Michael Scott Rohan (1951–2018)

An enjoyable picaresque romp that is reminiscent of Avram Davidson's Peregrine series. Very whimsical in style. A half-elf apprentice mage is at a loose end when his master attempts to summon a demon and it all goes horribly wrong. Leaving town before the Inquisition start asking pointed questions (or questions accompanied by sharp pointy things), he is hired by a merchant to escort a caravan from Germany to Sicily to recover a demonic artifact. Except the merchant is assassinated before the show more caravan gets going.

A fun story set in a fantastic Europe where other races abound. The grim-dark aspects reminded me of Tim Powers' The Drawing of the Dark.

Recommended show less

This adventure may be nothing to take seriously (the cover features the words "A Fantasy Romp", openly acknowledging its pedigree), but it's a fun one. There's a touch of music in the plot, a Seven Samurai style of recruitment for the questing party, plenty of wit and humour, heroes casually brilliant at combat, regularly scheduled action scenes, grim and powerful villains. Descriptive passages are wonderfully crafted, among them the kobolds' impressive canalworks that are bound to stick in show more memory. This fantastical version of medieval continental Europe may feel especially familiar to fans of the Warhammer line, since it was originally intended for that market.

There's some minor stumbles: the goofy opening "History Lesson" may trip you up but it's non-essential so you can skip to the prologue for the start of clean, clear writing. The lead character (Volker) initially feels like a non-factor until he gets his feet under him, and the party's token female is precisely that although she does get a few good shots in. The pace is absolutely headlong and it could have used more pauses for breath, but it's very visual and action-oriented. If this was the lead-in to a series I would definitely keep reading (and resolve the mystery: which is the series title, which the novel's?) Pick this up for a bit of light fantasy fun if these flaws aren't show-stoppers for you.

A number of us on LT were pleased to have MSR drop by a few years ago and update us on his activities: https://www.librarything.com/topic/93107 show less

An intelligent fantasy influenced by Northern European myth and tradition, based around the world of an Apprentice Smith. There is more depth than much of the fantasy that appeared during the 1980's. As with the book itself, the characters have depth, and I will be happy to venture further into the series with the next volume 'The Forge in the Forest' First novels in a trilogy/series are hard because they involve so much back story and scene setting, but the book held my interest show more throughout.

4 Stars show less

I picked this one up as ex libris from the Brown County Library, a first US edition, no less! If memory serves, I was interested in it initially because it had a reference to blacksmithing in the title. As I am a hobby blacksmith, I thought it might offer a diversion. Well, it did. In fairly quick succession, I grabbed the next two books in the series; The Forge in the Forest and The Hammer of the Sun. Now, I gather that three more have been written. I suppose it is time to go shopping show more again. This is a well-written book with a Tolkinian flavor, so to speak, perhaps mixed with Conan the Barbarian and a little Game of Thrones. The fact that I am going to actively seek out the three newest additions in this series says as much as needs to be said about this book and the series it spawned. show less