Highlander(TM): The Captive Soul (Highlander (Warner)) [Mass Market Paperback]

Josepha Sherman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Highlander (Warner) | Publication Date: August 1, 1998

In Captive Soul, published to tie-in with the fantasy adventure TV series Highlander, warrior Duncan McLeod and his friend Methos notice a particular sword on display in a NY museum. Methos recognises the weapon from his days in Ancient Egypt.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Aspect; Warner Books Ed edition (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605719
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605717
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.6 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #552,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A VERY GOOD STORY FROM METHOS' PAST, February 20, 2001

By 

Gisele "easyreader" (Brazil) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Highlander(TM): The Captive Soul (Highlander (Warner)) (Mass Market Paperback)

I wasn't expecting much from "The Captive Soul", after having read some bad reviews on it, but what a good surprise I had when I managed to read the book; although part of it is a little disappointing, indeed, I very much liked it. The action in the past is an interesting and thrilling trip into Methos' past -- any fan of the ROG can have a lot of fun reading how Methos helped the Egyptians to get rid of their evil overlords, the Hyksos, and, in the meantime, fell in love with a slave who he refused to name "like a pet". Both stories get along well and have a very unexpected ending. Besides, in ancient Egypt, we can enjoy (and imagine) several scenarios and situations Methos is in. His thoughts as well as his actions are believable, sometimes reminding you the "good Dr. Adams". However, the action in the present leaves a lot to be desired. Methos and MacLeod don't have much interaction -- they just keep walking from a place to another, chit-chatting, and suddenly the story is over. The final sword fight is not that good and Josepha Sherman even forgets to tell us what happened with a character (Professor Maxwell), who was around at the beginning of the last "scene" and then, disappears without any further explanation. There also is the issue concerning the time (1573-1570 B.C.) Sherman placed her story: one can remember that Methos was a very bad guy in the "Bronze Age" and it would be very unlikely that, at this time, he would be willing to help anyone but himself, or be kind and lovely towards his women. Well, one can either take in consideration that the Bronze Age occurred in different times in different regions of the world (and the Methos of the book is a post-blue-faced Methos)... or forget it and enjoy the story. And yet, the book hasn't been ruined (in my opinion, at least) -- as a Methos' fan, I really loved to "see" him in this adventure in ancient Egypt, being the old good Methos we all love.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad addition to the Highlander chronicles, January 4, 2001

By 

M. J. Walters "dargelos" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Highlander(TM): The Captive Soul (Highlander (Warner)) (Mass Market Paperback)

In an an original story based on Highlander, the series, Josepha Sherman gives readers a story that begins in bronze-age Egypt, under the Hyksos overlords and spans thirty centuries of obsession and madness. For three thousand years Prince Khyan has sought one very special sword, a sword which, he believes, holds the soul of his dead brother who was once a king in Egypt. His search brings him to present-day Manhattan, and back into conflict with Methos, the man he holds responsible for the death of his brother, and the loss of the throne.

For any writer tackling a novel based on a series like Highlander, one inescapable problem exists: How do you make your work interesting to fans of the show while making it accessible to readers who may have no prior knowledge of the universe in which your characters exist? Josepha Sherman balances these concerns nicely, integrating series back story in a fairly seamless manner. The plot itself is fairly straightforward though never simple-minded: Methos, drawn against his will into a struggle between two ways of life, comes to view that struggle as his own thanks, in great part, to the love he comes to feel for a much-abused young slave he meets at the Hyksos court. Because of her he makes some hard decisions, takes action and must face the consequences. It's a feature of this particular universe that the consequences can wait three millennia before coming home to roost, and that very personal sense of history is perhaps one of the most alluring things about Highlander. Sherman's historical detail is excellent, throwing some light on a previously rather shadowy episode in Egyptian history. Admittedly, she does some fudging of dates and events, but that's not really an issue when you're reading a story in which the plot advances so smoothly.

A caveat: This is a Methos story, and despite back and inside front cover blurbs which raise some expectation that MacLeod will be a central figure in the story, he remains very thinly drawn in the few present-day episodes that set up the final conflict between Methos and Khyan. As such, he rarely comes across as much more than a not-particularly-interesting secondary character. Nor does his relationship with Methos register as much more than, as Duncan himself says, "acquaintances." This may prove to be a little disappointing to those readers who enjoy the friendship between the characters as we see them in the series. Fortunately Duncan is the only character to suffer such a fate. Sherman captures much of the essence of Methos' charm in her narrative, from his instinct for survival, to his wry sense of humor. She never falters even as she takes him from his habitual position of enlightened self-interest to a passionate desire for justice and revenge. Her way with secondary characters is equally skilled, particularly with the women; Nebet, Tiaa and the Dowager Queen of Egypt are all well-drawn, interesting characters in their own right. Indeed, Sherman has a way of painting both the external and internal landscapes of a character with a few deft strokes - Tiaa's seductive walk, Nebet's unbound hair as a symbol of her growing trust in and love for Methos - which I find irresistible. The relationships between Methos and Nebet, and Methos and Tiaa serve as nice counterpoints of love and lust respectively, and the restrained love scenes, far from being intrusive, really do serve to advance the plot. Sherman also is deft at capturing the bittersweet quality of any love between Mortal and Immortal. Though his time with her was short even by Mortal standards, Methos' memory of Nebet is private, indelible and colored by regret.

Slightly less deft is Sherman's handling of the physical world. As a reader, I prefer more sensory input: What does this world smell like? Sound like? What are the textures one encounters? Sherman's descriptions rarely go beyond the purely visual, though she does an excellent job of conveying a world once bright, that has gone gray with subjugation and paranoia. Her action scenes, though, are excellent; she can render a battle or a one-on-one encounter so that it makes sense to her readers, and this is no mean feat. A good sense of action can enliven a book, and in the case of The Captive Soul, it becomes central to the narrative by allowing us to participate in a world far removed from our own. Sherman is, in fact, so good with such scenes that a few may be disturbing for sensitive readers; this is, after all, a world removed from our own by more than thirty centuries. While there is very little in the way of loving description of atrocities, much is implied. Sherman also does a nice job of moving back and forth between Egypt and contemporary Manhattan, with a balanced, flowing style, crisp dialogue and an equally crisp sense of humor. The narrative is well paced in the Egyptian sequences, though slightly less so in the contemporary chapters, and the ending is a bit abrupt though not ultimately unsatisfying.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Need more Methos, May 31, 2003

By 

"celes1" (Havre de Grace, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Highlander(TM): The Captive Soul (Highlander (Warner)) (Mass Market Paperback)

A random trip to a museum leads Methos down memory lane to a time in ancient Egypt. In 1500's B.C. Methos travels to Egypt only to discover it is being occupied by a brutal race known as the Hyksos. Methos decides to get the hell out of dodge but he's unwittingly drawn into the fight to rid Egypt of Hyksos rule. His task becomes even more perilous because a Hyksos prince turns out to be an immortal, and a completely insane one at that. Meanwhile, back in present day New York, Methos and Duncan suspect that a killing spree is tied to Methos' past.

This really is a three star book but since I lust after Methos it gets four. The plot isn't really anything special but is interesting enough to keep you reading, even though it's pretty predictable. Methos and Duncan were well written and in character but many of the secondary characters were one dimensional. The writing overall is adequate but the author's tendency to repeat herself and state the obvious got on my nerves after a while. Methos fans will enjoy this book but if you aren't that interested in him, skip it.