THE BOOK

When the gods are dead, there is only the Changer of Days...

In a powerful conclusion to the story of Anghara Kir Hama, the prophecies of Gul Khaima are fulfilled in unexpected ways, when the exiled queen returns to Roisinan to reclaim her ancient throne. Recognised and betrayed for a third time, she is imprisoned in her brother Sif's dungeons, where she is drugged senseless and robbed of her powers of Sight. Only the loyalty of her childhood companion Kieran and his band of rebels stands between her and annihilation. With her mind almost entirely destroyed, she achieves freedom of a sort, and it is left to Kieran to bring her to the deserts of Kheldrin, where her ultimate destiny is revealed, and the ancient worlds of Roisinan and Kheldrin tremble to the awakening of a strange new power - the Changer of Days, the Ender of Ages, whose coming marks the end of a world.

THE AUTHOR

Alma Hromic is a citizen of New Zealand, although she was born in Yugoslavia, grew up in Africa and came to New Zealand to live with he family in 1994. Now Alma is a permanent resident of America, where she resides in Florida with her American husband, Deck.

Deck was the co-author of Alma�s 1999 novel, Letters from the Fire, which details the turbulent email relationship between a male American reporter and a female Serbian journalist during the war over Kosovo. The book was based loosely on Alma and Deck�s own relationship, which started on the Internet and developed into a firm friendship � and love. Alma and Deck were married in Florida in 2000.

Alma has always enjoyed the fantasy genre and disagrees with those who dismiss it as pure escapism with no relationship to reality. Alma says, "as the grand master J.R.R. Tolkien himself pointed out, the only people who would object to escapism would be jailors. Fantasy is an important and integral part of the human mind and spirit � it frees us from the rigid rules of our own society and allows us to think outside the square."

Anghara, the lead character in Changer of Days, has been Alma�s email code-name for a number of years. Alma explains "the name has its roots in the Welsh �Angharad�, which means �beloved� or �much loved�. It is also a strong name as befits a strong character who is called upon to endure much in the course of this story".

Alma�s other published works include her autobiography Houses in Africa, The Dolphins Daughter, a collection of fairy tales, Letters from the Fire, and Changer of Days Volume One.

During 2000 Alma was one of the winners in a prestigious international short-story competition, the DotDotDot contest sponsored by the BBC. Her winning story was broadcast in the UK in January 2001.

Read our interview with Alma here.

THE REVIEW

Those waiting for the second and final installment from Alma Hromic to Changer of Days will not be disappointed. Volume 2 picks up straight after the first novel and continues the story with an exceptional pace. The often-poetic story tracks a complicated world in an interesting transition. Hromic leaps headlong into the action and is unafraid to break with fantasy tradition. She frequently surprises the reader and keeps the action moving.

Anghara returns to the land of her birth, only to be captured and cast into a dark, foreboding prison by her half brother Sif. It is here she is stripped of her most precious possession and begins to suffer dreadfully for it. The depth of despair that Anghara falls into is a harrowing journey, emotively described. Perhaps the most absorbing development, is the play in Sif�s mind between a ruthless common sense and filial loyalty? Perhaps the only disappointment of the novel is not being let even further into Sif�s tortured mind.

Anghara�s development progresses from confused wanderer to potential queen, as the she begins to play the role fate has dealt her. There is no possibility of Anghara resting by the sidelines as she accepts her calling. Well aware of the bittersweet nature of life, she is inexorably caught up in world of shattering events and, lets face it, that�s why we read these books.

Hromic imbues her characters with a realistic edge that draws you into her major players. The character play provides some of the most intriguing prose in Changer of Days. When Anghara meets Favrin, for the first time, sparks fly in an intense dialogue. The plot thickens considerably with the introduction of Favrin, heir to the southern kingdom of Tath. He plays the mercurial character of crown prince, charming and foppish on one hand, while careful and cunning on the other. He slowly reveals his true colors and loyalties in a fascinating interplay. The complex nature of the relationship between Kieran and Anghara is forced to change in the light of adulthood and old enemies find peace in troubled times. Sif is not the cardboard villain we have seen many times, nor is Anghara the two-dimensional heroine we have often endured in so many �epic� tales. Hromic�s characters draw the reader in to the compelling conclusion and do not let you down.

The spiritual nature of the sight and its relationship to the gods is also explored in some detail. Of particular interest, is when the notion of �Changer� itself is explored. What does the Sight actually mean and could one really survive without it?

The book is touching, spiritual, thoughtful and sensitive. Hromic continues her fresh, intimate style in the conclusion of Changer of days and expands the breadth of her world even more in the second installment. The reader is swept up into a powerful tale. As a reader I was well-suspended into Hromic�s kingdoms and enjoyed spending time there. Just as a side note, I was also quite chuffed to see a quote form my review of Volume One on the back cover.

Review by Matthew Brunton

WHAT DID YOU THINK?

Thanks to

for supplying a review copy.