Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, is walking away from a battlefield where he was left for dead. All around lie the fallen armies of his cousin and his brother, who made war to rule the Khaganate. Temur is now the legitimate heir by blood to his grandfather’s throne, but he is not the strongest. Going into exile is the only way to survive his ruthless cousin.

Once-Princess Samarkar is climbing the thousand steps of the Citadel of the Wizards of Tsarepheth. She was heir to the Rasan Empire until her father got a son on a new wife. Then she was sent to be the wife of a Prince in Song, but that marriage ended in battle and blood. Now she has renounced her worldly power to seek the magical power of the wizards.

These two will come together to stand against the hidden cult that has so carefully brought all the empires of the Celadon Highway to strife and civil war through guile and deceit and sorcerous power.

While I won’t say that there’s no place left for European-inspired fantasy, I will say that there’s so much European-inspired fantasy out there that coming across a fantasy novel that takes inspiration from another part of the world can feel very refreshing. Range of Ghosts is definitely that sort of novel, drawing inspiration from a variety of cultures, their history and beliefs: Mongolian, Chinese, Arabic, and I believe aspects of Indian culture too, though I can’t say for certain. The variety of sources helps to build a world that feels both familiar and unique at the same time, knowing that it was inspired by this world and this world’s history, but still feeling like something distinct and original.

Range of Ghosts is told mostly from the perspectives or two main characters, though there are other points of view scattered throughout when the story needs them. It begins with Temur, grandson of the Great Khan, survivor of a vicious battle in which his uncle attempted to seize control of the Khaganate. Temur survives the battle but is left somewhat adrift in his own culture, with no family connections he can rely upon, nothing to offer the woman he falls in love with, unable to marry because nobody will be able to pass on his true name. Temur wants revenge against his uncle, but after Edene gets kidnapped, Temur vows to rescue her, adding another task to the list of quests he willingly undertakes.

We also have the perspective of Samarkar, once-princess who sacrifices her title and fertility to become a wizard of Tsarepeth, essentially escaping the confinement of her previous royal life. One of her earliest assignments as a wizard is to investigate strange reports of the city of Qeshqer, also called Kashe. Samarkar arrives at Qeshqer to find it stripped of life, with only piles of bones left behind. On her way back to Tsarepeth to make her report, she encounters Temur, ill with fever, and she makes the decision to bring him back with her so that he can be healed. The two strike up an alliance that turns to friendship, with two dissimilar goals meeting along a similar path.

We do get a third perspective slipping in quite often, that of al-Sepehr, adherent of a cult devoted to the Scholar-God, man who orchestrated Edene’s kidnapping. Though he propels a lot of the story forward by means of instigating things for Temur and Samarkar to deal with, he seems very much a secondary character at this point in the series, which feels a bit off. He masterminds great things, he’s definitely a driving force behind much of what happens through the book, but he feels very much in the background, someone who exists mostly to do things that motivate other characters. It’s an odd position for such a powerful character to occupy, and I hope to see more of him in the future. I’m very curious as to his end-game.

Bear’s world-building in Range of Ghosts is exquisite, with loads of little details that bring things to life and make everything feel real, properly developed and fleshed out. Being able to pull a lot of these details from real-world cultures helps a lot, since there’s a strong foundation to work with, which I think shows the sheer amount of research that Bear must have put into this work, to have everything come across so clearly and realistically. It’s the sort of book that transports the reader into it, rather than just telling them a story.

I will say that despite how much I love the world that Range of Ghosts presents, and the characters within the story, it does feel like very little actually happens here. Range of Ghosts definitely comes across like it’s the beginning of something much larger, but also like the meat of the tale has yet to really start. There’s a lot of set-up, with Edene being kidnapped, with Temur and Samarkar joining forces, with the introduction of characters like Hsiung and Hrahima (who I can’t help but picture looking like Tigress from the Kung Fu Panda movies), with the establishment of the political coup on the steppes, but it all feels like the beginning of many different stories. Ones that all connect, yes, but a lot of beginnings regardless.

That being said, the events in Range of Ghosts did make me want to keep reading the trilogy, so I suppose I can say the set-up and the hints of what’s to come did their job of capturing a reader’s attention. Bear’s writing is first-rate, her ability to tell a compelling story nothing short of remarkable, and I’m very impressed with all that she did here. I look forward to continuing to read the Eternal Sky trilogy.