The End of Everything Man (Chronicles of the King's Tramp, Book 2) - Hardcover

De Haven, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385260415 ISBN 13: 9780385260411

Publisher: Doubleday, 1991

Synopsis

Jack, the King's Tramp, returns to his native world with witnesses from Earth bearing warnings of the chaos to come, only to find that he must begin his wanderings again, for the Mage of Four has disappeared

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Reviews

This second installment in De Haven's trilogy sustains the excitement begun in Walker of Worlds . The Epicene, an apocalyptic mud monster, threatens to mature and tear its way into the fourth "moment," or universe, thus releasing the deadly Last Humans. The survival of the three known moments hangs in the balance. A small group from Kemolo (the moment in which PW readers reside) travels throughout Lostwithal (a moment in which people eat the insides of beetles as narcotics). Peter Musik, journalist from Kemolo, searches for his new love, Money Campbell--she's been captured by the art-prince, who hideously transforms her as he paints. Jere Lee, a homeless woman, courts Master Squintik, Cold Mage and possible savior of the universe. While herky-jerky jumps and cliffhanger chapter endings are at times irritating, the complex plot never bogs down. Masterful comic relief and pacing, as well as strangely appealing characters, such as an albino midget in an Hawaiian shirt who occupies a game room in his "landlord's" subconscious, lift the tale above the usual. New readers should plunge right in--an assortment of plot devices entertainingly recap the first book.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

De Haven continues his Chronicles of the King's Tramp series. Where book #1 (Walker of Worlds) took place mostly in our own world, this installment is set entirely in the alternate universe (or ``second moment'') of Lostwithal. Rumors of the fearsome Epicene--a golem-like monster that will bring on the End of Everything--are spreading throughout the kingdom, and Jack, the King's Tramp, pursues the evil Mage of Four, Mage of Luck to prevent him from bringing the creature to maturity. Jack's path crosses those of various colorful characters transplanted from our universe in the previous book, and everyone ends up on the Isle of Mites--a pestilential place where the Epicene will be brought to work its mischief. Like many recent fantasies, De Haven's series generates a frisson by juxtaposing elements of our our world with magic and strange beings from another, but the author's inventive, playful, and immensely readable style, plus the quirky world of Lostwithal, set his books above the standard elves-and-street-punks versions. Many genre readers will find Lostwithal underdeveloped--De Haven does't indulge in lengthy descriptions or detailed world-building--and, while his characters have just enough depth to make them believable and sympathetic, the shifting viewpoint makes it hard to identify very strongly with any of them. There's little intellectual depth here, then, but the exuberance, good humor, and technical skill make this an interesting and intelligent diversion. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A bag lady, a journalist, a college student-turned-call girl, and an ex-chauffeur follow the call of Jack the Walker into another world where an evil wizard and a child of mud threaten the existence of all the worlds unless the right people find a way to stop them. Continuing the story begun in Walker of Worlds ( LJ 5/15/90), De Haven's latest foray into fantasy displays the same highly charged prose and genuine compassion for life's losers. Although not for fantasy purists, this exuberant modern fairy tale belongs in most libraries.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385260415
• ISBN 13: 9780385260411
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 436