In this YA fantasy, a young scribe learns that he's part of an ancient order and fated to battle a force that nine warriors before him failed to destroy.
The Lotus Saga is a quest fantasy in which the young scribe, Rook, leaves his home village and goes on a journey with the Lotus Sword to find the Water of Life. After the death of his mentor, Rook seeks this mythical substance in order to defeat Amaranth, a thief of time. In the process Rook travels through murderous forests, endless deserts, and bends air in order to descend an unscalable cliff. He must find out who his real allies are, and uncover the motivations of a being who lives within him.
Eight years ago, Rook was a starving orphan in the town of The Guardians, and the Head Scribe took him in as an apprentice. Rook came to love reading, and his favor-ite book is The Legends of the Blue. One day, the Scribe tells the young man that he must begin his training with the enchanted Lotus Sword, created by the legendary mys-tic Parthian (the hero of The Legends of the Blue), as it's the only thing that can destroy Amaranth, a malevolent agent of Time. The fact that Rook can even lift the weapon indicates that he's the Tenth person chosen for the Order, a lineage of warriors who've unsuccessfully challenged Am-aranth in the past. Later, after an enjoyable day with his friends Feihhan and Slad, Rook finds the Scribe dead. Then the Lotus Sword begins speaking to him, explaining that he must journey to the Waters of Life, which will give him and the weapon more strength and vitality.
As an Indiana Jones-type plot evolves, replete with confrontations between forces of good and evil, young adult to adult readers receive a fantasy that includes many satisfying philosophical moments:
"Every candle is a life. Throughout its existence, the candle burns away - some slowly, and some in a flash. And then the cycle starts anew, and a fresh candle is born from the melted wax of its predecessor."
