The Seven Altars of Dusarra

Garth the Overman and Korg the trusty warbeast are back in Skelleth, this time to try to establish a trade mission that could be of great importance to the inhabitants of the Northern Waste. Initially Korg and some of his relatives have great success, but Korg once again has a run in with the Baron of Skelleth. After their last conflict the Baron would like nothing better than Garth's head, but seeing some opportunity, he instead insists that Garth swear fealty in return for trading rights. Anyone who knpws overmen will tell you that isn't going to work. Garth, furious at the Baron's impertinence, sits down with the King in Yellow again and hammers out a deal. The King wants whatever Garth finds on the seven altars of Dussara and promises that carrying out that task will give Garth what he wants in Skelleth in the process. Even Garth has figured out that deals with the King in Yellow always have a hitch to them - and proceeds cautiously. This time the trip is less harrowing with only one village on that way, one with an annoying prophecy. Soon Garth is in the night city of Dusarra, planning his thefts. Seven alters with gems, potential victims and, yes, even dust, are all that lie between Garth and victory over the Baron of Skelleth. For Garth, who has teetered on the edge of crisis since leaving the northern wastes, they are seven opportunities for disaster and there is more than a little question about whether either Garth of Dusarra will survive. This is the second volume is a series that will eventually be referred to as 'The Lords of Dus.' Watt-Evans shows a surer footing in this telling about the Prince of a magically created people who have been exiled for 350 years to the northern wastes. Garth wants to make a difference in his world, but it not entirely clear on how to go about it. His adventures in the first volume lead him to return to the world below and Watt-Evans has created a second, light-hearted, story that under line the problems that can occur when cultures clash in unexpected places. Watt-Evan's writes well, although he tends to over engineer his action, and relies too much on descriptive passages to fill out his book. Since The Seven Altars of Dusarra is short, it never really bogs down. But every once in a while there is a hitch, as when the author spends too much time describing which hand he moves what object too while trying to do two things at once. Don't let that put you off though, this is a classic series, which is mostly for fun and the intriguing device of having an 'alien' creature as a main character. This is classic fantasy, with a twist.

Returning to the crumbling city of Skelleth, Garth the overman finds himself returning to the service of the Forgotten King. He is sent off to Dusarra, the city of the Dark Gods, to steal whatever lies on the altars of the seven gods of the city. But before long, Garth realizes that there is more to human religion than he thought. The age of the god of decay is coming to a close, and the time of the god of destruction awaits the coming of a mortal who will seize the god's sword and begin the Age of Destruction. Is Garth this new servant of destruction, and does he have a choice in the matter? For many years now, I have been a great fan of Lawrence Watt-Evans' wonderful Ethshar series. Having finished all of the Ethshar books currently available, I moved on to his Lords of Dus series, and must say that I am quite happy! This book makes an excellent sequel to The Lure of the Basilisk, and is every bit as good as that one. This is a great fantasy story, complete with magic, strange creatures, and lots of swordplay. In particular, I found the author's use of a non-human as the protagonist to be quite intriguing and masterfully done. So, if you are a fan of fantasy literature, then you must get this book. You will not be disappointed.

This is the second of four books in the "Lords of Dus" series. A very under-appreciated fantasy series, in my opinion. While these books are neither as intricate nor as well written as many of the big names in fantasy, ("Lord of the Rings" for example) they are well thought out and very original stories with very memorable characters. Entertaining enough to be read several times, but straight-forward enough to be a reasonably quick read.In this book, the main character, Garth the overman, is sent by the Forgotten King to steal whatever he finds on each of the Seven Altars of the Dark Gods in the city of Dusarra.If you've never read the other books in this series, I recommend that you pick up "Lure of the Basilisk" first. But if you've read that one already, then I definitely recommend that you pick up this one as well. I consider this to be the best book in the series because it has a very straight forward story, but it is handled extremely well and moves at just the right pace. This book is never boring for a second.