Customer Reviews

Night of Madness

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

 

 

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.

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.)

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.

Young Lord Hanner is the nephew of Lord Faran, the second most powerful man in the city-state of Ethshar of the Spices, but Hanner's life is simple with few responsibilities. Then one night comes the Night of Madness. Many people throughout the city wake screaming, suddenly possessed of a great, wholly new form of magic. For some it is a dream come true, for others it is a nightmare. The Overlord fears the new warlocks, Lord Faran sees in them his path to ultimate power, and what the all-powerful Wizard's Guild thinks is everyone's concern. Through this all, Lord Hanner must find a way to protect the warlocks from the rest of the city, and protect the city from the warlocks.

I must admit that I have never read anything by Lawrence Watt-Evans before, and I am very impressed. After a few slow pages, the author suddenly turns up the intensity. I found this book completely impossible to put down. For those of you who play Dungeons and Dragons, this book is of great interest due to it's inclusion of multiple types of magic.

This is a great book.

Ok, this isn't the best novel in the series, but it also isn't the worst by far. ...

NoM is a tale that anyone who has read any of the other Ethshar novels has been waiting to get their hands on. It is the tale of what happens on the night Warlockery is iontorduced into the world. As such, it is kind of rigid in what it can and cannot do. It COULD show how people reacted when they first became warlocks, how rulers and wizards worried over the new magic, and show how the Council of Warlocks came into being complete with how all their laws and rules came about. It simply could NOT tell us what caused warlockery to occur, since earlier novels (which take place much later after the night of madness)left the whole event shrouded in mystery. LWE couldn't reveal what caused the event or why it happened, but he did reveal some tantalizing clues, which if you gather tidbits from other novels in the series gives you a better (if somewhat lacking) idea of what is going on.

In usual LWE fasion the protagonist makes out by not being greedy or power hungry, so there is no surprises there. Read it, it is still a high quality book.

Lord Hanner is a minor functionary until the night of madness. Suddenly, a new branch of magic attaches itself to thousands of citizens--including Hanner and his powerful uncle. Caught up in the joy and power of their new magic, many warlocks loot stores, create havoc, or use their power to exact revenge for past wrongs. The ordinary people, lords, and existing orders of magic are all threatened--and in turn threaten the warlocks.

Hanner gathers a small group of warlocks and tries to find a way out of the mess. He certainly doesn't want to accept exile or execution, but neither does he believe that the warlocks can or should use their power to control the government. The old rules of separation are still valid, but will the older magicians accept the new warlocks or will magic battle magic.

Watt-Evans has written a fascinating novel. Hanner, in particular, is an intriguing and likable character. His tendency toward pudgyness and his problems with the opposite sex make him more sympathetic and Watt-Evans builds on this nicely.

About the only flaw I could find in this book was in its characters' strange reluctance to pursue the question of what caused the outbreak of the warlock magic visitation and what caused so many warlocks to fly away from everything they knew into the mysterious north. I can't imagine characters such as Watt-Evans described not wanting to find the answers to these questions, yet they didn't--or at least they didn't try very hard.

With this one quibble aside, NIGHT OF MADNESS was an enjoyable romp of a novel--funny, but with enough social heft to give the reader something to think about.

This was a great story and well written. Watt-Evans is a favorite of mine. I've enjoyed everything I've read of his so far. This story is about a man named Hanner who, one fateful night along with hundreds of others, were mysteryously given strange and special powers. He gradually finds out about the limitations and consequences of using these powers. The plot is mainly how these "warlocks" (as the select are called) come into realizing what they are, and how they are treated by everyone else.. with fear and hostility until they prove themselves. All-in-all, a good story. But I have a huge problem with this book... and this is spoiler, I'm sorry.. The author never gives a reason as to how this Night of Madness happened, or who was responsible, or what actually happens to the "warlocks" when they are "called" to the north. I generally don't like stories to end without tying up at least MOST of the loose ends. I'm sure he's just leaving room for a second book, but he needs to give you some idea that this is going to happen. I was pretty frustrated, to say the least.

Young Lord Hanner is the nephew of Lord Faran, the second most powerful man in the city-state of Ethshar of the Spices, but Hanner's life is simple with few responsibilities. Then one night comes the Night of Madness. Many people throughout the city wake screaming, suddenly possessed of a great, wholly new form of magic. For some it is a dream come true, for others it is a nightmare. The Overlord fears the new warlocks, Lord Faran sees in them his path to ultimate power, and what the all-powerful Wizard's Guild thinks is everyone's concern. Through this all, Lord Hanner must find a way to protect the warlocks from the rest of the city, and protect the city from the warlocks.

I must admit that I have never read anything by Lawrence Watt-Evans before, and I am very impressed. After a few slow pages, the author suddenly turns up the intensity. I found this book completely impossible to put down. For those of you who play Dungeons and Dragons, this book is of great interest due to it's inclusion of multiple types of magic.

This is a great book.

Not bad. Well written, and the author doesn't insult your intelligence with unbelievable characters and cliches. But I have to add that the story isn't very gripping, either. I was able to spend a week reading it, about an hour every night -- which indicates that a little more suspense and excitement would have been welcome, and kept me turning the pages.

This is one of those play-by-the-rules fantasies, except for a single unexplained night of madness when ordinary citizens of Ethshar woke up from a nightmare and discovered that they could fly, or perform other assorted magicks.

The characters are pretty pedestrian, even granting that some of them can fly. A few gained the ability to lift heavy objects (except for the plot) by thinking about them. The hero, Hanner becomes one of the `lifters.' He is also a self-described palace parasite, a humorless young man, but nevertheless willing to take charge and do something productive during the night of madness. Hanner tries to figure out why some people were turned into warlocks on that night, and why others simply disappeared, but he approaches the mystery with the well-meaning plod of a Watson whose Holmes went over the falls at Reichenbach.

The mystery never is solved, so I'm assuming there is going to be a sequel to this fantasy.

The magic in "Night of Madness" is interesting, but it lacks the inspired fizz produced by, say a Neil Gaiman, a John Bellairs, or a Patricia McKillip. In one of wittiest scenes, a flying telephone lands in the sorceress Ithinia's backyard, and her gargoyles try to frighten it away:

"Old Rocky and Glitter were the two creatures still guarding it [the phone]. Ithinia glanced at Old Rocky's niche, on the south-west corner of the house.

"'Did you see where it came from?'

"'No, mistress. It came down out of the sun while we were meditating.'

"'You were sleeping, not meditating,' Ithinia said. `I've told you not to try to fool me. Stone should sleep---it's nothing to hide."

"'Yes, Mistress," the gargoyle said, abashed.'

"'It called my name? Did it say anything else?'

"'It said it needed to speak with you.'"

Ha ha ha. Clunk.

Most of the dialogue comes in the form of big, chunky explanatory text, in order to elucidate the rules of Ethsharian magic, what a sorcerer may or may not do, what a witch may or may not do, etc. etc. By their very nature, sequels suffer from a degree of explanatory text, but this rules-bound fantasy takes it to an extreme. If you've already read one of the prequels to "Night of Madness" you'll be able to skip through whole pages of this book.

In fact, you might want to give the entire book a pass.