Amazon.com: The Fall of the Kings (9780739431931): Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2002

Immerse yourself in an elegant story of magic and intrigue. In an ancient city full of dreams, no king rules anymore. And some think that is for the best...

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } Immerse yourself in an elegant story of magic and intrigue. In an ancient city full of dreams, no king rules anymore. And some think that is for the best...

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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

3.5 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intriguing, complicated and engrossing, November 26, 2002

By

A. Rappoport (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Fall of The Kings (Paperback)

What a lovely book, rich and layered, set in an alternate universe witout the usual cliches, it feels familiar and strange at the same time. I loved Swordspoint and Thomas the Rhymer, and this is a great successor. The people, heroes and anti-heroes alike, are treated sympathetically through the course of the book, and even the minor characters are intriguing and surprising. I'm not usually a fan of atmospheric novels, but this one worked beautifully. It also has enough plot and witty dialog and character development to keep me reading until *way* past my bedtime.

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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy sequel to Swordspoint!, November 8, 2002

By

"spellbound-i" (Tokyo) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fall of The Kings (Paperback)

Wow. I waited several weeks for an unfilled order for this book at [a store] and finally gave up, going to Amazon.com in desperation. My copy arrived yesterday and I was awake until 3:00 AM reading this delicious, sexy, thrilling, magical tale that I literally could not put down for hours! The son of the memorable Alec, late of "Swordspoint", is the focus of this story, a handsome, dissolute young lordling, (clever and witty, but not so caustic as his father) who attends the famous University and falls for a young professor. The professor has been researching the ancient tales of the kings and their wizards, their relationships, and their power struggles. The magical legends, believed to be full of fanciful notions of mysticism, appear to be coming back to life in the world with young Theron Campion, the noble, and his professor reliving the ancient roles of the kings and wizards before them. This book is beautifully written, darker and sexier than "Swordspoint", and just as thrilling and new. I LOVED this book. Seek out the comic book series (yes, comic book) "A Distant Soil", issue #29, for a short story by Delia Sherman entitled "The Tragedy of King Alexander the Stag" for an original, nowhere else published story of the Kings and Wizards of the "Swordspoint" world. I can't recommend this book enough.

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat for all the senses, November 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fall of The Kings (Paperback)

Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman's The Fall of the Kings is a worthy sequel to Kushner's earlier Swordspoint. The excitement is there, the political intrigue, the food (pickled cherries!), and most of all, what people do to one another.

Get the hot chocolate out and enjoy this bawdy, intellectually stimulating novel of love and betrayal.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars worst ending ever!
The character and the plot is compelling, making me stay up all night to finish the book. However,the book really sets out to disappoint the reader again and again, focusing on... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Masfin

4.0 out of 5 stars All about me!
I loved this book - and yet I hated the ending - but I'd still recommend it. Weird huh...

I think I hated it because for nearly the whole book I get to be inside... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Jodi Davis

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing...
While there was plenty in Swordspoint and in Privilege Of The Sword that I didn't love, at least the books were well-written, relatively straight-forward in plot (plenty of... Read more

Published 20 months ago by RobynB

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous culmination of the Trilogy
This book is outstandingly marvelous!
Give yourself a treat and read its predecessors in the trilogy: Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword. Read more

Published on November 11, 2009 by PqP

1.0 out of 5 stars Marginal
Being a fan of the world of Swordspoint, I couldn't wait for this book to arrive. I stayed up to read it. Read more

Published on August 13, 2009 by A. Trantham

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth it, if ultimately disappointing
First off, I loved this book...right up until the end. It has possibly THE most disappointing conclusion I have ever read. Read more

Published on May 22, 2006 by Ashes

4.0 out of 5 stars Catching
This book was lent to me by a friend after she had read it, and I heard bits and pieces of it, nothing bad at all. I have to agree. Read more

Published on July 7, 2005 by Katie Evans

2.0 out of 5 stars I've read better
True, the concept of this book was slightly brilliant. The connection to an ancient history was delightful, although that aspect of the main characters' relationship flirted with... Read more

Published on March 3, 2005 by Sable

2.0 out of 5 stars I give it points for the gay sex...
This book was...interesting...

Certainly it kept me reasonably entertained, if only because there was so much in the 500+ pages of history and characterization to choke down and... Read more

Published on July 15, 2004 by Amanda Conwell

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven but Worthy of Attention
Complicated. Thats how I would describe the book, The Fall of Kings. Most times I really go in for a complicated, rich tapestry of a fantasy world, and gladly dove into this one... Read more

Published on June 12, 2004 by journeyof1

› See all 34 customer reviews...

Inside This Book (learn more)
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ink pot, royal hunt, scruffy boy, court wizards

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ellen Kushner Delia Sherman, Doctor St Cloud, Basil St Cloud, Henry Fremont, Theron Campion, Lady Randall, Peter Godwin, Last Night, Justis Blake, Lord Theron, Lord Arlen, Lady Sophia, Great Hall, Lord Nicholas, Roger Crabbe, Minchin Street, Doctor Crabbe, Benedict Vandeleur, Doctor Tortua, Horn Chair, Little King, Leonard Rugg, Lord Condell, Anthony Lindley, Tremontaine House

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