The Wizard Lord

"Slam! Breaker was locked into the secret room as the door snapped shut behind him! Luckily, he had instinctively jammed his sword into the crack between the closing doors and had prevented it from locking fully! With utmost care, he stuck his foot into the crack and withdrew his sword. After sheathing his sword, He placed his fingers into the crack and opened the double-doors. Once done, he saw two white-faced maidens staring at him." This is one of the many exciting parts of The Wizard Lord. Can you see why I enjoyed this book so much? I have read hundreds of books and The Wizard Lord is by far my favorite! I give this book five stars!!! In the story, The Wizard Lord, there is an eighteen year old called Breaker. He is nicknamed so, because when he was little, he used to break many dishes, cups, et cetera. Twelve years later, he is swilling beer with his old friends after finishing a barley harvest. He then sees an old traveler carrying a sword. His first thought is, "a real sword!!" He soon learns that this man is the Chosen Swordsman out of the eight Chosen. The eight are: The Leader, The Speaker, The Archer, The Thief, The Beauty, The Seer, The Swordsman, and the Scholar. Together they keep the Wizard Lord who controls all living things as well as the weather. This man will offer Breaker his job as Swordsman and that will change Breaker's life forever. My favorite part of this fantastic novel is where Breaker and his team are suddenly surrounded by squirrels possessed by The Wizard Lord! The Seer breaks their necks and The Speaker uses their true names. Both of these release the squirrels from the Wizard Lord's power. As then finish, a wild elk, also possessed, charges out of the forest! You will have to read to find out about Breaker's fantastic battle against this magically strengthened elk! I really loved that part because it is jumping from one exciting part to the next and is always keeping you on the edge of your seat! Almost all of the main characters were amazing in different ways! For Example, The Leader can make anybody listen to him intently and take him seriously, The Seer could see where the chosen and The Wizard Lord are, The Speaker can talk to anything, even ghosts, The Swordsman (Breaker) is the fastest, strongest, and best at swordplay in the world, The Archer can never miss with a bow and arrow, The Thief can steal anything unnoticed and pick any lock or pocket, The Beauty is the most attractive woman in the world, The Scholar learn a new thing every day and can never forget the truthful things, and lastly, The Wizard Lord has all the powers of all of them into one, and he controls the weather and animals. I would love this book to become a movie because all my favorite movies are either too exciting or too fantasy! Eragon has all of the fantasy in it and The Lord of the Rings has all the action! This book has everything combined, story line, action, suspense!! If the book can keep me this far onto the edge of my s

The Wizard Lord (2006) is the first fantasy novel in the Annals of the Chosen series. The Wizard Lord rules all of Barokan, although he has limitations on his authority. He can kill rogue wizards and any criminal who flees into the wilderness, but not innocent people. If he exceeds his limits and becomes a Dark Lord, the Chosen will gather to kill him. In this novel, Breaker is a young man in the village of Mad Oak. As the villagers are celebrating the completion of the barley harvest, two wizards and the Swordsman -- one of the Chosen -- come into town looking for a new Swordsman. Breaker is the only one to volunteer for the position. Breaker gets a good scolding from his mother. She sees the affair as him agreeing to become a killer. Breaker can't convince her that the position is purely ceremonial. After all, there hasn't been a Dark Lord for over one hundred years. Breaker won't become the Swordsman unless he has learned how to use a sword and then defeats the Old Swordsman in a duel to first blood. For the next few months, he practices with the Old Swordsman and is unable to even touch him while practicing. The Old Swordsman, however, is able to touch him almost anywhere on his body, but Breaker is beginning to hold him at bay for longer intervals. His friends see what the Old Swordsman can do to him and think that he is an easy mark. After several efforts to fence with him and receiving sound defeats, they start calling him the New Swordsman. In this story, the day finally comes for the ritual duel. Naturally, the Old Swordsman is not allowed to use his magic in this duel, but decades of practice still give him a substantial edge. Although the Old Swordsman agrees to leave an opening for Breaker, the opening moves by the Old Swordsman are powerful and quick. The Wizard Lord can see and talk through the lower animals. He uses a rabbit to watch the duel. Breaker has never heard a talking rabbit before, but is told that this is one of the many powers bestowed on the Wizard Lord. Breaker begins to wonder if the Old Swordsman has changed his mind. Then the rabbit makes a comment and the Old Swordsman is momentarily distracted. Breaker lunges and gets a hit on his opponent's shoulder. He has won and undergoes the rituals that make him the greatest swordsman of the land. Before the Old Swordsman leaves Mad Oak, he confides to Breaker that he is worried about the Wizard Lord. Unlike prior Wizard Lords, the current Lord has constructed his home away from any village. He has more temper than the previous two Lords and seems less predictable and less rational. But the Old Swordsman only has suspicions without any proof. Breaker decides that he will visit the Wizard Lord after the spring planting. Besides, he needs -- and wants -- to go out into the wider world and learn more about the land. After all, he has never before been away from Mad Oak. The story tells of the trek of Breaker out into the greater world of Baroka

This book is written with a well thought out plot. It is not like many of the other books being released as of late where the book just drags on. The book is also more tasteful than most newly written books where alot sex sex and more sex is supposed to make the book great. This book is a book of coming of age, in my opinion written in an old school fashion which should be greatly appreciated.

The single characteristic of Lawrence Watt-Evans's books that has struck me most insistently over time is the way he features basically ordinary people in heroic roles. This doesn't mean nebbishes or losers: for the most part his heroes are fairly heroic, but they are heroic for reasons that make sense for regular people. The Wizard Lord is a practically perfect example of this. The main character is a young man named Breaker. He lives in the town of Mad Oak, a fairly ordinary rural town, part of a land called Barokan. Barokan is ruled by a Wizard Lord, who makes sure that the weather is fine, and that particularly vile criminals are punished, and in general that life goes on smoothly. For centuries this system has worked well. One problem is the occasional Dark Lord -- a Wizard Lord gone mad -- and their control is a group of 8 heroes, The Chosen -- the World's Greatest Swordsman, Archer, Thief, Leader, etc. The other magical aspect of this land is the omnipresent "ler," spirits with whom local Priests and Priestesses must negotiate to allow people to live in each area. The "ler," and their individual desires, seem to cause Barokan to be a rather fractured set of small towns, with fairly limited trade and travel. One day the Chosen Swordsman comes to Mad Oak. It turns out he is old, ready to retire, and he wishes to recruit a successor. Breaker, perhaps a bit to his surprise, agrees to take the job. This despite his lack of desire to kill anyone: but there has not been a Dark Lord for over a century, so what's the risk? (100 percent as the reader knows!) So after months of training, and a magical ceremony to transfer the Swordsman's special magical abilities to Breaker, he becomes the new Swordsman. After which -- perhaps just a bit late! -- the old Swordsman reveals reluctantly that he has some slight misgivings about the current Wizard Lord. So Breaker decides to travel the world, or at least Barokan, and to try to meet his fellow Chosen, and to learn if the Wizard Lord really has gone mad. Of course he learns eventually that the lord has -- he has murdered an entire town. Several of his fellow Chosen agree that the Wizard Lord must be taken down, but others are surprisingly reluctant, for different reasons. It's clear something odd is going on (and most readers will guess the outline of the problem fairly quickly) but they push through to force a resolution. The Wizard Lord is the first of a trilogy, but it comes to a definite close. However, questions have been raised about the very structure of Barokan society, particularly by Breaker. I am sure subsequent volumes will address those questions. The novel itself is ever readable, quite enjoyable, and just plain, well, sensible. The magical system is fairly original and interesting. Not quite as much happens as in many fantasy novels, and the closing battle is really rather abruptly presented. But as I said, the novel is striking for the way each of the powerful magical characters is port