Night of Madness

Ok, this isn't the best novel in the series, but it also isn't the worst by far. ... NoM is a tale that anyone who has read any of the other Ethshar novels has been waiting to get their hands on. It is the tale of what happens on the night Warlockery is iontorduced into the world. As such, it is kind of rigid in what it can and cannot do. It COULD show how people reacted when they first became warlocks, how rulers and wizards worried over the new magic, and show how the Council of Warlocks came into being complete with how all their laws and rules came about. It simply could NOT tell us what caused warlockery to occur, since earlier novels (which take place much later after the night of madness)left the whole event shrouded in mystery. LWE couldn't reveal what caused the event or why it happened, but he did reveal some tantalizing clues, which if you gather tidbits from other novels in the series gives you a better (if somewhat lacking) idea of what is going on. In usual LWE fasion the protagonist makes out by not being greedy or power hungry, so there is no surprises there. Read it, it is still a high quality book.

Young Lord Hanner is the nephew of Lord Faran, the second most powerful man in the city-state of Ethshar of the Spices, but Hanner's life is simple with few responsibilities. Then one night comes the Night of Madness. Many people throughout the city wake screaming, suddenly possessed of a great, wholly new form of magic. For some it is a dream come true, for others it is a nightmare. The Overlord fears the new warlocks, Lord Faran sees in them his path to ultimate power, and what the all-powerful Wizard's Guild thinks is everyone's concern. Through this all, Lord Hanner must find a way to protect the warlocks from the rest of the city, and protect the city from the warlocks.I must admit that I have never read anything by Lawrence Watt-Evans before, and I am very impressed. After a few slow pages, the author suddenly turns up the intensity. I found this book completely impossible to put down. For those of you who play Dungeons and Dragons, this book is of great interest due to it's inclusion of multiple types of magic.This is a great book.

While not Watt-Evans best work in Ethshire it's generally a good read. There arn't so many comic elements as are found in some of his other Ethshire novels. It's more of a historical account of the Night of Madness, as told by one young noble. If you are a fan of the Ethshire series this is a must read. If you've never read them before, go find "The Misenchanted Sword" and "With a Single Spell". "Spell of the Black Dagger" is also tops. If nothing else enjoy the magical land of the Ethshire novels.

When an author, even a great author, returns to an old mileu after and extended absence, it's often a cause for trepidation. Examples abound: Asimov's return to Foundation, Heinlein's return to his Future History, Clarke's return to Rama, etc. In many cases, the new works are not only substandard, but they actually detract from the previous body.As such, when I heard that Larwence Watt-Evans was going to release a new Ethshar novel after a ten year hiatus, my feelings were more than a bit mixed. This was especially so given that I haven't been very impressed by his work in the interim.I am glad to report that not only is Night of Madness a good Ethshar novel, it's a VERY good Ethshar novel. I would easily place it just behind The Misenchanted Sword and With a Single Spell in terms of quality. In particular, it is a good example of what I consider to be what makes Ethshar novels work: there is a new and strange situation which causes problems with the bulk of the story drawing on dealing with and, ultimately, solving the problem. The prose is bright and clear (no one would mistake the books for great literature, but they do an excellent job of being light and fun without descending to sophmoric stupidity). The internal logic of the world is thoroughly consistent. And, most importantly, the story and the settings are interesting. I am happy to see that Mr. Watt-Evans has made a successful return to his old stomping grounds. I have missed the Ethshar sequence (in spite of the occasional less-than-worthy book) and am glad to see that his long absence hasn't diminished his capacity to continue it. I'm definitely looking forward to many, many more to come.

Lawrence Watt-Evans has been one of the authors I've followed for a long time. I have many of his books, including the entire Ethshar series.This book is his longest yet in the Ethshar series, though not as long as Touched by the Gods. However, the book kept me gripped for the entire 2 days it took me to read it. As usual, Watt-Evans has gone into just enough detail to make everything come to life, but not so much that you are bogged down in them. His characters are interesting and engrossing, and you can't tell what will happen to any of them by the tone of the author's writing (Characters that are "extras" or who don't survive are just as detailed and important as the ones that do).If you've read any of the series before, you've had an introduction into the book's background, centering on the night that warlocks came into the world. Therefore, it's placed in the past, before the timeframes of some of his other books in the series. It's interesting to see the history of his world.I highly recommend this book, and also any of his other Eshthar series books (though they are hard to find, and I've got MY collection, but here's to hoping they will re-release them somehow, so others can see the author's talent.)