Customer Reviews

Mother of Lies

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A solid production. This is the sequel to Children of Chaos and better than that book. Characterization and plotting are adequate and Duncan has done a good job of producing a clever alternative world. The door is open for a sequel.

Dave Duncan did it again. He created a new unique world, which is weird and cool, even though physically impossible, as he himself admits in the appendix to the book. He brought to life monsters, heroes and bloodlords... and you can forget about your night sleep until after you close the last page.

For the fans of the previous works by Duncan I would say only that in my opinion "Mother of lies" is one of the best books by this author. The characters are complex and interesting, and the plot has so many twists and surprises, that I actually had to go for a very long lunch break, to be able to finish the book.

For new readers who never has heard about Dave Duncan - please do yourself a favor and grab "Children of Chaos" (the first book in "The Dodec Books" series). If you love fantasy books, you will not be disappointed.

I have enjoyed most of Mr. Duncan's books, and this short series is no exception. While good, I did not think it was up to the same level as some of his earlier works. Just my personal taste, but I found some of the violence overdone, but that seems to be the norm for most fantasy books these days. Also, I found the Dodec concept rather distracting. I may have missed something, but I cannot fathom why this has much relevance to the story (and it shows up in a technical appendix which did not interest me at all).
Even though this may not be his best (in my opinion), this series is still well worth reading and is full of interesting characters that I grew to care about.

This is another in a long line of outstanding fantasies by David Duncan. Imaginative world, great characters, lots of twists, just what one expects (I'd actually rate it at 4.5 stars but not an option I guess). Others have given lots of details on the plot so won't repeat here.

Would add that others have suggested the King's Blades books by him. Those are good books, but the best by far is the Seventh Sword series starting with The Reluctant Swordsman (my favorite fantasy series ever). It currently has 19 ratings all of them 5 stars! It shows how someone from our world might really react if thrown into one where magic/gods really existed.

Duncan also has two other excellent fantasy series: One is Man of his Word series (first book is The Magic Casement).

If you like creative, intelligent fantasy, lots to look forward to.

I wasn't really sure what I was getting into with Dave Duncan's "dodeca" books, but I've enjoyed much of his other writing, so I thought I'd give it a chance. I'm glad I did -- the world, the characters, the magic, and the plot threads were all top-notch and a real blast to read through.

The background for the story consists of the unique world -- a dodecahedron -- and a magic system in which 12 distinct gods assist their followers in directly affecting the world. What could have been a trite or simplistic approach instead comes out in interesting, complex (but thankfully not overly-so) interactions, as we watch the primary characters grow.

Sadly, the books are relatively short, and at least so far, two is all you get. Because the story takes place on only two of the world's faces, it seems a fertile environment for additional books set in the same universe. As you can guess, I really hope this to be the case.

This book tied together the previous book, Children of Chaos, very well. A very well woven ending for his wonderful characters.

I'm starting to consider Dave Duncan one of an old reliable. I'd just discovered him last year, but nearly everything that I've read of his has kept me reading through the night.

If you enjoy adventures spiced with magic, drama, romance and tales of loyalty, then I know you'll chuckle, you'll cry, and you won't be able to put this down!

I started this book immediately after finishing Children of Chaos. Three of the four Celebre children, reunited in the first book, now make the dangerous journey back over the edge to reclaim their father's palace, and their homeland, from the bloodlord Stralg.

The world-building is very well done, the story is intriguing, and the characters are as interesting as the characters in the first book. The ending is satisfying, while at the same time, just enough complication is left at the end to leave open the possibility of a sequel.

On the other hand, this book starts slowly, and a lot of time is devoted to the characters discussing their plans while avoiding discovery and capture, which slows down what would otherwise be a very fast-paced, exciting story. I found this to be a problem in the first book as well.

Instead, I would have liked to see more of Saltaja's journey over the edge, either directly or through Fabia's dreams. The horrible events of her crossing are only hinted at, and later only briefly described by another character.

On the dodecahedral shaped orb Dodec, Werist worshipper Bloodlord Stralg Hragson uses his austere kingdom of Vigaelia as a base to expand his rule. Using his barbarian horde and clairvoyant seers, Stralg has traversed the icy mountains to conquer much warmer Florengia where he forced the locals to worship his war god Weru and abducted the four children (Dantio, Orlad, Fabia, and Benard) of the ruling Doge Piero as hostages.

However, Stralg proves too successful in converting the Florengian when Werist rebels led by Marno Cavotti begin to kick the northerners out of their realm until only Hragson's sister Saltaja, a follower of the death goddess Xaran, remains a threat. Seer Dantio, Werist Orlad and closet Xaran worshipper Fabia agree to go home to prevent Saltaja from destroying Florengia while each, along with their sculpturing sibling they left behind in Vigaelia, wonder who will rule the country once the conquerors are gone and their sire dies.

MOTHER OF LIES is an exciting action-packed tale, but it is more thriller than fantasy as much of the magic of the Gods provided to the mortal and extensively used in the first novel (see CHILDREN OF CHAOS) is underutilized in the second saga. Thus a two edged sword surfaces as the audience can see deeper into what are the key motivators of the principal players especially the offspring of the Piero and the sister of Stralg. Still the second Dodec fable is a fast-paced fantasy as the "empire" strikes back.

Harriet Klausner