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Lure of the Basilisk

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This short book (clocking at only 200 pages) is the beginning of a four-book series.

I haven't yet read the other books, but I must honestly say that the author made good use of description (But it's not slow and boring, like it is in Ursula LeGuin's or Tad Williams' books).

The Main character, the Overman Garth, a renowned warrior among his people, goes on a quest for something any sane person has always wanted, immortal fame.

In order to thus gain what he desires he visits the Forgotten King, an exiled Sorceror Lord residing in the city of Skelleth, who directs him to take a quest to capture and bring to the Forgotten King the first living thing he discovers in the crypts of the lost city of Mormoreth.

Garth proceeds to make his way there, fighting off bandits and the enchanter Shang.

As for the characters, I liked how the author made the chivalrous hero of the story non-human, and how he dealt with how the protagonist's system of values and personal beliefs differed from those of a human being.

The other main characters in the story are a soldier, a bandit leader, and of course, the bad guys.

The three main bad guys are not all villains in the story.

The forgotten king is left mysterious in order to establish himself as a character in the later books.

The Baron of Skelleth, who'd like to see Garth dead, is despite this, somewhat of a sympathetic character, having been placed in a dreadful corner of the world because of a decision of his father's, and has a mysterious illness.

The actual "villain," here, then, would be Shang, Although an enemy of the Forgotten King, Shang seems to be equally as vile in his actions.

Thus it was a quick read, and a good descriptive work with intriguing characters. Recommended.

Tired of a world filled with death and decay, Garth the overman is directed by an oracle to go south into the human lands and serve one known as the Forgotten King, where he will win fame that will endure to the end of the world. But, the King's first command sends Garth off to find and bring back a nightmare creature out of legend, and to get it Garth must overcome bandits, foul magic, greed and madness. But, why does the Forgotten King want this loathsome creature? This is a strange and difficult quest, one that might give Garth what he does not want.

I am a great fan of Lawrence Watt-Evans' wonderful Ethshar series, and now that I can't find any more to read, I decided to move onto his Lords of Dus series (of which this is book one). Well, I was not disappointed! This is a great fantasy story, complete with magic, strange creatures, and lots of swordplay. In particular, I found the author's use of a non-human as the protagonist to be quite intriguing and masterfully done.

So, if you are a fan of fantasy literature, then you must get this book. You will not be disappointed.

Watt-Evens is an excellent, if overlooked sci-fi/fantasy writer, and I have been a fan almost as long as he's been writing. This book, the first of the Lords Of Dus or Garth series was the first he published, Dus is his best work, and this is the best of Dus. I can still remember the amazement I felt reading Watt-Evens' book, one of those rare fantasy novels that seems surrounded by a very real and fleshed out world. The main character, acting out of neither good nor noble compunctions is however, a good `man', which gives hint to the complexity with which Watt-Evens draws his characters and spins his plots. Nothing is as it seems in a Watt-Evens story, and surprise lurks around every corner, and The Lure Of The Basilisk is no exception. I especially enjoyed Garth's practical matter of fact take on everything, truly a convincing character. Shang, The Baron and even The King In Yellow are also fascinating, well drawn characters with complex motivations and realistic reactions. But oh, Garth's poor feet!

The Lure of the Basilisk (1980) is the first Fantasy novel in The Lords of the Dus series. It is set in a primitive world where soldiers fight with swords and spears and wizards battle with magic. Three centuries afore, the overmen had been driven into the Northern Waste during the Racial Wars.

In this novel, Garth is an overman. His breed had been created by a wizard centuries past. He is the Prince of Ordunin -- a port city in the far north -- and Lord of the Overmen of the Northern Waste.

The Forgotten King is an immortal man from long ago. He lives in the King's Inn within the village of Skelleth.

In this story, Garth goes to consult the Wise Women of Ordunin. He is tired of death and dying. He wants to gain a reputation that will be known as long as anything lives. The oracle sends him to Skelleth to meet with the Forgotten King.

Being a practical person -- like all overmen -- Garth prepares for the long journey. He rides a great black warbeast, derived from cat, dog, and donkey ancestors. It had been given to him in lieu of tribute by the overmen of Kirpa.

The warbeast has such wide paws that it walks on the surface of mud and snow. It carries him rapidly across the frozen ground to the village of Skelleth. The town had been an outpost of the Empire, but has gone downhill after the conflict ended. The wall has fallen many places and the gates are permanently open.

Garth rides through the North Gate without encountering any guards. He continues though the town to the King's Inn. There he finds an old man and asks him if he is the Forgotten King. When the man indicates in the affirmative, Garth sits down and tells his story.

The man in yellow rags thinks about the tale for a while and then says to Garth that he must prove his competence. The Forgotten King tells him to journey to the crypts in Mormoreth and bring back the first living things that he sees.

Garth doesn't know how big the thing will be, so he buys a fine meshed cage, chains of all sizes, and a bolt of cloth to bind the creature. Two days later, he leaves through the East Gate. The Forgotten King has given him detailed information on the roads to Mormoreth, so he should not have any problem finding the place.

However, Garth discovers invisible bandits on the road. He fights the ruffians and his warbeast kills a few. After most of the bandits are driven off, Garth discovers that only two of the bodies are still alive.

He treats the most severely wounded and covers him with furs from the other bodies. Then he has the warbeast pick up the creature pinning the other bandit to the ground and hauls him out from under the beast. Garth then splints the man's leg and treats his wounds.

Garth questions his prisoner and learns that the bandit leader has a stone that renders the bandits invisible. The leader had obtained it from Shang, a wizard living in Mormoreth. Garth searches the body of the leader and stashes the stone in his pocket.

The other man dies in the night. The remaining prisoner -- Elmil -- gives his word not to try to escape or injure Garth. This man also gives the warbeast the name of Koros, an Arkheim god of war. Garth agrees that the name fits his warbeast.

This tale puts Garth in further conflict with the bandits. They have another magical artifact from Shang that shields the new leader from Garth. After Garth and Koros kill more of the bandits, the new leader agrees to cease the conflicts.

Garth finds a basilisk within the crypts. The next installment in this series is The Seven Altars of Dusarra. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Watt-Evans fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of magical creatures, rational warriors, and subtle humor.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This is the first book in a 4 novel series, and also the first published novel of Mr. Watt-Evans. The book is well written, and shows all the promise and excitement of a new and talented writer. The story has many familiar trappings as Garth is sent out on the first of many quests. Though the use of Garth the Overman as the main character makes for an interesting and differant read. I would recommend this book and series. If you enjoy the wryness of the story, check out The Misenchanted Sword for some fun.

This is a exciting novel, that portrays a Hero that wants eternal fame and immortality. A moralitic and strong overman that braves the unknown reaches beyond his own world, into the Realm of Man, and other beings. A Striking novel that makes you need to read the other three.

Be careful what you ask for, you may get it! And not the way you think. This is the first of four books about a quest for immortality. It's about men, overmen, wizards and in the later books - the Gods themselves. The plot unfolds like the layers of an onion, leading you down the unexpected path.

Don't start reading this book until you get the other three. You won't want to stop until you have read all four.

I read the entire "world of Ethshar" collection by Lawrence Watt-Evans greatly enjoying the majority of the titles in the series. Based on this positive experience I decided to try the "Lords of Dus" series.

Having completed the first book I can say the following:

The storyline is an entertaining but fairly stock fantasy plot, a hero's quest for glory. The protagonist is well fleshed out, likeable yet pragmatic and complete with personality flaws that make him believable. The world setting is vivid and described well enough, but it would have been nice to have a bit more of the history revealed, explaining the current state of events. For the majority of the book, the plotting was good and moved along at the right clip, only bogging down in a couple of sections. Characters development outside of the protagonist did come across as weak with the majority of the other characters in the story seemingly designed to be disposable. Perhaps this was done intentionally as a way to emphasize the aloofness that a member the main character's race feels towards mere men, but it would still have been nice to have some of the other characters built up a bit.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and look forward to picking up the remaining books in the series.

Garth, Prince of Ordunin, Lord of the Overmen of the Northern Waste, doesn't want much. He is tired of being inconsequential in the grand scheme of things and wants to be remembered by everyone in the world, as long as anyone remains alive. Having demanded advice from the local oracles he gets a surprising answer. Go to the worn out town of Skelleth, and offer his services to a worn out beggar dressed in a tacky yellow robe. He does, and thereby hangs this tale.

Garth receives the first of what will become a series of quests, to retrieve the first animal he finds in the crypts beneath Mormoreth. Easier said, of course, than done. Marmoreth is a deserted city ruled over by the enchanter, Shang. Various robbers and brigands, all in Shang's pay, watch the road to Marmoreth. And Korg, Garth's giant warbeast is perpetually hungry. Oh! I forgot! The only animal in the crypts of Marmoreth is a basilisk. An irritable, poisonous, and generally impossible basilisk.

As Garth works his way through the twists of this quest with an engineer's attention to detail, and a slight tendency to be absent minded at critical moments, we get occasional glimpses of how humans would look to another intelligent life form. Somewhat insane, of course. Even to someone on a quest as insane as moving a basilisk cross-country.

Watt-Evans fills his story with little wry moments that mave all two hundred pages enjoyable. With the advantage of years, we know that this first effort turned itself into an entire series, with Garth becoming the perfect outsider whose encounters with humanity (and the King in Yellow) inevitably have unexpected results.

Great book.. fast paced, nice twists, riveting hero, cool creatures, which characters are good and evil matter of perspective rather than black & white....