Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

The conclusion to Bunch's well-received fantasy trilogy (The Seer King; The Demon King), this brawny story of war and power?both political and supernatural?offers much enjoyment but no satisfying closure. Ex-Tribune Damastes frees himself from prison, only to resume the war that put him there. He confronts or is courted by various factions, including Tenedos, the demon-commanding emperor he betrayed, and the Tovieti, the secret society that killed his lover. As he fights, Damastes heals old wounds and finishes old business, falling in love with a Tovieti sorceress named Cymea, with whom he combines forces against Tenedos. Yet Damastes's experiences also affirm that he is born to be a warrior, not a politician, and the novel ends with Numantia's future leadership uncertain. Is Bunch laying the ground for another trilogy? The author's writing is clear and vivid; his well-delineated battle scenes are especially strong, presenting unexpected combinations of sword and sorcery. Though the magic here lacks some of the grandeur and strangeness of that in other fantasies, Bunch's depictions of town and military life offer the consolation of a welcome realism.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Final installment of Bunch's military sword and sorcery trilogy (The Seer King, 1997; The Demon King, not seen), again with regulation plotting and magics, graphic sex, and lots of well-handled, gory action. This one describes the final showdown between the good-guy narrator, General Damastes, recalled from imprisonment and exile, and his former friend, the evil wizard Tenedos. At stake is the soul of Numantia, a kingdom that has been occupied by a foreign power, Maisir, following Tenedos's disastrous invasion attempt. Here, Tenedos wants it all: he's lean, mean, back from the dead, and demon-powered; and only Damastes, who knows Tenedos so well, might stop him. A pale, barely differentiated shadow of what started out as a limited but reasonably satisfying yarn; still, fans of the previous will want to give it the once-over. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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1.0 out of 5 stars Bad, Jan 31 2004

By	Jason S Robinson (Ft. Worth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Warrior King (Paperback)

Just a bad book. Nothing else really to say except this series stinks.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Irresistable....., Oct 26 2002

By	Jeff Sickles (New Jersey shore (Springstein country)) - See all my reviews

Unwilling to summarize the plot or critique the story, I hope to
share with you the visceral joy of this book:

-Applying the discipline of not reading the last 1/3 of the book normally and spreading that portion of the book over 1 month to make it last longer demonstrates how much I enjoyed this final installment.

-Another reward of this book, though painful, is that finishing this story, and the trilogy it is a part of, leaves you uneasy about the finite number of books that only remain from this author for you to read.

-An environment is created that allows you to shed your occupational and daily stress and go on an adenture with a well crafted and likable protagonist. The environment is interestingly isolated and floating with no definitive references that allow you to peg it as of this world or not. This is a nutrient for the "Escape" quality of the story.

Don't hesitate. Start with the first of this series and fasten your reading chair seatbelt for a colorful and thrilling adventure.

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2.0 out of 5 stars I thought I liked this series...until I read this book., Jul 19 2001

By	"vaelmont" (Scenic Jersey City) - See all my reviews

Welp. Where to begin?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, began to get distracted by the end of the second, and wished I hadn't read the series by the third.

Bunch likes to write about sex. A lot. In lurid detail. In romance novel fashion. That's not a problem for me, personally, but it gets really repetitive.

Worse than that, however, toward the end, I started seeing the characters as their function. Yonge was replaced by "Stereotypical unkillable thief guy", and Tenedos by "Evil Crazy Wizard muhahaha". Only Damastes remained somewhat three dimensional. Perhaps this is simply a failing of the first person narrative, or perhaps the series should have ended after two books. That will have to be left as an exercise for the reader.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Still seems interested in his characters - amazing...
A surprisingly decent end to the series, going against the standard law of fantasy trilogies (in which the author has generally stopped caring by halfway through the second book)... Read more

Published on Feb 28 2000 by Leigh Loveday

3.0 out of 5 stars less spectacular than parts 1 and 2, but still recommendable
The last part of Bunch's 'King'-trilogy. Again, Numantia is threatened by war, but this time three sides are struggling for power. Read more

Published on Oct 8 1999