Kalvan Kingmaker is the 3rd in the Kalvan Saga, after H. Beam Piper's groundbreaking parallel world's SF novel, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and the sequel, Great Kings' War by John F. Carr and Roland Green. The Paratime Police patrol an infinity of alternate earths. Their prime directive is to protect the Paratime Secret thereby keeping this infinity of worlds from mixing and destroying each other, or from learning the parasitical Home Time Line is secretly looting their resources.
When Penn. State Policeman Calvin Morrison is accidentally dropped off from a cross-time conveyer onto Styphon's House Subsector, he threatens both the Paratime Secret and leadership of the gunpowder theocracy, who owe their power to their secret knowledge of the "fireseed" formula. In just a few weeks, by the use of his knowledge of military strategy, Kalvan saves the small princedom of Hostigos from an invasion orchestrated by Styphon's House.
Kalvan Kingmaker opens right after Kalvan's decisive victory over the Holy Host of Styphon. With Great King Kaiphranos of Hos-Harphax in mourning over his eldest son's death, the time is ripe for the Army of Hostigos to invade Harphax and topple the Iron Throne.
At the holy city of Balph, the Inner Circle is reeling. Archpriest Roxthar, a rare true believer in Styphon, is conducting a full-blown inquisition of Styphon's corrupt upper priesthood. Once his reformation is complete, Roxthar's next job will to rebuild the Holy Host and defeat and destroy the Usurper Kalvan.
Meanwhile, there is a great migration of nomads across the Sea of Grass; they are the wild card. As the nomads pour across the Great Middle River, pushing the clans and tribes that live there into the Great Kingdoms, the big question soon becomes: Will Styphon's House be buried by the human wave, or will they use the nomads in their war to the death with Kalvan and Hos-Hostigos?
Kalvan Kingmaker (Kalvan Series)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful and engaging series continuation,
This review is from: Kalvan Kingmaker (Hardcover)
John Carr does a thoughtful and often exciting job of continuing H Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan saga. This is a direct sequel to Great King's War and continues the themes of the expanding conflict created by Lord Kalvans arrival in and transformation of Hos-Hostigos. While not the place to start the series it is great to see it continued by a good author with a superb knowlege of Piper's work. Carr play's well in other people's universes - note his new book, Battle for Sauron, which gives us a vital chapter in Jerry Pournelle's CoDominium universe. Check out his website, hostigos.com.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Welcome Addition: H. Beam Piper's Paratime Saga Continues,
This review is from: Kalvan Kingmaker (Hardcover)
In Kalvan Kingmaker, John F. Carr continues his homage to H. Beam Piper's Paratime hero Lord Kalvan, a.k.a. Pennsylvania state trooper Calvin Morrison. Building on the action from the authorized Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen sequel--Great Kings War co-authored with Roland Green--Carr's Kingmaker begins after Kalvan has defeated the armies of the Great Kingdom of Hos-Harphax, which had been backed by the theocratic Styphon's House. Now Kalvan's Great Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos faces the full might of the Holy Host of Styphon, led by the fanatical and ruthless Archpriest Roxthar, as well as hordes of barbarian nomads driven from the Sea of Grass by Styphon's Grand Master Soton and the Order of Zarthani Knights.
Meanwhile, the events of Kalvan's Fourth Level Aryan-Transpacific Sector timeline become increasingly embroiled in political turmoil among the First Level Paratimers responsible for Kalvan's accidental transposition to this alternate world. Paratime Police Chief Verkan Vall--undercover "out-time" as a key military advisor to Kalvan--has begun to suspect that a vast criminal organization of First Level Paratimers--the "Wizard Traders" of Piper's short novel Time Crime--has begun to exploit timelines in the Styphon's House Subsectors adjoining Kalvan's own timeline. Carr, editor of four anthologies of Piper's work (Paratime, Federation, Empire, and The Worlds of H. Beam Piper) and described by long-time collaborator Jerry Pournelle as "a recognized authority on the life and works of H. Beam Piper," uses his extensive familiarity with Piper's Paratime setting to craft a compelling story that begins to move beyond Kalvan's ongoing struggle with Styphon's House to a brewing crisis at the very heart of First Level Paratime civilization. The story continues in Carr's Siege of Tarr-Hostigos.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not what I looking for,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Kalvan Kingmaker (Hardcover)
John F. Carr is a fine writer but this did not seem his best. King Kalvan has had some time to consolidate his power after beating his enemy's back. His enemies in Styphon House have caused some major attacks from barbarians and Zarthani Knights however to cause him problems throughout the book as well as a overzealous wife. Carr has established minor story lines to keep the reader interested as well as the major Kalvan story.
But that is the problem of the book, the characters are not being so well developed. The book's conversations seem to be an afterthought not a way of getting the reader involved. The idea of armies moving across these vast distances is not really believable. After 29 years in the military I know moving a unit in vehicles is hard enough over well paved roads. His fast moving army that is at best foot and horse propelled over dirt roads is not completely believable. The biggest issue I have is it seems this book is only used as a stepping stone to the next book. Seems he could have left a cliffhanger without doing it repeatedly the entire book. Anyway, this book is worth buying as it continues the story. I do enjoy books by authors Carr and Green and hope the next re-establishes the Piper vision ; Siege of Tarr Hostigos.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Listmania!
|
|
