Tomes of Other Realms: Death of a Darklord

Tomes of Other Realms

Welcome to the lands of swords and sorcery, where people live and die by the sword and only the bravest of souls stand between the common folk and the forces of darkness. Join me as I wander different planes and hear the stories of their greatest defenders and the sagas of their worthiest warriors.

W A R N I N G !

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

Title: Death of a Darklord
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Publisher: TSR, Inc.
Format: Paperback
Copyright Date: 1995

The darklords that rule the domains of Ravenloft are powerful--perhaps all-powerful in their respective lands--but none can venture beyond the borders of their allotted territory. Now, though, Harkon Lukas, the wolfwere that rules Kartakass, believes he has the key to escaping. To accomplish that escape, he arranges for an entire village to die, simply to justify the recruiting of a respected mage-finder, Jonathan Ambrose. But Ambrose has problems of his own, not the least of which is the unexpected presence of a mage--one of those he's been trained to loathe and hate--among his chosen family. It may be, however, that Elaine is the one and only thing that can stop the dead from rising and walking in zombie-plagued Cortton. The only problems facing them, however--besides the zombies and the dire wolves and the wolfweres and Harkon Lukas himself--are the problems that arise when trusted friends and allies suddenly become the objects of suspicion and distrust. Can the mage-finder set aside his personal feelings long enough to stop the zombies? And even if they do stop the zombies, can they stop Harkon Lukas from carrying out his heinous plan to escape Kartakass?

Death of a Darklord deals with a problem all the powers in Ravenloft would gladly pay for a solution to: how to escape their realms. Fortunately for all the other lords and the inhabitants of the various domains, none of those powers are willing to work together to find the solution. Some of them can come awfully close, though, and nearly accomplish their goals.

Although this story should nominally be mostly about a darklord dying--hence the title--the bulk of it revolves around Elaine, the mage-in-training. It's interesting to see her struggling with her rising powers and how those around her cope with this change in someone they thought they knew. On the other hand, I think I would have preferred to see more of Harkon Lukas and how he embarked upon his desperate quest to escape Kartakass. We get to see so little of the darklords in action pursuing their various quests that any glimpse of their direct interactions with their realms' inhabitants is something worth reading. Wouldn't you agree?

Death of a Darklord is filled with everything that makes fantasy and horror novels so interesting: magical powers, maturation and decline, rising hopes and sudden betrayals...the list goes one. So when a book like this one pops up, you know that it is definitely something you'll want to read. So give it a try!

Rating: Thumbs up! The title may elude you at first, but you'll get it in the end, I promise!

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