Customer Reviews

Beyond Wizardwall (thieves World)

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Beyond Wizardwall is a triumph. At the beginning of the story, Niko, Tempus's right-side companion, quits the Stepsons. Cut off from the Sacred Band, he falls victim to the Nisibisi witch, Roxane, and worse. The Band becomes embroiled in assassination and skullduggery in this searing conclusion to the Wizard Wars.

Whether you've read any other "Beyond" books by Janet Morris, or any other Thieves' World books, the deft characterization and surprising plot twists in "Beyond Wizardwall" will enthrall you. Four strong women, including Tempus's daughter, join the Sacred Banders in this epic fantasy, which climaxes in a surprising twist at the Festival of Man, where Stepsons compete against the best warriors in all the empires and supernatural forces back their favorites to win out over ancient evil....

Beyond Wizardall begins in Tyse, town darker and more mysterious than Sanctuary, and takes us on a break-neck ride where mortals fear to tread. New characters and new challenges face the Stepsons, who must sort out the sorcerous from the merely inimical as emperors fall and Nikodemos's life hangs by a thread. A book that will have you on the edge of your chair. A must for fans of the Sacred Band of Stepsons. I lived it; I loved it; so will you.

In this third of the three Sacred Band books about the war for Wizardwall, Niko quits the Stepsons, things go from bad to worse, and I loved every minute of watching Tempus get his Sacred Banders through the dangers facing them. Strategy and tactics reign supreme in this book. The horses are fast, the swords are sharp, the women are powerful, and the Sacred Band fights true to its oath, to the death, with honor, to free Nisibis from the black sorcery and evil empire that threaten it. Gods and sorcerers and witches and even the weather choose up sides in this climax to the three volume 'Beyond Sanctuary' series. Each of these books was a Science Fiction Book Club Selection as well as a hardback and softcover and 'authorized" Thieves World novels. In retrospect, these three books belong to the Sacred Band of Stepsons series, but I have friends who are combat veterans and who've have never read Thieves World who read these with glee. Tyse, where the band is based, reminds one of a combination of Beirut and Afghanistan, horses and all.

Ancient historical fantasy at its highest octave, or maybe ancient military fantasy. Or may heroic fiction, as the tags say, but never your run-of-the-mill fantasy. A book you'll want to read more than once, for certain. The Morrises continue to defy categorization, but in the best possible way.