The Tower on the Rift — Ian Irvine

THE TALE OF THE DRY SEA

The ancient city of Thurkad has fallen, and all who gathered there for the Great Conclave are scattered. Driven mad, the young sensitive Karan is left for dead. Her lover, Llian the Chronicler, is captured by the renegade Aachim, who plan to use the Twisted Mirror for an act of millennial vengeance. The great mancers, including Magister Mendark, flee, die, or are rendered powerless, and even the conquering sorcerer Yggur is threatened by a growing fear of what is to come. For the path of all heroes and villains will meet in the cursed desert called the Dry Sea. And there, in a lost fortress of power, terrible forbidden magics will merge with desperation and folly--and unleash forces that can shatter the destiny of worlds...