Quest for the Fallen Star

Piers Anthony
James Richey
Alan Riggs

Chentelle the elf is an Enchantress, the first in many elven generations. She has the Gift to sing with and commune with all living things. A dove brings her a message meant for a now dead wizard. She finds the wizard's apprentice and travels with him to the Holy Land in response to the request the dove carried.

In the Holy Land, Chentelle and A'Stoc, the aged wizard's apprentice, become part of a team that has to save their planet/home, Infinitera. A long, perilous journey is started.

The small band of warriors, priests, wizards and elves face many dangers as they journey on the Quest for the Fallen Star, the source of the evil that could destroy Infinitera. They meet black dragons, wraiths, and other dangers of the night. Few of the party members will live through the complete quest.

This book is absorbing. It is intense and deep, over 400 pages that kept me enthralled. It was not a book that immediately grabbed at me, but I had to keep reading. The point of view is Chentelle's, the only female of the group. This is a war and good vs evil fantasy tale told from a female's viewpoint.

Although Piers Anthony is listed as the main author, we can thank James Richey for the story. Anthony and Alan Riggs picked up the completed novel, tightened it up, and turned it from a good unpublished first work to a deep, wandering story that does not lose its focus.

This book takes concentration. Yet I was compelled to keep reading. Don't try to read it in ten minute spurts. Do not sit down with it with less than a half an hour at any given reading. It will be worth it.

The Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn