Crispan Magicker

by Mark M. Lowenthal

In the centuries following the collapse of the Great Empire, what remained of the Middle Kingdom was overrun by ruthless warlords and mercenary armies. But from afar, the Order of Magicians and Wizards watched over the delicate balance between the empires of the North and South. Then the unspeakable happened, the renegade Vladur, banished by the Order for practicing the black art of necromancy, allied himself with the Norht and threatened to engulf the world in chaos. From their mountain fortress, the Order dispatched their youngest, most talented CRISPAN MAGICKER. Child prodigy, consummate conjurer, Master of the Five Arts, who crosses the arid and deadly Karsh to rescue the besieged city of Zifkar -- and who learns to use his powers to kill. But nothing can prepare him for the horror of the final confrontation. Alone, at the head of the Southern Armies, he faces his former mentor, the black magician Vladur, and his army of the dead.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been carting this around for 20+ years without finishing it. It isn't terrible, it's just not very interesting.

We start off with some generic high fantasy mercenaries besieging a city. The city itself is not significant to the plot, nor is the ruler, who seems to not be a bad guy from the almost-zero we hear about him. There is a little bloody fighting action, then some sexual violence, a bit of looting, some male comradery. A feast is planned, and also a betrayal, but the object of the betrayal escapes with his big blustery buddy Zoltan. They have a tedious trek across some uninteresting countryside. Mikal reveals that he is a prince! (aren't they always in these books?) and has been summoned home by his father.

Then we have a generic high fantasy magical school run by an Order that advises kings etc but isn't supposed to act to change political events or fight in conflicts. However, the Bad Guys have a Bad Wizard, Vladur the Necromancer, so this once they will secretly send their most powerful magician to help the Good(?) Guys. Crispan hasn't left the magic school since he came at age 11 and despite being at least 30 and very powerful seems like a dweeby protagonist of a coming-of-age story.

There are a couple really unoriginal and too-long flashbacks and at page 100 we haven't even met the antagonists at first hand and the promised ARMY OF CORPSES has not happened and the characters are really uninteresting (Crispan is the least flat only because we are privy to his internal narration).

Donating this one to the library.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very boring fantasy. The pacing was off and there is virtually no characterization. I wouldn't have finished this if I hadn't been reading it for a challenge.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was in high school. We were living overseas for a year and knew military people who would take us shopping at the U.S. Air Force base, which was my only source for fantasy novels in English during that year. I found this one and devoured it, and I've read it several times since then, and I've always been disappointed that the author (who I understand is prominent in State Department Intelligence circles or something like that) never wrote a sequel. At least not one that was ever published. Sure, it's cliched and sexist and the writing is rather clunky, but the main character grabbed me from his introduction (a little too far into the book, buy hey, he's worth the wait) and never really let go. The crossing of the Karsh badlands to bring an army to save a besieged city is epic. I still have the original copy that I bought at the PX in Germany in 1979, and I would be sad if anything ever happened to it.

[Kyra Halland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in high school, and for some reason it really grabbed me. Not the best fantasy I've ever read, but I found the character Crispan unforgettable and there were parts of the story that always stayed with me, like the crossing of the Karsh. Some hints dropped during the book (the old wizard's prophecy of wanderings and a woman by an unknown sea, and Crispan's direction at the end) suggested a possible sequel but apparently there never was one. Which made me sad.

[Jennifer Sigman · Rating 1 out of 5]

The number of named female characters in this book can be counted on one hand, and none of them are actually important to the plot. The rest are either camp whores or town whores.

The bad guy shows up with 20 pages to go.

The ending has the main character riding off into the sunset for no good reason.

[Rdb]

Read 82 of 310 pages.