LAST UPDATE
6/25/23
Companions
on the Road by Tanith Lee, Bantam, 1979
The
first of these – the title story – follows three men who steal a cursed
relic when they participate in the conquest of a city ruled by a
sorcerer. Something follows them from the city and two of the men die in
their sleep. The third manages to escape the curse after considerable
trouble. The second is somewhat similar but in reverse. The priestess in
charge of a village shrine pursues a shapeshifter who steals a sacred
relic, discovers that he is commanded by a sorcerer, steals the relic
back, travels through time, and then defeats the wizard in the climax.
Both very good novellas. 6/25/23
Volkhavaar by
Tanith Lee, DAW, 1977
This
is a fairly standard fantasy world with a few variations, but the story
is much more original. A young woman who is the slave of a village
family learns from a witch how to travel outside of her body. She has
fallen in love with an actor in a travelling troupe whose leader is
actually a powerful sorcerer, Volkhavaar, although he generally calls
himself Kernik. Through the use of illusion and mind control, he gains
power over the local Duke and soon marries his daughter, but only after
substituting a black magic ritual for the usual ceremony. He then kills
his wife’s parents. He has detected the slave’s mental presence and cut
her off from her body, but the witch restores the connection, after
which the slave undercuts Kernik’s powers and forces him to flee the
area. She doesn’t end up with the actor, however, although there are
hints that she may do so in the future. 6/18/23
East of Midnight
by Tanith Lee, Tempo, 1985 (originally published in 1977)
For
younger readers. Although I didn’t care for the story very much – a
young man is transported into another world that is a matriarchy – Lee
provides some interesting views on gender roles. One world is run by men
and one by women, and neither of them is particularly appealing. At the
same time, the cruelties are generally regretted by those inflicting
them, but they are trapped by the mores of their respective cultures and
it is only when the cross fertilization occurs that some movement is
made to improve things. 6/7/23
Lycanthia by
Tanith Lee, DAW, 1981
A
very unusual and sometimes haunting werewolf novel about a young man who
believes he is dying, is very bitter, and finds himself owner of a
crumbling chateau in a remote part of Europe. There are a brother and
sister living in the woods nearby whom the villagers shun, and they tell
him openly that they are shapechangers, although he does not believe
them at first. The three of them bond somehow, perhaps because
they are all outsiders, but their union is doomed because the villagers
are driven to a mass assault that shatters their lives. This was at the
time her best novel, in my opinion. 6/2/23
Shon the Taken
by Tanith Lee, Beaver, 1979
A
very minor and quite short traditional fantasy adventure for younger
readers. Shon is a young man who is forced to flee his village after he
has contact with a group of supposed supernatural creatures. He goes to
another village which is not as superstitious and makes new friends.
Having acquired some self confidence, he then decides to track down the
band of people who caused him so much trouble and put the rumors to an
end, which quest he eventually accomplishes. Okay, but not memorable.
5/29/23
The Storm Lord
by Tanith Lee, DAW, 1976
The
writing and not the plot is the main attraction here, because the story
is rather a familiar one. Political maneuvering results in danger to an
infant – who is technically next in line for the throne – who must be
hidden by a loyal servant until he is an adult. Then he learns of his
heritage and after suitable trials and tribulations, he raises the
populace to overthrow the usurpers in a series of standard adventures
and battle sequences. The one twist is that he then immediately gives up
the throne and rides off into the sunset with the woman he loves.
5/27/23
Death’s Master
by Tanith Lee, DAW, 1979
Second
in the Flat earth series. This was more of a focused novel plot,
following the career of Zhirem, son of a king, cursed with
invulnerability, exiled from the temple where he had been placed because
of his behavior with another youth, Simmu, who alternates between
genders. Simmu declares war on Death and establishes a city where
residents will live forever, thus defeating death. Zhirem finds his way
there years later and realizes that it is a decaying society that
produces no children, so he throws Simmu into a magic well and the city
collapses. Death has its victory. 5/21/23
Night’s Master
by Tanith Lee, DAW, 1976
First
in the Flat Earth series. This is really a series of stories told in the
form of fairy tales, although characters recur and this is something
approaching an organized central plot. The prose is superior to that of
most modern fantasy, and I was reminded at times of Jack Vance’s Dying
Earth stories. The closest to a protagonist is Azhrarn, an annoying
unpronounceable name, who is the Prince of Demons and rules in the
Underearth. He interacts with various humans, generally in ways they
don’t like. Very nicely written. 5/12/23
The Castle of Dark
by Tanith Lee, 1978
First
of two related books. Lilune is a young girl held prisoner in a magical
castle by two hags who have magical powers. Lilune manages to cast a
spell of her own and draws Lir, a minstrel, to help her escape. The two
do not get along and they are accompanied by an almost palpable evil
that Lilune decides is inherent in her being. They part ways and she
returns to the castle, but Lir is not entirely convinced and follows
her. There he discovers that the evil is in the castle and not in the
woman. 5/7/23
Prince on a
White Horse by Tanith Lee, 1982
This
is a kind of sequel to The Castle of Dark, and is more obviously
for younger readers. A prince has a series of adventures involving a
mechanical dragon, a beautiful princess, a puzzling knight, a giant
spider, a mad witch, and a mysterious palace before fulfilling his
destiny and defeating the evil Nulgrave. The tone is humorous and the
plot linear and actually kind of boring. In general, I find
Lee's adult fiction to be far superior to her YA fiction, and I like YA
fiction. 5/7/23
Blood of the
Serpent by S.M. Stirling, Titan, 2023
It
looks like Titan Books is planning to extend the Conan saga, starting
with this one, a direct prequel to "Red Nails." Conan is working as a
mercenary when he meets Valeria, sort of his female counterpart. They
are in unusual danger because she offended a minor aristocrat who is in
quasi-exile, and later attracts the ire of a mysterious priest, who
seems to have no reason to dislike her in particular. Conan is drawn to
the woman despite her early rebuff, and he soon finds himself facing the
same dangers - the details of which I won't spoil here. Nice fantasy
adventure and with a good deal of the flavor of the Howard original
stories. "Red Nails" is also included. 4/10/23
The Girl, the
Gold Watch, and Everything by John D. MacDonald, Gold Medal,
1962
I
had very fond memories of this novel of a man who inherits a pocket
watch that is capable of stopping time, but it was actually rather
disappointing this time. MacDonald did not take advantage of the theme –
we don’t even know about its magical powers until halfway through the
story – and the characters are comparatively flat and uninteresting. I
consider this a major disappointment, not just because MacDonald is
normally so good, but because it jarred my memory so dramatically. I
suspect that he was just not comfortable writing humor, which is absent
from almost all of his other fiction. 3/31/23
The Cabinet of Dr.
Leng by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Grand Central, 2023
The
latest Pendergast novel is mostly about his friend Constance who travels
magically back to 1880 - making this a fantasy - in an effort to rescue
her sister, who died in a work house. Unfortunately, the sister has been
spirited away by the mysterious Dr. Leng, supposedly a doctor but really
a serial killer. In the present Pendergast attempts to find a way to
bring her back. In the past, she refuses to abandon her quest and puts
herself in danger. There are several good scenes in the novel -
which is actually only half of the novel, ending in a cliffhanger. That
said, I only marginally enjoyed, probably in part because it was not
what I expected and had been looking forward to. The lack of a
conclusion is also a negative. 3/8/23
Quest
for the White Witch by Tanith Lee, DAW, 1978
Final
volume in a trilogy. Vazkor is a powerful sorcerer who sets out on a
quest to find and kill his mother, an equally powerful sorceress. He has
various adventures along the way and learns a good deal about himself
before the final confrontation. The story is hampered by the breadth of
his power – he can cure wounds, control the weather, generated deadly
bursts of force, restore youth, etc. This means that he is never really
in danger. He is also arrogant and lacks affection, which makes him more
of an anti-hero than anything else. Not one of my favorites by this
author. 3/3/23
Vazkor, Son
of Vazkor by Tanith Lee, DAW, 1978
Sequel
to The Birthgrave. The protagonist is the son of the superhuman
female from the first book, although she substituted him for an ordinary
infant and he grew up believing himself to be the son of a tribal chief,
despite his unusual strength and recuperative powers. He is not a nice
person. After various adventures, he discovers his true lineage, becomes
outcast from his tribe, is briefly a tortured and then a pampered
prisoner in one of the cities, is condemned to death but escapes, and
ends the book casting off in a boat in search of new lands. Not nearly
as powerful as its predecessor. 3/38/23
The Birthgrave by
Tanith Lee, DAW, 1975
A
woman wakes up under a volcano with amnesia. She is a survivor of a
cruel elder race who once enslaved humanity – although it is not
entirely clear that they were not human themselves. She has healing
powers and other magical abilities, including being able to recover from
being dead and climb out of her grave. She has adventures with
villagers, bandits, soldiers, and a chariot race before encountering
another of her kind, who is seizing power over one group of cities in
order to conquer several others. The world is an unpleasant one and the
protagonist is not a particularly nice person, but the story has power
in its language and its gradual portrayal of a somewhat atypical fantasy
world. I never cared for the ending, which tries to rationalize
everything, but the book is still powerful and gripping. 2/19/23
The Dragon Hoard
by Tanith Lee, Tempo, 1971
Tanith
Lee’s debut novel was for children. It’s a cute, somewhat silly, quest
story drawn from familiar fairy tales. A young prince sets out to steal
treasure from a fierce dragon. He gains allies along the way and
succeeds despite efforts by a nasty sorceress to sabotage his efforts.
The dragon is taking some personal time and does not appear in the
story, so our heroes simply gather up the treasure and leave. An evil
sorceress tries to interfere. Fun but slight. 2/14/23
Dead Country by Max
Gladstone, Tor, 2023, $17.99, ISBN 978-0-7653-9591-7
I
burned out on fantasy novels a while back, so I was surprised to
discover this author had written so much during my lapse of interest. I
read and enjoyed some of the earlier novels in the Craft series, but I
felt as though I was coming to it for the first time. This appears to be
the opening volume in the final arc. The protagonist has clearly had
more than her share of adventure and danger already and deserves a rest,
which obviously is not in the cards. When she meets a young girl on her
way home to her father's funeral, she is caught up in yet another
struggle against the forces of chaos. Gladstone has created a distinct
fantasy world for this series, wirh an underlay of rampant capitalism.
He has a deceptively light handed narrative style that leads one easily
through sometimes complex situations. I should go back and fill in the
books that I missed. 2/1/23
It’s All in
Your Mind by Robert Bloch, Curtis, 1971
This
was an expansion of the 1955 short story “The Big Binge.” A cloddish
protagonist is exposed to an experimental machine, after which he can
literally strip women naked by looking at them. He suppresses the power
with alcohol, but that allows him to physically manifest his
hallucinations. Further exposure, designed to cure him, just makes
things worse. At one point he creates ten duplicates of himself and
forms a football team. The comedy is rather forced and sometimes pretty
juvenile. 1/6/23
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