The Restorer's Son by Sharon Hinck

I've become a devoted fan of Sharon Hinck. I've recently finished her fourth novel, which is second in a fantasy series called Swords of Lyric. The Restorer's Son picks up the tale from Kieran's point-of-view, shortly after the close of The Restorer:

"Hills of Hazor take you," I swore for at least the tenth time since first light. My sword hacked at thick underbrush, but when I shouldered my way forward, a twig snapped back to hit my face. I cursed the day I'd met the last Restorer. It was because of her that I was battling through this forsaken forest below Cauldron Falls. My blade deserved a more substantial enemy.

A squint-eyed badger rambled out from a thornbush and paused to sniff the air. It bristled and ducked back under cover. Wise plan. I was hungry. Stinging beetles landed on me from the low-hanging branches overhead. I swatted them away and stalked onward.

Why hadn't I convinced Tristan to leave her in Shamgar when she first turned up? A witness to his crime, and he had brought her to our refuge in the deserted city. Typical. He was a naïve idiot sometimes.

She hadn't looked very threatening that day--rain-soaked, bloody, and unconscious. If only I'd known then how much trouble she was capable of causing. What was that old saying? Don't judge a rizzid's menace until you see its teeth.

The trouble had started when a deep scrape on her face healed. Instantly. Hairs on my neck pricked as if I'd touched a misaligned magchip. I'd heard the old stories but I'd never seen it happen. It had been years since our people had chased after a mythic Restorer, but I knew the signs.

Exactly the kind of problem we hadn't needed. We would have been in enough danger if she were just a Council spy or some other enemy. But as I had watched her wounds vanish, I knew that if she also had Restorer powers, things were going to get very complicated.

And they did.

As you can see, he didn't much like the woman who had been the last Restorer, Susan Mitchell. And he doesn't like the situation now any better. Sometimes a reluctant hero makes it difficult to get into a story (I know some folks enjoy books like that but I generally avoid them!) but I didn't find it so with Kieran. Perhaps it was because I'd already met him in the previous novel where he was one of the supporting cast.

I can't say too much about this sequel without giving away too much of either book one or book two except that it didn't disappoint. Sharon Hinck has a way of tossing at least one real surprise into each novel and the twist in The Restorer's Son was a doozy.

This series is a must-read for lovers of clean fantasy. Best of all, the third book, The Restorer's Journey will be out in January, so it's not that long to wait. Good thing, because, while one arc of the story is obviously finished, a new door has opened to introduce the final installment.