In the third of the Morgaine books (and the conclusion to the trilogy, as the fourth book was produced years later), Morgaine and Vanye have come through the Gate between worlds/times, along with the horde of Barrowers, Marshlanders and Shiua lords (degenerate descendants of the qual, the alien race who originally caused havoc with uncontrolled time travelling via the Gates). They are forced to flee to the vast forest which surrounds the plain - Azeroth - which contains the Gate, known in this world as the Fires. They encounter peaceful human communities which live in harmony with this world's qual - for once, the descendants of the qual here are protective to the humans and have a close bond, some of them forming two person teams who protect the various human villages in clearings within the forest.

As ever, Morgaine's mission is to close the Master Gate and thereby disable all others, but she discovers - via the sword Changeling - in reality a portable Gate - that the Gate through which they entered is the Master, and it is controlled by a vast army of their enemies in a loose coalition led by the halfling lord who caused murder and mayhem in his own land. Other factions follow their enemy, the longlived qual who body-snatched the body of Vanye's cousin Roh, but only for as long as it suits them. Morgaine and Vanye have to convince the qual protectors in this world who are disquieted by their arrival among such a threatening mass, and who would oppose her mission if they knew it, as they have small jewels which they use to protect the forest - actually fragments of the same Gate-stuff of which Changeling is made. As ever, nothing goes smoothly and Vanye is soon separated from Morgaine, who he last saw wounded by an arrow, and tortured by his Barrower enemies, then 'rescued' by a qual noble from the invading army, who hands him over to his supposed halfling lord. Roh - who may or may not be more his good-hearted cousin than the cynical murderer who possesses his body - is Vanye's only hope of survival.

The story features a lot of action after an idyllic beginning among the peaceful villagers, and kept me guessing till the end whether they would survive, whether Roh would betray them or they would kill him, and whether they would somehow succeed in their mission. There is a nice hint towards the end that Morgaine, despite her often cold-hearted exterior, actually has far more regard for Vanye than he could have dreamed. And the epilogue, featuring a minor character who befriended Vanye at the start and who appears at intervals in the story, is rather touching.

The only thing that kept this from a 5-star rating is that there are quite a few bit parts on the side of the good guys who have names which are not dissimilar and it sometimes gets confusing keeping straight who is who, plus some of the characters who are established earlier on as the pair's guides are hardly more than name checked when they finally reappear. It's easier keeping track of who is who among the villains, though there are several of them too. ( )

Really good, hated to see the story come to a close. [But a fourth book eventually came out. See "Exile's Gate".] ( )

Enjoyed this series. ( )

This is book 3 in the first series written by CJ Cherryh. The next step in Morgaine's mission is on Azeroth.

I gave away my original copies of the Morgaine books, but have recently found acceptable used copies. ( )

The formula is now the same-- but you are treated to yet a different world that was twisted by the qhal and the gate technology. ( )