Forbidden Magic (The Godwars, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Angus Wells (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1992

In the time of the beginning, when the First Gods created all things, they brought forth two children, Tharn and Balatur, lesser gods, to walk upon the new world. But Balatur was arrogant. Tharn was consumed with madness, and the First Gods were forced to condemn them to an eternal, deathlike sleep, lest they destroy creation.

Now a mysterious wizard seeks to awaken the mad Tharn and unleash his terrifying power into the world. If he succeeds, the god’s insane fury could rip apart the fabric of existence and give the diabolical magician what he seeks most of all: the scepter of domination over the forces of chaos.

Only the young scholar Calandryll has the knowledge and skill to stop the evil wizard’s plan. Accompanied by a cynical mercenary, protected by an enigmatic magic, he must journey across a war-torn countryside, facing terror and treachery both real and magical, to find the ancient book whose incantations can bring the evil god back to life — and destroy it forever.

Forbidden Magic is the thrilling beginning of The Godwars, an epic adventure of heroism and sorcery by one of the most exciting new writers of fantasy today.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (April 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553291289
• ISBN-13: 978-0553291285
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,705,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable tale, June 28, 2003

By 

J. Michael Shepherd "isomeraser" (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forbidden Magic: The Godwars Book 1 (Paperback)

Being an avid science fiction and fantasy reader I am constantly on the lookout for new authors and tales to capture my interest. With this novel Angus Wells kicks off his Godwars saga. As a whole the series is very enjoyable, if not particularly original. I found this book to be good, if a trifle slow in places. The story follows the scholarly prince Calandryll on his voyage to recover the mysterious arcanum. With the help of Bracht the kern freesword, and Katya the beautiful and capable swordswoman of the Vanu. Calandryll matures from a fopish princeling to a capable adventurer. Assailed along the way by assassins and evil wizards the three travel into hostile lands to find the book, so that it may be destroyed.

The characters tend to be superficial at times, and the plot limps heavily in several places. The world and concept have a great deal of potential, but the plot is fairly predictable. Don't expect this to be the best book you have ever read, but it is still very entertaining.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All in all an entertaining read., January 14, 2000

By 

"colonel_hollywood" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forbidden Magic (The Godwars, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Who in the hell is Angus Wells? I admit I had never heard ofthe author or his previous works, even though I read fantasy like itsgoing out of style...wait...it was never IN style.

But I borrowed these books from him, and even though the plot lacks a bit in the history department, and the central theme is the "Mad God" plot reminiscent of the Belgariad series, I actually found myself rather involved in Callyndryl and Bracht's adventure.

Likeable characters, (although Callyndryll seems quite ignorant at times), and a nicely paced story made this and the others in the trilogy a worthwhile way to spend an afternoon or two while I wait for the next George R R Martin or Terry Goodkind novel to be released.

Go ahead and give it a shot. Its a pleasant fantasy series. END

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Action packed story, but lacking any history. . ., June 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Forbidden Magic (The Godwars, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

FORBIDDEN MAGIC introduces us to a large fantasy world, and an action packed journey filled with danger and deception. The book begins a little slow, but once the action picks up it turns into a decent story that thouroghly entertains. The only problems I had with FORBIDDEN MAGIC was that Mr. Wells doesn't go all the way with his world. If you look at the map at the front of the book, you see a diverse landscape with many interesting places, but most of these places are only given a couple lines of description, and we never see them or hear of them again. There is also no history to the story. There is no mention of past events, it's as if when Calandryll sets out on his journey, that is the creation of this world. All we know of anything occuring in the past is that a couple of gods created the world and a couple different gods ruined it and were imprisoned. Despite the lack of depth, this is still an entertaining fantasy novel, and I would recommend it