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The Book of Elementals #1
Sorcerer's Son
As Cray Ormoru, son of the enchantress Delivev, grows to be a man in magical Castle Spinweb, he yearns to find his father, who disappeared years before on a heroic mission. And so Cray sets out on the journey which would take him from town to castle to a fortress of bronze, totally unprepared for the sorrows and dangers that lie ahead. For the fate of Cray's father would only be discovered by the light of demon fire...
380 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
11 people are currently reading
882 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Eisenstein
75 books91 followersPhyllis Eisenstein was an American author of science fiction and fantasy short stories as well as novels. Her work was nominated for both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
December 4, 2015
One of the best fantasies I have ever read. I really enjoyed the depiction of true friendship in it.
July 8, 2011
A terrific fantasy from the under known Phyllis Eisenstein.
July 8, 2009
I don't know why I love this book so ludicrously much, but I want to read it again. I adore it.
May 15, 2022
I was tossing up between 3 stars and 4 and the ending swayed me. It was slow, certainly, but in such a magical, melancholic and rather original way that I had to give it the benefit of the doubt and go with four stars. The magic in this book was really different and the world Phyllis Eisenstein creates is a rather empty, sad yet oddly content one. 3 stars would have meant I may not read it again but I think this book will certainly be revisited. Worth a read for anyone who wants a mid-length story that's ultimately about love, loyalty and family.
March 31, 2009
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
After the sorceress Delivev Ormoru rejects his marriage proposal, sorcerer Smada Rezhyk becomes worried that she's out to get him. In order to reduce her powers so that he'll have time to weave himself a protective gold shirt, Rezhyk sends his demon slave Gildrum to impregnate Delivev with Rezhyk's own seed. Gildrum takes on the form of a handsome young knight (Mellor) and shows up injured at Delivev's doorstep. As expected, Delivev falls in love with Mellor, but unexpectedly, Gildrum (who doesn't even have a heart) falls in love with her, too. However, Gildrum must return to serve Rezhyk. He doesn't tell Delivev that he's really a demon -- he lies and tells her that he'll come back after he delivers a message.
Sure enough, Delivev becomes pregnant and gives birth to Cray. And, of course, Mellor never returns. When Cray becomes a teenager, he decides to find out what happened to the father whom his mother still loves. This leads to a series of adventures which create more questions than answers.
Phyllis Eisenstein's Sorcerer's Son is a pleasant coming-of-age novel. The writing, for the most part, is lovely -- it flows well and is not overdone or pretentious. The dialogue, however, (and there is more of it than their needs to be) is sometimes stilted and unrealistic.
The plot of Sorcerer's Son is original and interesting -- especially the parts in which Delivev or Rezhyk appear. Delivev has control over nature -- particularly snakes, spiders, and ivy. Rezhyk summons and enslaves various types of demons who live in a complex world and follow strict rules about summoning. These parts are very creative and entertaining and I found that I have developed a respect for Phyllis Eisenstein's imagination.
Unfortunately, I just could not believe in Cray, the hero of the story. He was too nice, good at everything he tried, rarely complaining, and too mature, noble, and philosophical for a teenager. Except for the very rare occasions when he lost his temper, he was boring. I'm not into angsty teenage brooding, but Cray could have used a couple more personality dimensions.
The ending of Sorcerer's Son was a little too sweet for me, but if you like that sort of story, then this is a good read.
Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Phyllis Eisenstein page.
After the sorceress Delivev Ormoru rejects his marriage proposal, sorcerer Smada Rezhyk becomes worried that she's out to get him. In order to reduce her powers so that he'll have time to weave himself a protective gold shirt, Rezhyk sends his demon slave Gildrum to impregnate Delivev with Rezhyk's own seed. Gildrum takes on the form of a handsome young knight (Mellor) and shows up injured at Delivev's doorstep. As expected, Delivev falls in love with Mellor, but unexpectedly, Gildrum (who doesn't even have a heart) falls in love with her, too. However, Gildrum must return to serve Rezhyk. He doesn't tell Delivev that he's really a demon -- he lies and tells her that he'll come back after he delivers a message.
Sure enough, Delivev becomes pregnant and gives birth to Cray. And, of course, Mellor never returns. When Cray becomes a teenager, he decides to find out what happened to the father whom his mother still loves. This leads to a series of adventures which create more questions than answers.
Phyllis Eisenstein's Sorcerer's Son is a pleasant coming-of-age novel. The writing, for the most part, is lovely -- it flows well and is not overdone or pretentious. The dialogue, however, (and there is more of it than their needs to be) is sometimes stilted and unrealistic.
The plot of Sorcerer's Son is original and interesting -- especially the parts in which Delivev or Rezhyk appear. Delivev has control over nature -- particularly snakes, spiders, and ivy. Rezhyk summons and enslaves various types of demons who live in a complex world and follow strict rules about summoning. These parts are very creative and entertaining and I found that I have developed a respect for Phyllis Eisenstein's imagination.
Unfortunately, I just could not believe in Cray, the hero of the story. He was too nice, good at everything he tried, rarely complaining, and too mature, noble, and philosophical for a teenager. Except for the very rare occasions when he lost his temper, he was boring. I'm not into angsty teenage brooding, but Cray could have used a couple more personality dimensions.
The ending of Sorcerer's Son was a little too sweet for me, but if you like that sort of story, then this is a good read.
Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Phyllis Eisenstein page.
December 19, 2015
This is another one of those books I first read around two decades ago. I'm pleased to say it holds up to what I remembered of it. It's one of those epic quest type fantasies, with the bulk of the book being about Cray's search for the father he never knew.
Cray's mother is a great sorceress who can control spiders, snakes, vines, and anything weaved from thread. (It's creepy, yet cool.)
Cray's father, who was only around long enough to get his mother pregnant, presented himself as a knight. So rather than follow in his mother's footsteps, Cray chooses to become a knight like his father. He leaves on a quest to not only become a knight, but to find his father, who had promised to return after he completed one last mission.
The one thing I didn't remember is how paranoid the "bad guy" / "evil sorcerer" was. When it comes down to it, he was the instrument of his own demise. No one was ever out to get him until he began to "strike back". Even so, he doesn't come across as cartoon-y, more ironic.
In terms of world-building, you have sorcerers and you have regular humans. Some sorcerers - like the "evil sorcerer" - can control demons, which come in fire, water, air, and ice varieties. (Hmmm, why not earth which is the typical 4th element?) There is also a seer/oracle who can predict the future.
The bdsm_ds tag is for some novel bondage/kink. I swear this book created some of my mental kinks. *g*
Oh, turns out this was the first in a trilogy. Not sure if I can find the other two. They appear to be out of print.
Cray's mother is a great sorceress who can control spiders, snakes, vines, and anything weaved from thread. (It's creepy, yet cool.)
Cray's father, who was only around long enough to get his mother pregnant, presented himself as a knight. So rather than follow in his mother's footsteps, Cray chooses to become a knight like his father. He leaves on a quest to not only become a knight, but to find his father, who had promised to return after he completed one last mission.
The one thing I didn't remember is how paranoid the "bad guy" / "evil sorcerer" was. When it comes down to it, he was the instrument of his own demise. No one was ever out to get him until he began to "strike back". Even so, he doesn't come across as cartoon-y, more ironic.
In terms of world-building, you have sorcerers and you have regular humans. Some sorcerers - like the "evil sorcerer" - can control demons, which come in fire, water, air, and ice varieties. (Hmmm, why not earth which is the typical 4th element?) There is also a seer/oracle who can predict the future.
The bdsm_ds tag is for some novel bondage/kink. I swear this book created some of my mental kinks. *g*
Oh, turns out this was the first in a trilogy. Not sure if I can find the other two. They appear to be out of print.
September 3, 2008
This book was recommended to me by a friend. It... was a page turner... but in part because it was ridiculous. It would be a lie to say that this book doesn't have a plot, but it would also be a lie to say that this book has more than six pages of actual *action*. The rest is just... well... dialogue. And not very good dialogue. Just like
Guy: 'man, Cray, I hate being poor.'
Cray: 'you're not poor now that you're with me!'
Guy: Why would you take in someone like me? I am below your social status! You are clearly rich! And training to be a knight!'
Cray:'Well you see, I was actually raised by um, a sorcerer woman. She wears feathers all the time and controls spiders. And plants. And snakes. She weaves for fun. I never knew anyone but my mom for all my life. Except her horse. Until I met you. Also, I'm trying to find my dad.'
Guy: 'Your tale of total isolation and insane amounts of power ought to frighten me, but I'm kind of just glad you didn't beat my brain out of my skull. I hate spiders!'
And on, and on, and on.
Guy: 'man, Cray, I hate being poor.'
Cray: 'you're not poor now that you're with me!'
Guy: Why would you take in someone like me? I am below your social status! You are clearly rich! And training to be a knight!'
Cray:'Well you see, I was actually raised by um, a sorcerer woman. She wears feathers all the time and controls spiders. And plants. And snakes. She weaves for fun. I never knew anyone but my mom for all my life. Except her horse. Until I met you. Also, I'm trying to find my dad.'
Guy: 'Your tale of total isolation and insane amounts of power ought to frighten me, but I'm kind of just glad you didn't beat my brain out of my skull. I hate spiders!'
And on, and on, and on.
October 10, 2015
Fellow Amazonians, please log into Amazon and add this book to kindle publishing request list. And while there are many low priced paperbacks available, my OCD prohibits me from reading books with: possible missing pages, loose pages, worn covers, broken spines, dog eared pages, doodles on pages, fingerprint food smudges, etc.
That and my Kindle Fire gets insanely jealous if I spend any time at the local library or purchase non-digital books.
That and my Kindle Fire gets insanely jealous if I spend any time at the local library or purchase non-digital books.
September 15, 2010
A beautifully written fantasy novel with grownup emotions and actions, and one of my favourites ever since it was released back in the seventies. There was a sequel, but it is not as well-written as this one was.
June 30, 2014
I really adored this book as a kid. I think it still holds up, however there may be some nostalgia that is making me love it as an adult. I think the world that Eisenstein created with its rules of magic were really quite absorbing.
January 10, 2014
I actually read this some years ago. This is an absorbing, original fantasy by a writer who is rather less known than others, but shouldn't be.
July 9, 2015
This was my kind of story. It was well told and an interesting spin on magic and demons.
December 2, 2019
Phyllis Eisenstein’s 1979 fantasy novel “Sorcerer’s Son” is a light and pleasant read that takes few chances and hugs closely to the easiest path available, which keeps it decidedly average.
This review is part of my “Nostalgia” series, where I infrequently revisit a small collection of fantasy novels in my possession—most of which I inherited when I was younger—to determine if they hold up decades later and are worth keeping.
Cray, the son of a sorceress, has dreams of being a knight like the father he never knew. His journey into the world of men to discover something of his father will unravel a plot against his mother that was hatched before his birth as and take him to the otherworldly demon realms that are the sources of his enemy’s power and reveal the truth about his father.
Eisenstein’s story is fairly simple and uncomplicated. It unfolds in a generic fantasy world with an interesting magic system that does not hold up to greater scrutiny (but doesn’t really need to do so). The stakes are small and the characters are fairly bland. Cray, the protagonist, is a fairly flawless hero that puts effort into all things and succeeds in everything—it is too easy at times, particularly the final act where it all comes together too neatly.
Eisenstein makes some choices to avoid alienating the reader, but which I found weakened the book overall. What could be the central mystery of the story, the question of Cray’s paternity—and is the central mystery as far as the protagonist is concerned—is revealed to the reader from the very start. In many respects, the story she chose to tell from Cray’s perspective is not actually his, but that of the demon Gildrum. It is Gildrum who has the most to lose and who takes action, struggles with his desires versus his obligations and finds solutions to difficult problems to reconcile the two. How different and more interesting the story may have been if either the reader had not been with Gildrum from the first moments (or at all) and had the same steady reveal as the book’s main characters or, alternatively, if the author had decided to tell it from Gildrum’s perspective and not spend the majority of it on Cray.
While the above reads fairly negative, I did find the story a diverting read, but was more disappointed than I expected to be. I had fairly pleasant, albeit vague, memories of the book from my youth and it did not quite live up to the expectations.
This review is part of my “Nostalgia” series, where I infrequently revisit a small collection of fantasy novels in my possession—most of which I inherited when I was younger—to determine if they hold up decades later and are worth keeping.
Cray, the son of a sorceress, has dreams of being a knight like the father he never knew. His journey into the world of men to discover something of his father will unravel a plot against his mother that was hatched before his birth as and take him to the otherworldly demon realms that are the sources of his enemy’s power and reveal the truth about his father.
Eisenstein’s story is fairly simple and uncomplicated. It unfolds in a generic fantasy world with an interesting magic system that does not hold up to greater scrutiny (but doesn’t really need to do so). The stakes are small and the characters are fairly bland. Cray, the protagonist, is a fairly flawless hero that puts effort into all things and succeeds in everything—it is too easy at times, particularly the final act where it all comes together too neatly.
Eisenstein makes some choices to avoid alienating the reader, but which I found weakened the book overall. What could be the central mystery of the story, the question of Cray’s paternity—and is the central mystery as far as the protagonist is concerned—is revealed to the reader from the very start. In many respects, the story she chose to tell from Cray’s perspective is not actually his, but that of the demon Gildrum. It is Gildrum who has the most to lose and who takes action, struggles with his desires versus his obligations and finds solutions to difficult problems to reconcile the two. How different and more interesting the story may have been if either the reader had not been with Gildrum from the first moments (or at all) and had the same steady reveal as the book’s main characters or, alternatively, if the author had decided to tell it from Gildrum’s perspective and not spend the majority of it on Cray.
While the above reads fairly negative, I did find the story a diverting read, but was more disappointed than I expected to be. I had fairly pleasant, albeit vague, memories of the book from my youth and it did not quite live up to the expectations.
August 12, 2018
Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein follow the unlikely birth of boy who grows up with a sorcerer mother, then when he's old enough, going out on an adventure to find his long missing father. This is very much a young man's adventure, as the protagonist is only about 15-17 over the course of the story. Despite being very charmed by the whole work, the tale failed to land with me. I'm the wrong age, I guess.
The first third of book worked well with me, but as the story wore on, I found myself flagging. I skimmed the second third and then skipped the last third to read the ending. None of that is is diminish Eisenstein's writing, which I found rather pleasant and pliable. It's the story that left me wanting. Eisenstein was a short story writer, but her first attempt to scale up to a novel put her skills to the test, producing a story that truly wandered about almost aimlessly. If the editor had cut 100 pages out of the work (mostly by removing the dull bits), I think that the novel would have worked far better.
The magic system here is a hand-waving sort of magic that I generally prefer, in that vague 70's way of having magic. The work gets caught up in some of its metaphysics, but not nearly all of it, mostly because those other bits are relevant to the story.
If you are at all squicked out by consent issues, you won't have to wait long. The bad guy wizard (the patriarcy) sends in a demon to get the gird woman wizard (the matriarchy) pregnant through deception. Yeah, not so good in today's ethos.
The first third of book worked well with me, but as the story wore on, I found myself flagging. I skimmed the second third and then skipped the last third to read the ending. None of that is is diminish Eisenstein's writing, which I found rather pleasant and pliable. It's the story that left me wanting. Eisenstein was a short story writer, but her first attempt to scale up to a novel put her skills to the test, producing a story that truly wandered about almost aimlessly. If the editor had cut 100 pages out of the work (mostly by removing the dull bits), I think that the novel would have worked far better.
The magic system here is a hand-waving sort of magic that I generally prefer, in that vague 70's way of having magic. The work gets caught up in some of its metaphysics, but not nearly all of it, mostly because those other bits are relevant to the story.
If you are at all squicked out by consent issues, you won't have to wait long. The bad guy wizard (the patriarcy) sends in a demon to get the gird woman wizard (the matriarchy) pregnant through deception. Yeah, not so good in today's ethos.
May 24, 2013
A delicious combination of romance, fantasy, and bildungsroman.
Cray's journey is interesting because everything is defined by his unknown father. Who in the end, well, his biological father is no father to him.
The fantasy setting is not only intriguing, but transgressive. Consider this, the demon, who is the love of Delivev's life spends most of the story wearing the clay shaped body of a little girl. Gender being a transumutive thing for beings all soul and shaped bodies. He/She wears the bodies her master gives him/her to wear. Or no body. All flame. A romantic fire demon hoping and dreaming to be rescued by his/her not child.
Delivev's weaver magic was really new. All the things that are so often fearsome into a gently woven world.
While Cray, all he wants to understand is who he is. His journey being about who he isn't as much as who he is.
And the villain, paranoidly villainous. His journey a natural outgrowth of his even inward journey.
Really, just lovely.
Cray's journey is interesting because everything is defined by his unknown father. Who in the end, well, his biological father is no father to him.
The fantasy setting is not only intriguing, but transgressive. Consider this, the demon, who is the love of Delivev's life spends most of the story wearing the clay shaped body of a little girl. Gender being a transumutive thing for beings all soul and shaped bodies. He/She wears the bodies her master gives him/her to wear. Or no body. All flame. A romantic fire demon hoping and dreaming to be rescued by his/her not child.
Delivev's weaver magic was really new. All the things that are so often fearsome into a gently woven world.
While Cray, all he wants to understand is who he is. His journey being about who he isn't as much as who he is.
And the villain, paranoidly villainous. His journey a natural outgrowth of his even inward journey.
Really, just lovely.
January 10, 2019
I really enjoyed this despite it's age. It seems like a typical coming of age quest for Cray and yet it really has almost three parts to his growth. The quest seems to have no ending and yet three distinct endings and I really enjoyed that we see how Cray deals with his changing goals and yet remains true to himself. I found that I enjoyed the fact that the villain wasn't especially villainous just a prisoner of his own paranoia. I think the true star of this show however was Gildrum the demon. They were a demon slave and yet were able to be shown as one who can learn and grow in their own right.
July 18, 2016
Amazing book. The storyline is stunningly original, the world is very detailed and realistic and the novel is very well written. What I admired was how well the story flows - once you start you can't stop. And one great thing this book does is it skims over all the boring bits - the number of years that pass in this book is impressive - and this is a trap most other books fall into. There are no boring lengthy descriptions and the author isn't afraid to cover decades in a few pages, which is good since she pulls it off seemingly effortlessly.
June 14, 2017
Pleasant fantasy concerning a young man who grew up alone with his sorcerer mother, seeking to find his father who he believes to have been a knight. In his quest to find his unknown father he finds that not all is what it seems.
Sorcerer's Son is enjoyable if slight. There isn't much in the way of action and the characters are quite one dimensional with the exception of the demon Gildrum. The world building is non-existent although there are some interesting ideas around demons. Not terrible but not great, just os-os.
Sorcerer's Son is enjoyable if slight. There isn't much in the way of action and the characters are quite one dimensional with the exception of the demon Gildrum. The world building is non-existent although there are some interesting ideas around demons. Not terrible but not great, just os-os.
September 11, 2008
REALLY GOOD! I really liked this one!
April 15, 2012
Read this many, many years ago, but it's one that has stuck with me. I'll be keeping an eye out for it when I'm in used bookstores to see if it holds up over time.
June 27, 2015
Loved this book as a kid!
November 28, 2020
Deserves a spot with classics of the genre.
January 19, 2023
Those of you who work in literary publishing may find it pertinent that all I needed to pick this book up from the dollar rack was the painting on the cover of the black knight with a flaming skull for a head. It sat on my shelf for a few years, but all the while I had a suspicion that it was a better-than-average fantasy MMPB, based on having taken a sneak peek at the first couple chapters and having noticed an unusually good prose style. Those first chapters also feature the "do go on" detail of the wizard Rezhyk entrusting his demon servant Gildrum with a gob of his semen, so as to woo and impregnate Delivev, the sorceress he was neither able to woo or impregnate himself. When I heard Phyllis Eisenstein had died in 2020, I decided I would finally read her intriguing fantasy novel with the gob of semen so central to its plot.
It turns out that Sorcerer's Son is not really as kinky or edgy as that initial scene setting would have you believe. It becomes a pretty standard quest narrative, all about trials and travels and seeking masters and learning lessons and making friends along the way; but, to its credit, the smooth and enjoyable prose style is more or less sustained throughout. Eisenstein never plummets into purple depths, but neither does she traffic in threadbare cliches or dull, overly familiar turns of phrase. Her writing is functional, but it's also careful and well-observed and always focused on the reality of human-scale issues and everyday emotions, and I never found myself wretching or rolling my eyes at some pseudo-medieval fantasy dribble that a lesser writer would be tempted by.
The characters, however, might be even more box-standard than the well-worn plot: Cray, the hero, is honest and noble and truthfully quite dull. Rezhyk, the villain, is slimy and callous and foul in a rather generalized, storybook way. Delivev is something of a wilting lily and isn't actually in the book very much. But there is one character that rises above and becomes a figure of real beauty and drama: Gildrum, Rezhyk's aforementioned demon servant.
With nothing to prove it so but a single night of luminous pleasure, Gildrum feels that Cray is his son, even though it was only his master's seed that he carried, even though it was only the shape of a man molded by his master's hands that he wore, and even though he's bound by the strictures of his imprisonment to never speak to the woman he loves, nor see the son he feels is his. Rezhyk controls Gildrum entirely, inside and out, to such an extent that he forbids his servant to take any form in his presence other than that of a small preteen girl with blonde-plaited hair. The unsavory implications of this are merely suggested, and nothing more than the suggestion is necessary.
But Gildrum, in reality, is neither a little girl nor the dashing man that visited Delivev on that life-changing, fondly remembered night. Gildrum is a scrabbling, fumbling, mixed-up little thing, a chaos of limbs and tendrils and things that grasp, reaching out and finding nothing to grasp onto. For all its shapeshifting, it cannot hide from itself that it is not a human being, and is quite a far cry from something a human woman would choose to love-- but, nevertheless, it has been drafted by a careless and inattentive master into the painful and nigh-impossible world of human romantic love.
It is, perhaps, not the most original depiction of lovesick self-loathing this side of Notre-Dame; but if there's any reason to read Sorcerer's Son, it's the heartbroken Gildrum, knowing that it loves a human woman, and finding it impossible to imagine that that love could ever be returned.
It turns out that Sorcerer's Son is not really as kinky or edgy as that initial scene setting would have you believe. It becomes a pretty standard quest narrative, all about trials and travels and seeking masters and learning lessons and making friends along the way; but, to its credit, the smooth and enjoyable prose style is more or less sustained throughout. Eisenstein never plummets into purple depths, but neither does she traffic in threadbare cliches or dull, overly familiar turns of phrase. Her writing is functional, but it's also careful and well-observed and always focused on the reality of human-scale issues and everyday emotions, and I never found myself wretching or rolling my eyes at some pseudo-medieval fantasy dribble that a lesser writer would be tempted by.
The characters, however, might be even more box-standard than the well-worn plot: Cray, the hero, is honest and noble and truthfully quite dull. Rezhyk, the villain, is slimy and callous and foul in a rather generalized, storybook way. Delivev is something of a wilting lily and isn't actually in the book very much. But there is one character that rises above and becomes a figure of real beauty and drama: Gildrum, Rezhyk's aforementioned demon servant.
With nothing to prove it so but a single night of luminous pleasure, Gildrum feels that Cray is his son, even though it was only his master's seed that he carried, even though it was only the shape of a man molded by his master's hands that he wore, and even though he's bound by the strictures of his imprisonment to never speak to the woman he loves, nor see the son he feels is his. Rezhyk controls Gildrum entirely, inside and out, to such an extent that he forbids his servant to take any form in his presence other than that of a small preteen girl with blonde-plaited hair. The unsavory implications of this are merely suggested, and nothing more than the suggestion is necessary.
But Gildrum, in reality, is neither a little girl nor the dashing man that visited Delivev on that life-changing, fondly remembered night. Gildrum is a scrabbling, fumbling, mixed-up little thing, a chaos of limbs and tendrils and things that grasp, reaching out and finding nothing to grasp onto. For all its shapeshifting, it cannot hide from itself that it is not a human being, and is quite a far cry from something a human woman would choose to love-- but, nevertheless, it has been drafted by a careless and inattentive master into the painful and nigh-impossible world of human romantic love.
"In the cellar, with no one to see, Gildrum changed shape, became the dark-haired young knight and the bearded old man and the full-bodied landlord and the other shapes that Rezhyk's hands had formed--animal, plant, whatever had suited his purposes through the years. And when all had come and gone, the living flame was left in their place, cold now, dancing among the casks and never scorching any, growing, shrinking, dividing into a hundred flamelets and coalescing into a spark, a brilliant spark as blue as a young knight's eyes. Then, from the spark, there bloomed a body, tiny as a flea at first, but expanding like rising dough. It was black as coal and many-limbed, hairy, grotesque. It opened a dozen eyes and saw itself reflected in the ceiling, though there was no light for any human eyes to see by.
This is myself, thought Gildrum. This is my earthly form. A shudder passed through it, and it remembered the other time it had used this body, so long ago in Rezhyk's workshop. Rezhyk had made the small blonde girl that very day, while the flame of Gildrum hovered over his shoulder; Gildrum could not blame him for wanting something less horrible as his servant. I am not human. I never was human. I can love no human woman. I can have no human son.
The many-limbed body burst into clean, bright flame.
Enough, thought Gildrum. I must leave them alone." (p.155)
It is, perhaps, not the most original depiction of lovesick self-loathing this side of Notre-Dame; but if there's any reason to read Sorcerer's Son, it's the heartbroken Gildrum, knowing that it loves a human woman, and finding it impossible to imagine that that love could ever be returned.
December 11, 2023
After Lady Delivev of Castle Spinweb turns down his offer of marriage, fellow sorcerer Lord Rezhyk of Castle Ringforce, ever one to think the worst of people believes she wishes ill on him. He conceives a plan utilising his enslaved demon Gildrum to go to Spinweb, disguised as a knight called Mellor, to seduce Delivev and make her pregnant as under those conditions she will not feel Rezhyk weave for himself a protective covering of metal. Neither he nor Gildrum ever thought that she would go on to bear the child or that Gildrum would fall in love with her (a fact which Gildrum conceals from his master.)
Delivev’s special power is affinity with spiders and snakes. She can use spiders’ webs as a means to see far and wide across the world as they spin a sort of screen for her to witness what they see and hear. (Though the screens are temporary this is a literal world-wide web, but of course on first publication in 1979 no-one would have thought of it in those terms.)
The child she bears is the Sorcerer’s Son of the book’s title since, as a demon, Gildrum could not have provided the necessary procreative material, which came from Rezhyk. The child is named Cray Ormoru.
As he grows up, despite being close to his mother, he does not want to become a sorcerer but instead to find his father so he goes on a quest to discover the knight, whose shield bore three pink crossed lances on a white ground; a quest doomed to failure.
Deceived by Gildrum - through Rezhyk’s instructions - into believing his father is dead (Gildrum has a way with manipulating matter and appearances) Cray decides the only way he can find out who his father was is to conjure a demon himself and so must seek apprenticeship. Rezhyk wants the true situation to remain unknown to Cray but invites him to learn the arts but with the intention of misleading Cray. Many years of fruitless endeavour ensue until Gildrum reveals to Cray Rhezyk’s duplicity.
As with many such fantasy tales we are presented with a society having mediæval value systems and hierarchies, only here with sorcerers replacing Lords as the ruling class. This default fantasy setting I find irritating. I suppose they are trying to represent less enlightened times but can fantasy writers not eschew such lazy backgrounding? The effect is made worse here by the dialogue being couched in cod mediæval language.
The summoning of demons is presented as being akin to alchemy, with gold extraction its most important aspect. Again this seems somewhat lacking in imagination. Still, this sort of thing is not read for its newness of treatment. It slips down easily however.
There is a sequel The Crystal Palace, and a third in the sequence which was never published.
Delivev’s special power is affinity with spiders and snakes. She can use spiders’ webs as a means to see far and wide across the world as they spin a sort of screen for her to witness what they see and hear. (Though the screens are temporary this is a literal world-wide web, but of course on first publication in 1979 no-one would have thought of it in those terms.)
The child she bears is the Sorcerer’s Son of the book’s title since, as a demon, Gildrum could not have provided the necessary procreative material, which came from Rezhyk. The child is named Cray Ormoru.
As he grows up, despite being close to his mother, he does not want to become a sorcerer but instead to find his father so he goes on a quest to discover the knight, whose shield bore three pink crossed lances on a white ground; a quest doomed to failure.
Deceived by Gildrum - through Rezhyk’s instructions - into believing his father is dead (Gildrum has a way with manipulating matter and appearances) Cray decides the only way he can find out who his father was is to conjure a demon himself and so must seek apprenticeship. Rezhyk wants the true situation to remain unknown to Cray but invites him to learn the arts but with the intention of misleading Cray. Many years of fruitless endeavour ensue until Gildrum reveals to Cray Rhezyk’s duplicity.
As with many such fantasy tales we are presented with a society having mediæval value systems and hierarchies, only here with sorcerers replacing Lords as the ruling class. This default fantasy setting I find irritating. I suppose they are trying to represent less enlightened times but can fantasy writers not eschew such lazy backgrounding? The effect is made worse here by the dialogue being couched in cod mediæval language.
The summoning of demons is presented as being akin to alchemy, with gold extraction its most important aspect. Again this seems somewhat lacking in imagination. Still, this sort of thing is not read for its newness of treatment. It slips down easily however.
There is a sequel The Crystal Palace, and a third in the sequence which was never published.
September 19, 2021
“Sorcerer's Son”, by Phyllis Eisenstein, is three quarters of a masterpiece which falls apart at the ending. The story is set in a standard medieval world, where various sorcerers dwell in their own fortresses, pursuing magical knowledge and power along different avenues. Outside of these locations, the world isn't fleshed out very thoroughly but it doesn't need to be. Once sorceress, Delivev, gives birth to a son, Cray, who becomes the protagonist. While the reader knows the story of Cray's father, Cray himself does not, and grows obsessed with learning the truth.
The great strength of this novel is that it focuses on character while avoiding the standard cliches of fantasy. There are no arch-villains bent on world conquest, no evil hoards, and no magic plot tokens to collect. In place of all that, there is Cray's struggle to understand who he is, where he comes from, and what his place is in this world. Much of the book's middle section could be perceived as moving slowly by conventional standards, but the space is used well to look in depth at how the unfolding events shape Cray and force him to rethink his beliefs and devise new approaches in his quest for truth. While I was growing up, almost all of my favorite fantasy novels were about a young man's coming of age and his encounters with the wider world. I didn't get introduced to this book until my 30's, but it would be a great choice for younger male readers.
That said, the ending is a big disappointment. At a certain point, it seems unclear where the story can go, and then it just changes dramatically with Cray leaving the world for a trip to a magical realm. The elements that made the beginning so good are largely abandoned and the book ends with a giant magical battle instead. Further, an important secondary character simply vanishes from the story. The finale left me highly unsatisfied but I still recommend the book on the strength of the start and the middle.
The great strength of this novel is that it focuses on character while avoiding the standard cliches of fantasy. There are no arch-villains bent on world conquest, no evil hoards, and no magic plot tokens to collect. In place of all that, there is Cray's struggle to understand who he is, where he comes from, and what his place is in this world. Much of the book's middle section could be perceived as moving slowly by conventional standards, but the space is used well to look in depth at how the unfolding events shape Cray and force him to rethink his beliefs and devise new approaches in his quest for truth. While I was growing up, almost all of my favorite fantasy novels were about a young man's coming of age and his encounters with the wider world. I didn't get introduced to this book until my 30's, but it would be a great choice for younger male readers.
That said, the ending is a big disappointment. At a certain point, it seems unclear where the story can go, and then it just changes dramatically with Cray leaving the world for a trip to a magical realm. The elements that made the beginning so good are largely abandoned and the book ends with a giant magical battle instead. Further, an important secondary character simply vanishes from the story. The finale left me highly unsatisfied but I still recommend the book on the strength of the start and the middle.
September 14, 2021
This book was recommended by one of the queer twitter authors I love as a book that they had really enjoyed growing up because of the gender play with the demon. I thought it sounded right up my street and it was. The main character was rather dull but for me it was all about the Demon. The Demon had been trapped by its master into the body of a young girl, so it would be sexually attractive to the master, it then had a mission to impregnate a sorceress and took on the body of a beautiful young boy, but none were it's true form. It was a being beyond that and it was really interesting. The book was one that touched on slavery, gender issues, and family ties. But it was also a sweet love story as well as the main coming of age story. I've only been reading recently published queer books lately and it was nice to read something older that still felt relevant.
July 11, 2021
Excelente.
Tudo que leio de Phyllis Eisenstein só me confirma o quão incrível ela é como escritora. A história e os personagens tem tudo que é necessário para poduzirem uma leitura ao mesmo tempo interessante, envolvente, crível e fantástica.
Fico profundamente triste com o quão pouco difundida é a obra da autora, mas buscar seus livros e contos, por mais difícil que seja, sempre vale a pena por sua leitura.
Àqueles que ainda não conhecem, eu não poderia recomendar mais fortemente.
Tudo que leio de Phyllis Eisenstein só me confirma o quão incrível ela é como escritora. A história e os personagens tem tudo que é necessário para poduzirem uma leitura ao mesmo tempo interessante, envolvente, crível e fantástica.
Fico profundamente triste com o quão pouco difundida é a obra da autora, mas buscar seus livros e contos, por mais difícil que seja, sempre vale a pena por sua leitura.
Àqueles que ainda não conhecem, eu não poderia recomendar mais fortemente.
May 26, 2023
Initially when I picked up this book, I was doubtful that I would like it. However it surprised me and I liked how the objective of the main character stayed the same throughout along with the world building which was pretty cool. I think the reason I wouldn’t rate it higher is because there were some parts that were pretty icky in it. All in all if you’re looking for a book that’s sort of good to pass the time then I’d give this a try.
May 26, 2024
J'ai acheté ce roman dans une vente de livres usagés à la suite de la lecture d'un commentaire que son dernier propriétaire avait laissé sur une feuille entre la couverture et la page de garde. L'auteur de cette note écrivait qu'il avait tant adoré ce livre qu'il prévoyait le relire une énième fois dans le futur: c'est ce qui m'a convaincu de donner une chance à l'auteur que je ne connaissais pas. Je suis enchantée d'avoir fait ce choix.
December 6, 2024
I can't say enough good things about this one. The story moves. It is magical. The different characters, particularly the sorceress and the evil sorcerer, but the demon as well and of course the young man are all fascinating and juxtaposed beautifully. There is a place in it where the horse gets stuck in a swamp, and I think this was written before never ending story, so I have a feeling copied her. She's a brilliant writer. If only she had written more.
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