From Booklist
The sixth volume of the imposing Lord of the Isles saga involves a royal progress by Garric, aspiring ruler of the Isles. Travel with him involves an army and a fleet, both of which Drake renders with his usual skill at depicting warriors. Also with Garric are his sister, Sharina; her lover, Cashel; and the witch Ilna, who is Cashel's sister. Ilna isn't particularly sympathetic but seems almost saintly compared with Countess Balila of Sandrakkan, an island that has a long-standing feud with Garric's home island, Haft. Moreover, Balila unscrupulously commands considerable and uncontrolled magic with which to fight Sandrakkan's battles. These Drake draws with great, gritty realism on both material and magical planes, and Hell quite literally breaks loose on occasion. The audience for this kind of fantasy saga should prove large and ongoing, and for this volume, at least, it will be well deserved. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Garric or-Reise was born the son of an innkeeper in Barca's Hamlet on the Isle of Haft, but through valor and determination became first a prince and then the Regent and successor to the feeble Valence III, King of the Isles. But the Kingdom is weak, its rule barely extending past the island of Ornifal.
The Isles need a strong king to bring unity, because danger is coming. Magic is stronger now than at any time since the fall of the Old Kingdom in a cataclysm of uncontrolled magic. Evil is growing in the spaces beyond the world, waiting to complete the destruction begun a millennium before. Only if the Isles are united into a strong New Kingdom can humanity survive.
Garric has sworn to become a true Lord of the Isles. Standing with him are his sister, Sharina; his friend and Sharina's lover, the shepherd Cashel; and Cashel's sister, the weaver-witch Ilsa. They have been to Hell and back together in their quest.
The four friends and the armies of the Kingdom have undertaken a Royal Progress to renew the bonds of fealty among the Isles. Now they come to Sandrakkan, which fought a long and bloody war with Haft less than a generation ago.
On Sandrakkan, Wilduf's Countess, Balila, schemes with her court wizard to destroy the boy king from the hated isle of Haft. Strange evils lurk on demon-haunted Volita, and she will wake them all if necessary to make her husband the new King of the Isles.
Rich with action, guile, and heroism in the face of dangers both physical and moral, Master of the Cauldron stands alone or as part of a ground-breaking fantasy epic.
About the Author
David Drake is an attorney who has written military SF and also fantasy stories since the early 1970s. He served in Vietnam, and reads in Latin literature and history for pleasure, from which he borrows many incidents for his fantasy works. He lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Master of the Cauldron (Lord of the Isles Series) FROM THE PUBLISHER
Garric or-Reise was born the son of an innkeeper in Barca's Hamlet on the Isle of Haft, but through valor and determination became first a prince and then the Regent and successor to the feeble Valence III, King of the Isles. But the Kingdom is weak, its rule barely extending past the island of Ornifal.
The Isles need a strong king to bring unity, because danger is coming. Magic is stronger now than at any time since the fall of the Old Kingdom in a cataclysm of uncontrolled magic. Evil is growing in the spaces beyond the world, waiting to complete the destruction begun a millennium before. Only if the Isles are united into a strong New Kingdom can humanity survive.
Garric has sworn to become a true Lord of the Isles. Standing with him are his sister, Sharina; his friend and Sharina's lover, the shepherd Cashel; and Cashel's sister, the weaver-witch Ilsa. They have been to Hell and back together in their quest.
The four friends and the armies of the Kingdom have undertaken a Royal Progress to renew the bonds of fealty among the Isles. Now they come to Sandrakkan, which fought a long and bloody war with Haft less than a generation ago.
On Sandrakkan, Wilduf's Countess, Balila, schemes with her court wizard to destroy the boy king from the hated isle of Haft. Strange evils lurk on demon-haunted Volita, and she will wake them all if necessary to make her husband the new King of the Isles.
Rich with action, guile, and heroism in the face of dangers both physical and moral, Master of the Cauldron stands alone or as part of a ground-breaking fantasy epic.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
David Drake's padded sixth entry in his Lord of the Isles series, Master of the Cauldron, takes young Garric-or-Reise, an innkeeper's son now Regent of Haft, on a royal progress to solidify Haft's overlordship of Sandrakkan, a restless province Haft conquered a generation earlier. While predictable plotting, flattish characters, preteen dialogue and heavy-handed stock responses won't gain the author new fans, this middling fantasy will probably sell just as well as its predecessors. Agent, Kay McCauley at the Pimlico Agency. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Garric, now Regent of the Isles, and his three companions-his sister Sharina, the shepherd Cashel, and the weaver-witch Ilsa-undertake a journey through the Isles to meet their subjects and renew oaths of fealty. When they arrive in Sandrakkan, however, old hostilities rise to the surface as the Countess of that land seeks to oust Garric in favor of her husband, even if it means unleashing the terrors that dwell in the haunted lands of the Volita. Drake's grasp of large-scale action, as well as small dramas, makes him a superb storyteller. The sixth addition to his "Lord of the Isles" series belongs in most fantasy collections, particularly where the series is popular. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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