The Run To Chaos Keep (The Quintara marathon) - Hardcover

Chalker, Jack L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0441693474 ISBN 13: 9780441693474

Publisher: Ace Hardcover, 1991

Synopsis

When the two horned demons--the greatest discovery of all time--escape their giant sealed amber cell and leave a trail of mutilated victims, the three major empires must follow these creatures into another dimension. Reprint. PW.

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Reviews

YA-- A well-written, action-packed sci/fi adventure. In Demons at Rainbow Bridge (Ace, 1990), alien creatures bearing an uncanny resemblance to the devil were released from stasis by overzealous scientists. Now the demons, hellbent on galactic domination, are pursued through an interdimensional maze by specialized teams from each of three warring empires. This is Chalker at his entertaining best, creating unique universes peopled with fascinating aliens and diverse human cultures. Complexity of plot, however, combined with a large number of characters may cause confusion for some YAs. Like cliffhangers of a bygone era, Chaos Keep ends amidst conflict, leaving readers anticipating the next installment. --John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The second in yet another multivolume work of action-based sf from Chalker. In book #1, a curious structure was found on an uninhabited remote world containing (in some sort of suspended animation) a pair of what could only be described as demons--nasty, taloned, horned beings that figure not only in Earth cultures but in nearly every society in the three galactic empires: the Exchange, the Mycohl, and the Mizlaplan. Accidentally awakened, the demons brutally slaughtered the scientific team sent by the Exchange to study them. Here, small rescue teams from each of the empires arrive. Fighting each other, fearing the demons, and trapped together in the erstwhile tomb, they take the only way out, pursuing the monsters through an interdimensional gate. Competent pulp adventure, but beyond the fast-paced action, there isn't much. Chalker's prose is clumsy, his characters mostly one-dimensional, and, for all their outward differences, the aliens speak and behave altogether too much like their human companions. Passing nods to Dante's Inferno do little to raise the literary stakes. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

In this sequel to The Demons at Rainbow Bridge , all intelligent species in the galaxy retain a racial memory of evil beings: horned, red-eyed and cloven-hoofed. Responding to rumors that demons have been found, the nonhumanoid races, each belonging to three warring empires, send ships to investigate. While fighting with the other groups, the half-dozen members of each race chase a pair of devils through a multidimensional maze that bears a striking resemblance to Dante's Hell, down to the "Abandon All Hope . . . " sign over a gate. As Chalker repeats each encounter three times--once per group--the reader's interest fades quickly.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ace Hardcover
• Publication date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0441693474
• ISBN 13: 9780441693474
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 359