When the Akcarum slave traders attack the Dmenians Yukin and his mate, Yulen, are among the slaves taken. As they are dragged through the rift caves to Quentaris some of the slaves undergo a change that awakens some dormant psychic abilities. Any slave exhibiting these talents are quickly separated from the others and sold for much higher prices. Yulen finds that she is able to predict attacks and is soon taken away from the others. Yukin, however, hides his abilities and is sold to one of the Nibhellines.

Soon Yukin finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy to overthrow the ruling families of Quentaris and he must work to help the very families that purchase the slaves to prevent the Akcarum taking over ultimate control.

Slaves of Quentaris is the sixth of The Quentaris Chronicles and is a story of conspiracy, deceit and psychic powers. Yukin must chose between his dislike of the Nibhelline and Duelph masters and the fear of the Akcarum taking over. A definite case of better the devil you know.

Having read the first six of The Quentaris Chronicles over a period of five days one thing comes shining through. It is so clear that Paul Collins and Michael Pryor have put a lot of planning into Quentaris. The world must have been well detailed and clearly defined to allow the other authors to pick up the reins of the story without the slightest hint of any inconsistencies. As I read all the books in quick succession I believe that any such inconsistencies would have been blatantly obvious.

Another aspect of the Chronicles that I found very impressive is the way that the various writing styles blend together to such an extent you could believe that the entire series had been written by the same person.

After reading the first three books I thought that the series was just introducing characters that would be brought together in the later volumes to form a typical band of adventurers. I am delighted to say that I was wrong. Instead of the series being a contrived attempt to create a (usually politically correct) group it is a growing richly coloured tapestry of Quentarian life.

I have read a number of young adult novels over the last few years and I have to say that The Quentaris Chronicles are up there with the very best of them.