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Rose of the Prophet #2
The Paladin of the Night
After the overwhelming defeat of their tribes, Khardan and Zohra find themselves prisoners of an evil god's disciples--and in danger of losing their honor, their lives and their souls! Second in yet another of Weis and Hickman's epic fantasies.
375 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
25 people are currently reading
1241 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Weis
636 books5,833 followersMargaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 27, 2021
A delightful read, peppered with as many bouts of thrill as moments of witty humor.
The authors have both done a wonderful job, writing this series. It book two, the somewhat creative floundering of POVs from book 1 is narrowed down. There are still several characters, new ones too. But everything is divided into three plot threads: two major and one minor. It's much less volatile than the first book, but it more than makes up for this with excellent character development. The authors take their time to involve everyone in the story, and the weaving of events is expertly done, providing readers with a lot of suspense and thrill, even without overwhelming violence.
Another author would litter the entire text with fight scenes and vivid sex scenes. So far, the authors have managed to go down that cliched path, instead preferring to build the story context within the confines of already-interesting characters.
It's all beautifully done. I proceed to the final book.
The authors have both done a wonderful job, writing this series. It book two, the somewhat creative floundering of POVs from book 1 is narrowed down. There are still several characters, new ones too. But everything is divided into three plot threads: two major and one minor. It's much less volatile than the first book, but it more than makes up for this with excellent character development. The authors take their time to involve everyone in the story, and the weaving of events is expertly done, providing readers with a lot of suspense and thrill, even without overwhelming violence.
Another author would litter the entire text with fight scenes and vivid sex scenes. So far, the authors have managed to go down that cliched path, instead preferring to build the story context within the confines of already-interesting characters.
It's all beautifully done. I proceed to the final book.
December 30, 2023
Rating: 4.75/5.
Another solid entry in this trilogy. I'll need some time to put my thoughts together, but this series has definitely been one of the reading highlights of this year. I'm loving it so far!
Detailed review to be posted shortly.
Another solid entry in this trilogy. I'll need some time to put my thoughts together, but this series has definitely been one of the reading highlights of this year. I'm loving it so far!
Detailed review to be posted shortly.
August 19, 2025
[somewhat rewritten to make more coherent, now that I finished the book... again]
Checking against my review of the prior book to match up tags I might be forgetting, and I note that I said the world of Sularin was 20-sided (icosahedron).
Well, THIS volume starts by says there are *TWELVE* sides (dodecahedron). Um. I don't doubt that an author duo can overcome the mental blocks that just one might encounter, but SURELY "running list of all the gods involved" might be a thing to keep consistent?
Or is Sularin just a part of the whole and the other eight sides are off in space somewhere? Hmm.
*keeps reading*
Nope! Later, it mentions the twenty god(desse)s again! Bunch of little nitpicks like that, a word or two where it's just... off. I know that's not a big deal when like 99% of the book is just fine, but 12- versus 20-sided things are a particularly big deal in a genre really close to this one!
Also, hmm. I don't have a specific "self-mutilation" tag (not quite "BDSM" since it's religious, not sexual), so I guess "body horror"? Possibly "suicide" since he's really close to death when doing it?
Can't imagine why I didn't want to remember this book better! (least memorable of the trilogy)
...well, actually, I guess I have to use the suicide tag ANYWAY, since Mathew starts ideating about it a LOT in the third act. Also .
On the whole, though, the more I read, the more I think I only read this series for Mathew, who is clearly the first trans or trans-ish character I've ever read about. His experience feels very much like a modern trans person's experience, except that he was born male and continues to believe he is male, but the society he has found himself in demands that he pass as female under duress. So... reverse-trans? Even though he chose to live a lie rather than die for the truth, though his upbringing is such that he might actually be nonbinary/agender besides being asexual/aromantic (for now).
So I guess that's also why I kept reading this trilogy that clearly didn't stick with me enough for me to even remember there was a third harem "candidate" Meryem (). All the other characters? Don't care!
Well, no... I guess I kind of care about Asrial as Mathew-adjacent (his guardian angel), though I rather hate how Pukah is latching onto her so flagrantly when she's just as asexual/aromantic (...for now?) as Mathew is. I don't remember how this panned out in the end, though, so clearly I only sort of care about her, especially when she "starts" to fall for Pukah a very very very little bit that's CLEARLY the influence of humans and not a thinly veiled fantasy for somebody. Doesn't help that I'm generally sort of "meh" on angels, too, given the incongruity of "people with wings" vs. "biblically accurate" ones (and the latter is up for debate).
But anyway, that's the point of this re-read, to suss out both why nostalgia made me think so highly of it and, if so "good" in my mind, why don't I remember half of what was in the first book and ANY of the second?
Anyway, not as interesting read, to me, because even though it's a more satisfying stopping point than the first book, there are just too many things I don't like—the cover image seems a bit forced, like two actors who don't know how to act; the splash pages are the same artistic quality as before, but I just don't like them as much; the story goes too much into the equivalent of Star Wars military tactics discussions scenes that, while important to the story I GUESS, feel more like checking off boxes than entertaining the reader; etc. Like, YES, it is SUPER important to show that Quar is doing an Alexander the Great vs. just saying He is. Sure. If you say so.
Probably the best parts are
- when Pukah () saved the lost immortals, since that's a good trick/noble self-sacrifice,
- "Senpai" finally noticed Mathew (),
- Usti's gaffe (apparently Akhran's "favour")
...and I think that's all that comes to mind, since my eyes were glazing over for half the book or more. Maybe . Not a lot to like, and definitely not readable by itself.
Checking against my review of the prior book to match up tags I might be forgetting, and I note that I said the world of Sularin was 20-sided (icosahedron).
Well, THIS volume starts by says there are *TWELVE* sides (dodecahedron). Um. I don't doubt that an author duo can overcome the mental blocks that just one might encounter, but SURELY "running list of all the gods involved" might be a thing to keep consistent?
Or is Sularin just a part of the whole and the other eight sides are off in space somewhere? Hmm.
*keeps reading*
Nope! Later, it mentions the twenty god(desse)s again! Bunch of little nitpicks like that, a word or two where it's just... off. I know that's not a big deal when like 99% of the book is just fine, but 12- versus 20-sided things are a particularly big deal in a genre really close to this one!
Also, hmm. I don't have a specific "self-mutilation" tag (not quite "BDSM" since it's religious, not sexual), so I guess "body horror"? Possibly "suicide" since he's really close to death when doing it?
Can't imagine why I didn't want to remember this book better! (least memorable of the trilogy)
...well, actually, I guess I have to use the suicide tag ANYWAY, since Mathew starts ideating about it a LOT in the third act. Also .
On the whole, though, the more I read, the more I think I only read this series for Mathew, who is clearly the first trans or trans-ish character I've ever read about. His experience feels very much like a modern trans person's experience, except that he was born male and continues to believe he is male, but the society he has found himself in demands that he pass as female under duress. So... reverse-trans? Even though he chose to live a lie rather than die for the truth, though his upbringing is such that he might actually be nonbinary/agender besides being asexual/aromantic (for now).
So I guess that's also why I kept reading this trilogy that clearly didn't stick with me enough for me to even remember there was a third harem "candidate" Meryem (). All the other characters? Don't care!
Well, no... I guess I kind of care about Asrial as Mathew-adjacent (his guardian angel), though I rather hate how Pukah is latching onto her so flagrantly when she's just as asexual/aromantic (...for now?) as Mathew is. I don't remember how this panned out in the end, though, so clearly I only sort of care about her, especially when she "starts" to fall for Pukah a very very very little bit that's CLEARLY the influence of humans and not a thinly veiled fantasy for somebody. Doesn't help that I'm generally sort of "meh" on angels, too, given the incongruity of "people with wings" vs. "biblically accurate" ones (and the latter is up for debate).
But anyway, that's the point of this re-read, to suss out both why nostalgia made me think so highly of it and, if so "good" in my mind, why don't I remember half of what was in the first book and ANY of the second?
Anyway, not as interesting read, to me, because even though it's a more satisfying stopping point than the first book, there are just too many things I don't like—the cover image seems a bit forced, like two actors who don't know how to act; the splash pages are the same artistic quality as before, but I just don't like them as much; the story goes too much into the equivalent of Star Wars military tactics discussions scenes that, while important to the story I GUESS, feel more like checking off boxes than entertaining the reader; etc. Like, YES, it is SUPER important to show that Quar is doing an Alexander the Great vs. just saying He is. Sure. If you say so.
Probably the best parts are
- when Pukah () saved the lost immortals, since that's a good trick/noble self-sacrifice,
- "Senpai" finally noticed Mathew (),
- Usti's gaffe (apparently Akhran's "favour")
...and I think that's all that comes to mind, since my eyes were glazing over for half the book or more. Maybe . Not a lot to like, and definitely not readable by itself.
April 13, 2016
La segunda mitad ha sido impresionante, pero la primera casi puede conmigo.
October 21, 2012
This book, selon moi is better than the first in the series. The plot--particularly Mathew's role in it-- thickens considerably, and some of the characters introduced in the first book play larger roles. Pukah, Sond and Asrial have their own plot line that involves solving the mystery of the missing immortals.
I love how this book delves into the dark side. I've always been a fan of characters who are tempted by power and must resist but discover they don't want to. Like the last book, the dramatic irony was well-done (sometimes I was squirming in my chair), although I felt a bit cheated by an anticlimactic ending to the bet made with Death in Sirinda. Nevertheless, this was made up for by the character development of Mathew and Zohra and, surprisingly, the Zharkin-worshipping "slave trader" from the first book.
I hope that the final book in this series does not disappoint me. I have high expectations for it.
I love how this book delves into the dark side. I've always been a fan of characters who are tempted by power and must resist but discover they don't want to. Like the last book, the dramatic irony was well-done (sometimes I was squirming in my chair), although I felt a bit cheated by an anticlimactic ending to the bet made with Death in Sirinda. Nevertheless, this was made up for by the character development of Mathew and Zohra and, surprisingly, the Zharkin-worshipping "slave trader" from the first book.
I hope that the final book in this series does not disappoint me. I have high expectations for it.
June 7, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
Read
October 23, 2025The Great War of the Gods means nothing to the proud people on the mortal planet--until Akhran the Wandering God decrees the union of two mighty feuding clans. Though the families are fierce Warriors, they are few in number. Even the marriage of Khardan and Zohra is not enough to over power the strength of the invading army or prevent the imprisonment of their peoples. Now, with Khardan and Zohra mysteriously missing--seemingly cowards who hid from certain defeat--the two clans have lost all hope of ever again seeing their beloved open skies. But Prince Khardan and Princess Zohra, aided by the wizard Matthew, have been given another mission...a mission that at first seems less useful than counting the many grains of the desert sands, but soon proves to be of far more lasting importance.
July 19, 2022
I really kind of struggled with this one. I'm not sure what it was about the first that I found lacking here, maybe it was because none of the characters ever seemed to be in the same place as the others. I also thought the focus on the gods was a little too narrow; the story never pulled back to show how things among them stood, if that makes any sense. The first book did a better job of laying the players out.
May 22, 2021
This is probably my third time reading this book, but it's been so long I'd forgotten everything. The pacing felt like it dragged a little bit and it definitely took me longer to read than it should have because I kept wondering off to watch Stargate SG-1, but the ending packed such a bunch that it's forgivable.
April 23, 2019
Segunda parte de La Rosa del Profeta. Los personajes comienzan a salir del atolladero: sin embargo, están muy lejos de resolver los conflictos, así que no puedo creer que en el próximo tomo alcancen las páginas para tanto -pero confío en Weis y Hickman, como no!
July 13, 2019
Even better than the first, the story moves and blooming rather quickly, no time to be bored. Love how evil and good both had some measure of honor after all, and they're both truly the opposite side of the same coin. Could not wait to read the conclusion in book 3.
November 16, 2021
This part of the trilogy kept me on my toes for most of the chapters. It is clear to say that Zohra is one of my favourite female characters from all the books I’ve read so far.
Can’t wait what book 3 has in store.
Can’t wait what book 3 has in store.
March 15, 2023
I preferred this one to the first book in the series. The female characters are still oversexualized compared to the men, and the amount of sexual violence is excessive, in my opinion. What else do you expect from an 80s fantasy novel, though?
November 24, 2024
The same as the first book, I found this a bit unpredictable.
However, I felt it dragged on a bit before it got going, and the characters I found myself enjoying most in the first book didn't play particularly big parts in this book.
However, I felt it dragged on a bit before it got going, and the characters I found myself enjoying most in the first book didn't play particularly big parts in this book.
August 30, 2019
That book is very fabolous.
June 27, 2020
Great Reac
December 22, 2020
Weis & Hickman never fail to entertain. A fascinating look into other cultures and religions with fantastical and intriguing adventures.
January 23, 2024
This book was uneven. When it was good, it was great. When it was not so good, there was Pukah.
January 14, 2025
לא עומד במבחן הזמן
October 9, 2016
Me encanta la fantasía, adoro la fantasía épica y soy fan de este libro. Mi película favorita, por daros una referencia, ha sido siempre "La princesa prometida". Y me gustan elfos, enanos, duendes, hadas, kenders, djinns, valerosos guerreros, inútiles paladines y temerosos magos.
Y ahora sigo con lo que es el libro.
¿Lo mágico del libro?. Su mundo. Ambientado en el desierto. Nómadas, zonas desérticas inmensas, genios, tribus pastoriles. Si tienes imaginación suficiente es hasta cálido. Ambiente total de Las Mil Y Una Noches. No conozco otro libro de este tipo que aporte tan bien esa sensación.
Lo siguiente más llamativo es cómo presenta a la Dioses: el Mundo es una gran Gema de 20 caras. Cada una de estas representa a un Dios y cada uno tiene su opuesto en la otra cara.
Promenthas, es el Dios del Bien Supremo y Astafas es su antagonista.
Al principio los dioses estaban en el Mundo, pero se cansaron de que los mortales no dejaran de incordiales con sus peticiones. Así crearon a los Inmortales (o djinns), como representantes entre ellos y los humanos. Lo malo de esto es que los djinns llevan tanto tiempo ya entre los humanos, que han adoptado muchas de sus costumbres y debilidades, llevándolas al extremo.
En el caso de unos de los protagonistas (Ma-teo), su pueblo tiene como representante divinos a ángeles en lugar de djinns (que se asemejarían mas a genios).
Hablando de Ma-teo, es bisexual. Y esto no lo he visto en ninguna otra historia de este tipo por el momento. Seguidor del dios Promenthas, fue hecho esclavo al confundirlo con una mujer. Acaba en el harén del principe Khardan; y finalmente forma parte del trio protagonista: Khardan, Zhora y Ma-teo, siendo el punto de inflexión entre los otros dos orgullosos protagonistas obligados a entenderse y "amarse" por acuerdo entre los dioses para que no se acabe el mundo, que es el punto de partida de esta historia.
El libro tiene muy buen ritmo. Yo lo leí en tres volúmenes separados, creo que sigue siendo la edición que hay actualmente, y el final sólo me servía para empezar a devorar el siguiente. Al final, desee que hubiera más final, ya que de repente es un poco abreviado todo. Tiene notas humorísticas, como siempre, y que a gente "seria" les descolocan y abandonan la lectura, pero que a mi me encantan.
A los que os guste la fantasía, hayáis leído o no, algo de estos autores, deberíais darle una oportunidad. No es un libro muy conocido. Está entre la saga de La Espada de Joram (que me aburre horrores y del que me falta leer el cuarto, escrito por sorpresa cuando todo se había acabado en el tercero) y el Ciclo de la Puerta de la Muerte (que vuelve a ser una gran obra de estos autores).
Y ahora sigo con lo que es el libro.
¿Lo mágico del libro?. Su mundo. Ambientado en el desierto. Nómadas, zonas desérticas inmensas, genios, tribus pastoriles. Si tienes imaginación suficiente es hasta cálido. Ambiente total de Las Mil Y Una Noches. No conozco otro libro de este tipo que aporte tan bien esa sensación.
Lo siguiente más llamativo es cómo presenta a la Dioses: el Mundo es una gran Gema de 20 caras. Cada una de estas representa a un Dios y cada uno tiene su opuesto en la otra cara.
Promenthas, es el Dios del Bien Supremo y Astafas es su antagonista.
Al principio los dioses estaban en el Mundo, pero se cansaron de que los mortales no dejaran de incordiales con sus peticiones. Así crearon a los Inmortales (o djinns), como representantes entre ellos y los humanos. Lo malo de esto es que los djinns llevan tanto tiempo ya entre los humanos, que han adoptado muchas de sus costumbres y debilidades, llevándolas al extremo.
En el caso de unos de los protagonistas (Ma-teo), su pueblo tiene como representante divinos a ángeles en lugar de djinns (que se asemejarían mas a genios).
Hablando de Ma-teo, es bisexual. Y esto no lo he visto en ninguna otra historia de este tipo por el momento. Seguidor del dios Promenthas, fue hecho esclavo al confundirlo con una mujer. Acaba en el harén del principe Khardan; y finalmente forma parte del trio protagonista: Khardan, Zhora y Ma-teo, siendo el punto de inflexión entre los otros dos orgullosos protagonistas obligados a entenderse y "amarse" por acuerdo entre los dioses para que no se acabe el mundo, que es el punto de partida de esta historia.
El libro tiene muy buen ritmo. Yo lo leí en tres volúmenes separados, creo que sigue siendo la edición que hay actualmente, y el final sólo me servía para empezar a devorar el siguiente. Al final, desee que hubiera más final, ya que de repente es un poco abreviado todo. Tiene notas humorísticas, como siempre, y que a gente "seria" les descolocan y abandonan la lectura, pero que a mi me encantan.
A los que os guste la fantasía, hayáis leído o no, algo de estos autores, deberíais darle una oportunidad. No es un libro muy conocido. Está entre la saga de La Espada de Joram (que me aburre horrores y del que me falta leer el cuarto, escrito por sorpresa cuando todo se había acabado en el tercero) y el Ciclo de la Puerta de la Muerte (que vuelve a ser una gran obra de estos autores).
August 27, 2013
This is the second book in the Rose of the Prophet series. This continues the journey begun in the first book, and I always find the first 100 pages or so hard because I really want to find out what happened to my favourite characters, and it’s a little while coming!
The book is a bit darker than the first, because most of the characters are in a pretty bad place at this point, and the likes of Khardan and Zohra are going through quite the emotional journey as well, getting to understand things about themselves that they might not necessarily like.
I really enjoyed the stuff in the castle, as that was quite a different setting to what had been happening so far in the series, and it adds an unexpected character to the mix in Auda. Who, despite his somewhat evil leanings, is a character I found myself liking despite myself.
There was some good interesting stuff with the djinn as well as they continued their own adventures lurking around the edges of the war in heaven.
The book is a bit darker than the first, because most of the characters are in a pretty bad place at this point, and the likes of Khardan and Zohra are going through quite the emotional journey as well, getting to understand things about themselves that they might not necessarily like.
I really enjoyed the stuff in the castle, as that was quite a different setting to what had been happening so far in the series, and it adds an unexpected character to the mix in Auda. Who, despite his somewhat evil leanings, is a character I found myself liking despite myself.
There was some good interesting stuff with the djinn as well as they continued their own adventures lurking around the edges of the war in heaven.
August 2, 2011
This is the second book in the "Rose Of the Prophet" trilogy.
A step in the right direction with the characters, while the 1st book was a bit slow with all the background story, you know have enough basis to really get into the story. This story flows much better between the mortals and immortals stories, and at the end they come together once again. The war of the Gods is raging and spilling over into the world of mortals, and the dynamics are becoming very interesting.
This still isn't the best of the Weis and Hickman books, but a good read never the less.
A step in the right direction with the characters, while the 1st book was a bit slow with all the background story, you know have enough basis to really get into the story. This story flows much better between the mortals and immortals stories, and at the end they come together once again. The war of the Gods is raging and spilling over into the world of mortals, and the dynamics are becoming very interesting.
This still isn't the best of the Weis and Hickman books, but a good read never the less.
April 14, 2014
Khardan, Zohra, and Matthew struggle ineffectually against each other and themselves as they are imprisoned under the power of a dark, dead God.
In middle-school days, my favorite character was Pukah, the puckish djinn who propels the plot. I've always liked trickster characters. Reading the books now, he's not quite the cunning and charming creature I remember, but he serves an important narrative purpose. Whenever the story threatens to grind down along predictable lines, you can always count on Pukah to rise up and throw a convenient wrench in the gears. He's like a meddling, witless deus ex machina!
In middle-school days, my favorite character was Pukah, the puckish djinn who propels the plot. I've always liked trickster characters. Reading the books now, he's not quite the cunning and charming creature I remember, but he serves an important narrative purpose. Whenever the story threatens to grind down along predictable lines, you can always count on Pukah to rise up and throw a convenient wrench in the gears. He's like a meddling, witless deus ex machina!
December 31, 2016
This book picks up right where the first left off and continues to build an interesting and suspenseful storyline. The immortals play an even greater role in this one and Mat-hew, Zhora, and Khardan are caught up in the plots of an evil god and find themselves in a position to influence the future of their entire world. The secret of the two magical fish in a ball is uncovered and Quar's minions continue to conquer the world.
A highly entertaining read.
A highly entertaining read.
May 6, 2008
This series is a lot of fun! It reads suspiciously like a chronicling of a D&D campaign...but the characters are enjoyable. These books feel shallower than the other Weiss/Hickman stories I've read -- I didn't get much philosophy or ethics out of Rose of the Prophet. But hey, I once heard that fantasy novels are for entertainment; if you want to send a message use Western Union.
December 13, 2016
Liked this a lot more when I read it years and years ago. This is not the first re-read, but it's the first in a very long time. Still fun and decent enough for its pulpy fantasy status, but it did not impress me as much as I recalled and there were aspects of the world building which I had thought were present, and it turns out were just not.
April 9, 2013
I've read this series so many times that I can't really keep the books straight. See my review of The Will of the Wanderer for a general review of the whole series. Love it.
March 9, 2014
As with the first book, the story and characters are pretty good. The writing style, while slightly better, still drives me nuts. Overall, this drives down the rating of the book. I'd probably give it a 2.5 if that were available.
A lot of people rate these higher and I'm sure that's based on the story itself and not at all on the very young adult writing style.
A lot of people rate these higher and I'm sure that's based on the story itself and not at all on the very young adult writing style.
October 12, 2012
This second book of the series sends the adventure in another direction - something I always enjoy in an adventure/fantasy-story. The characters sometimes suffer from being a little one-dimensional but the story is still entertaining and unpredictable. Definitely looking forward to reading part 3.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews