Sorceress of Darshiva. In this fourth book of The Malloreon, Garion and his companions continue their desperate search for Zandramas, the Child of Dark and abductor of Garion's baby son, Geran. Led by the Orb from Mallorea to the island of Melcena, they discover the place where the Sardion once rested and also find Senji, a self-taught wizard whose undamaged copy of the Ashabine Oracles carries a message for Garion from the evil God Torak. As Zandramas's intention to fulfil the Dark...

Auskiere, wizard of wind and water, bound the Mharg-demons with the aid of Ivan, master of fire and earth. But at the moment of his greatest peril Ivan is betrayed and he swears a terrible oath against his betrayer - an oath so powerful that it begins a relentless "cycle of fire".

On the world of Palace, political intrigue is the rule of the day and the repercussions of an old war between humans and the reptilian Lep are still having their effect. When the last surviving member of the old ruling family is discovered and speedily betrothed to the military usurper's son, this young woman becomes the focal point of all the simmering unrest on Palace.

Legends told of how the evil God Torak had coveted the power of the Orb of Aldur, until defeated in a final battle. But prophecy spoke of a time when he would awake and again seek dominance over all the world. Now the Orb had been stolen by a priest of Torak, and that time was at hand. The master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain it before the final disaster. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months...

Earth is ravaged by tornadoes, and in their aftermath everyone becomes sterile. Certain people acquire psychic powers and can experience "trips" in each other's company, during which their consciousness appears to dislocate itself in time and space.