The Dame (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This middling follow-up to 2008's The Ancient plods through a familiar fantasy quest formula. With the land of Honce torn between clashing lairds, Bransen Garibond and his five human and dwarf companions have brought the head of the evil Ancient Badden to Dame Gwydre of Vanguard, the embodiment of regal responsibility. For reward, Bransen wants only to return to his wife and their home in Pryd Town, but when he gets in the middle of strife between religious and political factions, he's falsely accused of treachery and forced to choose between imprisonment and the inevitable perilous trek. Peppered with inventive religious lore, mysterious mystic warriors and the martyr's death of a boon companion, and spiked with the genre's requisite gory hand-to-hand combat scenes, this predictable tale will neither advance the saga's plot nor entertain its readers. (Aug.)
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Product Description

The vast road network of Honce, completed a decade before, had brought great optimism to the people of the land. Commerce could travel more freely and so could armies, and those armies, it was hoped, would rid the land at long last of the vicious, bloody cap dwarfs and goblins. For the first time, the many individual kingdoms, the holdings of Honce, would be brought closer together, perhaps even united.  For the last few years, those promises had become a nightmare to the folk, as two powerful lairds fought for supremacy of a hoped-for united kingdom.

Bransen Garibond, the Highwayman, held little real interest in that fight. To him the warring lairds were two sides of the same coin. Whichever side won, the outcome for the people of Honce would be the same, Bransen believed. A journey north, however, taught Bransen that his views were simplistic at best, and that some things--like honor and true friendship-- might truly matter. 

In The Dame, Bransen’s road becomes a quest for the truth, of Honce and of himself, a quest to put right over wrong. That path is fraught with confusion and fraud, and a purposeful blurring of morality by those who would seek to use the Highwayman’s extraordinary battle skills and popularity among the commonfolk for their own nefarious ends.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (August 18, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765317907
• ISBN-13: 978-0765317902
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,651 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swashbuckling Action with a Kung Fu Twist, August 31, 2009

By	Scott Masterton (Blaine, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The Dame" Bob Salvatore's third novel featuring the enigmatic Highwayman is great fun.

This one starts out right where "The Ancient" left off. The Highwayman and his group are pardoned and offered free passage thoughout Honce by Dame Gwydre (the only worthwhile royal in the novel). Bransen wants to return home with his wife and mother-in-law, but is unsure if the treacherous warring nobles will fully accept the writ of safe passage issued by the Dame. He returns home with his new friend Jameston Sequin in an attempt to insure the safety of his family, and this is where things begin to twist: Laird Delaval is assassinated by a group of mystic warriors whose abilities genesis could only be the Jhest warriors. The Highwayman learns of the killing (by being accused of the murder), but more intriguing to him is the chance to connect with his mother's people and to delve more deeply into the abilities that he has developed and possibly even to find a Jhest teacher that might free him from his dependence on the gemstones.

I love historical fiction, but one of the wonderful things about fantasy is that there are no boundaries. In the Highwayman adventures, Bob Salvatore combines Robin Hood, Zorro, magic and the Kung Fu fun of the Iron Monkey into a rousing good tale of good versus evil. This is not Tolstoy, destined to go down as great literature with deep meanings. This is Salvatore, which is another name for great, escapist fun and adventure. This book takes all my favorite genre's and combines them into a great yarn. As always I'm looking forward to the next chapter in the Highwayman's carreer. Until that comes out, I just might re-read the whole series.

Great Fun!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars entertaining quest fantasy, August 22, 2009

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In Honce, after beheading the evil Ancient Badden, Bransen Garibond and his five cohorts bring the dead head to Dame Gwydre of Vanguard as proof they did the deed. Bransen hopes the aristocrat lets him go home as all he wants is to spend time with his wife in Pryd Town.

However, instead of trekking home, Bransen is accused of assassinating King Delval and other seditious acts against the state. Although the charges are false and those who bring them smirk as they are aware of that, he is offered a choice between jail and another deadly quest. Outraged over the unfairness of being punished for the success of bringing the evil one's head and caught between fighting blocs, a volunteered Bransen, accompanied by scout Jameston Sequin begins another undesired mission with the added incentive of proving his innocence.

The sequel to THE ANCIENT is an entertaining fantasy as Bransen is once again forced on a quest he not only does not want to do, but is not his issue except the powers make it his. Thus he is not just a reluctant hero; he is an angry antihero. His escapades and that of his cronies are typical of the quest subgenre and his adventures fail to nudge the overarching theme forward; still readers who enjoy a fine quest fantasy will want to join Bransen and his teammates on their deadly mission.

Harriet Klausner

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, September 25, 2009

By	Tim Lasiuta "Comic Fan 42" (Red Deer, Alberta) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jumping into a series with established characters is always difficult. Having read the Ancient, there was a marginal familiarity, and now "The Dame" reinforces that.

In "The Saga of the First King", two powerful lairds are fighting for supremacy, and the disinterested Highwayman, Bransen Garibond ignores it. He finds he must become involved as the common folk, the fighting men, and those who look up to him are directly affected. Calling on his vast support mechanism, Bransen searches for the truth amidst the power mongers. What he finds may not be exactly to his liking.

Ahh, R.A. Salvatore is one talented writer. This book flows extremely well, and once you have the lay of the land and the characters straight, it's full bore adventure and fantasy. I love the Highwayman character, and recognize classic elements of Robin Hood, Zorro, and even the Lone Ranger. A hero is a hero, is a hero.

As usual, I look forward to the next book that features the Highwayman in 2010.

Tim Lasiuta