Lord of the Fire Lands: A Tale of the King's Blades - Softcover

Duncan, Dave

3.9

2,203 ratings by Goodreads

9780380791279: Lord of the Fire Lands: A Tale of the King's Blades

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0380791277 ISBN 13: 9780380791279

Publisher: Voyager, 2000

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As unwanted, rebellious boys, they found refuge in Ironhall. . .Years later they emerged as the finest swordsmen in the realm—

The Kings Blades

Once bound, a Blade's life is no longer his own. Only death can break the gilded chain of enchantment that binds the bodyguard to the man he is sworn to defend. And never in living memory has a candidate refused the honor of serving his king. . .until now.

Young Wasp never intended to be a rebel. Yet, at the sacred ceremony of binding, he follows the lead of his friend Raider, and together they spurn the wishes of King Ambrose himself. Now Raider and Wasp are outlaws hunted by the very Blades whose ranks they were a breath away from entering, and joined together by a destiny that binds them more securely than any knot tradition and sorcery might tie. Amid the turmoil their "treachery" has inspired, Wasp and Raider must undertake a desperate journey into the heart of the dreaded Fire Lands. And the outcome of their terrifying confrontation with dark truth and darker magic in this realm of monsters, ghosts, and half-men will ultimately determine the fate of two kingdoms.

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Review:

The Blades are back! Dave Duncan's deftly done swords-and-sorcery series adds its second chapter with The Lord of the Fire Lands, the worthy standalone followup to The Gilded Chain. Duncan's triumph with the first tale of the King's Blades--a trend that thankfully continues with the second--is his unabashed confidence in the genre. Swashbuckling high fantasy may get its share of derisive snickers, but done well it can be as engaging and smart as anything more weighty--not to mention that it's often a lot more fun.

Lord of the Fire Lands opens with fat King Ambrose back at hallowed Ironhall mustering more Blades, the Kingdom of Chivial's magically bound, magically enhanced super-swordsmen. But when His Majesty prepares to bestow this honor on the hall's senior pupil, Candidate Raider does the unthinkable, the unprecedented: he refuses. Why would a Blade-to-be insult--and enrage--his king? That, of course, is a long story, and just the start of this time-hopping, tortuous tale.

Cover to cover, Duncan has packed blood-thirsty pirates, betrayed princes, kidnapped brides, slippery assassins, stark-mad shamans, volcanic firedrakes, Blades (naturally) by the bushel, and even a satisfying cameo from none other than Gilded Chain's legendary Durendal. --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

Dave Duncan is an award-winning author whose fantasy trilogy, The Seventh Sword, is considered a sword-and-sorcery classic. His numerous novels include three Tales of the King's Blades -- The Gilded Chain, Lord of the Fire Lands, and Sky of Swords; Paragon Lost, a previous Chronicle of the King’s Blades; Strings, Hero; the popular tetralogies A Man of His Word and A Handful of Men; and the remarkable, critically acclaimed fantasy trilogy The Great Game.

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