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Dave Duncan

Past Imperative: Round One of the Great Game Paperback – January 1, 1996

by Dave Duncan (Author)

29 ratings

Book 1 of 3: The Great Game

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In a world on the brink of madness... In the summer of 1914, a young man beyond reproach awakens under police guardgrievously injured and accused of heinous, impossible murder. And in a strange, distant place... The youngest member of a penniless acting troupe has been taken prisoner by the loyal minions of a corrupt, vengeful goddess. For an ancient prophecy has divided the realm's ruling Deities into warring factions -- a prophecy thatmentions the crippled captive child ... and a youth recovering from inexplicable wounds in a British hospital bed. The Game weaves through worlds and dimensions as it has since time immemorial -- a deadly contest of skill and manipulations thatruthlessly creates wizards, destroys human pawns...and trans transforms ordinary men, women and children into something more. The great game of gods is afoot.

Book 1 of 3

The Great Game
Print length

480 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Avon Books
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

4.5 x 1.25 x 7 inches
ISBN-10

0380781298
ISBN-13

978-0380781294
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Edward Exeter, seemingly a golden child of a golden age, has a past spattered with tragedy and blood. His present is marred by the outbreak of the Great War, and it is further stained by the death of his friend, Timothy Bodgley, in circumstances that leave Edward in hospital, implicated as Bodgley's murderer. Strange chains of history and causality tighten on Edward's life: He is the unwilling key figure in an otherworldly prediction of salvation and/or disaster, bound to break the prophecy or fulfill it.

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"A unique voice." -- -- Books In Canada

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avon Books (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0380781298
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0380781294
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.5 x 1.25 x 7 inches

Customer Reviews:
29 ratings

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Dave Duncan

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Dave Duncan was a prolific writer of fantasy and science fiction, best known for his fantasy series, particularly The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word, and The King's Blades. He is both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SF Canada. Dave passed away in Oct 2018, leaving behind his wife of 59 years Janet, three children and four grandchildren. Visit his website www.daveduncanauthor.com

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4.2 out of 5

29 global ratings

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Trenton G. Twining

Imperative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2023

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A morality tale as some blend of fantasy and sci-fi. It's 1914. A young man just out of school is pushed out of the path of his clear duty and into the path of temptation. Oh ... and there plenty of evidence to convict him of murdering his asthmatic chum.

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SD

A Good Read with some Flaws

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 30, 2003

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First the bitter, then the sweet.
Only madness could have driven Dave Duncan to choose the opening he did. Three out of five opening chapters are told from the perspective of characters that turn out to be either very minor or never show up again. I had to keep reading the back of the book to remember where the story was actually going. By the time the reader figures out who the protagonists are, the urge to throw the book in the fire has already come upon her.
This is unfortunate, because after a while, the book picks up pace, even if it never really escapes the lethargy and fogginess of those early chapters. They make it difficult to get too invested in the characters, because Duncan has introduced them at a distance--through the eyes of others.
He also introduces far too many characters onto the stage to really keep them straight. I wasn't shedding any tears over any deaths, and wasn't shocked except once. And in a 450 page book, well, Robin Hobb would have had me bawling.
The truth is that maybe none of the aforementioned problems would be that serious were it not for one overarching problem. The pacing is off. By the time you feel the story is really starting, you're almost at the end of the book. Now, it's a trilogy, so a certain amount of that kind of feeling is fair. But not quite to this extent.
The transitions between Twentieth Century Earth and the fantasy world slow everything down. I admit that I was far more interested in the chapters on Nextdoor than I was about Earth. Moreover, in some respects, the Earth world seemed more foreign. Duncan tries to get across the naive view of warfare pre World War One. And he captures it while leaving us unable to really relate to it emotionally.
We can feel the anxiety of Eleal on her foreign world. Those emotions ring true for us. Edward's obsession with fighting Germany while he's being pursued for murder just doesn't feel realistic, whether it is or not.
In the end, I'm not sure people would be dying to read the sequel. As for myself, I'm curious about his deities and the magic system that he put into place. That's fun for me, but I prefer to read a book for reasons other than it concept and mechanics.
On the whole, it was an interesting read with likable characters and a dry Brit wit. The writing is also crisp and clean, the setting interesting, and I even marked one page of description that is particularly vivid. It's good solid fantasy with a well-envisioned magic system. Insofar as it's an epic, it's off to a sluggish start. Insofar as it's a concept story, it's dazzling. The author is obviously learned and talented.

15 people found this helpful

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Dez

Another wonderful read from Duncan. Went straight for volume 2!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 28, 2012

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His worlds, civilizations and characters never cease to astonish me. The story reels you in page by page, and then you find yourself surrounded by war, magic, religion, and pure human experience.

One person found this helpful

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Vader's Homie

Something different

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 19, 2020

Cool idea

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 7, 2016

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Boring

One person found this helpful

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William G. Adams

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 8, 2014

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I loved this book. But with Dave Duncan, that's no surprise.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 21, 2018

As a inveterate reader I would not wish others to keep slogging through a swamp of badly connected characters and events. I must admit I wasn't able to complete the story without skipping along to the end. Save your hard earned "silvers" for other stories much better told by Mr. Duuncan.? Well edited but garbled in transmission.

One person found this helpful

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R. Albin

The Great Game - Interesting Fantasy Series

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 12, 2006

This is an unconventional and imaginative fantasy/parallel world series. Duncan develops a parallel Earth with rather different astronomy, geography, and history. Some forms of magic allow talented individuals to move back and forth from our Earth to the Earth of the Vales, the society next door. The key feature is that strangers, people from our Earth on Valia or Valians in our universe, can acquire substantial magic powers through the accumulation of 'mana' stemming from acts of worship or sacrifice by the natives of that world. On Valia, this results in a society dominated by 'strangers' who have set themselves up as deities. The Great Game series describes a complex challenge to one of these deities in the form of the actions of the Earth born protagonist of this series, an idealistic Edwardian youth. Duncan's parallel universe is constructed well and his writing is solid. In several of his books, he has dealt with issues of duty and sacrifice, and this is no exception. There is a particularly nice use of the confrontation of youthful Edwardian idealism with harsh political realities. The plotting is clever as well, making creative use not only of the magical themes but also of the great influenza pandemic of 1917-18.

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Spong

... once the Characters are established this is deffinately a good read. The story is not as strong as ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

Bit of a slow start before the story gets going but once the Characters are established this is deffinately a good read.

The story is not as strong as previous books by DD. Seventh Sword and Magic Casement series are more involved and engrossing. However DD is sadley still little known and I would recommend this series of books.

Xeowyn

Demontierte Ideale

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on February 9, 2014

Verified Purchase

Die faszinierende Analyse einer zerbrechenden Welt beginnt mit der Demontage der Helden und ihrer Ideale. Der Rueckblick in unsere Vergangenheit vor dem ersten Weltkrieg und die Flucht in die Parallelwelt sind authentische Schilderungen des schmerzlichen Reifeprozesses des Jugendlichen beim Erwachsenwerden... die Ideale broeckeln, stuerzen und der Held stirbt. Traurige Wahrheiten hinterlassen Sehnsucht nach hohen Idealen. Das Glueck des Ueberlebenden wird mit Gewissensqualen bezahlt. Traurige Wahrheiten erlauben kein gutes Ende, eigentlich

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Past Imperative: Round One of the Great Game Paperback – January 1, 1996

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