The Seer King

by Chris Bunch

Overview

Hotheaded young cavalry officer Damastes and the radical wizard Tenedos were expected to die in a mountain ambush. But their enemies underestimated the amazing power of the seer and the bravery of the soldier. As this unlikely team begins to outwit usurpers and necromancers, word spreads that theirs is a path of destiny. Military adventure, magic, and romance mix in this exciting fantasy adventure.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446605243
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	02/01/1998
Edition description:	Warner Books ed.
Pages:	560
Sales rank:	957,772
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.25(d)

What People are Saying About This

Michael A. Stackpole

Well paced and full of fascinating characters...a mixture of subtelty and surprises in an epic setting.

J. A. Jones

Fast-moving, well-plotted fantasy, filled with fascinating details about war and military history.

David Drake

A vast and intricate tapestry woven by a writer who knows both history and war.

Editorial Reviews

With The Seer King, bestselling fantasy writer Bunch (coauthor with Allan Cole of the Anteros Trilogy) begins an entertaining new saga, tracing the bloody rise to power of the once great (now dead) wizard king Laish Tenedos. The engrossing tale of how a little-known seer with radical ideas comes to rule the troubled empire of Numantia is told through the eyes of likable Damastes Cimabue, a courageous yet self-deprecating soldier. Damastes meets Tenedos on a treacherous assignment in the lawless border lands; he stays with him through all the deadly battles, deft political jockeying and spectacular spells that follow. Characterization is not Bunch's strong point; a trite expression "of a puppy who's done something wrong and expects to be whipped" is attributed with tiresome regularity to one of Damastes's lovers. Other characters whom one would like to know better are barely introduced, including the two ultimate villains. And glaringly modern dialogue ("Well, it's stupid and it's fucked!") occasionally intrudes on what is otherwise an atmosphere of epic and otherworldly past. But Bunch knows how to mold heroes, how to keep the pace fast and how to create exciting scenes of battlefield mayhem and convincing webs of political intrigue. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Stirring...an eipc tale of battles and flames, love returned and love betrayed.

Realms of Fantasy

Military sword and sorcery, from the co-author of Kingdoms of the Night (with Allan Cole, 1995, etc.) The former kingdom of Numantia is governed by an effete oligarchy known as the Rule of Ten. As a young, untried cavalry officer, narrator Damastes is sent with his troop to escort a diplomatic mission led by the seer (magician) Tenedos into a bandit-infested border country of Kait. But opposed by Kait's greedy boss—Baber Fergana and his sorcerer, Irshad, not to mention by a powerful demon called Thak and his strangler-assassin Tovieti cult—Tenedos and Damastes barely escape with a handful of survivors. Soon, however, Thak moves into the Numantian capital, Nicias, followed rapidly by the Tovieti with their yellow silk strangling cords, while another enemy, the sorcerer Chardin Sher, brews up spells more powerful than those of Tenedos. Despite all this, the Rule of Ten refuse to take action, and Nicias is engulfed by civil war. Tenedos and Damastes have no choice but to seize control of Numantia, then face further military and sorcerous challenges before Tenedos openly declares himself emperor.

A fantasy sex- and violence-fest, courtesy of Bunch's sure grasp of military history and organization, gory battles interspersed with interludes of graphic sex, and dialogue peppered with incongruous modern expletives. The text, while complete in itself, seems to promise at least one sequel.

Kirkus Reviews