- Paperback: 525 pages
- Publisher: PYR BOOKS (Sep 20 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1616145218
- ISBN-13: 978-1616145217
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15 x 4.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#1,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Magic & Wizards
- #31 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Epic
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
"Interesting and absorbing; Blackdog takes as its heart, and its strength, a subject that most fantasy writers shy away from -- the Gods themselves." --- Tom Lloyd, Author of The Twilight Reign series
"I'm hooked. The mix of magic, Tibetan-style religion, and Harold Lamb-style adventures is pretty addicting." --- James Enge, World Fantasy Award-nominated author of Blood of Ambrose and The Wolf Age
"I'm hooked. The mix of magic, Tibetan-style religion, and Harold Lamb-style adventures is pretty addicting." --- James Enge, World Fantasy Award-nominated author of Blood of Ambrose and The Wolf Age
Product Description
Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven devils...
In a land where gods walk on the hills and goddesses rise from river, lake, and spring, the caravan-guard Holla-Sayan, escaping a bloodily-conquered lakeside town, stops to help an abandoned child and a dying dog. The girl, though, is the incarnation of Attalissa, goddess of Lissavakail, and the dog a shape-changing guardian spirit whose origins have been forgotten. Possessed and nearly driven mad by the Blackdog, he flees to the desert road, taking the powerless avatar with him.
And long ago, after the days of the first kings in the north, the seven devils, who had deceived and possessed seven of the greatest wizards of the world, were defeated and bound with the help of the Old Great Gods...
Moth was once Ulfhild the King’s Sword, wizard and warrior of the north. And she was once Vartu Kingsbane, one of the seven devils of legend. Moth cares little for the fate of a minor goddess of the earth like Attalissa, but at the command of the Old Great Gods she is hunting down her former comrades, though how her enemies have compelled her obedience is a mystery even to her lover, the bear-demon Mikki.
And perhaps some of the devils are free in the world, and perhaps some are working to free themselves still. Necromancy, treachery, massacres and rebellions, gods dead or lost or mad, follow hard on the devils’ heels. But it is Attalissa herself who may be the Blackdog’s -- and Holla-Sayan’s -- doom.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
powerful magic from an outstanding writer,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Blackdog (Paperback)
You won't turn many pages of Blackdog before you realize that you've struck gold. The tale itself and the language used in the telling will give that shiver of delight that comes with a great book.Attalissa lives, dies and is reborn in the body of a girlchild, mortal life after mortal life, the goddess of the folk of Lissavakail. Blackdog, her guardian, is also bound to human life. Together they are forced to flee from the wizard and his hordes. And "the wizard hungered for Attalissa like a snow-leopard with the taste of sheep's blood on its tongue". From the desolation of the temple islet, goddess and dog cross the lake to the open spaces and lands beyond. Nearly seven years after the fall of Lissavakail, no longer the child clothed in layers of white silk, Attalissa has grown into the life of the caravanserai. The wizard is relentless in his pursuit of the goddess and his powers are vast and terrifying. Bloodshed and treachery follow her but love and loyalty are also part of life on the caravan-road. The world the author has created is one that you won't want to leave. We need a sequel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new Realm for Fantasy at last!,
By Debra Terry "Middle Path Helmsman" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
For years now I have been looking for a fantasy book that is set in a non European setting and is as satisfying as the classics of the Fantasy genre. I have at last found this in "Blackdog". The setting is a mix of Tibetan and Mongolian settings, the plot is intriguing right from the first page; grabbing a hold of you and keeping you glued to the page until the plot come to a most satisfying ending. I would recommend this book to anyone but especially those who have some interest in Tibet and other oriental regions. It's simply fantastic! I do hope the author decided to give a us another book from this world!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid fantasy with a few issues,
By Elemental Warp "Elemental Warp" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blackdog (Paperback)
Blackdog, on the whole, is a solid fantasy with great concepts slightly spoiled simulatneously by insufficient explanation and bloat.How can it be both? The book is 546 pages long (my edition, anyway) and there are precious few books over 350 pages that couldn't benefit from some cutting. At the same time, there are a lot of things going on - gods and goddesses manifest in natural features, various cultures and tribes, scattered priestesses, devils, wizards - and it's hard to keep it all straight. That being said, the storyline is quite interesting and engaging. A too-human-yet-too-divine avatar of a goddess is torn from her land and forced to flee for her life from an evil wizard. While a fugitive, she both finds her humanity and her godhead, while her journey is criss-crossed by others divine and demonic beings. Magic and divinity pervades the story but doens't overwhelm it. Spirits possess people ad become a hybrid of both, skinchangers walk with immortal assassins, wizards use their offspring for their own corrupt purposes. It's all very interesting, but unless you can read in more or less one stretch (I've been trying to read it during NaNoWriMo and that doesn't really work), it would have a lot more emotional impact. If you break up your reading sessions, or if it takes too long to finish it, you'll lose some of the punch and have to be reminded of "who is this again?" and "what are they doing here?" time and time again. The wide cast isn't necessarily a problem, but there is no appendix or list of them, and many of them are largely interchangeable, especially when it comes to the caravaneers. But, all in all I really liked the story and was pleased with the conclusion which felt natural and unforced. I still have some confusion over certain concepts and the meaning of certain scenes, but that was probably my fault as a reader more than the author's writing style. I wouldn't anti-recommend this book, but I will say that you should be a fan of fantasy epics and epic fantasy casts before you pick it up. On a less charitable day, I could probably be convinced to give this book only 3 stars, but on a more charitable day, I might give it 5. So solid 4 stars, if you can keep the different characters and their storylines straight in your head 6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
fun fantasy,
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Blackdog (Paperback)
In Lissavakail located in the Pillars of the Sky near a red coppery looking lake of the same name, blood flows as a massacre occurs. Caravan guard Holla Sayan starts to sneak out of the town, but stops when he sees a little girl and her obviously dying dog. He rescues the child while her dog, no longer needing to keep her safe, dies.Holla was unaware that he recued the powerless Goddess Attalissa. As they flee the devastated town, Holla struggles with his sanity due to the Blackdog guardian spirit who was once a devil residing inside of him. Still he guides her onto the road heading to the Red Desert while mad Gods, traitors and necromancers pursue. Blackdog is a fun fantasy due to the Johansen's fantasy realm coming across as real even with some powerful and other powerless Gods walking amongst the commoners. The story line is complex as treachery threatens the lands while the lead protagonists are fully developed with the Goddess being a child without power and the warrior being possessed. Readers will enjoy this strong tale. Harriet Klausner |
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