Queen of Demons: The second book in the epic saga of 'The Lord of the Isles' (Mass Market Paperback)

by David Drake (Author) "The storm roared about them. Garric had cut the upper lashing, but he still couldn't get the steering oar loose..." (more)
Key Phrases: scaly men, fire wraith, dream balcony, Barca's Hamlet, King Carus, Hairy Men (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Queen of Demons is the middle volume of a mammoth heroic fantasy trilogy that begins with Lord of the Isles. After dealing with a variety of menaces in book one, shepherd-boy hero Garric is on course to unite his archipelago world against the remaining forces of chaos, evil, and unpleasantness, thus earning the title Lord of the Isles.

Again Garric's allies--including some interesting new helpers--are widely scattered in a tangle of linked story lines and headlong action, featuring many exhilarating fights against monsters, chimeras, phantoms, revenants, Hairy Men, Scaly Men, a cyclops, wicked wizards, and the book's two biggies: the unspeakable Beast that demands a diet of young girls and the title's evilly beautiful demon-spawned Queen. At regular intervals characters fall through another magic portal to find themselves in a new plane or dimension or hellworld, there to discover mislaid friends, deadly peril, or more likely both.

Drake keeps his narrative bowling along with plenty of color, occasional doses of practical politics, and no time at all for boredom. Arbitrary transitions and wild coincidences make it seem slightly tongue in cheek, soap-operatic entertainment with an endless series of hissable villains to be zapped, outwitted, or skewered with a trusty blade. At the very end, with Good seemingly triumphant, up pops another one:

The wizard stood on the back of the monster he had called to him. He raised his head, and the heavens echoed with his laughter.

More in book three.... --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

From Publishers Weekly
As the protagonists in this sequel to Lord of the Isles (1997) journey through multiple worlds, Drake conjures a sense of enchantment?and danger?with original and convincing settings, situations and characters. Moreover, unlike too many fantasy characters, these protagonists mature through their adventures. Garric, aided by the ancient but lively spirit of King Carus, assumes the throne and grows into the unexpected?and often boring?demands of true kingship. His sister, Sharina, finds more male protectors but also learns to protect herself. Cashel rescues a princess?though the result is no fairy tale, and Cashel's sister, Ilna, seeks worthwhile purposes for her weaving-magic and expiation for the sins of its past uses. Liane emerges as a major character, dependable adviser to Prince Garric; other intriguing folk are introduced, from a drug-addicted wizard to Zahag, an ape magically given speech but still nonhuman in personality. If anything, the book covers too many stories, and so the reader is relieved when the protagonists are united at book's end. And though the evil eponymous Queen and the blood-hungry Beast have been defeated, more adventures await in implied future volumes.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (June 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812564936
• ISBN-13: 978-0812564938
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,531 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 2 in The Lord of the Isles Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you liked the first, you'll like this one., February 27, 2000

By	Nathan Blumenfeld "mastadge" (Wilmington, DE United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Queen of Demons is a big pot full of ups and downs, very high points and points with no point.

In this second book in the epic saga of The Lord of the Isles, David Drake maintains the high quality of writing displayed in the first book. The characters and action sequences are all well thought out, and I was as impressed in this book as in the previous one at the author's grasp of whatever he happens to be writing about.

The characters, too, are all unique and interesting, most especially the siblings Cashel and Ilna. They are all well fleshed out and well rounded. Unfortunately, the author usually picks one point about a character and just sticks with it through the whole book. We don't need to be reminded every 5 pages that Ilna wants to redeem herself and that she doesn't lie, or that Cashel takes things at his own pace and believes in doing things right.

There was more variation in enemies and monsters in this book than the last one, although there was a lesser quantity of them. The scope of the magic and the consequences of the characters' actions are much larger here though. In this book, the author is definitely aiming more for the "epic" feel which he skimped on in the first volume.

In terms of structure, this book is almost too much like the first. The four main characters set out, get separated immediately, have their own adventure and meet their own friends, and then coincidentally (or not) all arrive at the same place and time to overcome the great evil of the story. This presents some of the best and worst points of the series.

It is good in that each volume is complete, has a definite story and closure so that you don't feel that you need to drudge through each of the previous volumes each time the next one comes out. Unfortunately, this is also a bit of a downside as this doesn't feel as much like an epic saga as a bunch of small, seldom related adventures.

In terms of plot, well, that is where this book skimped the most. Until halfway through the book, it didn't have one. Finally you learn what every character is trying to accomplish, but for the first half of the book it's very unclear. Sharina and Garric set out with specific goals in mind, and Ilna's story follows a pretty logical course, but Cashel's adventure, until 2/3 of the way through the book, are irrelevant, illogical, and unexplained. And he really needs Mellie back.

One of Drake's greatest strengths in this book is the secondary characters. All are strong, likeable, and unique. Unfortunately, he seems to be one of those authors who feels it necessary to get rid of them all at the end of every book, just leaving the core group of characters to get on with their adventures in the next one.

One last comment before I conclude -- I noticed in this book a lot of similarities, in creatures and plot devices, to work done by Robert E. Howard in his Conan and Kull stories. Also, one scene near the end sounded a lot like a certain moment in the movie Willow.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable, fast paced set of adventures for each character. Not quite picaresque, but close. The characters were a joy to read, the writing was strong and clear. Unfortunately, the plot was lacking and much of the action was irrelevant. If you enjoyed Lord of the Isles, you'll enjoy this, but it's not great. I liked it enough that I'll probably pick up #3 in paperback.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Queen of Demons, April 9, 2000

By A Customer

I must confess, I began my journey reading David Drake books while waiting for the next Terry Goodkind book to come out. I had read a few good reviews, and saw that Terry himself had complimented Drake for "The Lord of the Isles". As with the first of this series I found this book to be enjoyable, if not very good at times. Were I to try to put my finger the single most glaring problem with the book, it would have to be: The pace. Drake streches his readers interest out for an exhaustive amount of time between areas of plot which have put him on the shelf. After finishing the book, I found myself wanting to bookmark the great chapters from, well "the rest" of the chapters. As I could then in good conscience recommend my edited version to my friends. Drake seems to lead his readers with character and plot development, and abandon them midstream with reckless abandon. However, after saying all of this, it must be said that when this book is good, it is really good. Enough so that I am going to check out "Servant of the Dragon". If I had one last comment to the author I would tell him. "Don't be afraid of a little romance!" Even the toughest of the tough SF male reader likes to see a little love.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, May 28, 2004

By	R. Stowe "RLS" (MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Queen of Demons" is a very good sequel to the original. The plot has many twists and the characters are interesting and colorful. This book does bear a slight resemblence to the original in that the heros are trying to take down a powerful wizard, but there are very few similarities beyond that. Garric develops to become much more than an inkeepers sun and begins to restruchture the government. Cashel is sent on a series of adventures in different dimensions (Drake seems to like to send Cashel to different dimensions, as he does in the next two books). A whole host of different characters are intoduced, each very well developed. An all around great book.