Threshold (Wayfarer Redemption) - Tapa dura

"Fantasy rich in detail, action and romance... For all its complexity, this absorbing narrative flows with ease to a highly satisfactory conclusion."--"Publishers Weekly""" "Douglass brings many original touches to the telling, effectively using vivid imagery to flesh out her exotic setting: a strong romantic plot in an unusual fantasy setting."--"Kirkus Reviews""" "Full of original touches, this is very good storytelling."--"Booklist" "Douglass has proven herself a fine storyteller, and here she does it again."--"Library Journal"

Over the hot southern land of Ashdod looms the shadow of Threshold, a massive pyramid which the Magi of Ashdod are building to propel themselves into Infinity, a plane of existence that holds the promise of technological magics and supposedly unimaginable power. For decades, thousands of slaves have lost their lives in the construction of this edifice. Now that this construction is almost complete, the Magi need only to add the finishing touches, and they will let nothing stand in the way of achieving their desire. The Master of the Magi, a young and ambitious man, ready to do anything for power, sees the glassworker slave Tirzah as a plaything, a trifle to relieve the tensions of the day. He senses that under her placid facade Tirzah is hiding something, but try as he may to see beneath her surface, she remains an enigma. What he does not know is that her secret is the knowledge of forbidden magic. That she senses the inherent power in glass and can communicate with it-and that the glass in Threshold screams to her in pain. For it knows what neither Tirzah nor any of the Magi suspect. That something waits in Infinity, watching, biding its time, and when the final glass plate is laid and the capstone cemented in blood, it plans to use Threshold to step from Infinity into Ashdod...