Into the Thinking Kingdoms

Ehomba and his companions, the swordsman Simna ibn Sind and the giantcat Ahlitah, have conquered all the magical perils of the UnstableLands -- only to discover they must still reach the distant, fabledportof Hamacassar if they hope to find a ship that would dare to sail theimpassable Semordria Ocean.

And the travelers must cross kingdoms unlike any the tribesman has everseen: "civilized" lands that are worldly, prosperous, clean... andlethal. Where honest questions are answered with lies, where treacheryprevails, where citizens destroy anything they cannot control, wherebirds are spies, and even flowers are at war.

Ehomba has guided his friends through jungle, veldt, and desert. Now hemust rely on memories-memories powerful enough to bring the sea to dryland or a warrior from the past -- to survive a city where thinking isacrime, a country haunted by demons too horrible for hell, and a realmguarded by moats of captive Time.

And throughout the journey, the herdsman must keep one secret from hiscompanions. For two seers, separated by continents, have each toldEhomba that his quest can end only in defeat... and death.

"Multiple bestseller Alan Dean Foster continues histriumphantly inventive, critically acclaimed epic "Journeys of theCatechist: " the impossible quest of a uniquely compelling hero in aworld of boundless wonder. A humble herdsman from an isolated tribe, Etjole Ehomba has a simple sense of honor that requires him to fulfillastranger's dying