A Triumph of Souls (Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3) [Hardcover]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Arriving in the land of Ehl-Larimar, he and his loyal friends face their greatest battle: thwarting Themaryl's powerful captor, Hymneth the Possessed. For the first time, the friends are wondering whether the price of victory may be too dear.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"The truth is a riddle wrapped in an enigma--or sometimes in a nice piece of hot flat bread fresh from the oven. That's my friend Etjole." So surmises the boisterous sword-swinger Simna Ibn Sind, one of three fantastical companions that the seemingly simple Ejtole Ehomba has gathered in his wanderings through the three-book Journeys of the Catechist series (preceded by Into the Thinking Kingdoms and Carnivores of Light and Darkness--Triumph of Souls concludes the series). But as every fan knows (at times, unfortunately, to the point of eye-rolling), the self-effacing Ehomba only seems simple: Alan Dean Foster's answer to Baron Von Munchhausen is a modest, humble sheperd who talks with dolphins, fights tornadoes, summons man-eating sharks out of the air, and plays music that will make the snow dance. And that, predictably, is not the half of it.

Fulfilling the dying-gasp request of Tarin Beckwith from book 1, Etjole is finally getting around to rescuing the Visioness Thermaryl of Laconda from the evil clutches of Hymneth the Possessed, a very disagreeable sorcerer-type. Along with Simna and his two other companions, the big talking cat, Ahlitak, and the hulking man-beast, Hunkapan Aub, Etjole dutifully heads west to rescue the damsel, but must first control the four winds, get his ship towed by a jet-propelled Kraken (for, literally, the price of a big cup of coffee), stare down skeletons, dupe demons, and all other sorts of such likable nonsense. --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

In the concluding installment to the epic Journeys of the Catechist fantasy trilogy, Etjole Ehomba and his companions--Simna ibn Sind (a swordsman), Ahlitah (a giant black cat) and Hunkapa Aub (a large, furry manlike beast)--continue their quest to rescue the Visioness Thermaryl from the evil Hymneth the Possessed. As Ehomba leads his gang through a series of bizarre situations and exotic dangers with curiosity and cultural wisdom, Foster demonstrates his playful narrative skill: as his protagonists cross the uncrossable Semordria Ocean, they get trapped in a watery valley, meet a seaweed man who introduces them to a truly regal king crab and get captured by (and lose their faces to) the Faceless People. Their journey across dry land is no less imaginatively crafted: they confront armies of slaughterous skeletons, deal with dangerous dreams, escape pyro-predators through tunnels made by creatures who live in the space between colors, defeat demons and survive a lethal salt plain. Set in a magical world with prehistoric overtones, the novel offers more wit and wandering than plot, but the inventive situations are engaging and the characters far more complex than they first appear. The ending is clever and will satisfy those who have made the fantastic trek through Foster's whimsical world. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Aspect; First Edition edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044652218X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446522182
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,164,265 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A satisfying conclusion., May 9, 2001

By 

Christopher Ware (Fremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Triumph of Souls (Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the concluding book of the JOURNEYS OF THE CATECHIST trilogy, the first two being CARNIVORES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS and INTO THE THINKING KINGDOMS. As with the first two books, this was a light, enjoyable read that provided a satisfying conclusion to the series. There isn't much difference in the storytelling between the previous books and this one. The characters still run into one obstacle after another and always miraculously overcome it uitlizing some gift from Etjole's backpack. Still, it is a fun journey and I enjoyed the climax of the story. It was definitely unexpected.

Again, though, I have to voice my complaint of the dearth of character development. I have never seen four more static characters in all the fantasy I have read. I wouldn't expect for Etjole or Alitah to change much, but I had high expectations for Simna. He could have developed into a more interesting character than the treasure seeking person that he is. Not that he's a bad person, but, rather, he seems to have only a one track mind. Unfortunately, this never changes throughout the three books, despite the fact that Mr. Foster put him in several situations that should have had a serious impact on his character. Unfortunately, the author chose not to take advantage of these opportunities.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed were the chapters on Hymneth, the antagonist of the story. Mr. Foster completely redeems himself from the cliched first chapter of INTO THE THINKING KINGDOMS in which we got our first glimpse of our villain. Hymneth is revealed to be a rather interesting character with different motivations than most fantasy villains. We get the quick version of the story of his life and we...well, I'll leave it to you to read the book. I don't want to ruin anything. Suffice it to say, the ending of the book is a unique twist on fantasy story resolution.

All in all, I truly enjoyed reading this series. Etjole is a very intersting character and his journeys through distant lands and the characters he meets there are truly fascinating. The storytelling is a bit repetetive at times and the characters can be infuriatingly static, but it is a romping adventure that is different than most epic fantasy out there today.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Triumph for Mr. Foster, March 28, 2000

By 

"jimbotheoriginal" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Triumph of Souls (Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3) (Hardcover)

While I would have to agree that some of the events in the third book week were predictible, I feel that this is a highly entertaining and worthwhile book. The last chapters of the book alone are worth a king's ransom. I would reccomend this book to ADF fans new and old alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars End of the journey, November 25, 2001

By 

Petteri (Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Triumph of Souls (Journeys of the Catechist, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

A brilliant series by Mr. Foster. The first book of the series was lovely masterpiece, the second did not quite fullfill the hopes the first had promised, this last one was, in my opinion, again better than the second. Maybe not achieving quite the free floating feeling of the first book, but a great story all the same. The whole series a lovely story, recommendated.