Salamander [Kindle Edition]

David D. Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Magister Coelus, the College’s young and brilliant theorist, finally has a student capable of learning theoretical magery at the level at which he can teach it. He invites her to help him with his current research project, which promises to funnel through the hands of one mage more power than any mage has ever had. Ellen, who knows more about both the theory and practice of magic than a first year student should know, refuses, arguing that the Cascade will do more harm than good.

When news of the project reaches Prince Kieron, brother and heir of the king and Royal Master of Mages, he insists that it be completed in secret and employed, if at all, only under royal authority. Word has also reached Lord Iolen, Kieron’s competent, cold-blooded, and ambitious nephew, with his own ideas of how and by whom the Cascade should be used. Ellen and Coelus must together face the conflicting threats and demands of two arrogant and powerful men, the peril posed by the very existence of the Cascade, and their feelings for each other.

Forty years earlier Olver, a founder of the College, took the first steps in converting magery from a craft to a science. It is for his successors to deal with the consequences.

Product Details

• File Size: 356 KB
• Print Length: 219 pages
• Publisher: ChuHartley (March 21, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004TBD3Z0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #308,937 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Magic, romance, conspiracy, intrigue, May 13, 2011

By Virgil L. Fuqua III

Format:Kindle Edition

I have read Friedman first fantasy novel, Harald from Baen Books. An epic fantasy but with little or no magic. So when he told me he had another story full of magic I was not sure how it would go. I was really surprise. For an expert on economics he writes a very good fantasy. His magic system is well thought out and explain. His characters are well rounded and grow through the story.

If you like magic and fantasy, with real story based on the same this book will pleased you.

I hope you buy it read it and praise it to the sky. If he makes money from this then he is more likely to write another.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars For a Large Value of Four January 5, 2013

By William Reich

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The strengths of this book start with some appealing characters. Two young women students of magic are quite charming and each has an area of expertise, although only one of them has a magical area of expertise. The lead male character is a very good example of that SF cliche, the scientist/engineer who may be a bit unaware outside of his field.

Also, the "magic as science" approach is very well-done. Not everyone takes this approach and there is resistance to it at the big school of magic where most of the book takes place but the scientific approach works and makes for an interesting story element.

The biggest flaw in the book is that the bad guys are so badly outclassed that the reader is almost never in doubt how things will turn out. The other problem I had was that almost everyone in the book, in almost every speech that he or she makes, is so _reasonable_ The author must know some unreasonable people, in fact I know that he does. He should study what we say and what we post on usenet to get an understanding.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars hopefully one of many May 31, 2011

By Nancyhua

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Introducing this world through questions and answers in dialogues between Ellen the magical prodigy and her peers, Friedman constructs one of the most original and coherent systems of magic that I have ever read about. I'm impressed by the attention and thought he put into creating something that is like an alternate form of physics in a magical universe with different laws of nature.

The characters are enjoyable and I wanted to know what would happen next, but I'd guess at least 50% of this book is dialogue. Friedman likes to describe characters reasoning out actions- everyone has a tendency to state their well-considered, logical thoughts and then await their opponent's perfectly logical responses. The lack of emotional, rash words or actions is unreal, but I still found the arguments amusing and sharp.

The book starts off strong. Ellen's responses to various threats are well calculated and I was excited to see what would happen next. The 2nd half of the book seemed off balance in terms of the action- quite a lot happens in terms of large groups of people maneuvering and plotting but is not described in detail. I get the feeling that as a fantasy writer Friedman is more about ideas than about the craft.

Although the book could have been better executed, the ideas are creative, original, and entertaining. I think the book positions itself well as the first among many others in a series.

More About the Author

I am an academic economist currently employed as a law professor, although I have never taken a course for credit in either field. My specialty, insofar as I have one, is the economic analysis of law, the subject of my book _Law's Order_.

In recent years I have created and taught two new law school seminars at Santa Clara University. One was on legal issues of the 21st century, discussing revolutions that might occur as a result of technological change over the next few decades. Interested readers can find its contents in the manuscript of _Future Imperfect_, linked to my web page. Topics included encryption, genetic engineering, surveillance, and many others. The other seminar, which I am currently teaching, is on legal systems very different from ours. Its topics included the legal systems of modern gypsies, Imperial China, Ancient Athens, the Cheyenne Indians, ... . My web page has a link to the seminar web page.

I have been involved in recreational medievalism, via the Society for Creative Anachronism, for over thirty years. My interests there include cooking from medieval cookbooks, making medieval jewelery, telling medieval stories around a campfire creating a believable medieval islamic persona and fighting with sword and shield.

My involvement with libertarianism goes back even further. Among other things I have written on the possibility of replacing government with private institutions to enforce rights and settle disputes, a project sometimes labelled "anarcho-capitalism" and explored in my first book, _The Machinery of Freedom_, published in 1972 and still in print.

My most recent writing project is my first novel, _Harald_. Most of my interests feed into it in one way or another, but it is intended as a story, not a tract on political philosophy, law or economics. It is not exactly a fantasy, since there is no magic, nor quite a historical novel, since the history and geography are invented. The technology and social institutions are based on medieval and classical examples, with one notable exception.