Blood and Honor

Once again Simon Green has given us another of his long line of very entertaining stories.This one concerns a down on his luck actor who agrees to become through magic of course to be stand in for ailing Prince Viktor.The actor,Jordan soon regrets his decision as he enters the sinister Castle Midnight where the real battle the terrifying unreal and he must match wits with Viktor's evil brothers, Lewis and insane sorcerer Dominic and their various henchmen.This novel has scenes of terrifying menace as the characters battle monsters and other creepy things thrown at them from barriers of the Unreal and there are scenes of lethal court intrigue and machivellian manuvers as each brother plots against one and another and no one is what they seem to be and no one can be trusted! A gripping fantasy novel set in the same world as Green's Blue Moon Rising.This novel also has ingenious murder mystery as you try to unravel who killed King Malcolm to gain the throne.The various villians like murderous Prince Lewis and dangerously insane Dominic were quite memorable as with some of the female characters as brave steward, Catriona Taggart, ruthless Lady Elizabeth and Viktor's ambitious Lady Heather were also great.Add this novel as feather in Green's cap as one of the most entertaining sf/fantasy author in the market today!

I would like to say that this is the best fantasy book I have ever read ( beleive me I`ve worked my way through quite a few ) and am very surprised that this didn`t immediatly become a bestseller. It has all the twists and turns, magic and politics, humour and sheer bloody mindedness of masterpiece.The hero ( if you could call him such ) is a complex yet lovable rogue who is thrust into the world of demons and politics when he`s hired to impersonate a sickly prince. The king is dead and the three princes are attempting to find his will ( losing it if it doesn`t suit them!) as well as his crown and seal. It soon becomes apparent however that all the princes are willing to go to great lengths, and forge strange alliances to achieve their aims.The lovable hero twists and turns through the strange politics, magic and assassination attempts with a wonderful droll cynicism which is bound to catch your heart.Simon R Green`s best work is right here and I`m looking forward to more in this series.

I have to admit, I'm absolutely shocked this book didn't become an instant bestseller. This is quite possibly the most well-written, involving, immensely satisfying piece of fantasy fiction I've read, and that's saying a lot. With fascinating characters, a riveting plotline, a dramatic scope, and smooth, vivid writing, all tied together with the classic sword-and-sorcery fantasy element Green captures so well, this book is simply awesome.

This book caught and held my interst. It was well writen, and the plot moved at a very nice pace. The characters were well developed, and an asset to the story line. I recomend this book to anyone who can read.

Once again, Green has used the setting of _Blue Moon Rising_ as the jumping point for a different kind of story; unlike _Down Among the Dead Men_, though, this one is quite similar in tone and complexity to _Blue Moon Rising_. (I'm sorry to keep referring back to that book, but I truly loved it, and some of the in-jokes, such as Jordan's monologue performance as the "High Warlock," will make better sense if you've read it.) The protagonist is Jordan, a rather lovable itinerant scamp and actor. Things take a grimmer--and richer, considering the sum offfered--turn when he is abducted by some "friendly" notables from Castle Midnight to impersonate a fading Prince Victor. Castle Midnight is currently suffering a crisis due to the death of its king, commonly suspected to be murder, and Victor's two brothers make life very interesting for a bewildered Jordan. There's magic and mystery galore. I went crazy trying to figure out who killed the king; and for once the denouement was no disappointment. The tale is well-crafted, certainly more consistent in tone than _Blue Moon Rising_ (which glides from the comic to the grim, though in all fairness the humor is present throughout) and worth a try. My one complaint is a touch of the Wheel-of-Time syndrome: almost too many characters, and keeping track of them is sometimes troublesome. On the other hand, Green does a fairly good job of keeping them distinct, and a couple of paragraphs into any point-of-view change should jog your memory.