Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (Death Dealer) [Mass Market Paperback]

Frank Frazetta (Author), James R. Silke (Author)

Book Description

Series: Death Dealer | Publication Date: September 15, 1988

paperback.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (September 15, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812513339
• ISBN-13: 978-0812513332
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #724,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gath of Baal lays it down, September 18, 2001

By 

Holly Apollyon "Messiah of Regret and Entropy" (The Overlook Hotel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (Death Dealer) (Mass Market Paperback)

Going way back, this was the first fantasy book I ever read, whichboth opened doors for me as a fantasy fan and a fantasy writer. I was always, of course, a fan of Frazetta's work, with his shadow-faced wizards, his primordial barbarians, and his plump, voluptuous damsels in their hip-hugger bikinis. After reading the first Death Dealer I also became a huge fan of James Silke, though sadly, I've never found any more of his work aside from the three sequels to the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet.

Gath of Baal is a barbaric guardian of a realm called the Shades, which stands between a race of forest-dwellers and the nomadic encroachment of a vast desert empire. Gath's enemies, he soons discovers, are armed and armored with steel, a precious resource, though he soon discovers that not even steel will be enough. He forms a dark pact with the beautiful, ivory-skinned sorceress called Cobra, who in turn leads him to the demonic Horned Helmet. Wrought by the Master of Death, the Horned Helmet makes Gath almost invulnerable when he wears it, along with giving him access to other supernatural abilities. But there's a catch---the fact that he can't remove the helmet once he's put it on. Enter the nubile, innocent Robin Lakehair, who is virtuous enough to remove the helmet for him.

This book is one of the great ones. Just like a Frazetta painting. Lusty, naked women that glisten beneath a primordial sun. Ravening, bloody battles. Demons. Barbaric sorcery. The Death Dealer books are cut from the cloth of Conan, and I'm talking about Robert E. Howard's Conan. Also a great deal like Bloodstone and the rest of the Kane books by Karl Edward Wagner. As long as you appreciate naked girls, two-fisted honor and axe-heavy battles, you'll love the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet as well as the three others after it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars tie between the pen and the swor....er...axe, January 22, 2004

By 

John Triplett "enganeer" (Meridian, MS United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (Death Dealer) (Mass Market Paperback)

i first read this book only a couple of years after it came out. since then i have periodically re-read the entire series. silke pens amazing imagery with vivid colour and detail, setting an incredible backdrop for the main figure: the death dealer. if you want an idea of this character before reading the book, go look at frazetta's most famous work: the warrior on the horse with the axe. it is, afterall, who the book was written about, and the picture is on the back of all four books. and what a character he is, deserving to be in the company of the best known fantasy heroes, and yet he is, strangely, an unkown. (but he would prefer it that way). i'm not telling you anymore. read the book.

the writing of this book is in a somewhat unique style for this type of work: the 3rd person is somewhat laid back, matter of fact, and a little contemporary. It makes for marvelous tale-telling. a pleasant departure from the 19th century-ish tolkien writing (of which i am so terribly fond-i am a HUGE tolkien fan--mae govannen to all you others out there). very readable, highly addictive, never boring, re-reads like its the first time. a very rare thing to be said about a book i think.

a few other points of interest: this is adult reading. not ideal for a jr. high book report. explicitly violent, sensuous, and dark, but never overdone so as to obscure the plot or become unenjoyable. it is exactly what fantasy storytelling should be. also, these four (prisoner of the horned helmet, lords of destruction, tooth and claw, plague of knives, resp.) are the only books. what a crying shame. and they are out of print. so, get them, enjoy them, and take good care of them--you'll be reading them over and over for years to come. they will only get harder to find as more people write rave reviews--unless, of course, someone makes a major motion picture out of them and then tor might reconsider. wouldn't that be nice.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death Dealer #'s 1, 2, 3 & 4, December 17, 1999

By 

Tony (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet (Death Dealer) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is quite possibly the best series I have ever read. I just recently finished the 4th book and I was amazed how James Silk could keep such a good storyline throughout the entire series. I personally recommend these books to my friends and they have had nothing but rave reviews for them also. Very descriptive, makes you feel like you're there.