Customer Reviews

To Demons Bound (Swords of Raemllyn)

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3 star:		(1)
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I found this book a few years ago... It combines 'to demons bound', 'a yoke of magic' and 'blood fountain'.

The adventures of thieves Davin Anane and Goran one-eye (who is actually a demon, but hey, we all have our little flaws).

Do not expect a book with deep psychology or story-lines. (it's not TOLKIEN). No, this is light reading for those who like fantasy, role-playing and a good laugh... e.g. Goran keeps dishing out stories on how his lost his eye...

For those who play RPG's, it has a bit of an AD&D feel to...

Only set-back. Book III, Blood-fountain ends like there could be a part IV to this series and there should be...

Good action, it just didn't work for me. Some parts were a bit vulger, which is fine. It fit the book. It was by no means a bad book.

...this story is in the lighthearted tradition of Fritz Leiber and L. Sprague de Camp: while providing a good fantasy adventure, it also seeks to entertain with large amounts of humor and jovial characterizations. I laughed aloud in a number of parts. The two main characters are great fun, while a third adds extra drama and long-term character conflict elements, and the book nicely sets up a large scale storyline for the books that follow. Far better than most fantasy quests (ones that are routine and humorless) since the scenario goes well beyond the cliche of simply finding a ring or sword. Also, rather than bombard the reader with innumerable names and places, the book takes care to present each new character in a memorable and distinct way. The direction of the overall quest only begins to take shape toward the end, and appears complex enough to sustain an entire series. Definitely recommended for genre fans, and especially for those who haven't yet enjoyed the lighter side of fantasy (a style that entertains broadly WITHOUT stooping to ridiculous parody). A careful balance of the humorous, epic, lighthearted, horrific and even dramatic sustains this book well and leaves readers immediately yearning for the second book, "A Yoke of Magic".

... but in general this story is in the traditional of Fritz Leiber and L. Sprague de Camp; while providing a fantasy adventure, it also seeks to entertain with ample amounts of humor. I laughed aloud in several parts. The two main characters are great fun, a third adds extra drama and long-term character conflict elements, and the book nicely sets up a large scale storyline for the books that follow. Far better than most fantasy quests (ones that are routine and humorless) since the scenario goes well beyond the cliche of simply finding a ring or sword. Also, rather than bombard the reader with innumerable names and places, the book takes care to present each new character in a memorable and distinct way. The direction of the overall quest only begins to take shape toward the end, and appears complex enough to sustain an entire series. Definitely recommended for genre fans, and especially for those who haven't yet enjoyed the lighter side of fantasy (a style that entertains broadly WITHOUT stooping to ridiculous parody). A careful balance of the humorous, epic, lighthearted, horrific and even dramatic sustains this book well and leaves readers immediately yearning for the second book, "A Yoke of Magic".

This is the first book in the Swords of Raemllyn fantasy series. Its style of fantasy follows in the tradition of L. Sprague de Camp and Fritz Leiber, in what can be termed "Swords, Sorcery, and Sex." (NOTE: Those who hate ALL fantasy books will probably not make an exception for this one.) The tale primarily concerns the adventures of the thief Davin Anane (who wrestles with feelings of honor and guilt), his brawling companion Goran One-Eye (a non-human trapped in a human's body), and Lijena (a woman who is ensnared in unfortunate chains of events). This book is notable in its handling (juggling?) of diverse moods and plot threads, effectively inviting readers gradually from at first just following two adventurers, but then toward a grand web of large-scale historical events in the land of Raemllyn. While such a scenario may be seen as standard for the genre, this book is always interesting and avoids many of the shortcomings of other fantasy genre books. For one thing, the book is not merely a humorless exercise in "achieving the goals of the quest," as so many other books are. (Such other books presume that their characters are inherently interesting merely because we're reading about them as protagonists.) Rather, there were numerous times when I laughed aloud at jokes and antics that occurred. Secondly, readers won't immediately be swamped with a million names of flat characters, lands and events. Rather, step are deliberately taken to present and then develop all pertinent characters in a way that makes them memorable. Third, the authors take steps to present scenes of sex and violence in a context that actually contributes to the characters and story, rather than only being presented to capture readers' prurient interests. Many fantasy stories are made even more unreal by the sexless nature of their characters and settings, with portrayals that are implicitly and habitually puritan (or childlike?). By contrast, here is a scenario that is much more in-line with the social realities of known historical settings (although obviously in a purely fictional environment). For example, a sequence of rape and torture is actually useful because of the internal and interpersonal conflicts that the main characters then must wrestle with long afterward. Finally, it is not made immediately clear what the "quest" of the characters will be. It is only by the end of this first book that we start to get some intriguing indications of where "the fates" will take them. Thus, the "quest" is not a simpleminded one in which they must merely retrieve a ring or sword. Many fantasy stories still sell merely on the basis of achieving the simple adventure quest. This series offers a more complicated scenario and a more sophisticated set-up than most. Definitely recommended for genre fans, and for those who wish to check out the bawdier but also more humorous and entertaining subgenre of fantasy to which this belongs. The technical aspects of the writing style are good: not the sort of thing that one can read absent-mindedly without any effort, yet at the same time always keeping in touch with the goal of providing ENTERTAINMENT. A balancing act, one might say, that for me is pulled off quite well! (NOTE: I also enjoyed the book as a much younger reader when it first came out. This review is based on a re-reading in Nov. 2002). 6.5hrs.