Master of the Grove 
Author Victor Kelleher
Cover illustration by Graham Townsend
Preloved, hardcover chapter book, first edition 1982. Excellent condition.
When his home is destroyed after an attack, Derin sets out to look for his missing father, captured by soldiers of the Citadel. But he is handicapped by his lameness and forced to use a crutch; his only companions on his quest are an old woman, Marna, and a raven which mysteriously attaches itself to him.
Derin's people, upland farmers, are caught up in a war between the people of the mountains, governed by the Sacred Circle of the Grove, and those of the plains, ruled by the Council of the Citadel. There should have been peace between them according to a formula devised by Wenborn the Wise. But Krob has seized power by murdering one of the ten members of the Circle, and with the aid of the magical staff of the Grove proceeds to unleash a terrible vengeance against the plains people.
The pace of this gripping fantasy never lets up until the final moment when Derin finds himself face to face with Krob, 'Master of the Grove', together with the mystery of his own identity. Victor Kelleher is the author of Forbidden Paths of Thual and also of The Hunting of Shadroth, described by Naomi Lewis in the Observer as 'a work of real quality'