Down Among the Dead Men (Gollancz Sf S.) [Paperback]

Simon R Green (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gollancz Sf S. | Publication Date: June 23, 1994

There is a part of the Forest where it is always night, where the tall trees bow together to shut out the light. Men call it the Darkwood. The border fort on the edge of the Darkwood had been built to keep the peace. So far it had, but after delivery of a large consignment of gold it falls silent, answering neither natural nor supernatural communication. When the Forest King sends a small force, combining sorcerous and military skills, they find a deserted fortress soaked in blood. Magic reveals something malevolent and unreachable somewhere in the fort. But Duncan MacNeil and his company have human foes, greedy for gold, to deal with before they can take on the inhuman ...

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Gollancz (June 23, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575056207
• ISBN-13: 978-0575056206
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,243,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Simon Green is the author of the bestselling DEATHSTALKER cycle, the New York Times bestseller ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES, and many other novels. He lives in Bradford-upon-Avon in Wiltshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sets Pattern For Ghostworld and Hellworld, January 15, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Down Among the Dead Men (Gollancz Sf S.) (Paperback)

This is a sequel to Blue Moon Rising, but like Ghostworld and Hellworld, the character base has been trimmed from the epic to the contained.

The time is ten years after the Demon War (see Blue Moon Rising). A border fort was constructed to secure a border with Hillsdown. But now the fort has gone silent. A team of Rangers is sent to investigate.

Upon arrival at the fort it is obvious that there is something very wrong. Soon the Rangers must join with some bandits in order to survive a horror that threatens the whole world.

Dream sequences give a great personality profile for each character in a similar fashion to the flashbacks in Blue Moon Rising. While a direct sequel to the events of Blue Moon Rising, this is a tough and gritty tale that does not have the Rupert/Dragon/Julia/Unicorn brand of humor. But it is no less a good yarn.

If you like the Forest Kingdom books (or the Twilight of the Empire books), you should take quite well to this one.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal imagery, short on plot, July 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Down Among the Dead Men (Paperback)

This book is set in the same setting as and sometime after _Blue Moon Rising_; however, you won't find Rupert, Julia, or any of those characters here. If you're looking for a similarly swashbuckling, intrigue-filled tale, you'll probably be disappointed. Which is not to say that I didn't enjoy the tale, if only for the surreal horrors of the beasties that Green throws at his heroes. Read it for the description and yes, for the adventure (sort of like a lushly detailed dungeon crawl), but don't expect an especially complex plot

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent surreal fiction, February 20, 1999

By 

Steve (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down Among the Dead Men (Paperback)

Though not as grand-scale and plot-involved as Green's other works, this book takes an interesting turn--Green focuses the plotline around the psychology of the main characters, the result being one of the most insightful and fascinating pieces of surreal fiction I've read. Green retains he dramatic talents and smooth writing, and the reader is hooked form the first chapter on an incredibly involving drama of the mind. And yet, throughout, none of the sword-and-sorcery classic fantasy element is lost.