Night of Madness

Ethshar #7

by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans's tales of the magical land of Ethshar of the Spices had a large and devoted following in the late eighties and early nineties. Now, after nearly ten years, he brings us a new tale of mystery, magic, and madness.Warlockry has been rare in Ethshar . . . until The Night of Madness, when a mysterious object falls from the heavens, sending out a wave of magic in the form of a dream. All who have the dream awaken in panic. But some of them also awaken to the power or Warlockry.Throughout the land these newly made warlocks wreak havoc; looting and rioting, petty personal revenge, and uncontrollable madness run rampant. Worse, people are hearing a mysterious, irresistible call from which they never return.Into this chaos steps the power-hungry Lord Faran, who seeks to use his new warlock powers to overthrow the government and take possession of the throne.Who will dare to oppose him? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Science Fiction

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Also publishes as Nathan Archer

Reviews

[Shawn Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read in terms of the Ethshar books, however doesnt do anything earth shattering thus the -1 star. Still super fun, Wyatt-Evans always does interesting things with his magic and world systems, this one was no exception. Good for fans, not a good starting point for newcomers.

[Bree Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Night of Madness is a good fantasy novel but it is so fast paced. Most of the key plot and landscape and indeed everything you need to ever know of everything in the Night of Madness novel is revealed in dialouge. This is a technique I don't particularly care for, I felt like I was reading a speedracer manuscript with how much talking occurred in the book. Getting past this fact the Novel itself is not bad.

[Stuart Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another solid novel from the Ethshar series that was sitting on my shelf for awhile before I got a chance to read it. It is smart, yet surprising how everything falls out in this one. There are an unusually surprising number of deaths, keeping the reader on his toes. What I love about this particular story though, is that we are given skeleton details about what can only be an alien something (‘UFO’) with something living inside it that crash lands in the North, compelling people to go to the crash site, the source of the warlock powers created by the phenomenon. What is really cool is that our expectations as readers is to explore the phenomenon, but that never happens. The public simply adapts to the new source of power, learning to do-exist with the powers that be. We never learn what the shooting star is or why it created these powers. Even the wizards learn avoidance of exploring the North (they claim they cannot get near it or some such vague explanation). I did not know that there were more than just the seven or eight novels from this “series”, but I plan on acquiring them all and reading them in the near future. Thoroughly enjoyable.

[D.L. Morrese · Rating 4 out of 5]

One night in Ethshar, a "shooting star" streaks across the sky. Suddenly, people all across the land wake up with nightmares of falling, burning, being buried alive. They wake frightened, disoriented, and, in many cases, with a strange sort of magic that allows them to move objects with their mind and to fly. Some of those who appear especially dazed immediately fly north and are never seen again. This new kind of magic is soon labeled "warlockry."

Until this book, the Ethshar stories seem to have been following a chronological order. This one breaks that pattern and slips back a few years from the previous book to the origin of warlock magic. It's a good story about how people can overreact to perceived threats, fear of the unknown, hasty judgement, prejudice, and a little bit about leadership (both good and poor).

[Brian Ejike · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as power-hungry politicians go, Faran wasn't all bad really. Man just wanted a place in the world for warlocks, but Azrad just wouldn't chill, not even for the Guild to finish stroking their knobs and rule on the matter.

It was nice to get a closer look at the origins of warlockry, but we're still missing answers to the obvious major questions. Wonder if we'll ever get those in future books.

[X · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read about this event since it’s referenced so much in the other Ethshar books, but I ended up feeling bored by the end. Not my favorite.

[Curtiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one the Magic of Ethshar series of books. I recorded most of them, including this one, in 50-55 minute installments for my local Golden Hours radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners. I also made CD copies for myself.

My favorite book in the series is The Missenchanted Sword, closely followed by The Blood of a Dragon.

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books in this series. If you have read other Ethshar books you know from the title it answers some questions about the origins of warlockry. This is one of the longest running and most fascinating mysteries of the story. There are clues to what happened and clear answers to old riddles. Great stuff and lots of fun on its own.

[Matthew Reads Junk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence Watt Evans books are good because they don't rely on what you traditonally expect to happen on a fantasy novel.
There really isn't much that happens plot wise (or adventure wise), but it is still an interesting store about warlocks coming to discover their powers, forming a guild and finding their place in the world.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good and it had an unusual and surprising plot, but in the end I just didn't feel like I cared that much about any of the characters in it. It felt more like a science experiment than a story.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the premise and its execution is greatly enjoyable.

When watching the 2012 film Chronicle I couldn't help but think it must have been at least partially inspired by this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Ethshar book to-date. Larger in scale than usual in the Ethshar series, but still doesn't lose sight of the characters. Loved it!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

very fun

[Vader · Rating 4 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I based a D&D game on the plot of this book.