United States. It’s lucky for Americans that they don’t have to wait in between books because they are intriguing.
Fisher makes the reader wonder why the relics contain the power they emit and why the Makers left the planet behind in the first place. It will be interesting to see what happens in the final installments.
Even better, these books are clean, with no bad language. There is some minor violence, but nothing too disturbing. They are great reading for young adults, middle readers and adults alike.
Cathy Carmode Lim is the founder of RatedReads.com, which reviews books and assigns them ratings for content.