Lord of the Isles (Lord of Isles) - Hardcover

Drake, David; Hartwell, David G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312853963 ISBN 13: 9780312853969

Publisher: Tor Books, 1997

Synopsis

Mysteriously transported one thousand years into the future after a cataclysm destroys the empire of the Isles, a woman sorcerer finds herself in a small town, far from the centers of power, where she and a small group of individuals become the focus of a new struggle for dominance. 100,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

David Drake made his name in genre fiction with the Hammer's Slammers series of military science fiction about tough future mercenaries, launched in 1979. A versatile writer, he's also published well-received fantasies. Lord of the Isles opens a massive new saga of clashing swords and spells in an archipelago world. One thousand years beforehand, potent sorcery won a war only for it to backlash and sink the winning island. Now, with magic reaching another millennial peak of power, the world is endangered. Among the players are a king's ghost and two magicians who were present at the ancient disaster (one of them caused it), plus modern wizards, warriors, and unknowing descendants of royalty. Drake skillfully juggles multiple storylines as his engaging characters meet a wild variety of danger: rising and vanishing lands, the reanimated dead (not only human dead), out-of-control sorcery, demons, riots, traps, and other planes of reality including hell itself. The magic comes in several fascinating and often unpleasant flavors. Even likeable characters may die. This story reads well and halts at a satisfying moment of victory rather than at a nail-biting cliffhanger. It doesn't quite achieve epic scale--clearly Drake is keeping major trump cards in reserve for the coming sequels. A promising start. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

From the Back Cover:

With Lord of the Isles, David Drake returns to fantasy with a towering and complex epic of heroic adventure set in an extraordinary and colorful world where the elemental forces that empower magic are rising to a thousand-year peak.

In the days following an unusually severe storm, the inhabitants of a tiny seaport town travel toward romance, danger, and astonishing magic that will transform them and their world.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0312853963
• ISBN 13: 9780312853969
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 459