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  The Demon Wars Saga consists of two trilogies and this book, Mortalis, which bridges the two trilogies.  The first trilogy tells of Elbryan the Ranger, Pony the warrior, Bradwarden the Centaur, Avelyn the monk, and Juraviel the elf as they battle the demon dactyl, Bestesbulzibar and protect the land of Corona from his evils. Mortalis covers mainly the life of Pony after the war, and develops some new characters.

  Once again, GraphicAudio continues to produce this saga in audiobook form with their "Movie in your Mind" concept.  R.A. Salvatore provided the great story, but GraphicAudio brings it to life with outstanding acting, super sound effects and subtle, yet effective incidental music.  

  In part one of Mortalis we learn the Touel'alfar, the elves in the land of Corona, have taken the son of Elbryan and Pony and have begun his training as a ranger to replace Nightbird (Elbryan). The Touel'alfarar have also begun the training of another ranger, Brynn Dharielle, a To-Gai girl whose family was killed during the war.  The To-Gai are proficient horsemen, and Juraviel returns to find Bradwarden and have him find her a strong horse for her training.

  During this time after the defeat of the demon dactyl, the Abellican church and the King of Honce-the-bear are at odds.  With the fall of Father Abbot Marquart and the evils he brought to the land, the King wants to take away the church's powers. Many monks within the church seek a restructuring and look to rebuild the church on the principles taught by Avelyn Desbris -- that the church should help the population, not rule over them.

  It is also discovered that the plague has been brought to the lands of Honce-the-bear.  Rose colored circles with a white ring appear on the skin of those afflicted and the church has no power against the plague. It wants to cover up the effect of the disease upon the land but one monk believes more should be done.

  In the meantime, King Ursul is looking for an heir to the throne and if Pony turns down the church's offer to become Mother Abbess, he may seek her out to be queen.  However, the King's concubine has other plans and starts to show jealousy toward the way the King "eyes" Pony.  For her part, Pony is still grieving over the death of her husband Elbryan and returns to Dundalis, their hometown.

  With the excellent production quality from GraphicAudio and the attention-grabbing story by R. A. Salvatore, the separation of the book into 3 parts feels like one of the old movie serials. I can't wait for the next episode!

Gil T. has spent a quarter of a century working in radio and has lots of spare time on his hands and reading or listening to books takes up all that time. Check out his blog to find out what he's up to at any given moment.