The Winter King

Sabazel #2

by Lillian Stewart Carl

Andrion is born into a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, the son of warrior-king and an Amazon queen. He loses his kingdom and has to regain it inch by inch, heart by heart. "A marvelous sense of romantic adventure...unusually literate and intelligent...strong characterizations complimented by an evocative magical poetry in the imagery...use of Classical background assure and distinctive." — Borderland

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

292 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Author bio:

Lillian Stewart Carl's work often features paranormal/fantasy themes and always features plots based on mythology, history, and archaeology. Most of her novels take place squarely in the twenty-first century, where the past lingers on into the present, especially in the British Isles, Lillian's home away from home.

She is the author of nineteen novels so far, including the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron mystery series---America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends.

Her newest novel is Fairbairn/Cameron number six, THE MORTSAFE.

Of her mystery, fantasy, and sf short stories, twelve are available in a collection titled ALONG THE RIM OF TIME, and thirteen, including three from "Best Of the Year" anthologies, are collected in THE MUSE AND OTHER STORIES OF HISTORY, MYSTERY, and MYTH.

All of Carl's work is available in electronic as well as paper form.

She has also co-edited (with John Helfers) a retrospective of Lois McMaster's Bujold's science fiction work, titled THE VORKOSIGAN COMPANION, which was nominated for a Hugo award.

Reviews

[James]

What if an Amazon queen had a love affair with Alexander the Great? What if their son had to defend his lands from the Mongol Horde? What if his sister was the priestess of a bull-cult on Crete? What if her son begins the Trojan War -- but this time between India and Persia? The Sabazel series, four alternate-history, gonzo-mythology epic fantasy novels: Sabazel, The Winter King, Shadow Dancers, Wings of Power. The Winter King In a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, armies clash, magicks compete, and the gods set their pawns onto the gameboard. Andrion, son of an Amazon queen and a world-conquering warrior, was named Beloved of the Gods. But divine love demands of him a test of strength. When his father's empire is betrayed and conquered by barbarians, Andrion flees to his mother's tiny realm. There, in the midst of defeat, he must mortgage his innocence, assess his loyalties, and try to be the warrior his father once was. Meanwhile, Tembujin, the son of the barbarian Khan, finds in the midst of victory that betrayal is not reserved for his enemy, and that perhaps he doesn't want to be the warrior his father once was. Only by forming an uneasy alliance can the two princes earn their patrimonies, inch by inch and heart by heart. And the women surrounding them have more than a little say in both victory and defeat. Lilith Saintcrow, author of the Dante Valentine series, on Sabazel, Book One: ". . .I love this book. A functioning Amazonian society with a kickass queen, navigating the waters of political alliance and war? Sign my silly butt up. This is one of those books I read every few years, and I’m always pleasantly surprised by how good it is each time." “...a marvelous sense of romantic adventure...unusually literate, intelligent and respectfully aware of the epic tradition...strong characterizations complimented by an evocative magical poetry in the imagery...plausibility in action and locale...use of Classical background assured and distinctive...firmly grounded in reality, tradition and myth.”—Robert Hadji, Borderland A remarkably fine and thoroughly engrossing book.—Patricia C. Wrede Original, imaginative, and believable. Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. A compelling story. I read it through the night.—R.A. MacAvoy