Customer Reviews

The House of the Stag

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Every once in a while you come across a book that raises the bar, that blows the competition out of the water. Some years back, that book was Harry Potter (or books, to be more accurate); now, Kage Baker's The House of the Stag has done what few books can ever do.

The House of the Stag is a modern fairytale that chronicles the struggle of a young man after his people, the Yendri, are invaded by a barbaric, horseback-riding people called the Riders. As his people are rounded up and killed or turned into slaves, a strange figure appears called the Star, who takes on the role of a prophet. But Gard refuses to accept the "sit and do nothing" stance of the Star and takes matters into his own hands. When his actions get him accused as a murderer by his own people, he finds himself exiled and flung out into the wider, more dangerous world beyond. There he discovers new cultures and customs, and important information about his past, all while vowing to gain the power and influence he needs to destroy the Riders once and for all and free his people forever.

Baker's novel is an astonishing fantasy tale, with rich detail, fantastic world building, enjoyable, complex characters, and a unique postmodern structure that is as readily aware of its fairytale roots as it is of its emotionally impacted literary attention to issues of (post)colonialism, slavery, and racism. That's a mouthful, for sure, but The House of the Stag deserves such long-winded praise. This book influenced me so much that I actually used it for a second senior thesis during my final quarter at the University of California, Santa Cruz. I now regret having never read anything else by Ms. Baker, because her writing is impeccable, her characters are realistically flawed, and her world is stunning in its design. You can't ask for much more in a stand alone fantasy novel.

The most difficult thing about reviewing this book is trying to find the cons of Baker's story. I loved the book from start to finish, which leaves me with only one complaint: the chapters are too long. A pointless complaint? Yes, but to say that any book is perfect is to tell a lie. The House of the Stag is not a perfect novel, but it is certainly close.

The House of the Stag is the kind of novel for anyone who wants something more in their fantasy. This is not your typical tale of elves and magic, talking animals. It's a modernized fairytale replete with the escapist power of epic fantasy. As such, lovers of virtually any kind of fantasy should enjoy The House of the Stag. Baker's book is, in my opinion, a one of a kind fantasy treat.

The Yendri are a gentle innocent people living in contentment in their valley protected from outsiders by mountains until the Riders showed up. They viciously enslave the tranquil Yendri, working them in the fields until they die. Their spiritual guide promises them their freedom from bondage to a new land led by the Promised Child. Meanwhile Gard, a half demon foundling who was banished from the tribe for his violence, keeps attacking the invaders. A baby is found and brought to the Yendri to raise; they assume she is the Promised Child.

Gard gets frozen while trying to climb the mountain and believes he is going to die. Instead he is found and made into a slave by the mages who are bound by magic to live in the mountain.. The mages are evil and decadent and love seeing slaves kill each other in the arena. Gard quickly learns how to maneuver his hosts so they will trust him while he plots his escape. He and the Promised Child known as the Saint are fated to meet and their relationship will change both their worlds.

Kage Baker, author of the Company series, returns to her THE ANVIL OF THE WORLD realm with a dark fantasist parable. THE HOUSE OF STAG is character driven with the spiritual guide and the Promised Child having differing parallels to the Bible. There is plenty of action, the usual trademark wry but desert dry humor, and tons of intrigue. Gard is the prime star as the half demon shows with his risk taking actions he has a heart of goodness in spite of his nasty reputation. The Saint incongruously has the goodness PR spin, but ironically fans will observe some noted discrepancies in her lifestyle. Biblical references aside, readers will enjoy this magnificent tale.

Harriet Klausner

If you've never read any of Kage Baker's books, you are in for a treat. This gal knows how to tell a great story.

"The House of the Stag" is a prequel, explaining the background that ultimately becomes the setting for the rollicking "Anvil of the World". (If you haven't read "Anvil", "The House of the Stag" stands rock solid on its own. But don't cheat yourself out of reading "Anvil", too.)

I don't know what I like best about Kage Baker. Her world-building is logical and satisfying. Her adventure keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Her characters are fascinating, wonderful, unforgettable, all of them worthy of stories of their own. Baker may not use clay and lightning to bring them to life, but she does an equivalent job with paper and pen.

Her romance grabs your heart and never lets go -- without a single cringe. (Think Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons in "Spartacus". Or Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn in "Terminator".) And she's got the Elizabethan aptitude for describing sex oh, so salaciously -- without battering you with the technical details.

Best of all, she has a talent for humorously laying bare human foibles without ever being preachy. Like Twain, she draws you into subtle social commentary that is wickedly spot-on, but you won't notice because you're having so much fun.

If Kage Baker's name is on the cover, I will always plunk my money down. I save her books for long weekends when I know I'm going to be able to read them through at least twice. Her books are definitely "re-readers."

(And if you are like me, reading anything else right after one of Baker's books is always a letdown, so you might as well read it again.)

If you don't buy this book, get "Anvil of the World", or start the Company Novel series with "In the Garden of Iden".

If you'd rather first dip your toes into Baker's short stories, I recommend "Mother Aegypt and Other Stories". All of the stories in it are top notch. I also adore "Empress of Mars".

Excellent, excellent stuff, all of it.

Let me start by saying I'm not a big Fantasy reader. I believe for the most part, the Fantasy genre begins and ends with Tolkien and a lot that has come since is a pale attempt to recapture his brilliance. That being said, I loved this book and it's predecessor The Anvil of the World. Baker weaves a compelling and original story, with original characters, races and environments. This second installment to her 'Anvil' universe stands alone but also give a wonderful perspective into the events and characters of the first book.

I read this book & then reread it. It is very funny. Kage Baker considers the story behind the demon magelord who is king of the mountain. Where did he come from? Who are his friends? Whom did he marry? Can he create a great castle with working plumbing? Whenever his kids complain, he grumbles "when I was their age, I lived in a hole on a riverbank," & his wife soothes him by saying "yes dear."

The House of the Stag (2008) is a prequel to The Anvil of the World. It starts in an enclosed valley where the Earthborn live in peace. Then the Riders come and drive them from their land and kill or enslave many of them.

In this novel, Ranwyr is the son of Ran and Teliva of the Earthborn. He was born near a pool high up the Mountain.

Gard was found by Ran and Teliva near the pool. He was all alone in a spill of blood and is different from the Earthborn.

Star -- the Beloved -- is an Earthborn who performs miracles with his Songs. He states that a Child will come to free all his people from the Riders.

Grattur and Engrattur are demons. They are slaves of the mages of the Mountain.

In this story, the Beloved sings his Songs to walk unseen down to the slave pits of the Riders, to heal the sick slaves, and to free some of them from their chains. He takes newly freed slaves back to their home in the forest on the Mountain. He also trains some Earthborn as his disciples to sing the Songs.

Ranwyr and Gard have been raised as brothers, but they disagree about the Beloved. Ranwyr hears Star and becomes a disciple. Gard hears the man and thinks him to be a fool. Gard stalks the Riders and kills them when he can.

Ranwyr continues to follow the teachings of the Beloved, but he cannot master the Songs to work miracles. When Ranwyr neglects his family to practice the Songs, Gard becomes angry with him. They quarrel and Gard lashes out in his anger and gives Ranwyr a death blow.

Gard is berated by the disciples, but Star refuses to let them harm or kill him. Instead, Gard is banished from the people. He walks up the Mountain to discover a way to the other side.

But Gard is defeated by the snow and ice. Then he is rescued by the inhabitants of the Mountain and is made a slave to the mages. He is treated for his frostbite and eventually recovers the use of his legs.

Apparently Gard is half demon and half something else. Grattur and Engrattur welcome him as a brother. They tell him that they have been enslaved through their names, but Gard cannot be bound by his name. No one -- even Gard -- knows his true name.

While Gard is living within the Mountain as a slave of the mages, a slave is miraculously freed from the Riders. Climbing the Mountain, he comes upon the Child nestled within a great lily. He takes the Child up the Mountain and Star comes down to meet them.

This tale describes the demise of the Riders, the escape and spread of the Earthborn, and their contact with the Children of the Sun. Gard plays many roles in this story before becoming Master of the Mountain. At crucial points, a stag appears as his spiritual guide.

This novel has normal narrative interspersed with various insertions. Each insertion consists of translations of different types of media, including painted rocks and text written on leaves. One suspects that the author is trying to convey a sense of antiquity.

These two volumes are much like Vance's The Dying Earth series. It evokes a very similar feel as we follow Gard in his travels. However, this series is pure fantasy rather than the highly advanced science of ancient Earth.

Naturally, this story sets the stage for the first volume. Other novels have not yet been announced in this series. Hopefully one will come eventually. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Baker fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of armed combat, magical powers, and persevering half-demons.

-Arthur W. Jordin

He was a foundling, but the people who found him raised him as their child, loved him, and made hi feel he was one of them. He was one of them...until the raiders came and enslaved most of his people. Then Gard, unlike the others, fought back. His frustration, though, led him to conflict with his brother, ultimately exiling Gard from the company of the people who had been his family.

Captured by a mysterious group of magicians, Gard, too, becomes enslaved. After failing at supposedly easy tasks, he's trained as a gladiator and then a magician in an attempt to break the spell that holds the mages captive in their mountain. But Gard has other plans, escaping to make himself into the 'Dark Lord' of fiction.

Author Kage Baker turns from her time-travel 'The Company' novels to pure fantasy in an enjoyable tale. Baker's writing involves the reader, allowing us to sympathize with Gard even when he violates normal social behavior, yet hoping he'll somehow be redeemed. Gard's evolution from untrained stranger to a power is well-managed, without stretching the reader's suspension of disbelief.

Baker switches point-of-view between Gard and the mystic leaders of the remains of the Yendri people who initially adopted him but later rejected him. The Yendri reject the kind of violence Gard devotes his life to, yet have access to powers that Gard himself lacks. Baker also gives us moments of comic relief, with a pair of amusing demons and a respite where Gard becomes an actor, giving him the inspiration he needs to become the Dark Lord of fictional accounts (dark lords get all the girls).

Although I enjoyed this story a great deal, I did find the ending a bit anti-climactic. Is Baker setting the stage for a sequel, or did she simply tire of the story and want it over? I'm not sure but I think she should have made things a bit more complicated.

I loved it! Why? Because it was witty, with a wry but kind humor to it. Because I couldn't guess where it was going in anyway shape or form and the ending was a complete surprise to me. (For me, this is unusual.) Because it incorporated all sorts of strong interesting characters and points-of-view and a unique "world". Because it was such an interesting take--almost a gentle send-up--poking fun at the typical male-oriented fantasy novel! Because I loved the give and take between the strong male character and the equally strong female character! This is the way I like my books!

Yay Kage! I'm looking forward to the next one.

Readers, if you like Lois McMaster Bujold or Sharon Shinn, try Kage's books. Don't miss The Company series as well.

Sorry to be so uninformative, but -- this book is by Kage Baker. To the best of my knowledge, I've read everything she's published, and it's always better than anything else you may have in your waiting-to-be-read pile. This book is no exception. It's a good, meaty tale, with Good and Evil and Malice and Revenge and Triumph and tart, witty dialogue -- really, what more could a person want? Just read it. You'll be glad you did.

Kage Baker's The House of the Stag is a stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Anvil of the World and The Bird of the River. In this story, the pacifist Yendri tribe has been enslaved by cruel invaders, and the half-demon foundling named Gard is the only one who will fight back. When he's exiled from the tribe, Gard is captured by mages who live underground and set to work with their bound demon slaves. With some advice from his fellow slaves, he remakes his own image and ends up styling himself as "The Dark Lord." Meanwhile, back in the tribe, a prophet arises who promises the coming of a Saint who will lead the Yendri to a promised land. The separate plotlines are eventually united when The Saint meets The Dark Lord.

My summary of The House of the Stag doesn't do justice to the novel -- it explains, ostensibly, what the novel is about, but I don't pick up one of Kage Baker's books or stories because I think the plot sounds interesting. I pick it up because it was written by Kage Baker. There is much more to her work than the "plot" -- she knows how to tell a story. What I like best about Baker's stories is her creative world-building and her sense of humor. Her stories are unique, peculiar, smart, and often very funny in that dry deadpan way that I love. Her style is similar to Jack Vance's, though without the elaborate use of language that is part of his humor.

Despite some serious subject matter (slavery, racism, colonialism) and plenty of darkness, violence and gore, The House of the Stag is delightfully humorous. On his way to becoming The Dark Lord, Gard becomes a gladiator, a gardener, and an actor. He collects fashion and personality advice as he goes, keeping his thoughts mostly to himself and often limiting his speech to epigrammatic replies of "Yes," "Oh," and "Thank you." (Somehow, this is very funny.) Along the way, he meets many colorful characters such as the werewolf butler who collects celadon porcelain dishes and the female theater groupies who wait outside the Dark Lord's dressing room. Baker never overdoes these bits of humor -- their subtlety is what makes them so funny.

Too little of Kage Baker's work has been produced on audio, so when I saw that Audible Frontiers had recently released The House of the Stag, I snatched it up. It's read by Sean Crisden, whose voices are perfect for Baker's dry humor. He's absolutely hilarious in the scene where the theater manager is explaining the stock characters of epics to Gard.

I didn't need the plotline about the promised child, even though it eventually joined Gard's story. Gard's adventures were so fascinating that I was always disappointed when the POV switched, but these interludes didn't last long, fortunately. It's rare that I say this, but I was sad when The House of the Stag was finished. I wanted more and I felt again the loss of such a brilliant writer.