In the shadowy realm of Minarin, greed weaves a tapestry of despair, and a prophecy of destruction draws in discredited wizard Arthur Wells as he attempts to prove his innovative prophesying methods.
Unbeknown to him, Ostara, a powerful sorceress from the elven homeland, has also come to Minarin to investigate a dark phenomenon: elven souls not returning for reincarnation.
While food prices soar, Lee faces starvation in his home in the isolated Moltam Forest. When news of a quest for a relic promises salvation for his family, he throws himself into a world full of danger that he has never imagined.
Rejnar has no choice but to spy for the family that is holding his daughter captive. With no given reason, the same family imprisons and curses him, stripping away his magic and memories after years of faithful service.
When these four collide after the collapse of a hidden prison, they discover a web connecting them all—and a conspiracy threatening to plunge their world into chaos.
Embark on an epic journey of magic, discovery, and a helpless pursuit of hope in a land that teeters on the edge of war.
In the shadowy realm of Minarin, greed weaves a tapestry of despair, and a prophecy of destruction draws in discredited wizard Arthur Wells as he attempts to prove his innovative prophesying methods.
Unbeknown to him, Ostara, a powerful sorceress from the elven homeland, has also come to Minarin to investigate a dark phenomenon: elven souls not returning for reincarnation.
While food prices soar, Lee faces starvation in his home in the isolated Moltam Forest. When news of a quest for a relic promises salvation for his family, he throws himself into a world full of danger that he has never imagined.
Rejnar has no choice but to spy for the family that is holding his daughter captive. With no given reason, the same family imprisons and curses him, stripping away his magic and memories after years of faithful service.
When these four collide after the collapse of a hidden prison, they discover a web connecting them all—and a conspiracy threatening to plunge their world into chaos.
Embark on an epic journey of magic, discovery, and a helpless pursuit of hope in a land that teeters on the edge of war.
Above a tranquil ocean stood a towering manor constructed of timber and stone on the edge of a cliff. Vines crept up its side as if forgotten by time. The shimmering waters beneath reflected the warm light of the luminous moon as they lapped upon the cliff side. Overhead, stars illuminated the night as the galaxy’s dust painted the evening in a magnificent blend of purples, reds, and golds, yet a disquieting calm filled the air.
The cliff trembled with a quake, and the ocean pounded against the coastline, seeming to reflect the anger emanating from beneath the palace. As the ledge broke into pieces, the magnificent structure cascaded down the ridge, shattering on the beach below and shaking the forest. The foundation split into pieces as the earth ruptured and debris clouded the sky. Amidst the wreckage, a woman’s voice rose above the destruction, unmistakable in its clarity.
“From fortune greens and ruby reds, that hide a growing cold
While dressed in threads and darkness clothed, burrowing down beneath.
Through stream and wood our lifeblood seeps, too fragile now to breathe.
I danced upon a gale’s mercy to find a rooted tomb.
A god’s despair entangled me, confined by ancient runes.
Uncloud your sight with foggy light, bright shining as the sun,
Allow no more days to pass to night before our end’s begun.”
Without warning, the song ended, and the image morphed into a swirling tempest of mystical energy. The magic dissipated, sending ethereal butterflies scattering in every direction. As the scene’s colors shifted into a haze of red, with flickering embers floating upward, the same beautiful singing voice resonated over the unfolding spectacle. The scene shifted once more into a series of symbols: a colossal man intertwined with wheat and vines, a sun obscured under a dark hood of clouds, and a forest floor engulfed in a layer of decaying mold.
One enigmatic image shifted into the next until they coalesced on a map of Minarin, where a viscous gray substance seeped through the paper, erasing any recognizable markings. The murky liquid covered the ground, dark shapes that looked like people collapsed in the distance, with light swirling off their bodies as they fell into the haze and turned the map into an abyss.
As the ethereal scene dissipated, the melodic voice addressed the wizard viewing the carnage, as if spelling out her meaning.
“Arthur, come find me.”
***
As the blue glow dissipated, Arthur Wells’s eyes returned to their normal state. His gaze shifted to the tangible surroundings, and a shiver coursed through him as he mentally adjusted back to his tower. As the spell waned in power, the chalk circle under his feet faded.
Feeling discombobulated as his mind returned to his body, Arthur took a moment to massage his temples before proceeding to his desk, where he collapsed in his seat. The afternoon light poured in from the windows, and he could hear the faint sound of the Kaska River flowing a mile away. The scent of sulfur lingered in the air from his ritual circle, wafting out of the room. Arthur put his hands on his desk and gripped the polished wooden edges to steady himself before taking a deep breath and leaning back.
For the past seven months, he had been experimenting with a series of prophecies. He needed them to prove the outcome of his new method of predicting the future and was throwing ideas at the wall at this point. He had tested and retested his methods and always came to the same conclusion—in five hundred years, the Material Plane would be destroyed. It didn’t matter what he attempted to predict—earthquake, war, famine, plague—all prophecies about Materia cut off at the same point.
No one back at the academy believed his new methods for prediction worked. He started off using a dozen proven methods of foresight to reinforce that they all reached the same conclusion as his theory of mathematical prognostication. However, most of the old proven methods provided vague, abstract images of the future that required interpretation. Unfortunately, his peers never read the same devastation in visions that Arthur insisted would occur.
After those initial failures, he changed his approach, using old prediction methods to seek what information he lacked that could prove his theory correct beyond any doubt. Bit by bit, he was collecting information regarding what he needed to do to convince the High Archivist and the other archwizards across Materia. This vision was one of those many attempts. It was odd, though; there was an unexpected presence this time—the singer. Arthur leaned forward, reviewing the draft of the circle he had sketched on paper.
“Perhaps I miscalculated a few of the intersections,” he said, muttering to himself, frustrated that it didn’t go as far into the future as his prior visions.
He took out his pipe and puffed a few times to get it started, using a flame produced from his fingers. Arthur leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his wavy black hair. His familiar, a small owl named Aeon, flew down from his perch across the room and landed before the wizard, cocking its head toward its master.
“It appears, Aeon, that I am being summoned to adventure. This latest configuration had a feminine voice telling me to find her.” Arthur blew the smoke from his pipe away from his owl’s face.
“My view of the palace was clearer this time. I can now confidently say that it is the Rosewood Manor, the former summer palace of the Vandein family. Curious, though, I nearly removed it from consideration as it fell out of use two centuries ago.”
He clenched the pipe’s stem between his teeth, pulled forward a map of the country of Minarin, and then spoke from the corner of his mouth. “The rest of the locations are far less clear. Its focus was more on the palace breaking apart and sliding into the ocean. The voice sang in riddles as well.”
He took a moment to jot down the song’s words. He then started making notes on a separate page, talking to Aeon while he worked. “From fortunes green and ruby reds? Fortuna is the Emerald City, likely meaning the source of these woes. Though, if I had not located the manor, I don’t know if I would connect rubies to Fortuna.”
Aeon interrupted his master’s thinking as he trilled and tapped his talon on the palace’s location on the map.
Arthur continued talking, nodding his agreement as his mind wandered. “Oh, yes. Orick. I must make a trip to Orick. A full moon illuminated the night sky above the castle. The song seemed to say the same. It was urgent at the end of the vision, so if I assume it will be the next full moon, I have exactly twenty days to reach the town outside the castle.”
The owl glanced up with wide eyes, tapping once more.
Arthur sensed his pet’s worry and gently stroked Aeon’s head and ruddy red features. “That location is so remote, I have no portals available. I’ll have to take my door into Astoria and catch a ship.”
Aeon pecked Arthur’s arm. The wizard pulled his arm away in pain, rubbing where the owl had pecked. Despite his small size, Aeon could crush the wizard’s hands in his talons, should he choose to do so.
“Yes, I know, but the voice insisted. I’ve never had a vision tell me to investigate outright. It must be a sign from Zovras. You know I cannot turn down a call from my god.”
The owl strutted before Arthur and then swiveled his head away. In his way, Aeon was telling Arthur he disliked this plan.
“Don’t pout,” Arthur said, taking another puff of his pipe. “I can have my mother stay with you while I am gone.”
Aeon’s gaze whipped back to Arthur, and the owl gave a happy trill.
Arthur petted his pet, running his hand over Aeon’s dense feathers a few more times. “You’ll be a pound heavier when I return. I hope you can still fly.”
His talon scraped the parchment as Aeon tapped the sea on the map, then looked back up at Arthur.
“I know. I’ll take my nausea herbs with me,” he said to the bird before rising from his chair. “Isn’t it amazing? A prophetic vision singing and giving me directions? I haven’t seen this in any vision before.”
Arthur stretched open his enchanted bottomless bag, revealing a collection of carefully selected books and a handful of quills packed neatly in the pocket dimension inside it. He picked up his spell book, a deep indigo leather tome with ornate silver bonds, and placed it in the bag. Arthur extended his arm, and his staff flew into his grasp from across the room.
“It’s curious, though. I only tried this because they wouldn’t accept my thesis. A voice in a visual prophecy is unprecedented!” he said while wandering his tower, adding items to his bag.
“Would they have rejected my prophecy if I had started with this?” Arthur asked his owl, not expecting a reply.
“Telling the High Archivist that I conducted the prophecy in the old methods and received an ethereal voice telling me to seek them out? Oh, the look on his face would have been priceless! They may not believe Zovras has spoken, but I will force them to see it.”
Aeon landed on Arthur’s shoulder and pulled at his clothing.
“Yes, I’ll change clothes and pack food, but then I really must go. The sea voyage will take at least a week, and I’ll need time to investigate before the palace collapses.”
Four unsuspecting souls embark on the road to destiny in Tears of Eternity Book One: Foresight. Arthur Wells is an outcast wizard desperate to prove that his methods of prophesying indicate that destruction and destitution are coming for the realm of Minarin. Meanwhile, an elven sorceress seeks to discover why elven souls are suddenly not reincarnating. Embarking on a grand quest for an ancient relic, Lee leaves the confines of Moltam Forest for the first time, hoping that he can survive long enough to save his parents from starving during the coming winter. Finally, jaded spy Rejnar wakes up imprisoned by the very family he had been forced to work for. Intending to save his captive daughter, Rejnar suffers from a curse that seeks to rob him of both his magic and his memories. Together, they must weave through a dangerous web of conspiracy and save their realm from falling victim to total chaos.
Tears of Eternity Book One: Foresight is captivating from the first page. The prologue consisting of Arthur’s vision of impending disaster painted an initial picture that was vibrant, suspenseful, and encouraging the reader to swiftly turn the next page as fast as they can. Lee was my favorite character. I could really identify with his desire to someday leave home and explore the wider world, but also be scared and homesick when that time finally comes. The unique cast of the book allows makes it accessible to a wide audience, from young adults to senior citizens. Anyone who picks it up is embarking on their own journey of thrilling danger and self-discovery as they work to unravel the threads of darkness threatening Minarin.
Of the themes explored within the book, I think the one that is most relatable today is the connection of greed to causing despair to others. Greed is ripe in our own world, and yet it seems humanity continues to have trouble understanding that the actions of a few powerful people really can have devastating consequences for a vast population of people. Despite the danger, chaos and uncertainty, however, Tears of Eternity also emphasizes the importance of not losing hope, even when all seems lost.
Overall, Tears of Eternity is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy realms such as Dragonlance’s Krynn or the world of Shannara.