It was obvious from the story that there was a bit of story missing. Turns out this was a second book.
It was not indicated in the title in any way.

But it wasn't even engaging. I enjoyed the first Thieves' World book of short stories, but this, this was just plain old boring D&D. ( )

The second in a trilogy, these are the continuing adventures of Tempus (a character from the Thieve's World anthologies) with his current military unit, the Stepsons including Niko & Randal, Straton & Critias as they battle Roxane, evil Nisibisi Death's Queen and most powerful witch.
Roxane still has power over Shamshi (son of the chief evil wizard, Datan, in Beyond Sanctuary) and corrupts Grillo, leader of the Tyse Specials.
We meet other characters from Beyond Sanctuary, including Tempus' wizard slaying sister Cime, who is consort of Askelon ("Ash"), a wizard so powerful he is entelechy of dream (where entelechy means the complete realisation and final form of some potential concept).
We also meet Kama, Tempus' daughter, and a member of the Rankan Third Commando, an earlier elite military unit that formed about Tempus, who wish to reunite with their former commander.

This is an enjoyable, over the top, complex fantasy story, where you see a little character development in the main characters, especially Niko & Randal who come across as the most interesting characters in this story. ( )

Janet Morris has done an awesome job with this book again. I have read her books and I am a fan. This is the Cut edition of “Beyond the Veil” which contains new scenes, details and insights.
I love science fiction fantasy so this is the book for me. The author provides a mixture of deceit, magic, mystery and romance. I did not put the book down until I got to the last page and then I was sad that it was over.
I would recommend the book to all that love science fiction and spending time with a great book.
( )

The title, Beyond the Veil, suggests to me an uncertain, mysterious world, where you must guess at the shape of things by their somewhat misleading impressions. It is a world of fantasy, where deceit abounds. Expecting treachery, an empty armor can be sent to battle as a counter-measure, to fool the eyes of the enemy, veiling them to the truth.

In spite of his resistance Randal is dragged across town, to aid the Stepsons investigate the murder of an assassin, Belize, whose last gasp we have just felt, turning open the first few pages. Randal, the sorcerer who wishes to ascend through the ranks of magic, must read the dead, visit whatever is left of his fading mind. “Even before his palms had gone to the temples of the corpse, as his fingertips touched those cool lips, he got an impression.”

Meanwhile, his reluctant partner, Niko, has withdrawn rather abruptly from Tyse and from the Sacred Band camaraderie. “Here, in windswept Ennina, Nikodermus had repaired to heal his soul and put his life in order.” Randal is charged with bringing Niko back for active duty, with the directive, “Serve as you’re bid, the best you can… Go fetch Niko home.” Despite exchanging ritual salutations when they meet, “Life to you, left-side leader,” “And everlasting glory, right man,” Niko and Randal are comrades by assignment only, and it would take a great effort for them to learn to work together.

Then there’s Tempus, the immortal commander of the Sacred Band. “With all the portents teasing him and events goading him, with Jihan plaguing him and the Mygdonian hostage Shamshi worrying him, he chafed to be upon his way.” In a world where trust can lead into danger, Tempus is careful to examine strangers with a cool mind, until proven worthy. Of his long-lost daughter, Kama, he says at first, “She might just be a child of mine. If so, she bears watching… She’s full of deceit… Keep clear of her,until I decide whether we’ve any use for her.”

“Sacred bands required loyalty beyond question, to their ethos, their commanders and to one another: shoulder to shoulder, to the death, with honor.” Indeed, loyalty is the antidote to deceit, it guides you beyond the veil. In this sweeping epic, you will meet heroes that seem to have stepped out of the pages of Greek mythology—and yet, from time to time, you may find a note that brings a smile to your lips, because the humor in it reflects our own, more prosaic world. When Tempus thinks of his lover, Jihan, the wind-charmer, Froth Daughter born of the sea at the edge of time, “As a bedmate, he found her suitable; as a companion, she wore upon his nerves.”

Five Stars. ( )

More of Tempus, and the Stepsons, and general madness and mayhem and magic and bloodshed. Good times. ( )