An axe-wielding barbarian princess leads her mercenary trio through a rousing fantasy adventure in Iron Dawn. Barra Coll Eigg Rhum has a basalt axe and a blazing temper to match her fiery hair. At her side walk Leucas, an Athenian warrior of mighty proportions; Kheperu, an Egyptian ex-priest and sometime sorcerer; and her wolf, Graegduz, who isn"t tame, just respectful. All they want is to earn a little silver. They start out by tackling a maddened bear in the marketplace of Tyre, but mysteries and dangers compound until they end up facing off against one of the Pharaoh"s grandsons and his army of zombies. Matthew Woodring Stover has done a terrific job in his first novel. The characters are funny, likable, smart, and tough. The Bronze Age setting has a Middle Eastern flair; one can almost smell the "cinnamon and pepper in the cedar-laced pine smoke." The sorcerous overtones are seriously threatening, and true unto themselves, not the sort of flimsy magic in which anything can happen and nothing has to be paid for. This is also true of the excellent brawling that fills the book: people get wounded, feel pain, wear filthy bandages, are scarred. People die--although some come back to life in the worst possible way. Iron Dawn is thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover, as is its sequel, Jericho Moon. --Blaise Selby