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Touched By The Gods
When the baby Malledd is born to an ordinary family in a small country town, the oracles name him the true chosen Champion of the Domdur Empire. Should the Empire find itself at war, Malledd will be the one to lead them to victory, by the gods' decree.
But all has been at peace for generations, and Malledd disbelieves the prophecy. He is, he says, just an ordinary smith, and goes about his life being just that.
Now, in the dark hills of the Eastern lands, a centuries-old promise has come to its end, and an army of undead soldiers led by a dark magician threatens to topple the Empire. An Imperial Army is quickly gathered, and the Champion sought for. Will he answer his call? Or will the Empire fall because of one man's refusal to be anything other than normal?
But all has been at peace for generations, and Malledd disbelieves the prophecy. He is, he says, just an ordinary smith, and goes about his life being just that.
Now, in the dark hills of the Eastern lands, a centuries-old promise has come to its end, and an army of undead soldiers led by a dark magician threatens to topple the Empire. An Imperial Army is quickly gathered, and the Champion sought for. Will he answer his call? Or will the Empire fall because of one man's refusal to be anything other than normal?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 16, 2017
This is the worst fantasy book I've ever read.
October 23, 2014
Not bad. He's a good writer & the hero was interesting. Not great or breathtaking, but a good read.
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March 24, 2022The protagonist was selected as the Divine Champion upon his birth, back when Oracles worked and people knew what the Gods wanted. Only a few priests and his small town knew and he wanted the life of a blacksmith.
But the God of War didn't like this time of peace and had war is coming.
But the God of War didn't like this time of peace and had war is coming.
February 10, 2017
This was a long and winded read, but I LOVED the premise and story.~ :)
December 25, 2014
While ostensibly this book is about Malledd, who is born as his generation's chosen of the gods, in fact, the book is really about how a world spanning empire that has had divine guidance for a thousand year, deals with the gods stepping back and stopping their regular communication. The Domdur Empire must suddenly figure out how to make decisions on their own, from trivial things, to determining who's guilty of crimes, and more weighty things, like what to do when, after hundreds of years of peace, a rebellion starts, using a strange new dark magic.
Malledd's story is overlaid onto this canvas, and certainly is one of the major plots of the books, but just as much time is spent on the capitol and rulers of the empire vainly struggling to suddenly learn to be effective during a crisis, as well as the revenge seeking rebel and his seemingly hopeless task of overthrowing the Empire that has ruled for over a thousand years.
Throughout it all, Watt-Evans tells an engaging story and does an excellent job showing the reader the thought process of his characters. He also creates yet another unique fantasy world with an interesting cosmology, which helps shape and define the story, rather than simply be a mythic backdrop to indicate that it's in a new fantasy world.
Despite all of the good things in this book, I had to go with three stars rather than four simply because the book is a bit slow. At over 500 pages, there are sections that seem to drag on. I think this probably could have been done in 350-400 pages and been just as effective. That being said, the slower pacing does indirectly convey the slow decision processes of the Empire as it's often paralyzed by indecision trying to deal with a world where they're suddenly not simply told what to do by the gods every step of the way. This applies to the society as a whole, as well as to individual characters. There's a lot of time in the book where characters spend rationalizing if they should wait longer to see if there's conclusive proof that will spur them to action, rather than simply acting on what seems to be the case. So, while that might be effective use of the slow pacing, it unfortunately did make the book progress more slowly than I'd have preferred.
In all though, it was still an enjoyable read, and had lots of the great Watt-Evans traits that make his books engaging. He does a phenomenal job describing all of the effects of what being a divinely blessed champion means for Malledd, from the impacts growing up, to living his mundane life as a smith in a village, and finally to when he lives up to the role given him at birth and starts taking action. All detailed to it's logical conclusion.
Malledd's story is overlaid onto this canvas, and certainly is one of the major plots of the books, but just as much time is spent on the capitol and rulers of the empire vainly struggling to suddenly learn to be effective during a crisis, as well as the revenge seeking rebel and his seemingly hopeless task of overthrowing the Empire that has ruled for over a thousand years.
Throughout it all, Watt-Evans tells an engaging story and does an excellent job showing the reader the thought process of his characters. He also creates yet another unique fantasy world with an interesting cosmology, which helps shape and define the story, rather than simply be a mythic backdrop to indicate that it's in a new fantasy world.
Despite all of the good things in this book, I had to go with three stars rather than four simply because the book is a bit slow. At over 500 pages, there are sections that seem to drag on. I think this probably could have been done in 350-400 pages and been just as effective. That being said, the slower pacing does indirectly convey the slow decision processes of the Empire as it's often paralyzed by indecision trying to deal with a world where they're suddenly not simply told what to do by the gods every step of the way. This applies to the society as a whole, as well as to individual characters. There's a lot of time in the book where characters spend rationalizing if they should wait longer to see if there's conclusive proof that will spur them to action, rather than simply acting on what seems to be the case. So, while that might be effective use of the slow pacing, it unfortunately did make the book progress more slowly than I'd have preferred.
In all though, it was still an enjoyable read, and had lots of the great Watt-Evans traits that make his books engaging. He does a phenomenal job describing all of the effects of what being a divinely blessed champion means for Malledd, from the impacts growing up, to living his mundane life as a smith in a village, and finally to when he lives up to the role given him at birth and starts taking action. All detailed to it's logical conclusion.
July 17, 2013
The really unusual thing about this series isn't so much that it has a hero who would just as soon as pass on the Call to Adventure. I've seen that before. It's the depiction of a world run by benevolent gods who are in the way of being hands-on micromanagers...at least in the sense that pretty much everyone can call them up on the oracle-phone and get straight-forward and generally helpful information in response to questions. It's a war-free world because the gods picked a chosen people and backed them until they ended up uniting the world under their rule. Which is a benevolent dictatorship because the gods specifically pick the best possible member of the royal family to be in charge, and the guy (or occasionally girl) who gets the nod is very aware that the gods are looking over their shoulders.
OK, so the system has run into a glitch during the events of the actual book because the typical utopian state of affairs wouldn't be very interesting. Still, it's a rare kind of fantasy setting where the gods interfere that much in mortal affairs, and that's actually a good thing.
OK, so the system has run into a glitch during the events of the actual book because the typical utopian state of affairs wouldn't be very interesting. Still, it's a rare kind of fantasy setting where the gods interfere that much in mortal affairs, and that's actually a good thing.
May 18, 2011
Wonderful use of the genre, not as verbose as some other titles, Would have enjoyed a series of this setting, more on the line of George RR Martin, and Glen Cook.
January 1, 2011
Good story, although a bit longer than it needed to be, and the ending felt compressed.
Malledd the smith has a grand destiny (to save the world), with which he is never comfortable.
Malledd the smith has a grand destiny (to save the world), with which he is never comfortable.
August 29, 2011
read prologue and decided to spend time elsewhere
February 5, 2014
Decent, and kind of out-of-the-box, but its tired tropes and rehashed exposition bog the book down a lot.
August 6, 2015
Not very impressive the idea was nice a reluctant hero who does not want to get all the hero crap but story line is to really well done.
April 2, 2017
A reluctant hero. I absolutely loved this story. Great stuff! =)
April 18, 2017
Was that ever a slog! Too little story even with betrayals and treacheries for a fashionably thick book - and almost no lightness and humor. The doesn’t want to be a hero hero is not in itself enough to carry a story and the side characters and villains were never of any interest.
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August 29, 2017Tried to get into and couldn't. I think what I really didn't like was the POV of the antagonist. It just was irritating to me and I found myself just skipping past and not caring.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews