The Stricken Field (A Handful of Men, Part Three) [Paperback]

Dave Duncan (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (1993)
• ASIN: B000OVDUPW
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Dave Duncan is a prolific writer of fantasy and science fiction, best known for his fantasy series, particularly The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word, and The King's Blades. He and his wife Janet, his in-house editor and partner for over fifty years, live in Victoria, British Columbia. They have three children and four grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Number seven in a wonderful series of eight books, November 7, 2006

By 

Marshall Lord (Whitehaven, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stricken Field (A Handful of Men, Part 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Stricken Field" is the third volume of "A handful of men" which is iself the second of two marvellous fantasy quartets. (Hence this is the penultimate volume in a series of eight books if you take the two quartets together.)

"A handful of men" is a direct sequel to Duncan's quartet "A man of his word" and is set about 15 years after the last book of that quartet.

The full sequence of eight books is:

A MAN OF HIS WORD

1) The Magic Casement
2) Faery Lands Forlorn
3) Perilous Seas
4) Emperor and Clown

A HANDFUL OF MEN

5) The Cutting Edge
6) Upland Outlaws
7) The Stricken Field
8) The Living God

Each quartet is a full and self-contained story, but in my opinion the eight books work best when read in sequence.

The titles of the four volumes of "A handful of men" are taken from Masefield's poem, "Tomorrow." The lines which inspire the titles are

"Oh yesterday the cutting edge drank thirstily and deep,
the upland outlaws ringed us in and herded us as sheep,
they drove us from the stricken field and bayed us into keep,
But tomorow by the living God, we'll try the game again!"


At the start of "The Stricken Field", Emshandir V has been effectively deposed as Emperor: the ordinary people don't realise this, but all the world's magic users, most of whom have been enslaved, certainly do.

The dwarf sorceror, Zinixio, has formed a coalition of wizards known as "The Covin" who are magically compelled to serve him, and proclaimed himself the Almighty. The Emperor's cousin, Emthoro, sits on the Imperor's throne, disguised to look like Emshandir, but he is Zinixio's puppet.

The deposed Emperor, King Rap of Krasnegar, and Zinixio's warlock uncle Raspnex are still fighting against the power of the covin, but their position is desperate. Meanwhile Zinixio deliberately provokes the worst war for thousands of years, as both dragons and all the other races of men rise against the Empire of the Imps: his plan being to destroy them all to consolidate his power.

Meanwhile Rap's wife Queen Inos and their children face deprivation and danger as they march with the globlin and dwarvish armies.

Superb adventure in a consistent and very clever fantasy world: strongly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stricken Field continues the excellence, June 24, 2001

By 

Dannielle S. "Dannielle" (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stricken Field (A Handful of Men, Part 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reviews are usually produced by a strong reaction to a book, either positive or negative, so to say that "The Stricken Field" is a powerful book in a dynamic series is still to state the obvious. It would be likewise obvious to mention that "Stricken Field" is actually part of a series, except that it might not be obvious that it is actually Book 7. Dave Duncan began this tale in the 4-book series "A Man of His Word", where he made every word count, every character real, and every incident matter. Duncan is a wordsmith, who savors his story, and treats his reader with honesty -- that means at times things don't go along storybook lines, and the gritty truth must be faced. The realism of Duncan's fantasy makes it far more satisfying than any other fantasy series I have read. The only books that approach his are Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion series and David Eddings' Belgariad -- and Duncan outshines them all. More than that, Duncan did not sell-out, as did Eddings, in writing his second part to the series: "A Handful of Men" is equal to the preceding four books, and takes us farther yet into a world we love and fear, and hate to leave. Read all eight books.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great book in the series, November 25, 2010

By 

Captain (Colorado) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stricken Field (A Handful of Men, Part 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Another exciting and well written book in The Handful of Men series. Dave Duncan is one of the five best fantasy writers ever and thankfully he is still at it. An author with his talent, who actually keeps producing books, is a rare treat these days. Thank you Mr. Duncan.