Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
New York : Orb, 2003.
Description
Enter the city of Hart's Hope, ruled by gods both powerful and indifferent, riddled with sorcery and revenge. The city was captured by a rebellious lord, Palicrovol, who overthrew the cruel king, Nasilee, hated by his people. Palicrovol, too, was cruel, as befitted a king. He took the true mantle of kinghood by forcing Asineth, now queen by her father's death, to marry him, raping her to consummate the marriage. But he was not cruel enough to rule. He let her live after her humiliation; live to bear a daughter; live to return from exile and retake the throne of Hart's Hope. But she, in turn, sent Palicrovol into exile to breed a son who would, in the name of the God, take back the kingdom from its cruel queen.
User reviews
LibraryThing member crazybatcow
Life ain't fair. The world ain't fair. Good guys are only good according to those who believe in them, bad guys might only be bad because someone doesn't believe in them.
Is a 12 year old rape victim justified in tormenting her rapist? Does the rapist deserve to be tormented if the rape was for a
Does power always corrupt? Do horrifying incidents always create horrifying villains? At what point does revenge consume the avenger?
Anyway, all these questions are asked. None of them are answered.
Is a 12 year old rape victim justified in tormenting her rapist? Does the rapist deserve to be tormented if the rape was for a
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good purpose? Is the changing of heads of state a good purpose? Is it an evil queen who rules with absolute power and torments her tormentors and yet gives a good life to her people? Is a princess who intends to marry an already married man (who became married via rape) an innocent?Does power always corrupt? Do horrifying incidents always create horrifying villains? At what point does revenge consume the avenger?
Anyway, all these questions are asked. None of them are answered.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
Dark fantasy that broke new ground. Not a quest fantasy. Some very cool names.
LibraryThing member Darla
Burland's king Nasilee's reign is destroying the country, so Palicroval is urged to overthrow him for the good of the country.
He defeats Nasilee. Then, to solidify his position, he takes Nasilee's young daughter Asineth as a bride, publicly consummating the marriage (rape, in other words) so
Asineth, bitter and bent on revenge, is pregnant with Palicroval's child, which ends up being a 10-month baby--magically significant. She sacrifices the child and uses it to become Queen Beauty, turning Sleeve into a court jester and taking Enziquelvinisensee Evelvenin's appearance for herself, turning the real Enziquelvinisensee Evelvenin into a hag.
She returns to the capital and takes over, allowing Palicroval to go anywhere in the land but the capital. She magically watches him and torments him for her amusement.
Finally, the gods take a hand and cause Palicroval to father a child, Orem, whose task, though he's unaware of it, is to set things right.
This is a rather unusually written story--told as an epistle to Palicroval, with the epistle-writer's commentary and advice along with the narrative. It took me a while to get used to the style, but once I did, it added to the feel of the story. It's distant--the omniscient POV doesn't allow the reader deeply into any of the characters' thoughts or emotions--but the story is epic in scale, spanning centuries and involving gods and the fate of a nation; and it's a morality tale as well, so the style fits the story.
The action is gritty, from the rape to the torments Queen Beauty visits on Palicroval, to the events Orem endures on his unknowing quest. Nothing is sugar-coated or coyly avoided, and that too serves the story, showing how even good intentions can result in evil and victims become villains.
And it shows the dangers of attracting the attention of the gods. Isn't there a famous saying about that? Or perhaps its just a truism. The gods' intervention led to the changing fortunes of Palicroval, and the existence and eventual fate of Orem.
It's not that much of a spoiler to say that the ending is open-ended. That, too, serves the story, giving a reason for the epistle to Palicroval.
I'll be re-reading this one more than once, I'm sure.
He defeats Nasilee. Then, to solidify his position, he takes Nasilee's young daughter Asineth as a bride, publicly consummating the marriage (rape, in other words) so
Show More
there's no doubt. He can't, however, bring himself to kill her, though his advisors all agree he should. Instead, he sends her away with the wizard Sleeve, and turns to Enziquelvinisensee Evelvenin, the most beautiful woman in the world, whose hand he'd won before his quest.Asineth, bitter and bent on revenge, is pregnant with Palicroval's child, which ends up being a 10-month baby--magically significant. She sacrifices the child and uses it to become Queen Beauty, turning Sleeve into a court jester and taking Enziquelvinisensee Evelvenin's appearance for herself, turning the real Enziquelvinisensee Evelvenin into a hag.
She returns to the capital and takes over, allowing Palicroval to go anywhere in the land but the capital. She magically watches him and torments him for her amusement.
Finally, the gods take a hand and cause Palicroval to father a child, Orem, whose task, though he's unaware of it, is to set things right.
This is a rather unusually written story--told as an epistle to Palicroval, with the epistle-writer's commentary and advice along with the narrative. It took me a while to get used to the style, but once I did, it added to the feel of the story. It's distant--the omniscient POV doesn't allow the reader deeply into any of the characters' thoughts or emotions--but the story is epic in scale, spanning centuries and involving gods and the fate of a nation; and it's a morality tale as well, so the style fits the story.
The action is gritty, from the rape to the torments Queen Beauty visits on Palicroval, to the events Orem endures on his unknowing quest. Nothing is sugar-coated or coyly avoided, and that too serves the story, showing how even good intentions can result in evil and victims become villains.
And it shows the dangers of attracting the attention of the gods. Isn't there a famous saying about that? Or perhaps its just a truism. The gods' intervention led to the changing fortunes of Palicroval, and the existence and eventual fate of Orem.
It's not that much of a spoiler to say that the ending is open-ended. That, too, serves the story, giving a reason for the epistle to Palicroval.
I'll be re-reading this one more than once, I'm sure.
Show Less
LibraryThing member librarymediaman
This complex, well-conceived and well-developed anti-fantasy story set in a compelling fantasy world is tragically (!!) marred by gratuitous-seeming explicit content ranging from steadily recurrent profanity to graphically-described sexual scenes.
LibraryThing member Arkholt
I took a writing class with Orson Scott Card, and he referenced this book a couple times. He said he couldn't recommend it to anyone, because of its content. I agree that it's quite a bit of a downer. My dad said he got halfway through it an threw the book in the garbage.
The main thing I noticed is
The book is extremely graphic, mainly to show the moral depravity of the world. The magic system is good, but not very well explained. If Card hadn't explained it to us in class, I don't think I would have figured it out very easily.
All that aside, this is an extremely well developed world, and when you consider the length of the book, it's really quite amazing.
My recommendation is to make sure to finish it. All the depressing parts may be difficult to get through, but it all pays off very well in the end.
The main thing I noticed is
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that the majority of the characters are twisted and evil. It seems there are no good people in this world. Even some characters who seem good at first become wicked soon afterwards.The book is extremely graphic, mainly to show the moral depravity of the world. The magic system is good, but not very well explained. If Card hadn't explained it to us in class, I don't think I would have figured it out very easily.
All that aside, this is an extremely well developed world, and when you consider the length of the book, it's really quite amazing.
My recommendation is to make sure to finish it. All the depressing parts may be difficult to get through, but it all pays off very well in the end.
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LibraryThing member Jaelle
Interesting, but slow going. The narration is stiff and and a bit annoying.
LibraryThing member suzemo
I feel very mixed about this book.
I liked some of the magic and a lot of the religious aspects of the book (the religions/worship that were present in the book, not that the book is preachy), but overall, a lot of the book felt a little over the top.
This is a very early foray for Card into
I liked some of the magic and a lot of the religious aspects of the book (the religions/worship that were present in the book, not that the book is preachy), but overall, a lot of the book felt a little over the top.
This is a very early foray for Card into
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fantasy, and it does feel like it. He has definitely refined his fantasy writing since this time. It's not a total waste, but I feel like a lot of potential was lost. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
I've had this book on my list for a long time and I finally found a copy at a library sale. I was surprised to find this is an Arthurian style fantasy. A wicked king is overthrown by a 'good' king, who then commits a grievous sin to unite the kingdom. This leads to a dark time for the kingdom, and
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years of grief and struggle. Very different for Card, I don't know of anything else by him in this style. I enjoyed it, it definitely is different than most fantasy available, and it was interesting to read. There's not a lot of suspense, but what happens is good. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I am a fan of Card's Ender series, but I couldn't warm to this book, an early effort and his first try at fantasy. It's just too gruesome. It has a fairy tale feel in its rather distant, stilted omniscient point of view, written more as a series of vignettes then a sustained narrative. When we
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think "fairy tale" thanks to Disney we often think of childish, sweet and romantic stuff, where there's a nice bright line between villains and heroes. Of course a lot of the original material isn't that way--in the Grimm Brother's version of Cinderella the stepsisters cut off parts of their feet to try to make the glass slipper fit and in the end both they and the stepmother are punished by having their eyes pecked out by crows. Well, this isn't the Disney sort of fairy tale, that's for certain. Early on the graphic rape of a twelve-year-old girl as thousands look on is unsparingly depicted. No one is innocent, no one is good--or even completely evil here. One "hero" of this book is the rapist, and the victim's revenge is cruel beyond belief. I'm not saying by the way this isn't a book worth reading, that I can't understand why for some it might appeal, but this is just too brutal for me. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1986
ISBN
0765306786 / 9780765306784