"Several years have passed since the demise of Hanish Mein. Corinn Akaran rules with an iron grip on the Known World's many races. She hones her skills in sorcery by studying The Book of Elenet, and she dotes on her young son, Aaden – Hanish's child – raising him to be her successor. Mena Akaran, still the warrior princess she became fighting the eagle god Maeben, has been battling the monsters released by the Santoth's corrupted magic. In her hunt she discovers a creature wholly unexpected, one that awakens emotions in her she has long suppressed. And Dariel Akaran, once a brigand of the Outer Isles, has devoted his labors to rebuilding the ravaged empire brick by brick. Each of the Akaran royals is finding their way in the post-war world. But the queen's peace is difficult to maintain, and things are about to change.

When the League brings news of upheavals in the Other Lands, Corinn sends Dariel across the Grey Slopes as her emissary. From the moment he sets foot on that distant continent, he finds a chaotic swirl of treachery, ancient grudges, intrigue and exoticism. He comes face to face with the slaves his empire has long sold into bondage. His arrival ignites a firestorm that once more puts the Known World in threat of invasion. A massive invasion. One that dwarfs anything the Akarans have yet faced..."

Booklist: The middle book of Acacia plays out several years after the Mein were conquered despite loss of the Known World's ruler and his son and successor Aliver (see The War with the Mein, 2007) and protective exile of the remaining four royal children. Mena and Dariel have lived among the common people and want to end drug and slave trafficking. Their sister Corinn, who becomes queen, sees things very differently. She appoints trained warrior Mena to lead an army to slay voracious, nausea-evoking foulthings created by spells of corruption cast on natural creatures, and Dariel as an ambassador to the unknown Other Lands, charged with restoring the trade needed to restore the kingdom's stability. Betrayed and imprisoned, he faces possible death. Meanwhile, former slave Barad foments revolution, Corinn's devious covert agent has his own agenda, and the discovery of Aliver's nine-year-old out-of-wedlock daughter further roils the political waters. As before, intrigue and treachery run rampant, and Durham maintains the momentum as well as the twists and turns of the plot in an eminently satisfying manner.

Kirkus Reviews: "Old wars are re-fought, new alliances and conflicts arise in the middle volume of a fantasy trilogy set in the embattled land that calls itself the Known World... Durham (Pride of Carthage, 2005, etc.) handles his many-leveled plot with impressive thoughtfulness; racial stereotyping, exploitation of defenseless populations and tribal enmity are among the subjects whose continued relevance—for the novel's characters and its readers—becomes increasingly evident. When Corinn, a superbly complex character quite wonderfully drawn, announces that "no more children of the Known Word will be sent to the Other Lands," it's an emancipation proclamation that may have come too late to avert what the closing pages suggest could become a global war... boggles the mind and transcends genre."

Rick Kleffel (The Agony Column): ...an excellent second installment in the Acacia Trilogy... Durham has a singular voice in fantasy, and it is, as one might expect, well-informed by his historical writing. There's a sophistication and clarity here that will enable readers to fully immerse in Durham's psychologically and morally complex story of magic, monsters and conquest. To be honest, I was a little cautious about Durham's work, thinking, incorrectly, that he might not deal well or even at all with the elements of the fantastic that make fantasy fiction, er fantasy. But he's an outstanding creator or myths and the critters behind the myths, of magic and the power struggles that wrap themselves around any source of power. Most importantly, however, he gives us a gallery of characters who are all very distinct, very different, and yet to a one, enjoyable to read about... Great writing, complicated characters, moral and social woes that echo our own world in an imaginative fashion — this is what fantasy is all about. It's not about escape. It's about perspective."