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Novels of Vis #2
Anackire
Raldnor, Storm Lord and chosen hero of the goddess Anackire, has passed into legend after bringing peace to the land of Dorthar. But after twenty years, that tenuous peace is threatening to dissolve. Contentious forces are brewing, working through subterfuge and overt war to see the new Storm Lord displaced.
Kesarh, prince of Istris, has grand ambitions. Though he is only a lesser noble of Karmiss, his shrewdness and cunning ensure him a stake in the tumultuous fight for sovereignty. If he succeeds, he may yet win the power he craves—and an empire to rule.
But his plans are not infallible—a daughter, conceived from a forbidden union, could prove to be his downfall. Ashni is a child not quite human, altered by the strange circumstances of her birth and blessed by the goddess Anackire.
In a world of assassinations, concealed plots, and political machinations, Ashni must contend with the dangerous plans of her father if she is to fulfill the demands of the goddess…and avoid a war that could destroy the very empire Kesarh wishes to build.
Kesarh, prince of Istris, has grand ambitions. Though he is only a lesser noble of Karmiss, his shrewdness and cunning ensure him a stake in the tumultuous fight for sovereignty. If he succeeds, he may yet win the power he craves—and an empire to rule.
But his plans are not infallible—a daughter, conceived from a forbidden union, could prove to be his downfall. Ashni is a child not quite human, altered by the strange circumstances of her birth and blessed by the goddess Anackire.
In a world of assassinations, concealed plots, and political machinations, Ashni must contend with the dangerous plans of her father if she is to fulfill the demands of the goddess…and avoid a war that could destroy the very empire Kesarh wishes to build.
414 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
About the author
Tanith Lee
664 books1,773 followersTanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.
Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.
Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.
Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.
Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 10, 2020
After the disappointment of book 1 in this series, I wasn't expecting much but found this a far better written volume, probably because it was written several years later. The setting is the same land of Vis but about 28 years after the events of 'The Storm Lord'. In effect it follows the fortunes of some of the children of the previous hero, Raldnor, in one case an unacknowledged illegitmate son, plus a nobleman in the land of Karmiss who is a combination of charisma, total amorality and massive ambition/will to power. This man, Kesarh, provides the drive for the first part of the story where he shows an unhealthy obsession with his twin sister. Although she leaves for the religious community on the island of Ankabek to avoid his attentions, he follows and, under the pretext of being ill (self inflicted from a small amount of snake venom), manipulates her into nursing him and later is allowed into her room with the complicity of the chief priestess. He forces himself on her, but, in common with other characters especially in book 1, his sister also "enjoys" it. Afterwards, finding herself pregnant, she commits suicide, but the priests use arcane means to keep her body alive until the foreseen child can be born.
Rather strangely, the hero Raldnor and his girlfriend, who rode off into the sunset in book 1 with her carrying his child, have perhaps translated into pure spirit by some means - that is a rather confused issue. It seems the child wasn't born but instead its spirit has floated on the wind until a suitable vessel should be found - the child of twins who also have the inheritance of both the main races: the darker Vis and the light-skinned Lowlanders, who have telepathic and telekinetic powers. Kesarh gets the child from the priests and sends his right-hand man, Rem, to the land of Lan along with a sex-slave who is 'simple' and therefore not inclined to talk. However, attack by pirates means that they are stranded and the woman wanders off with the baby while Rem is asleep.
Rem, who has witnessed his employer's ruthless behaviour - having certain rivals to the throne of Karmiss murdered in various inventive ways - decides very sensibly not to return to confess his failure. He spends a number of years hiring out as a guard for trader caravans to protect them from bandit attack, and eventually leading a band of guards, and in the meanwhile tries to track down any trace of the lost woman and baby. But although he finds the woman alive and well and now mother of several children, he learns from the husband that she was found with wolves. These friendly wolves ran off with the baby when the villagers acted aggressively, and by the time she made the villagers understand that the wolves were no threat and had kept her and the child alive, they had gone with the child.
As the novel goes on, war is building that will eventually involve most of the various countries. Kesarh is one of the culprits once he becomes king of Karmiss. Rem eventually learns the truth of his father's identity, and is put through the mill in various ways at the hands of enemies, although on the way he does meet his legitimate half brother the ruler of Dorthar. That man, Raldanash, is more of a mystic than a warrior, and as celibacy appeals to him he has not bedded any of the many wives he has had to accept to cement various alliances with other countries. The most recent, who resembles Kesarh's dead sister, comes to the latter's attention and eventually becomes his prisoner though, in common with so many other female characters, passively lets him "have his wicked way" as she is drawn to him despite knowing that he is really a vile man. It is by pure luck that an action of hers indirectly leads to his downfall.
Given that the blurb leads the reader to suppose this would be more of a female dominated novel with some real female characters, the novel disappoints on that level. The girl baby who eventually leaves the wolves to start off her journey to becoming the avatar of the goddess Anackire remains a cipher. The sister of Kesarh and her look alike are passive doormats. There isn't even a nasty witch queen as in book 1. The only positive female character is the wife of Yannul, sidekick to Raldnor in the first book and a hero of that war, but she isn't really characterised as such and is seen through the eyes of Yannul.
Another issue is that this really is a cast of thousands. There are so many people, countries, and similar names that once or twice I had completely lost track if it had ever been clear about a minor character who emerges on a page or two and then disappears. The only people at all characterised are Kesarh, Raldanash and Rem and even they are not that distinct. At least though Rem is a goodie to root for, as is Yannul and his family though they are quite minor characters. Interestingly, Rem is gay and his sexual relationships are consensual, unlike a lot of the other characters . There is also some very disturbing sexual sadism involved in the religion of the country which is the main threat, known as Zakoris-in-Thaddra, who are allies of Kesarh's for a while.
The writing is far better than book 1 - there are some really vivid descriptions, good action scenes, far less head hopping - if there was some it didn't jump out at me as in book 1 - and some likeable characters. It still has a lot of flaws as mentioned above, so on balance I would rate this as 3 stars.
Rather strangely, the hero Raldnor and his girlfriend, who rode off into the sunset in book 1 with her carrying his child, have perhaps translated into pure spirit by some means - that is a rather confused issue. It seems the child wasn't born but instead its spirit has floated on the wind until a suitable vessel should be found - the child of twins who also have the inheritance of both the main races: the darker Vis and the light-skinned Lowlanders, who have telepathic and telekinetic powers. Kesarh gets the child from the priests and sends his right-hand man, Rem, to the land of Lan along with a sex-slave who is 'simple' and therefore not inclined to talk. However, attack by pirates means that they are stranded and the woman wanders off with the baby while Rem is asleep.
Rem, who has witnessed his employer's ruthless behaviour - having certain rivals to the throne of Karmiss murdered in various inventive ways - decides very sensibly not to return to confess his failure. He spends a number of years hiring out as a guard for trader caravans to protect them from bandit attack, and eventually leading a band of guards, and in the meanwhile tries to track down any trace of the lost woman and baby. But although he finds the woman alive and well and now mother of several children, he learns from the husband that she was found with wolves. These friendly wolves ran off with the baby when the villagers acted aggressively, and by the time she made the villagers understand that the wolves were no threat and had kept her and the child alive, they had gone with the child.
As the novel goes on, war is building that will eventually involve most of the various countries. Kesarh is one of the culprits once he becomes king of Karmiss. Rem eventually learns the truth of his father's identity, and is put through the mill in various ways at the hands of enemies, although on the way he does meet his legitimate half brother the ruler of Dorthar. That man, Raldanash, is more of a mystic than a warrior, and as celibacy appeals to him he has not bedded any of the many wives he has had to accept to cement various alliances with other countries. The most recent, who resembles Kesarh's dead sister, comes to the latter's attention and eventually becomes his prisoner though, in common with so many other female characters, passively lets him "have his wicked way" as she is drawn to him despite knowing that he is really a vile man. It is by pure luck that an action of hers indirectly leads to his downfall.
Given that the blurb leads the reader to suppose this would be more of a female dominated novel with some real female characters, the novel disappoints on that level. The girl baby who eventually leaves the wolves to start off her journey to becoming the avatar of the goddess Anackire remains a cipher. The sister of Kesarh and her look alike are passive doormats. There isn't even a nasty witch queen as in book 1. The only positive female character is the wife of Yannul, sidekick to Raldnor in the first book and a hero of that war, but she isn't really characterised as such and is seen through the eyes of Yannul.
Another issue is that this really is a cast of thousands. There are so many people, countries, and similar names that once or twice I had completely lost track if it had ever been clear about a minor character who emerges on a page or two and then disappears. The only people at all characterised are Kesarh, Raldanash and Rem and even they are not that distinct. At least though Rem is a goodie to root for, as is Yannul and his family though they are quite minor characters. Interestingly, Rem is gay and his sexual relationships are consensual, unlike a lot of the other characters . There is also some very disturbing sexual sadism involved in the religion of the country which is the main threat, known as Zakoris-in-Thaddra, who are allies of Kesarh's for a while.
The writing is far better than book 1 - there are some really vivid descriptions, good action scenes, far less head hopping - if there was some it didn't jump out at me as in book 1 - and some likeable characters. It still has a lot of flaws as mentioned above, so on balance I would rate this as 3 stars.
April 9, 2024
This is a book that absolutely I ... well, I didn't judge it by its cover, but I was certainly drawn to it by the cover.
It was the mid-1980s and I was in the campus bookstore in my small midwestern college in a small midwestern town and in the extremely small SF section they had two paperbacks by Tanith Lee (who I'm pretty sure I knew her name, but hadn't actually read anything of hers yet):
The Storm Lord
and Anackire
And while the Storm Lord cover was extremely generic 1970s barbarian fantasy looking, that cover on Anackire (by the inestimable Michael Whelan) reached out and grabbed me and when I saw that it was a sequel to the other book, well, obviously both of them were going to come back to my dorm room with me.
(n.b. The Storm Lord cover was by Gino D'Achille, who also painted a set of covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books that I really liked. So maybe this was just an off day?)
So, on to the part about the words contained beneath that gorgeous cover: As with The Storm Lord, here there be dragons of a very specific 1970s consent/sexual assault sort (although it does feel dialed back from the first book), so take that as needed.
This book is set about a generation after the events of The Storm Lord, when Raldnor overthrew the Dortharian hegemony and put the Lowlanders (and their fellows from the Sister Continent across the sea) in charge of things. Our protagonist is one Rem/Rarmon (who is, although he doesn't discover it until some ways into the book, one of Raldnor's by-blows), currently in service to one Kesarh of Karmiss, an extremely ... ambitious ... member of the king's court. And I don't think I'm going to bother to try to summarize the series of intrigues and betrayals and battles and lengthy journeys that make up the bulk of the book except to say that I very much enjoyed them (due in no small part to Lee's evocative prose); and of course the shadow of the serpent-goddess Amanackire looms always on the horizon.
Highly recommended and honestly you probably don't have to have read The Storm Lord before diving into this one.
It was the mid-1980s and I was in the campus bookstore in my small midwestern college in a small midwestern town and in the extremely small SF section they had two paperbacks by Tanith Lee (who I'm pretty sure I knew her name, but hadn't actually read anything of hers yet):
The Storm Lord
and Anackire
And while the Storm Lord cover was extremely generic 1970s barbarian fantasy looking, that cover on Anackire (by the inestimable Michael Whelan) reached out and grabbed me and when I saw that it was a sequel to the other book, well, obviously both of them were going to come back to my dorm room with me.
(n.b. The Storm Lord cover was by Gino D'Achille, who also painted a set of covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books that I really liked. So maybe this was just an off day?)
So, on to the part about the words contained beneath that gorgeous cover: As with The Storm Lord, here there be dragons of a very specific 1970s consent/sexual assault sort (although it does feel dialed back from the first book), so take that as needed.
This book is set about a generation after the events of The Storm Lord, when Raldnor overthrew the Dortharian hegemony and put the Lowlanders (and their fellows from the Sister Continent across the sea) in charge of things. Our protagonist is one Rem/Rarmon (who is, although he doesn't discover it until some ways into the book, one of Raldnor's by-blows), currently in service to one Kesarh of Karmiss, an extremely ... ambitious ... member of the king's court. And I don't think I'm going to bother to try to summarize the series of intrigues and betrayals and battles and lengthy journeys that make up the bulk of the book except to say that I very much enjoyed them (due in no small part to Lee's evocative prose); and of course the shadow of the serpent-goddess Amanackire looms always on the horizon.
Highly recommended and honestly you probably don't have to have read The Storm Lord before diving into this one.
January 10, 2016
Honestly, start here. Skip The Storm Lord. This book is self-enclosed, informed by its predecessor but carrying the conflict in new directions by a new generation of leaders and soldiers. And its heights are greater, the villainy deeper, and when all the wheels get going it is simply better. The divine intervention returns in even greater scope, skirting deus ex machina only by the way Anackire's influence is threaded into the whole of it.
In fact, the moment of divine intervention is actually a let down. There are so many plots and plans and machinations in play, a disaster so ringing that having it all sorted out at the last minute is a disappointment.
In other hands, this setting would be nothing more than an excuse for endless manly high adventure. There are evil and decrepit empires, wildernesses and frontiers, ruins for exploration and exploitation, and countless reasons for each nation to hate the others. Lee turns it on its head with the deep tie to spirituality and a final resolution that avoids combat. And, curiously, a homosexual protagonist burdened by his orientation, both because it is not socially acceptable and because it complicates his relationships with those around him.
In fact, the moment of divine intervention is actually a let down. There are so many plots and plans and machinations in play, a disaster so ringing that having it all sorted out at the last minute is a disappointment.
In other hands, this setting would be nothing more than an excuse for endless manly high adventure. There are evil and decrepit empires, wildernesses and frontiers, ruins for exploration and exploitation, and countless reasons for each nation to hate the others. Lee turns it on its head with the deep tie to spirituality and a final resolution that avoids combat. And, curiously, a homosexual protagonist burdened by his orientation, both because it is not socially acceptable and because it complicates his relationships with those around him.
Shelved as 'dnf'
February 10, 2019Since I quit reading at about the 50% mark, I couldn’t even begin to blurb this book. I have no clue what happened, because it felt like nothing happened.
You might wonder why I continued with the series, since I didn’t enjoy the first book, like, at all. Well, first, it’s Tanith, so I wanted to give her a shot. Second, the cover has the badass snake goddess on it so I figured she’d actually make an appearance this time and like, totally destroy people. Third, the blurb on the back sounds awesome and made it seem like this would be a more female-driven book, with hopefully some stronger characters.
I was wrong on those last two counts.
I just now realized this book was written 7 years after the first – maybe the series shouldn’t have continued?
There is a helpful recap in the beginning which sums up what happened towards the end of the book and talks a little about the telekinetic powers Raldnor’s people have. I forgot to mention that in the earlier section because it doesn’t really seem to matter in book 1. This recap also says that when the plains people rose up, they used their mind powers to create a big earthquake in the ruling city and raised the goddess. Only, I think they just like, raised a giant statue of her that was buried underground. Also Raldnor conquered the city then took off to find his statue girlfriend and his bastard kid from his seafaring adventure is apparently the ruler now.
Where the first book was about the previous king’s kids, this book seems to be about Raldnor’s kids – he has 3 that I know of. It was disappointing because I didn’t give a damn about Raldnor and I don’t give a damn about his kids.
Again, there’s a rape-esque scene in the beginning, between siblings. It’s one of those “no means yes” situations. Like, I guess it’s not actual rape because the sister did want it, but then later she finds out she’s pregnant (she knows like, immediately, for whatever reason) and kills herself. So then, did she really want it? Was it only shame that drove her to suicide or something more? I don’t know because these characters weren’t compelling enough for me to care.
Oddly enough, those who worship the snake goddess, Anackire, preserved this woman’s body after she died so the baby could be born. I assume this baby ends up being the girl described in the blurb, but I didn’t get far enough to prove that.
The story primarily follows the brother who doinks his sister and one of Raldy’s bastards. Again, neither was likable and the book was mostly just men talking to each other, women remaining sexual objects, and discovering who is a descendant of Raldnor. SNORE. I wanted Anackire, who the book is named after, to rise up and slaughter everyone! Sadly, that didn’t happen before I decided to give up
There was no point in forcing myself to continue, just because I love Tanith. Of course I’m going to keep my copies of this series for my collection, but I won’t be attempting to read them again and I certainly won’t recommend them.
You might wonder why I continued with the series, since I didn’t enjoy the first book, like, at all. Well, first, it’s Tanith, so I wanted to give her a shot. Second, the cover has the badass snake goddess on it so I figured she’d actually make an appearance this time and like, totally destroy people. Third, the blurb on the back sounds awesome and made it seem like this would be a more female-driven book, with hopefully some stronger characters.
I was wrong on those last two counts.
I just now realized this book was written 7 years after the first – maybe the series shouldn’t have continued?
There is a helpful recap in the beginning which sums up what happened towards the end of the book and talks a little about the telekinetic powers Raldnor’s people have. I forgot to mention that in the earlier section because it doesn’t really seem to matter in book 1. This recap also says that when the plains people rose up, they used their mind powers to create a big earthquake in the ruling city and raised the goddess. Only, I think they just like, raised a giant statue of her that was buried underground. Also Raldnor conquered the city then took off to find his statue girlfriend and his bastard kid from his seafaring adventure is apparently the ruler now.
Where the first book was about the previous king’s kids, this book seems to be about Raldnor’s kids – he has 3 that I know of. It was disappointing because I didn’t give a damn about Raldnor and I don’t give a damn about his kids.
Again, there’s a rape-esque scene in the beginning, between siblings. It’s one of those “no means yes” situations. Like, I guess it’s not actual rape because the sister did want it, but then later she finds out she’s pregnant (she knows like, immediately, for whatever reason) and kills herself. So then, did she really want it? Was it only shame that drove her to suicide or something more? I don’t know because these characters weren’t compelling enough for me to care.
Oddly enough, those who worship the snake goddess, Anackire, preserved this woman’s body after she died so the baby could be born. I assume this baby ends up being the girl described in the blurb, but I didn’t get far enough to prove that.
The story primarily follows the brother who doinks his sister and one of Raldy’s bastards. Again, neither was likable and the book was mostly just men talking to each other, women remaining sexual objects, and discovering who is a descendant of Raldnor. SNORE. I wanted Anackire, who the book is named after, to rise up and slaughter everyone! Sadly, that didn’t happen before I decided to give up
There was no point in forcing myself to continue, just because I love Tanith. Of course I’m going to keep my copies of this series for my collection, but I won’t be attempting to read them again and I certainly won’t recommend them.
July 10, 2016
This is actually a re-read, as I've had this book in my collection for a few decades. However, after reading the first of this duology, I figured I might as well re-read this one as a follow-up.
This story followed two of Raldnor's sons, Rem and Raldanash, and Kesarh, a man who wants to devour the world. Rem starts out as Kesarh's man, and is privy to Kesarh's infatuation with his twin sister, Val Nedra. Val Nedra leaves in hopes of dissuading Kesarh from pursuing her, but Kesarh, in turn uses his wiles to convince her of his imminent death, and gets her with child. In despair, Val Nedra commits suicide, but the priestess of Anackire, Erez, uses magics to keep the child alive. When the child is born, she is given to Kesarh, who, in turn, gives the child to Rem to take care of. He is to take the child to Lan, where incest is common and unremarked on, for the daughter to be raised there, but instead, the child and her wet nurse disappear, and Rem believes them killed by a pack of wolves. Knowing if he returns to Kesarh with the information, Rem hides in Lan for eight years.
But things are moving forward, and Anackire has her own plans for Raldnor's sons and the child born of the twins. War is brewing again, with Zakoris rising and in Kesarh's back pocket. And Kesarh wants the world.
This story followed two of Raldnor's sons, Rem and Raldanash, and Kesarh, a man who wants to devour the world. Rem starts out as Kesarh's man, and is privy to Kesarh's infatuation with his twin sister, Val Nedra. Val Nedra leaves in hopes of dissuading Kesarh from pursuing her, but Kesarh, in turn uses his wiles to convince her of his imminent death, and gets her with child. In despair, Val Nedra commits suicide, but the priestess of Anackire, Erez, uses magics to keep the child alive. When the child is born, she is given to Kesarh, who, in turn, gives the child to Rem to take care of. He is to take the child to Lan, where incest is common and unremarked on, for the daughter to be raised there, but instead, the child and her wet nurse disappear, and Rem believes them killed by a pack of wolves. Knowing if he returns to Kesarh with the information, Rem hides in Lan for eight years.
But things are moving forward, and Anackire has her own plans for Raldnor's sons and the child born of the twins. War is brewing again, with Zakoris rising and in Kesarh's back pocket. And Kesarh wants the world.
December 10, 2008
Somehow I couldn't get into this book. The Anackire trilogy feels like the Birthgrave trilogy, only not as good.
March 3, 2023
The deep political machinations of fantasy lands can only be so interesting, as I try to connect them to my own reality or experiences. I had to look online to find where someone had scanned the maps from paper editions, as my digital editions did not include them. The maps made it slightly easier to understand, but I'm not sure the point of all this complication.
When books go into detail on torture, if I'm reading non-fiction like Alfred McCoy's "A Question of Torture (American Empire Project)" I'll push through it because it is important for me to understand what my own government does to other people with my tax money. But when it is a fiction book, that is a good reason to Bronte the book. (Bronte = stop reading halfway through even though other people might consider the book a good book.) I made it through the torture in this one, but just barely.
The highlight of the book is this quote: “Here, I am the symbol of your will. You have the power in you to survive all this, but you’ve given the power my shape. As others give the power within them the form of Anackire. But it might be another god. Any that they credit—if the Power is there to raise that god.”
“You’re saying gods are the creatures of men?”
“No. That men themselves are gods. But, fearing their own greatness, they send it from them to a distance, and must give it other names.”
I think I'm closer to 1 1/2 stars than 2 stars -- that is I'm between "I did not like it" and "It was OK", but I'm rounding up in this case. I don't really enjoy being in this world, but I do like some of the characters enough to see what they do.
Ok, finished the last little bit, I'm now firmly at 1 star. Like the first book in the series, we leave human interpersonal narrative and go off on meaningless complicated fantasy politics and history. Since I was listening to the book, I didn't know I was on the last line when I decided : I don't think I'll bother to finish this. But then it was done!
When books go into detail on torture, if I'm reading non-fiction like Alfred McCoy's "A Question of Torture (American Empire Project)" I'll push through it because it is important for me to understand what my own government does to other people with my tax money. But when it is a fiction book, that is a good reason to Bronte the book. (Bronte = stop reading halfway through even though other people might consider the book a good book.) I made it through the torture in this one, but just barely.
The highlight of the book is this quote: “Here, I am the symbol of your will. You have the power in you to survive all this, but you’ve given the power my shape. As others give the power within them the form of Anackire. But it might be another god. Any that they credit—if the Power is there to raise that god.”
“You’re saying gods are the creatures of men?”
“No. That men themselves are gods. But, fearing their own greatness, they send it from them to a distance, and must give it other names.”
I think I'm closer to 1 1/2 stars than 2 stars -- that is I'm between "I did not like it" and "It was OK", but I'm rounding up in this case. I don't really enjoy being in this world, but I do like some of the characters enough to see what they do.
Ok, finished the last little bit, I'm now firmly at 1 star. Like the first book in the series, we leave human interpersonal narrative and go off on meaningless complicated fantasy politics and history. Since I was listening to the book, I didn't know I was on the last line when I decided : I don't think I'll bother to finish this. But then it was done!
September 8, 2023
I have read and enjoyed a number of Lee’s novels, but I really struggled with this one. I never read the Storm Lord (#1 in this series), and I gather I didn’t miss much. The writing of this one is good and compelling, like many of her other books. However, written in the high fantasy tradition of Gor, or John Carter of Mars, she unfortunately crept into the realm of rape and creepy male obsessions that don’t really have much of a service to the plot. Most of the book around that however, is well paced wondering how consequences may play out for some of the characters. However, at about the 300 page mark, she suddenly changes her perspective and describes the preparations for war in a distanced and general way, not involving any of the characters, which completely removed me from the story. We then come back to our characters and one comeuppance, which by this point seems, well, pointless. This is not one of her better stories in my opinion.
June 3, 2019
I really enjoy Tanith Lee's other stories like the Four Bee series and silver metal lover. I found this book, and the Storm Lord really difficult to get though. I read this book because I had been told it was better than the first book, and it IS better than the first one, but only because the first book set such a low bar.
I don't think I will be reading the third.
I don't think I will be reading the third.
September 23, 2018
Once again, such brilliant writing. I just love this author. There are moments where I literally have to pause, go back and read again because it's just so good.
October 20, 2020
Wonderful
A great follow up to The Storm Lord. I'm looking forward to starting the third book right away. I've already got it checked out.
A great follow up to The Storm Lord. I'm looking forward to starting the third book right away. I've already got it checked out.
Shelved as 'abandoned'
January 20, 2024Noping out of this.
Usually I can enjoy Tanith Lee's lush writing, but I can't keep the different peoples strait, don't like any of the main characters.
Usually I can enjoy Tanith Lee's lush writing, but I can't keep the different peoples strait, don't like any of the main characters.
August 26, 2019
Decent sequel. Better than the first in the trilogy.
January 27, 2009
the story is unorginal- mistaken identity, prodigal sons, evil getting their comeuppance. however, tanith lee's writting is so dark and twisted and on more than one occaison startling and poetic. she reworks the same mythos but with a turn toward the bleak and unlovely. mass sex. mass violence. mass sexual violence. but occaisonal brillance. i am a little disappointed that the fanstasticly written protagonist who is staunchly homosexual through out the book sticks it to a girl at the end.
May 24, 2009
I read this over ten years ago & I recall only one scene. Sometimes Lee is more an experience of lovely language & vibe for me than plot or characterization.
Read
June 21, 2009Fantasy
August 12, 2014
hahahahaha
May 22, 2015
Companion novel to "The Storm Lord"
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