An otherwise entertaining fantasy debut, Heir of Autumn is marred by an overly long detour into a gladiator-based game in the middle section and by a whiplash-fast sundering of many of the tale's disparate plot threads at the end.
In the fantasy world created by Carwyn and Fahnestock, the city-state of Ohndarien sits isolated in a brutal world despotic monarchs and dangerous magic. Established as a sort of haven, Ohndarien is ruled by the Children of the Seasons, four people (male or female, apparently) who are tested by the power of the Heartstone at the city's core.
Traditionally, the Children have placed the needs of others (and the city) above their own. Unfortunately, the Ohndarien's precarious position in the geopolitical strata is made painfully clear by the fact that the Children were unable to adequately defend it against a foreign invasion led by Prince Krellis of neighboring Physendria.
One of the Children of the Seasons, the beautiful Baelandra, seduced Krellis and convinced him to take the test of the Heartstone rather than attempt to conquer the city by force. She assumed that the Krellis would fail the test (as a direct consequence of which, he would die). Instead, however, the Heartstone accepted him, and a sliver of the stone was inserted into his chest just as with all the Children. Years later, Krellis now controls much of Ohndarien's military and maintains his tempestuous relationship with Baelandra.
The hero of the tale is young Brophy, Baelandra's nephew, who is the son of one of Ohndarien's Children who went northward on a mysterious mission and never returned. The boy is led astray by Krellis' son, who fatally injures himself after a reprehensible crime committed on a drunken spree; his last words seem accuse Brophy of his death. Krellis believes the accusation, and meanwhile has been plotting to finally usurp dominion of the city for himself, even as his brother, now King of Physendria, moves to attack Ohndarien. Krellis conspires with the emissary of a distant empire, bartering information about some ancient magical artifact lost in the north for the promise of military aid.
Brophy is exiled for his cousin's death, ending up as a gladiator of sorts in Physendria. Here he is mentored by Scythe, a cipher of a man who appears to have only one allegiance in life: to Baelandra, the woman who does not love him. Brophy manages to master the brutal game of Nine Squares, in the process becoming the paramour of a queen and learning some challenging lessons about the vagaries of human nature. Meanwhile, his childhood friend Shara struggles to master the magical forces that govern her role as a courtesan; she struggles even more against the brutal tyranny of the master of her order, who has deep-seated ties to Krellis. And even more dangerous is the mystery in the north: the Legacy of Efflen, a strange and fearsome promise about a child who must never wake - or the world itself is lost.
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