The English apothecary, Thomas Chinnery, continues his travels in 16th century India, searching for a magic powder which brings dead people to life and he meets some of them. Part fantasy, part look at the culture of Mogul India. Kara Dalkey continues her brilliant evocation of sixteenth-century India with Bhagavati, the concluding volume of her Blood of the Goddess trilogy. Thomas Chinnery is the young assistant to a Master Apothecary of England. He was entrusted by his master with a perilous journey into the Portuguese-controlled waters of East Africa and India to establish a direct trade in medicinal herbs. Shipwrecked, he fell into the hands of the Inquisition in the Portuguese colony of Goa. There he saved his life, but perhaps not his soul, by pretending to know the source of a seemingly magical powder, the Rasa Mahadevi, which could restore the dead to life. As the combined caravans of Portuguese blackfriars and the Moghul's expedition leave the city of Bijapur, they carry with them many secrets - murder and mutiny, divine power and temporal betrayal. Thomas Chinnery at last has a true guide to the hidden city of the Goddess, though that guide means to lead all but a few astray in the desert. With them travels the body of the murdered Aditi, and ahead of them has flown a plea for the Goddess's aid in restoring her to life. Within the city of Bhagavati, the Mahadevi no longer waits patiently for the world's seekers to come to her. Now she will walk the Earth once more, first to remind her rebellious people of her power, and then to destroy the army that is advancing. For the power of the Mahadevi is not a myth or a tale spun to cast fear into the hearts of children. As her blood can restore the dead to life, her gaze can turn an army to stone where it stands. Thomas Seeks only to restore his beloved to life, Father Gons莽谩o wishes to destroy a threat to his faith, the general of the Moghul's army seeks to make an alliance with a powerful queen, and the mysterious Lockheart hints at strange sacrifices to be made to the Huntress. But little Brother Timoteo has heard the confessions of the guests of the Santa Casa and has read the forbidden books of ancient myth. He alone knows exactly what they will face when they come at last to Bhagavati. - Dust jacket.