Edo van Belkom
Author of Lord Soth
About the Author
Image credit: Photo posted with permission by Edo van Belkom, courtesy of Tundra Books.
Works by Edo van Belkom
Northern Dreamers: Interviews With Famous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Writers (1998) 10 copies
NORTHERN HORROR: Writhe Damn You; Above It All; The Party Over There; Vermiculture; Rideau; Wavelength; Mrs… (2000) 5 copies
Baseball Memories [short fiction] 2 copies
Do You See What I Fear? 1 copy
The Great Escape 1 copy
The Rug 1 copy
End Of The Road 1 copy
Associated Works
Field of Fantasies: Baseball Stories of the Strange and Supernatural (2014) — Contributor — 44 copies
Selling Venus: Futuristic Tales of the Age Old Tradition of Exchanging Sex for Money (2015) — Contributor — 17 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Belkom, Edo van
- Other names
- Axler, James (house name ∙ used by a number of authors)
Hollander, Evan - Birthdate
- 1962
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Canada
- Birthplace
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Places of residence
- Brampton, Ontario, Canada
- Education
- York University
- Occupations
- horror fiction writer
newspaper reporter
writing teacher - Relationships
- Axler, James (house name he has been a part of)
- Awards and honors
- Bram Stoker Award
Aurora Award
Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch award - Short biography
- Silver Birch, Bram Stoker, and Aurora Award-winner Edo van Belkom is the author of more than thirty books, including the thrilling young adult novels in the Wolf Pack series: Wolf Pack, Lone Wolf, and Cry Wolf. He is also the editor of several anthologies, including two created especially for younger readers, Be Afraid!, a Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist, and its sequel, Be Very Afraid! In addition, van Belkom has published more than 200 short stories of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery. He lives in Brampton, Ontario, with his wife and son.
Members
Reviews
Scream Queen by Edo Van Belkom
Edo Van Belkom is a hit-or-miss genre writer. In spite of an interesting premise, this is painfully disappointing even given the low expectations for writing at this level.
½
This book sufficiently describes Lord Loren Soth's decline from famed Knight of the Rose, to wife-murdering psychopath.
He is a genuinely disturbed person, and it is a haunting story to read.
I've always been a fan of Lord Soth, and this book does not disappoint.
He is a genuinely disturbed person, and it is a haunting story to read.
I've always been a fan of Lord Soth, and this book does not disappoint.
The fearsome Knight of the Rose, Lord Soth (aka Loren Soth), rises to power quite quickly, as he knows his craft and vows to live by The Oath and The Mesure, a code of conduct for all knights of Solamnia. Playing a leading role in life: gallant, polite, helpful, ... all for the greater good.
Lord Soth (link to Dragonlance Nexus) is featured in several Dragonlance-novels: the Chronicles, [b:Chosen of the Gods|590813|Chosen of the Gods (Dragonlance Kingpriest, #1)|Chris Pierson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389851555s/590813.jpg|577572] (The Kingpriest Trilogy, #1), and more. Knowing how he got to be Knight of the Rose and how his downfall occured, is what this stand-alone novel is about. Warning: as is custom in the world of Dragonlance, not every author pays attention to continuity and correctness of events. Many readers pay attention to such details, I don't, also because I don't often read a DL-novel, as you can see here.
In this novel, we follow Soth in his quest for world-domination.However, the flesh is weak and soon enough he cheats on his wife, not in the least because she can't get pregnant. Or at least, that's what Soth thinks. Korinne, his wife, thinks the same, goes visit a witch to fulfill her wish for a child, if only because she suspects Soth from cheating on her with the elven lady he saved from a band of ogres.
Soth wanted desperately to take her back to Dargaard Keep to have her injuries treated, even though his healer Istvan was of the opinion that she wasn't that badly hurt. And so, one thing leads to another and Isolde becomes a prisoner of Soth, or rather, his mistress.
When Korinne gives birth to the "magic" child, which is hideously deformed, Soth is furious, accuses her of having cheated on him. In his fury, the kills both her and the child. Korinne's maiden spreads the "rumour" that Soth killed Korinne and her child. Isolde, now Soth's wife and also with child (how odd, two pregnancies on such a short occasion; Isolde's child-birth did go well), refuses to accept this accusation and dispels Mirrel, who soon afterwards flees to Palanthas, to the High Court of Justice.
After an investigation, all tracks and evidence leads to Soth, who is condemned to death. Howeve,r his trusty band of knights rescue him and together they return to Dargaard Keep.
Meanwhile, the Kingpriest has banished magic, except for Thought Control or something of the sort. Reading the people's minds, to banish evil from the world. That's where this novel links up with the Kingpriest Trilogy, as the Kingpriests arrogance leads to the first Cataclysm, as he defies the gods of Krynn, thinks himself to be worthy to be a god and rule at the side of Paladin and other, all to rid the world of Evil.
Lord Soth can only redeem himself, as Mishakal has stated after Isolde's prayer, by battling the Kingpriest, so he no longer causes any trouble. To succeed, Soth will have to sacrifice his life... for the greater good.
And he does sacrifice hmself, only not as the gods wanted him to do. With him, his thirteen knights, condemned forever. No eternal sleep, no death, no rest in peace. Especially Soth is doomed, as he turned out to be an even viler and more terrifying monster than his father, despite his vowing to not become his father.
The story reads fast enough and is nice for in-between, if you need to change of setting. There are better DL-novels out there, obviously. Some things were handled too superficially, too rapidly, ... However, it's better, in my opinion, to read this novel AFTER you've read the Chronicles and the Kingpriest Trilogy.… (more)
Lord Soth (link to Dragonlance Nexus) is featured in several Dragonlance-novels: the Chronicles, [b:Chosen of the Gods|590813|Chosen of the Gods (Dragonlance Kingpriest, #1)|Chris Pierson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389851555s/590813.jpg|577572] (The Kingpriest Trilogy, #1), and more. Knowing how he got to be Knight of the Rose and how his downfall occured, is what this stand-alone novel is about. Warning: as is custom in the world of Dragonlance, not every author pays attention to continuity and correctness of events. Many readers pay attention to such details, I don't, also because I don't often read a DL-novel, as you can see here.
In this novel, we follow Soth in his quest for world-domination.
Soth wanted desperately to take her back to Dargaard Keep to have her injuries treated, even though his healer Istvan was of the opinion that she wasn't that badly hurt. And so, one thing leads to another and Isolde becomes a prisoner of Soth, or rather, his mistress.
When Korinne gives birth to the "magic" child, which is hideously deformed, Soth is furious, accuses her of having cheated on him. In his fury, the kills both her and the child. Korinne's maiden spreads the "rumour" that Soth killed Korinne and her child. Isolde, now Soth's wife and also with child (how odd, two pregnancies on such a short occasion; Isolde's child-birth did go well), refuses to accept this accusation and dispels Mirrel, who soon afterwards flees to Palanthas, to the High Court of Justice.
After an investigation, all tracks and evidence leads to Soth, who is condemned to death. Howeve,r his trusty band of knights rescue him and together they return to Dargaard Keep.
Meanwhile, the Kingpriest has banished magic, except for Thought Control or something of the sort. Reading the people's minds, to banish evil from the world. That's where this novel links up with the Kingpriest Trilogy, as the Kingpriests arrogance leads to the first Cataclysm, as he defies the gods of Krynn, thinks himself to be worthy to be a god and rule at the side of Paladin and other, all to rid the world of Evil.
Lord Soth can only redeem himself, as Mishakal has stated after Isolde's prayer, by battling the Kingpriest, so he no longer causes any trouble. To succeed, Soth will have to sacrifice his life... for the greater good.
And he does sacrifice hmself, only not as the gods wanted him to do. With him, his thirteen knights, condemned forever. No eternal sleep, no death, no rest in peace. Especially Soth is doomed, as he turned out to be an even viler and more terrifying monster than his father, despite his vowing to not become his father.
The story reads fast enough and is nice for in-between, if you need to change of setting. There are better DL-novels out there, obviously. Some things were handled too superficially, too rapidly, ... However, it's better, in my opinion, to read this novel AFTER you've read the Chronicles and the Kingpriest Trilogy.… (more)
If you have a fondness for tales where the hero falls, this is a tragedy.
Awards
Tesseracts Ten: A Celebration of New Canadian Speculative Fiction (Finalist – Other Work - English – 2007)
NORTHERN HORROR: Writhe Damn You; Above It All; The Party Over There; Vermiculture; Rideau; Wavelength; Mrs Thurston's Instrument of Justice; Comes a Cool Rain; Sitters; Skin; Sewage Treatment; Shadow of My Father; Advertising Hell; Warmth; Transaction (Finalist – Other Work - English – 2001)
Aurora Awards: An Anthology of Prize-Winning Science Fiction (Finalist – Other Work - English – 2000)
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 32
- Also by
- 40
- Members
- 643
- Popularity
- #39,230
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 18
- ISBNs
- 49
- Languages
- 3