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Title:
Master of the Cauldron
Series: Lord of the
Isles #6
Author: David Drake
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages:
473
Words: 170K
Publish: 2004
As
Prince Garric continues his royal visits to the various Islands to
help consolidate his reign as the Central Power of the Isles, yet
another power hungry noblewoman and her pet wizard cause problems.
Several different adventures all culminate in one final battle that solves all the various problems as usual.
These are very formulaic books and I must admit, I’m really ok with that at this point. I wasn’t sure I was going to be when I started this series re-read but I have to admit, it is almost comforting to know the layout. Bad things happen, people get separated, more bad things happen, everybody wins separately and then comes back together to win together. I like it when the Good Guys win and you always get that in these Lord of the Isles books :-)
On previous books I’ve talked about the covers but this time, it wasn’t a semi-famous artist doing it and I simply have zero idea what is going on for it. I don’t remember a scene like that from the whole book and if it was just one tiny scene I could have easily overlooked it in the almost 500 pages I read. I guess I should be thankful I at least get a real fantasy looking cover at all and not some cubist neo-crap modernist bullshit. Because as we all know, the cubist neo-crap modernists are out to get us. I would even give you an example to help warn you, but when I google it, Net Nanny blocks all results, probably because of how vile and evil it is. And if Net Nanny blocks it, you know it must be the vilest of the vile, kind of like Dictator Xi Jinping and his goat humping ways.
★★★✬☆
From the Internet
The Core Threads
As is custom for the Lord of the Isles series, the core group of heroes undergoes a diaspora. They are quickly separated into distinct narrative tracks across material and magical planes to tackle different facets of the crisis.
The Royal Progress & The Political Conspiracy:
Prince Garric, acting as the Regent of Haft, organizes a massive Royal Progress. Accompanied by his consort Liane, a vast army, and a naval fleet, he sets out to solidify his rule and secure oaths of fealty from the scattered territories. Their destination is Sandrakkan, a proud and deeply restless province that Haft conquered during a bloody war less than a generation ago.The political tension turns deadly upon arrival. Balila, the ruthless Countess of Sandrakkan, refuses to bow to the "boy king" representing the hated island of Haft. She forms a treasonous alliance with her court wizard to assassinate Garric. Unconcerned with the global consequences of uncontrolled magic, Countess Balila taps into forbidden mystical resources to destroy the royal forces and place her husband, Wilduf, on the throne of the Isles.The Awakening of Volita:
While political treachery brews on Sandrakkan, the unstable flood of magic triggers ancient terrors nearby on the demon-haunted isle of Volita. Countess Balila intentionally risks waking these dormant, preternatural entities to weaponize them against Garric. This forces the rest of Garric's companions—his fierce sister Sharina, her herculean lover Cashel, the formidable weaver-witch Ilna, and her husband Chalcus—to directly confront horrors rising from otherworldly depths
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