The sequel to The Chosen and the second book in The Stone Dance of the Chameleon trilogy. Twelve years in the creating, Ricardo Pinto's sumptuously imagined Commonwealth of the Three Lands first enthralled fantasy readers in his acclaimed debut, The Chosen. Now the story of the Masters and their imperious, cruel world continues in a novel as original and absorbing as the first. Escaping the clutches of the Empress Ykoriana, Carnelian and Osidian find themselves captives of a barbarian tribe from the southern plain. Dark, unexpected and unbidden forces surface, threatening this new-found world. Rich in detail, passion and drama, The Standing Dead confirms Ricardo Pinto as one of fantasy's most singular and literate new voices.

SUMMARY: Young Carnelian has spent his entire life alone with his father, who years ago rejected the savage cruelty of the Masters of Osrakum and was sent into exile. But now a ship has come flying through the winter gales to shatter his quiet world. Three Masters disembark, and as they remove their masks of gold, Carnelian is awed by the light that seems to radiate from their skin. In formal conclave they beg Carnelian's father to return with them to Osrakum to oversee the election of a new God Emperor.And so Carnelian begins to fulfill his destiny. Along his perilous journey to the Osrakum, he is forced to learn bitter lessons in bloodshed, power, intrigue, love, and treachery--and sets in motion the concluding events in a story four thousand years old.