"Fighting each other. It makes no sense, but that is what this senseless quest has brought us. From the time we stopped following the star we have been doomed to this."

The stars over the Arabian sands have heralded the coming of a new world ruler, and ambition, tension, desperation, and violence heighten on the race to secure power in Star of Night by author Tracy Higley.

The significance of the strife that unfolds here is rooted in the book that precedes this one, and it's necessary to read The Incense Road trilogy in order. Necessary, and in my eyes so far, worth it. I'll admit there seemed to be a missing link in the chain of emotion somewhere in the first quarter or third of this book, but I didn't feel lost for long.

As the adventure that still reminds me of Aladdin and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark continues, the human story develops further as well. This time, it goes deeper into the conflicted and questioning heart of Reza, a general of the Persian king, unsure of the revolution he's leading, struggling in his friendship with Misha, the young mage who can hear the star that beckons toward Jerusalem.

Sure, I already know something about where this perilous and spiritual journey of epic import must be leading. (Thank you, Christmas!) But the growing weight of the personal stakes the characters have in this has intrigued me all the more to see how the story will ultimately culminate. On to Book Three... ( )