Mariana Alferova — The Finger of Fate (Ilya Dementyev)
The Finger of Fate is a fantasy novel set in a brutal, magic-saturated world where power is held by mages and ancient secrets of destiny. Long ago, these lands belonged to the ancient race of the Lurs—skilled builders and inventors—who lost their dominion under the onslaught of warlike tribes and withdrew into the wilds. They were succeeded by the Empire of Domirya, and later by merchant city-states and new kingdoms that inherited legends of Fate and its endless wheel, bestowing both fortune and defeat.
In the novel’s present day, mages wield immense power: they subjugate ordinary mortals and conjure spectral armies capable of deciding the fate of entire kingdoms. For a ruler, securing just a handful of powerful mages is enough to become invincible. But without magical support, any state just as swiftly loses its power and becomes easy prey for the greedy.
The book focuses on the struggle for power, intricate political intrigues, the dangers of magic, and the difficult choices faced by the protagonists as they try to preserve their strength, find their place in the world, and withstand Fate itself—whose “game” transforms everything around them.