The Ninth Talisman

This item arrived very rapidly and was well packaged. It got here so quickly, in fact, that I had to wait to read it because the previous book in the series (ordered from another vendor) took much longer to arrive.

The Progressive Wizard The Ninth Talisman (2007) is the second novel in the Annals of the Chosen series, following The Wizard Lord. In the previous volume, Breaker -- the Chosen Swordsman -- slew the Dark Lord of Galbek Hills and ended his reign of evil. When the Council of Immortals came to select the next Wizard Lord, Breaker argued against setting up another immensely powerful autocrat to possibly betray his responsibilities. Breaker was told that such recommendations were not within his purview, so he went home to Mad Oak. In this novel, three years later, Erren Zal Tuyo kam Darig seveth Tirimsir abek Du still resided in the village of Mad Oak. Nicknamed Breaker due to his childhood clumsiness, he is now called Sword by his fellow villagers. Breaker is still unhappy about the rejection of his arguments by the Council. Then one night he learns from the Young Priestess of his village a good reason for continuing the custom of the Wizard Lord. Three years after that, Breaker is presented with another puzzle. A crew working for the Wizard Lord completes a road from Willowbank to Mad Oak. Since the old Willowbank guide has died, the villagers are delighted with this new resource. Although few wish to travel, now anyone can take the road to Willowbank at any time without fear of the wild ler. More important, traders can bring large wagons of goods to Mad Oak without difficulties with the ler. Of course, the wild ler on the road path have been displaced, but they will soon fade from the scene. The priest and priestesses are still distressed by the agitation of the wild ler and maybe a few ghosts will haunt the village for a while, but these problems also will soon fade away. Yet Breaker is troubled over the change. In this story, Breaker leaves for Willowbank four day later. The people of Mad Oak have been suffering from nightmares and ghosts, the livestock have been skittish, much of the milk has soured, and at least one barrel of beer has been skunked, but the disturbances are gradually fading. The road is still open. Of course, none of the villagers have dared to use it, but a Chosen Swordsman should have no problems. Breaker has a lot of questions to ask and they are not being answered in Mad Oak. So he puts three ara plumes in his hat and sets off toward Willowbank. From Willowbank, Breaker travels to Rock Ridge, then Broadpool and Beggar's Hill. Everywhere he goes, people ask questions, which he answers as best he can. In Beggar's Hill, the Wizard Lord talks to him through a possessed hound. Leaving Beggar's Hill, Breaker sees the Summer Palace for the first time. He strides toward it, then passes it as he reaches the outskirts of Winterhome. The palace is built on the cliffs above Winterhome, outside Barokan where nothing permanent should be standing. Breaker definitely needs to ask the Wizard Lord a few questions. Maybe more than a few. This tale takes Breaker back home after meeting with the Wizard Lord. Then

Volume 2 of the Annals of the Chosen (The Ninth Talisman) takes up just a few years after the end of volume 1. We still follow Sword, as he gathers with the new Chosen to consider a moral dilemma not faced the Chosen before. While the first book could stand alone as a novel, the second assumes most of the world knowledge imparted in the first. Further, (small spoiler) the second book does not have a conclusive ending; it's like a TV series with a "to be continued..." at the end. The prose is still contemplative, following a guy who is not necessarily as nimble and sharp-witted as your typical fantasy hero, but who is also no dullard. In fact, the character seems to have grown through the previous adventures -- as they say, travel is fatal to bigotry! However, the book dangles a number of carrots in front of the reader all along, while not really delivering towards the end. It's as if a house of cards is carefully built, and then haphazardly whacked when it gets in the way of delivering a tense suspense ending. That's too bad -- with a different take on a few other characters, and a less heavy-handed treatment the crucial moment, the book might have gotten five stars. Well, four and a half -- I don't like a book that leaves the reader with that "to be continued" feeling as much as this book does, and that dings it half a star just in itself.

I was much more pleased this time around. The first book was good but left me a little unsatisfied when I was finished. This book kept me going all the way trough and got better as I read. Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the most under-rated, under-appreciated, and unsung authors out there. I recommend his work to anyone out there who enjoys good fantasy or science fiction.

After the Swordsman killed the Dark Lord of the Galbook Hlls, a Wizard Lord gone rogue, he returned to his small community of Mad Oak and became part of the farming community. He is one of eight Chosen, men and women who are granted special magical powers so that a Wizard Lord can be taken down if he doesn't rule benevolently over all the people of Barokan. The new Wizard Lord is having roads built throughout the country connecting towns and cities and thus making it easier for trade goods to be transported all over the empire. Swordsman travels to Winterhome to see the new Lord Wizard and is shocked to find a former Chosen, a traitor, is one of the chief advisors is the new Wizard Lord Artil. Artil tells him that the time for magic has passed and that people usingnon-magical skills will bring peace and prosperity to the land. While Swordsman thinks about this restructuring, Arti's soldiers find wizards and interrogate them about THE NINTH TALISMAN before killing them when he doesn't get the answers he wants. The eight champions meet to decide what to do about Artil and his plans and wonder if he may have gone to the dark side. This is second book in the Annals of the Chosen and one doesn't have to read the prequel THE WIZARD LORD to understand THE NINTH TALISMAN. The Swordsman is patient and willing to observe what the Wizard Lord is all about and that makes this book more of a character study than an action packed fantasy. The ending is very ambiguous so there is at least another book to the series. Readers will enjoy this novel so much they will recommend it to their friends who like sword and sorcery fantasy. Harriet Klausner