Shadow of the Well of Souls

Chalker's popular "Well World" series continues (after a 15-year hiatus) as the guardians of the Well return to find their charge mysteriously altered.

Book two in a trilogy reviving Chalker's Well World resumes adventures begun in Echoes of the Well of Souls. Nathan Brazil, immortal guardian of the Well World computer that underlies the creation and evolution of the universe, continues his investigation of the unusual planetwide deviations that prompted his summons back through the Well Gate. Evidencing one of those deviations, many of the species he meets with have evolved along lines that should be impossible; attesting to another, both he and his counterpart, Mavra Chang, have met with inexplicable obstacles in accessing the Well computer, including Chang's subjugation by a former drug dealer from Earth. Meanwhile, unknown to both, the malevolent entity known as the Kraang watches and influences events from the sidelines, setting up a finale of universe-saving proportions. Without hindering the action, Chalker excels in providing richly imagined surroundings and anthropological detail for the Well World's many creatures. Trilogy followers well may anticipate a dramatic finish.