Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (Moonworlds Saga S.) [Hardcover]

Sean Mcmullen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Moonworlds Saga S. | Publication Date: February 7, 2006

At first Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian thought the huge oval thing that had fallen from the sky was a dragon's egg. When it opened, however, he knew that it was much, much worse. His world was being invaded by pitiless sorcerers from Lupan, who could sweep whole armies aside, and even defeat the invulnerable glass dragons. Surrender or flight were the only options ... but not for Inspector Danolarian, his Wayfarer Constables, and his sweetheart, the sorceress Lavenci.
Although Danolarian is no sorcerer, he's no ordinary Wayfarer either. Faced with civilization crumbling around him, and organized resistance shattered by the invincible magic of the Lupanians, he chances upon an unlikely ally and begins to fight back. It won't be easy, for he has to rally the demoralized sorcerers of Alberin, organize its terrified citizens, stay one step ahead of his own past, and, most importantly, survive a dinner party with Lavenci's mother.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Australian author McMullen's zany, if somewhat choppy, reworking of The War of the Worlds, his third Moonworlds novel (after 2004's Glass Dragons), sorcerers from the nearby planet Lupanar invade the world of Scalticar, traveling in cylinders that include such familiar Wellsian trappings as tripod fighting machines equipped with heat rays. The poorly led defenders have few weapons more advanced than bows and arrows. Fortunately, Insp. Danolarian Scyverin of the Wayfarer Constables can turn for help to such friends and allies as the 87-pound Constable Riellen, gifted at both mayhem and rabble-rousing; Constable Waller, in the form of a talking cat; and a beautiful and shrewd woman, Lavenczi, for whom the inspector has conceived a passion. While Lavenczi is under a magical glamour that keeps her from being touched, she still has the wits to capture two of the Lupanians' fighting machines and turn them against their creators. Fans of Wells's masterpiece will revel in this fantasy; others may find the frequent scene shifts and large cast of characters more confusing than not. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The third installment of the Moonworlds series, each book of which can be well enjoyed separately, changes pace with a first-person narrative by Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian, leader of a ragged team of royal detectives on the magically enchanted world, Verral. Danolarian has just led his band to the highest and remotest royal palace to deliver a message to reclusive Empress Wensomer when an enormous egg-shaped object unaccountably falls from the sky. Unlike the Verral-built destructive weapons highlighted in The Voyage of the Shadowmoon (2002) and Glass Dragons (2004), the orb was made on the neighboring moonworld, Lupan, and represents the first wave of a full-scale Lupanian invasion. While the Lupanians' power to sweep aside Verral's sorcery is horrifying, Danolarian finds an unlikely ally in the empress, whose political cunning exceeds even her powerful magic. McMullen's narrative powers continue to grow with each new volume in the series, as he doles out equal measures of wit, intrigue, and colorful characterization. At this rate, McMullen's further books should attain the status of must-reads. Carl Hays
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (February 7, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765314371
• ISBN-13: 978-0765314376
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,307,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invasion of the Moonworld, March 20, 2006

By 

James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (Moonworlds Saga S.) (Hardcover)

McMullen is never so crass as to actually describe it, but the Moonworlds Saga is set on the earth-sized moon Verral, which orbits with its three sister moons around a kind of Super-Jovian ringed planet. Where our Jupiter generates strong magnetic fields, Verral experiences etherics, which give rise to a kind of sorcerous magic. A kind of magic which, if wrongly used, can have all kinds of disastrous consequences.

Voidfarer follows the further adventures and misadventures of the motley cast of characters first introduced in "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" and continued in "Glass Dragons." This time, the threat to the safety of the moonworld Verra comes from an invasion by the sorcerors of its sister moon Lupan. The Lupan sorcerors are far more powerful than those of Verral. On their giant glass tripod war machines, the Lupanese set out to conquer Verral.

Yes, it is a fantasy version of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" but it's also a McMullen, which means humor, love, sex, intricate plotting, betrayals and epic journeys across stunning fantasy landscapes. It's also the story of the arrival of democracy on the feudal moon of Verral, which gives McMullen the chance to spoof most Marxist cliche's.

No character in a Moonworld story is exactly who what he or she appears to be. No McMullen character's motivations are what you think they are. This story, told in the first person by a kind of roving marshal, is self-contained. You don't have to have read "Shadowmoon" or "Dragons" to enjoy this tale, but if you haven't you'll miss half the fun. When the courtier Laron says he is an old man in young man's body, it means far more if you have read "Shadowmoon."

And there will plainly be a sequel.

The Moonworlds Saga does't pretend to be high concept stuff. This is not Tolkien or any of its tedious horde of Tolkien wannabes. But it is fun and sometimes delightful reading. McMullen improves with each book. Recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Touch of Romantic Fantasy to the Moonworlds Saga, March 25, 2006

By 

April (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (Moonworlds Saga S.) (Hardcover)

The best of the Moonworlds series so far, in my opinion. I really liked Voyage of the Shadowmoon a lot, and I liked Glass Dragons too, but this book out-shines the others. The writing is definitely getting better. The story is all about an alien invasion of the planet Verral and what the locals do to fight it off - old idea, creative new angle.

It ties up some loose ends from the previous two Moonworld books but you don't need to read the earlier books to appreciate this one, as the books are pretty much stand-alone, self-contained stories. Minor characters from the earlier books such as Lavenci are now major characters.

It is just as action packed and fast-paced as the previous books. The humour is just as bawdy. I am impressed with Sean McMullen's ability to write three distinctly different leading male characters for each of his Moonworlds books. Danolarian could be described as the traditional hero but with a very BIG secret. This book is also very romantic, due to the Danolarian-Lavenci courtship sub-plot.

The other sub-plot is the political and social repercussions from the goings-on in the earlier books have finally arrived. The third sub-plot is the founding of democracy on Verral. The three sub-plots are neatly integrated with the main story line.

My only complaint - Laron is a minor character in this book.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't get it., January 16, 2007

By 

L. Wolberg "Kith" (Brunswick, ME USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voidfarer: A Tale of the Moonworlds Saga (Moonworlds Saga S.) (Hardcover)

I picked this one off the shelf (at the library, fortunately!) without knowing anything about the author or the previous books in the series. Reviews here make it seem like you can start in the middle of the series: that's not the case at all. I read the first fifty pages, and saw no particular reason to waste my time finishing it. The characters are pathetic cardboard caricatures (the Revolutionary With Excessive Vocabulary is a perfect example: been there, read that; and I've seen much better, might I add?). It might have been worth reading on if any of the characters had any more than their single, overemphasized quirk. As it is, I couldn't manage to care about any of them long enough to find out if they ever attain development.

I'm only giving it three stars because I didn't read to the end, and it's always possible that it gets more interesting. Anything is possible....