The Grand Ellipse - Tapa blanda

An around-the-world race called The Grand Ellipse has profound implications for its participants, especially for Luzelle Devaire, a young woman fleeing her father's autocratic household, since the prize entails not only land and titles, but also the ear of the king, a monarch who possesses a powerful weapon that could hold the key to defeating a greedy Imperium. Reprint.

, author of The White Tribunal, returns with a spectacular saga of adventure and intrigue, romance and rebellion — beginning with a wondrous discovery that could forever alter the fate of the free world....

In the modern, civilized republic of Vonahr, the need for magic seems a thing of the past. But soon the Vonahrish will find that magic is their only hope — for an imperialistic race of fanatics, intent on conquering the world, now masses on Vonahr’s borders.

Vonahr’s slim chance for salvation lies in a nearby neutral kingdom, where a brilliant savant has conjured up the ultimate weapon: Sentient Fire, a miraculous flame that responds to the command of its maker.

Low Hetz’s mad, flamboyant king refuses to relinquish the secret — so the desperate government of Vonahr sends the exquisitely beautiful adventurer Luzelle Devaire to turn his head and change his mind. But to gain an audience, Luzelle must win the Grand