Night of Madness [Hardcover]

Lawrence Watt-Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

The Night of Madness begins when a mysterious object falls from the heavens, creating a wave of magic in all directions. The wave brings not only a dream but an infusion of warlockry to the land, and soon all hell breaks loose. Looting, rioting, petty personal revenge, and uncontrollable madness run rampant, and all of Ethshars magicians seem helpless before it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in his popular fantasy world of Ethshar of the Spices, Watt-Evans's (Dragon Weather) newest is a sweet yarn about magic gone awry and a young noble's coming of age through adversity. Chubby, good-natured Lord Hanner is his Uncle Farran's errand boy. He works as a liaison between his uncle, who is chief adviser to Lord Azrad the Sedentary, and the community of wizards, witches, sorcerers, necromancers, etc. Since the rules set up by the Wizards' Guild include "No mixing different sorts of magic. No mixing magic and government," all Hanner can do is learn about magic, not practice it. Then comes the Night of Madness, when people awaken with terrible dreams and strange powers. This new magic creates unusually powerful warlocks; moreover, it affects many regular citizens and members of government, breaking the rules set by the Wizards' Guild. Magical mayhem ensues, and Hanner must learn the rules of the new magic, keep command of his small army and learn to control his own burgeoning powers as his uncle, the Wizards' Guild and Lord Azrad fight among themselves for control of Ethshar. Swiftly paced, with likable characters, this novel leaves open many questions that may someday be answered in further installments. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A fine piece of work."--Booklist

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312873689
• ISBN-13: 978-0312873684
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,600,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing fantasy for thirty years... no, my fantasy's been published for thirty years. I've been writing it since I was eight. It's what I always wanted to do for a living, and I've been very fortunate in that I've been able to manage that. I try to write fantasy with an element of common sense to it -- not so much mythic archetypes as sensible people.

Other than my job, my life's pretty ordinary -- a nice house in a quiet neighborhood, a wife, two grown kids, and an overweight cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up to the old standards, October 23, 2000

By 

Andrew X. Lias "http://andrewlias.blogspot.com" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Night of Madness (Hardcover)

When an author, even a great author, returns to an old mileu after and extended absence, it's often a cause for trepidation. Examples abound: Asimov's return to Foundation, Heinlein's return to his Future History, Clarke's return to Rama, etc. In many cases, the new works are not only substandard, but they actually detract from the previous body.

As such, when I heard that Larwence Watt-Evans was going to release a new Ethshar novel after a ten year hiatus, my feelings were more than a bit mixed. This was especially so given that I haven't been very impressed by his work in the interim.

I am glad to report that not only is Night of Madness a good Ethshar novel, it's a VERY good Ethshar novel. I would easily place it just behind The Misenchanted Sword and With a Single Spell in terms of quality. In particular, it is a good example of what I consider to be what makes Ethshar novels work: there is a new and strange situation which causes problems with the bulk of the story drawing on dealing with and, ultimately, solving the problem. The prose is bright and clear (no one would mistake the books for great literature, but they do an excellent job of being light and fun without descending to sophmoric stupidity). The internal logic of the world is thoroughly consistent. And, most importantly, the story and the settings are interesting.

I am happy to see that Mr. Watt-Evans has made a successful return to his old stomping grounds. I have missed the Ethshar sequence (in spite of the occasional less-than-worthy book) and am glad to see that his long absence hasn't diminished his capacity to continue it. I'm definitely looking forward to many, many more to come.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the better Ethshar tales..., October 19, 2000

By 

Brian Seaman "Stryker" (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Night of Madness (Hardcover)

Lawrence Watt-Evans has been one of the authors I've followed for a long time. I have many of his books, including the entire Ethshar series.

This book is his longest yet in the Ethshar series, though not as long as Touched by the Gods. However, the book kept me gripped for the entire 2 days it took me to read it. As usual, Watt-Evans has gone into just enough detail to make everything come to life, but not so much that you are bogged down in them. His characters are interesting and engrossing, and you can't tell what will happen to any of them by the tone of the author's writing (Characters that are "extras" or who don't survive are just as detailed and important as the ones that do).

If you've read any of the series before, you've had an introduction into the book's background, centering on the night that warlocks came into the world. Therefore, it's placed in the past, before the timeframes of some of his other books in the series. It's interesting to see the history of his world.

I highly recommend this book, and also any of his other Eshthar series books (though they are hard to find, and I've got MY collection, but here's to hoping they will re-release them somehow, so others can see the author's talent.)

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad!, October 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Night of Madness (Hardcover)

While not Watt-Evans best work in Ethshire it's generally a good read. There arn't so many comic elements as are found in some of his other Ethshire novels. It's more of a historical account of the Night of Madness, as told by one young noble. If you are a fan of the Ethshire series this is a must read. If you've never read them before, go find "The Misenchanted Sword" and "With a Single Spell". "Spell of the Black Dagger" is also tops. If nothing else enjoy the magical land of the Ethshire novels.