Sorceress: Bridget Wood

Book IV of Wolfking. Nechtan has ruled the House of Amaranth for eons, caring for the precious Sorcery Chambers and tending the looms on which the tenuous spells are woven. He has been the Guardian of the power wielded by the infamous line of the Wolfking but now his time has come - he must cast off the mortal coil and venture into another life. Sadly there is no-one yet strong enough to take up his mantle and the forces of the Dark Ireland are preparing to take it up on his behalf. Only young Theo - a mere slip of a girl - has the least inclination for real magic and she has been overlooked. But not by the Gristlen, evil's first emissary, a monster that every decent man believed had been banished for centuries, for beneath the tanned hide lurks a creature more horrible than the Lord of Chaos himself, or so rumour has it. Rumour herself, a cousin of Theo's, is determined to seek out the kidnapped Theo and put paid to all these ridiculous notions of hostage taking and usurping. She travels to the Dark Ireland with one of the new-fangled monks for company - a strange companion but a surprisingly resourceful one. Cover art by Paul Young.