The War of Powers is a series of six epic fantasy fiction novels, co-written by American authors Robert E. Vardeman and Victor Milán.
When he finds his client dead, Fost discovers that the jar contains the spirit of the long-dead philosopher Erimenes the Ethical, a man who once preached the value of total abstinence.
Falling in with the beautiful Princess Moriana, who plans to use the amulet to overthrow her evil sister Synalon and reclaim her throne, Fost and Erimenes set out on a journey to recover the relic.
Pursued by Moriana’s sadistic cousin Prince Rann, they finally come to the glacier-locked city of Athalau, site of the last great battle between the Star Demon Istu and Felarod the Mystic which took place ten thousand years before.
Sobbing with grief, Moriana folds Fost's hands over the unremarkable stone, which he grasped in his death throes, and takes the black and white jewel before leaving the city in the company of Ziore, the ghost of an embittered nun who once followed Erimenes' teachings of denial.
Fost learns from the abandoned Erimenes that Moriana has mistakenly taken the Destiny Stone, a jewel capable of altering its wearer's luck for good or ill.
They form a plan to summon the World Spirit, as Felarod the Mystic did during the War of Powers, with the hope that this time they can destroy Istu utterly.
"[3] Dave Langford reviewed The War of Powers Part II: Istu Awakened for White Dwarf #63, and stated that "People who like routine sword-and-sorcery, with a killing or orgasm (sometimes both) every few pages, will no doubt love this book.