The Sands of Ethryn by C S Lakin

The King is ruling a dying land.  There's a water shortage and food supplies are limited.  When a team of workers find an old archeological site, he comes for visit.  When he touches a beautiful gem set at the top of an altar, he falls into a coma.  This is a perfect opportunity for an old enemy to arise and take over the kingdom...

The author sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published, so check with your local bookstore for a copy.

Mr. Lakin's fairy tales are always twisted tales that connect different times and different worlds together.  She does that well and she also gets you interested and empathetic about her characters.  The King spends of this book in a coma and you get bits and pieces of his past life interspersed with current events.  The Vizier thinks he's strong enough to control a demon he's bringing to life and looks at this as an opportunity to succeed and take over the Kingdom.  He's wrong, the demon takes over control of his body...

My favorite part of the story is the young couple in love.  She is a scribe and works in the scroll room with her grandfather.  He's also a scholar but he's royalty.  Since she has an illness that gives her fits, they can never marry.  But love doesn't care about those things.

This is a complex story with the mix of past and present in the story.  It reads well, there is plenty of action, and the evil almost palpitates off the pages when you read about the demon.  Ms. Lakin has created another fantasy world where the fight between good and evil is hard fought.  

This book is part of The Gates of Heaven series, but it reads just fine alone.  Here's a story with faith in God and evil from Hell meeting in a battle that will end badly for the loser.  Are you ready for a trip back in time?