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Trapped by the Empress Ykoriana, Carnelian and Osidian are drugged and carried out from the hidden crater of Osrakum in funerary urns. The man charged with disposing of the urns instead opens them and, seeing the two Masters, fears for his life. Disguising them as slaves, he flees with them to the south, where he hopes to sell them and so buy himself a new life. But this is not to be. On their journey, they are attacked by raiders, barbarians from the southern plain they call the Undersky, who seize Carnelian and Osidian. Eluding the pursuing legions of the Masters, and enduring terrible hardships, the raiders succeed in bringing their prize captives home to their tribe. At first wary of the two young Masters, the tribe become accustomed to them and, in turn, Carnelian grows to love these people and immerses himself in the seasonal rhythm of their lives. Osidian reacts differently, however. He can never forget that he is a Master, and that he has been cheated of his throne. Violence and corruption begin to make their insidious way into the tribe's gentle society and their world begins to unravel. Dark, unexpected and unbidden forces begin to surface.Struggling with conflicting loyalties, Carnelian is powerless as he watches his new-found world being torn apart by Osidian's relentless lust for revenge...… (more)
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Above all it is the character Carnelian who makes the story so compelling; young as he is, his strong sense of loyalty, love and compassion, and his vulnerability cannot fail to win the reader’s heart. It is those very qualities that make the dilemma of his situation so difficult, and the restraints he imposes on his growing relation with Fern especially touching.
An enthralling sequel to the Chosen and perhaps even more captivating and more readily accessible, The Standing Dead is a brilliantly conceived story. Pinto creates a fantastic and vividly portrayed prehistoric landscape, an environment at times luxuriantly rich in flora and fauna, but at other times arid and unbearably hot. The suffering Plainsmen lead a tribal life rich with its own customs; it is not surprising that Carnelian is drawn to theses close knit people as he sees the suffering the domination of the Masters causes. But it is not long before Carnelian realises that he may be the cause of something even worse, the very downfall of everything here he has come to cherish.