Customer Reviews

The Sundered Realm

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

 

 

Vardeman's considerable fantasy output during the 1980s walked a nice line between the kind of serious epic fantasy (lengthy, multi-book quests set in alternate worlds) and the lighthearted comical fantasy (Fritz Leiber, Piers Anthony, etc.).

This is the first book of the "War of Powers" series, starting with the hero, Fost Longstrider, meeting a flighty spirit named Erimenes, who is claimed to know the location of an important magical artifact. The spirit has been encased within a jug for many centuries, and is now wanted by many important persons for his knowledge. Thus, we eventually meet several other characters (in the process learning about the fantasy Realm and its history) and become aware of both secret plots and epic events.

Rather than using deep characterization for the main character, the book effectively juggles numerous characters in order to build and sustain interest. Erimenes provides nice comic relief, as a small band of heroes meet and team up against a couple of ambitious villains. This, however, is quite in line with the heroic fantasy genre itself. Distinct from most other series, though, is the ability to alternate between a lighter mood of bawdy adventure and humor (when following Fost Longstrider's character) with the stresses and dark tones of viciousness in the villains. I'm not fond of the use of villains as dominant characters in fiction (in my opinion, the best dramatic tension is social/psychological, moral, ethical, and/or philosophical) but Vardeman's style tends to use villains to add elements of political intrigue onto the adventure scenario. Thus, although the violence could be toned down, it doesn't seem totally gratuitous, in that a part of the reader's introduction to and awareness of the fantasy realm of the story is through the simultaneous tracking of both heroes and villains.

The result here is a successful start to an epic story. Although in its entirety the story is on the order of 1300 pages (and no, it doesn't feel at all like Tolkien), this 222 page first book nicely encompasses an initial adventure in its own right. (No cliff-hanger approach is taken on the last page; this book feels like it could stand on its own, but it does proceed smoothly onward into book two, "The City In The Glacier," and I'm guessing that most fantasy readers will be eager to continue the adventure there!)

This review is actually based upon my third reading of the book, after having initially discovered and read it back around 1982.

This book really caught my attention. Set in the fantasy world of The Sundered Realm, the story concerns itself with the adventures of Fost Longstrider, a hard living warrior who makes a living as a courier and Princess Moriana Etuul, heir to the throne of the magical City in the Sky. Fost rescues princess finds a bottle is the dispossessed soul of a former conservative wizard turned hedonistic liberal, after all 1000 years in a bottle will do that to any sane conservative. Fost is hired to protect the princess and obtain the jewel of great magical power. The Princess has an evil sister who's taken her throne and she wants revenge, adventure ensues. The description of the sky city, zepplins and balloons powered by fire elementals, and other mythic overtones made this a memorable book. I'd like to get the whole series in one big book. If you liked the Conan novels, this has the same pulp gritty feel. With a humorous dispossessed wizard in a bottle for comic relief.