About the Book
The vision came in the wilderness long ago, commanding the Sultan's ancestor to lead his peoples to the place that would be called the Sacred City. There, deep within a rocky cavern, there burns an immense, roaring column of fire: the Sacred Flame. Worshipped by millions, it is the source of the Sultan's power. But the Flame harbours a terrible secret – and so does the Sultan.
For generations, the Sultans of Kal-Theron have held their desert realm in a cruel, implacable grip, but now, as a ruthless invader threatens, not even the Sacred Flame may save the ancient empire.
Into this seething hotbed of political machinations and rebellion stumbles Prince Jemany, son of Ejland's deposed king and true heir to the throne, as he plunges into the next stage of his perilous quest, seeking the long-lost crystals of the Orokon. Already the anti-god, Toth-Vexrah, has burst free from the Realm of Unbeing and is working his evil upon the susceptible and easily swayed. Only Jem stands in his way, but now he faces dangers closer at hand.
In an Arabian Nights world of eunuchs and genies, magic carpets and mysterious veiled women, dark magic is stirring. Cut off from his companions, Jem is trapped in the bizarre, horrifying dreamworld of the enchanter Almoran. Meanwhile, his lost love Cata becomes embroiled with the Shimmering Princess, the idol of millions, whose fate holds the key to the Sultan's empire – and to the whereabouts of the third crystal, the pulsing red crystal of the fire god Theron.
