The Far Kingdoms [Hardcover]

Allan Cole (Author), Chris Bunch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 1993

Determined to seek out new territory for trade with his great city, Orissa, Amalric Antero--along with his new friend, Janos Greycloak--sets out to find the legendary Far Kingdoms.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a thoughtful and well-crafted epic fantasy, a weary old man recalls the search for legendary lands he and another made and the lasting effect those attempts wrought on the inhabitants of a fearful, stagnating city. As a dissipated young merchant, the narrator, Amalric Antero of Orissa, comes to his senses after being rescued from a procurer by Captain Janos Greycloak. The two decide to seek the "land of fabled wealth and wizardry," the Far Kingdoms, where Greycloak hopes to further his (illegal) studies of magic. Their dreadful voyage brings them close, but betrayal by the conjurer Evocator Cassine, who accompanied them, forces their return to Orissa. Tales of their voyage inflame the imaginations of fellow Orissans. Inspired to oppose the ruling Evocators, they organize a new, grander expedition, led by Greycloak. Antero stays home with Deoce, the wife he married on the initial voyage. The loss of most of the second expedition and additional natural disasters nearly destroy Orissa's newfound resolve, while the deaths of Deoce and their child nearly destroy Antero. Then he and Greycloak set out on a final voyage. Cole and Bunch wrote Empire's End .
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

First hardcover outing for the authors of numerous paperback fantasy collaborations. Young trader's son Amalric of the port city of Orissa must soon depart on his test-of-character voyage, known as Finding His Tradewind. With warrior-scholar Janos Graycloak, Amalric decides to search for the fabulous Far Kingdoms. One small complication: They must take along one member of the local magician's guild, or Evocators, in this case the weak and treacherous Cassini--who, true to type, betrays and abandons them in a far, perilous land. Returning to Orissa, Amalric and Janos find Cassini stirring up the Evocators against them, while Amalric's father lies dying. Later, their second expedition falls foul of Cassini and the hereditary enemies of Amalric's family. Escaping from vile magical imprisonment, Amalric and Janos return to Orissa, this time to overthrow the Evocators and triumphantly mount a third expedition. Finally, they reach the Far Kingdoms, which are indeed rich and powerful with magic. Amalric sees plenty of opportunities for trade with Orissa, but Janos, meanwhile, becomes obsessed with Far Kingdom magic and eventually loses his soul to the Dark Seeker; Amalric is forced to kill him. Churning but undistinguished. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 409 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (September 21, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034538055X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345380555
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,744,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

ALLAN COLE is a best-selling author, screenwriter and former prize-winning newsman. The son of a CIA operative, Cole was raised in Europe and the Far East. For details see Allan's website at www.acole.com. Here's what critics have said about Cole's work: The Sten Series: Landmark science fiction -Publishers Weekly; When The Gods Slept: Page turner of the year - Locus; The Far Kingdoms Series: Glorious... Swashbuckling - Locus; A Reckoning For Kings: Classic war novel - SF Chronicle; Lucky In Cyprus - A haunting, enlightening experience - BookLoons.com; A Cop's Life: Must read by anyone with a badge - Philadelphia Fraternal Order Of Police.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly great adventure..., November 25, 2004

By 

maslinkata "masli" (Sofia, Bulgaria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Far Kingdoms (Mass Market Paperback)

My mother offered to me this book and my first impression when I read the back cover was not so good. Then I started reading it and it just grabbed me. It is a really interesting story. People who like fictional tales would enjoy this one. I practically fell in love with some of the characters especially Amalric. If you start reading it you cant stop till you reach the very end. Then you hate the writer for not making it a little bit longer. Well there is a siquel the story of Amalric`s sister but I havent read that one because when I finished the book I could not look at another one.. I couldn`t start a different story it felt as if I would be starting a new relationship all over again.
In my opinion you should defently read this one..it will take you far far away..

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mostly just nonsense, August 4, 2002

By 

not4prophet (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Far Kingdoms (Hardcover)

"The Far Kingdoms" is one of the most pretentious fantasy novels that I've ever read, by which I mean that the authors apparently think that they've written something that's deep and meaningful and will have a big effect on the lives of their readers. In reality, this novel is completely forgettable. The plot deals with Amalric Antero, a spoiled rich kid who becomes a spoiled rich adult and joins with a soldier, Janos Greycloak, in several voyages. They hope to find the legendary Far Kingdoms, a land of wealth and happiness that supposedly lies a long distance to the East. Antero is one of the least likeable characters that I've ever seen in a fantasy novel. His men die, and he has no emotional reaction at all. His wife and child die, and he only mourns for a couple hours before taking off on another trip. He seems to drift through the book without caring about what he's doing or what happens to other people. In the end, I found that I didn't care whether or not Antero and Janos ever reached The Far Kingdoms.

In addition, it seems that not much thought was put into the plotting and writing of this novel. The pace is very uneven. Sometimes the authors dwell for pages on minute details, while other times they skip over months of action in just a few sentences. The first fifty pages are totally irrelevant to the rest of the book; I think that they were written just to include some rather insipid sexual content. After that, the plot falls into and endlessly repeating pattern. The main characters travel somewhere, get into a desperate situation, get rescued miraculously, travel somewhere else, get into another desperate situation, get rescued again, etc... Many of the scenes border on the absurd, such as an encounter with apparently intelligent tigers and monkeys in the middle of the desert, and by the time that a thirty-foot-long ghost ferret showed up to eat the bad guys, I was ready to throw this book into the garbage can. In short, don't waste your time with this pile of nonsense. If you want a short fantasy novel that's both creative and well-written, try "The High House", by James Stoddard.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, May 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Far Kingdoms (Mass Market Paperback)

I was an avid fantasy reader, focusing mostly on Dragonlance, when I recieved this book as a gift.

I put off reading it for a long time, and that was a mistake. This is one of the better Fantasy books I've ever read, and in fact I've read it 3 times.

I really can't explain the negative comments read here. This book was great. The culture, the characters, the world had enough depth to launch dozens of books. The characters are really the best part, they're very realistic and they're very multi-dimensional. Not a soul remains unchanged throughout the book.

On my list of Fantasy books I rank this up at the top along with Tolkein, Dave Duncan's Seventh Sword Trilogy, and Weis & Hickman's Dragonlance books.