The Last of the Renshai
by Mickey Zucker Reichert
The Last of the Renshai (1), Renshai Chronicles (01)
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Discover the acclaimed, bestselling epic fantasy Renshai Trilogy--an intricate world of Norse mythology, slashing swordplay, and devastating sorcery. THE WIZARDS--Down through the centuries, these four masters of magic have struggled to maintain the delicate balance of power in the troubled Northlands. But now the mortal world teeters on the brink of the long-foretold Great War, and not even the eternally conflicting sorceries of the Wizards may be enough to stave off the start of a show more battle which could--so legends say--herald the beginning of the dreaded final age for mortals, Wizards, and even the gods themselves. THE RENSHAI--They are the mightiest, most hated and feared of all warrior races. When their enemies band together in a surprise attack on their homeland, one Renshai will escape the genocidal ambush. He is fighter destined to walk the pathways of prophecy, a lone warrior determined to keep the memory of his people alive and to claim his vengeance on the slayers of his race. He is a master of destruction who--if he can survive in a world where the very name Renshai is guaranteed sentence of death--may be doomed to become the Champion of the Great War. show lessTags
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I think this is the only Rensai book that I have read. I found it good, but sluggish in spots, and I sometimes had trouble following the story. My husband likes them, though.
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Epic Fantasy of the 90s
111 works; 4 members
Author Information
52+ Works 6,151 Members
Mickey Zucker Reichert is a pseudonym for Miriam Susan Zucker. An American science fiction and fantasy author, she was born in 1962. In addition to being a writer, she is also a pediatrician. Reichert was recently chosen by the estate of Isaac Asimov to write three prequels to I, Robot. In all, she has published over 22 novels and 50 short show more stories. She is known for the Renshai Chronicles, as well as, the Beasts of Barakhai and The Bifrost Guardians series. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Last of the Renshai
- Original publication date
- 1992-01
- People/Characters
- Rache (main character | one of Santagithi's guard captains); Colbey (crazy, sword-wielding maniac | has a key role); Nantel (funny, lazy archer | one of Santagithi's guard captains); Santagithi (the Westland's best strategist | mayor/king of the town of Santagithi); Mitrian (butch swordswoman | Santagithi's daughter | Garn's husband); Garn (a gladiator | hates Rache | Mitrian's husband) (show all 103); Emerald (Rache's girlfriend/groupie); Sterrane (big bear of a man | very taciturn, laconic, silent | the obligatory secret king); Arduwyn (a hunter who hates having to kill animals); Bel (the girl Arduwyn's in love with, but is married to his best friend); Mar Lon (a bard | believes his music can avert war | sadly disappointed); Episte (a true hero | oldest Renshai | spymaster in Nordmir); Valr Kirin (Peusen's brother | lieutenant to the high king in Nordmir | name means "the Slayer"); Peusen Raskogsson (One-armed general of Iaplege); Alvis (advisor to King Tenja); Arvo Ranulfsson (a tinsmith); Calistin the Bold (Colbey's father); Eldir (King Tenja's bodyguard); Harold (a scout); Kallmir (Rache's father); Menglir (one of the two founders of the Western Renshai | see also Sjare); Ranilda Battlemad (Colbey's mother); Riodhr (a low level officer); Sigurd (a soldier in the war against the Renshai); Sjare (founded the Western Renshai with Menglir); Tenja (King of Vikerin); Thorwald (a peasant); Ancar (one of Santagithi's archers); Bartellon (one of Santagithi's guards); Belzar (legendary swordsman); Bromdun (another one of Santagithi's guards); Brugon (a merchant); Buirane (a previous king | father to the twins Valar and Morhane); Carad (a gladiator | Garn's father); Carlithel (proprietor of "The Hungry Lion," a tavern); Davrin (a bard); Dilger (a braggart); Donnerval (yet another one of Santagithi's guards); Effer (Bel's middle child, a son); Haim (Tokar's apprentice); Halnor (one of Santagithi's guards); Helvor -- Halnor's son; Jakot (one of Santagithi's lower officers | got you there, didn't I?); Jani (Bel's oldest child, a daughter); Kantar (Arduwyn's best friend | Bel's husband); Kinesthe (Mitrian and Garn's son); Kruger (a dock foreman); Lirtensa (a dishonest guard in Pudar); Listar (the blacksmith's son | thinks he's in love with Mitrian); Lonriya (Mar Long's great grandmother | created the lonriset); Martinel (an ancestor of Mar Lon); Monsamer (one of Santagithi's guard); Morhane (king of Béarn | Valar's younger twin); Mukesh (a merchant's son in Santagithi's town); Nito (one of Santagithi's guards); Quantar (one of Santagithi's guards); Quillinar (one of Santagithi's guards); Rusha (one of . . . Bel's child, the youngest, a daughter); Valar (Morhane's twin | murdered for the throne); Zaran (the last of Santagithi's guards | I hope); Abrith (a young peasant); Harrsha (one of Sideran's first lieutenants); Narisen (Siderin's other first lieutenant); Siderin (King of the Eastlands); Trinthka (a peasant); Tyrle (an elderly peasant); Swiftwing (an immortal falcon | the Cardinal Wizards' messengers); Aegir (Northern god of the sea); Balder (as Baldur, Northern god of beauty and gentleness and everything nice); Frey (Northern god of rain and sunshine and fortune); Freya (Northern goddess of battle | Frey's sister); Frigg (Odin's wife, Northern goddess of battle); Hati (the wolf who swallows the sun at the Ragnarok); Hel (Northern goddess of the cold underrealm of those who do not die in glorious, valorous combat); Heimdall (Northern god of vigilance and father of mankind); Loki (Northern god of fire and guile); Magni (Thor and Sif's son | Northern god of might); Mana-garmr (Northern wolf destined to extinguish the sun with the blood of men at the Ragnarok); Modi (Thor and Sif's other son | the Northern god of blood wrath); Odin (leader of the Northern pantheon | father of all the gods); Sif (Thor's wife | Northern goddess of fertility and fidelity [yep, Reichert had Sif and Freya's roles reversed); Skol (Northern wolf who will swallow the sun at Ragnarok); Syn (Northern goddess of justice and innocence); Thor (Northern god of thunder and storms, farmers and law); Trilless (Northern Wizard | Champion of goodness and the Northlands); Tyr (Northern one-handed god of war and faith); Aphrikelle (Western goddess of spring); Cathan (Western goddess of war, specifically hand to hand combat | twin to Kadrak); Dakoi (Western god of death); The Faceless God (Western god of winter); Firfan (Western god of archers and hunters); Itu (Western goddess of knowledge and truth); Kadrak (Western god of war | twin to Cathan); Ruaidhri (leader of the Western pantheon); Shadimar (Eastern Wizard | Champion of neutrality and the Westlands); Suman (Western god of farmers and peasants); Tokar (Western Wizard | Champion of neutrality and the Westlands); Weese (Western god of the winds); Yvesen (Western god of steel and women); Zera'im (Western god of honor); Carcophan (Southern Wizard | Champion of evil and the Eastlands); God (the only name for the bird/man totem/idol-god of the Leukenyans | created by Siderin); Sheriva (omnipotent, only god of the Eastlands)
- Important places
- The Northlands; Asci (home to the Ascai | patron god: Aegir); Blathe (home to the Blathe | patron god: Aegir); Drymir (home to the Drymirians | patron god: Frey); Devil's Island (an island in the Amirannak Sea); Dvaulir (home to the Dvaulirians | patron god: Thor) (show all 63); Erd (home to the Erdai | patron god: Freya); Farbutiri (home to the Farbui | patron god: Aegir); Gilshnir (home to the Gilshni | patron god: Tyr); Gjar (home to the Gjar | patron god: Heimdall); Kor N'rual (sacred cryots near Nordmir); Nordmir (the Northland's high kingdom | home to the Nordimirians | patron god: Odin); Othkin (home to the Othi | patron god: Aegir and Frigg); Renshi (original home to the Renshai, now a part of Thortire | patron god: Sif and Modi); Shamir (home of the Shamirians | patron god: Freya); Skrytil (home of the Skrytila | patron god: Thor); Svelbni (home of the Svelbnai | patron god: Baldur); Talmir (home of the Talmirians | patron god: Frey); Thortire (home of the Thortirians | patron god: Thor); Varli (home of the Varlians | patron god: Frey and Freya); Vikerin (home of the Vikerians | patron god: Thor); The Westlands; Ahktar (one of the largest central farming towns); Auer (a small town in the eastern section); Béarn (the high kingdom | a mountain city); Bellenet Fields (a tourney field in Erythane); Bruen (a medium-sized city near Pudar); Corpa Bickat; Corpa Leukenya (home of the cult of the white bird, created by Siderin); Corpa Schaull (a medium-sized city | one of the "Twin Cities" along with Frist); Erythane ( large city closely allied with Béarn | famous for its knights); The Fields of Wrath (legendary home to the Western Renshai); Frist (a medim-sized city | one of the "Twin Cities" along with Corpa Schaull); Granite Hills (a small, low range of mountains); Great Frenum Mountains (towering, impassable mountains that divide the Eastlands from the Westlands and Northlands); Greentree (a tiny farming town); Iaplege (a secret gathering place of cripples, criminals, and other outcasts); Loven (a medium-sized city); Myrcidë (a town of legendary wizards, now in ruins); Porvada (a medium-sized city); Pudar (the largest city in the West | the great trade center); The Road of Kings (the legendary route by which the Eastern Wizard is believed to have rescued the high king's heir after a bloody coup); Town of Santagithi (a medium-sized town, relatively young); Shidrin (a farming town); Sholton-Or (a Western farming town); Strinia (a small, barbarian settlement); Western Plains (a barren salt flat); Wolf Point (a rock formation in the forest surrounding Erythane); Wynix (a farming town); The Eastlands; LaZar the Decadent (a poor, dirty city); Rock of Peace (a stone near the road from Rozmath to Stalmize where the bard, Mar Lon, preached peace); Rozmath (a medium-sized city); Stalmize (the Eastern high kingdom); Amirannak Sea (the northernmost ocean); Brunn River (a muddy river in the Northlands); Conus River (a river sharing borders with both the Eastlands and the Westlands); Icy River (a cold, Northern river); Jewel River (one of the rivers that flows to Trader's Lake); Perionyx River (a Western river); Southern Sea (the southernmost ocean); Trader's Lake (a harbor for trading boats in Pudar); Trader's River (the main route for overwater trade)
- Epigraph
- In an age of Change
When Chaos shatters Odin's ward
And the Cardinal Wizards forsake their vows
A Renshai shall come forward.
Hero of the Great War
He will hold legend and destiny in his had
And wield th... (show all)em like a sword.
Too late shall he be known unto you:
The Golden Prince of Demons.
---Crypts of Kor N'rual - Dedication
- For Janny Wurts
who helped make the dream a reality,
and for
The Thomas Jefferson Medical Class of 1985
who waited so patiently,
each believing in his own way. - First words
- The Eastern Wizard, Shadimar, did not know how long he had sat with his elbows propped on the table in the Cardinal Wizards' Meeting Room and his bony chin cupped into his slender, wrinkled palms; but his hands had gone numb ... (show all)and long since ceased to register the cottony cascade of his beard between his fingers.
PROLOGUE
Ten-year-old Rache Kallmirsson leapt and kicked and spun, his sword slicing arcs through the deepening dusk.
CHAPTER 1
The Southern Wizard, Carcophan, strode through the rough-hewn corridors of the castle in the Eastern royal city of Stalmize. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He wept huge, moist tears befitting a king.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)EPILOGUE
"One battle at a time."
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