Alchymist
core novel 2003 The Three Worlds Cycle
Record
| First published | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.06 (1,598 ratings, collected 2026-10-09) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780648285304 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
The battle at the lyrinx stronghold of Snizort has been won at a terrible cost and counted as a defeat. Xervish Flydd, the wily old scrutator who destroyed the node there, is blamed for the disaster: his enemy, the vicious Chief Scrutator Ghorr, expels him from the Council, strips him of his rights and condemns him to slavery, and with him goes Nish, cast out and branded a traitor by his own father. Irisis, accused of high treason, flees for her life with unwilling companions, and Tiaan, still pursued for her geomancy by Aachim and Council alike, remains in trouble of her own. The fate of humanity may now depend on the survival of one condemned old man and the friends who refuse to abandon him. Published in the United States and in later editions as Scrutator.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Three Worlds Cycle
- Series: The Well of Echoes core; position 3 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Ian Irvine
Awards (verified)
- Aurealis Award (Best Fantasy Novel), 2003: honor; Honourable mention, per the publisher's description.
Notes
- Published as Alchymist in Australia and the UK (2003); retitled Scrutator in later and US editions.
- From the series record (The Well of Echoes): The second Three Worlds quartet, set some two centuries after The View from the Mirror: Santhenar at war with the lyrinx, winged predators from the Void, fought with crystal-driven clankers; the crystal-worker and geomancer Tiaan, the apprentice spy Nish, the artisan Irisis and the scrutator Xervish Flydd. Book three is published in the United States and in later editions as Scrutator.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Well of Echoes: position 3 of 4: previous Tetrarch (2002) · next Chimaera (2004)
- Internal chronology, within The Three Worlds Cycle: position 10 of 15: previous Dark is the Moon (1999) · next The Destiny of the Dead (2008)
Sources
- Ian Irvine (official site)
- Worlds Without End
- Ian Irvine (official booklist)
- Apple Books (publisher description)
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