Death's Master

Tales from the Flat Earth #2

by Tanith Lee

Long time ago when the Earth was Flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle.

Uhlume, Lord of Death, second of the Lords of Darkness, King of Shadow and Pallor, makes an unusual bargain which sets in motion an intricate sequence of events that entangle men and gods, queens and kings, sorcerers and witches, and lowly wanderers. When the secret to immortality falls into human hands, dark magic and wickedness are unleashed, testing the bounds of mortal love and sanity, and questioning the nature and purpose of life itself.

Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, LGBT

408 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1979

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uhlume, Lord Death, has scarce interest in the inner workings of man, and yet is still drawn to them on occasion, even capable of some slight sympathy. But in general he is a being who is remote and detached, lacking both the vindictiveness and the vanity of Night's Master, dry in his speech and affect, unknowable. Quite unearthly with his pure-white hair, pure-white clothes, and ebony skin, but he's mainly a person with a job to do. An aspirational figure for me, but sadly I have too many confounded emotions.

Jamie describes the book as "a luxurious, dark fairy tale... full of despair, cruelty, malevolence and unending cycles of vengeance. Also beauty and love, as well as eroticism, much of it offputting." I couldn't have said it better, so I won't even try. Why waste words? I seek to emulate my hero Uhlume.

Unlike its predecessor Night's Master, this is genuinely a novel, rather than a series of collected, related stories. The stories in Death's Master have an implacable trajectory overall; together they form the darkest of fantasy narratives. Uhlume does not frequently appear on the page; he is not the main character. Death's Master is instead the tragic and bleakly romantic story of two semi-humans with intertwined fates: fey, demon-raised, animal-whispering Shell; Zhirem, an invulnerable healer turned death-dealer. In a perfect world, they would be boon companions and lovers, having adventures and lots of sex. In Tanith's world, their paths turn towards repression, enmity, atrocity, torture, and death. Such sad paths! But gorgeous nonetheless. This is a decadent, overripe book in many ways. The author really outdid herself with the ornate prose, the Apollonian ideals, the Dionysian madness.

The Enlightenment and its enemy, Romanticism, came much to my mind when reading this. Azhrarn, Night's Master, is in many ways an exemplar of the latter. Despite his mysterious veneer, he is steeped in the ups & downs of emotion, exults in inspiring it in others (but only emotions of the darker sort), is creative just to be creative, full of plans and plots and whimsies that are easily discarded when bored. Uhlume, Death's Master, is not particularly an Enlightenment figure - he is disinterested in dialogue and exploration - but his ways are often tolerant, always transparent, and almost always free of emotion (except for those tears of blood). Lord Death employs a scouring logic model: all humans die; those fanciful enough to challenge death will die as well. These are rules that will be followed. Alas!

The book features one of my favorite characters in a fantasy: Shell's terrifying mother Narasen, lesbian leopard queen of Merh, a huntress and a martyr, turned vengeful and sour by her unfair treatment. Turned completely blue as well, the after effects of a poisoning, and with one hand of bone, courtesy of Night's Master. And even angrier after her own death, returning to Earth in a pique to spread plague and destruction, passive-aggressively challenging Death himself. This dire but strangely relatable monstress plays the long game, and wins. What a lady! Reminded me of mom.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death's Master is like a luxurious, dark fairy tale most decidedly not for children nor those with easily offended sensibilities. Unlike the series of short tales in Lee's first Flat Earth book, Night's Master, this is a long form epic, which she deftly weaves from disparate strands. Nobody is innocent here, and there are no silver linings. The gods and demons of Flat Earth fear one thing, boredom. Gifted, or cursed, as they are with immortality. Lo, beware, for to stave off boredom they screw no less with each other than with humankind. Chaos, death and suffering inevitably follow. Ultimately, this is a story of struggle, even outright conflict, against death, and the terrible punishment that immortality, the only weapon that can be wielded against it, inflicts on the human soul by slowly leaching it of vitality, blunting the emotions and atrophying the spirit.

For in burning off mortal weakness, mortal luck and happiness were also burned. It was some antique law of the gods, older than time. Men could not have too much. Ecstasy and vulnerability belonged in the same dish. A fear the cup would be snatched away was what gave the wine its savor, and as Zhirem’s cup was sure, so was his joylessness.

Death's Master is full of despair, cruelty, malevolence and unending cycles of vengeance. Also beauty and love, as well as eroticism, much of it offputting. The depiction of Uhlume, the lord of death, is chilling to the bone. Portrayed as utterly implacable and wracked with melancholic despair, he is both wholly unsympathetic yet internally wrought with a compassion never glimpsed nor expressed. At one point, seething with rage and contempt he self destructs in what is an unforgettable scene.

"Uhlume's pale eyes were wide. They were dry and blindingly bright. Facially expressionless, it was his hands that spoke. From the tips of them, blood burst. The blood was oddly as red as the blood of a man. His brain—who could tell that? Perhaps he strove to make in himself this wild and static bleeding anger, because humanity expected it of him. Where the drops of blood fell, the ground cracked. The red speckled his white garments. His eyes were so wide now, his face was taking on an expression at last: madness."

There are many other deliciously dark, unforgettable characters including Lylas, the 200 year old immortal witch in the body of a 15 year old girl. Conniving, selfish, cunning, yet parts of her psyche frozen in time as the child she was when immortalized. Also, of course, Narsen, the leopard queen of Merh, seething with an unquenchable loathing for everyone and everything.

"Narasen gazed at her reflection with no compassion. She loathed the world and the un-world alike, the gods, humanity and demons and even Lord Death, and she had not exempted herself from the catalog."

Lee's writing is mesmerizing and full of emotional resonance. Her words are also full of these poetic barbs that leap off the page and stab you in the brain.

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange and elegant imagery. Vast and fantastic structures. Bizarre renderings of sensual and exotic creatures. Mythic forays into imaginative wonderlands. Medieval cruelty, deep dungeons and mermaid palaces, kingdoms within kingdoms. Immense troves of world building. The adventurous spirit. Wild and absurd reversals and leaps of fancy. These are the qualities I enjoy in Tanith Lee's writing.

A worthy follow up to her first installment in the series, Night's Master, this book lacked some of the cohesive pathos of that volume, felt a little more randomized, less focused. But it contained all of the creative force of the original, gave us a longer dip into her brilliant atmospheric indulgence, and constituted another Gothic masterpiece, in my opinion. The structure of the interconnected stories allowed the author to explore several facets of her doomed and hallowed world. She converts primal fears into breathing characters, injecting them with the insecurities and pride of men and woman-tropes we have seen, but delivered forcefully to amusing and alarming effect, while these players shift through complex layers of social diversity and exhibit behaviors both arcane and mundane, sorcerous and violent. The adversities of immortals and the puerile schemes of mortals consume the bulk of this book's riveting plots. But more than the solid storytelling, we are offered an intense immersive experience, reminiscent of the best pulp sci-fi, the Golden Age charm, the vintage, suggestive, and passionate ideals of a bygone era, when the genre still possessed great, untapped mysteries.

This second book was a slower burn, focusing on the god of death, Uhlume, and Simmu and other VIPs in the grand dramas and foolish endeavors of Flat Earth, seeking after love, power, and status, conquering foes, playing the trickster and lusting openly.

With her strong characters, beautiful prose, and sense of dark humor, Tanith Lee's descriptive masterworks are some of my favorite reading experiences of all time. I delight in the fact that there are so many more books in her oeuvre I have yet to savor. I felt this same elation when I first discovered Philip. K. Dick, Jack Vance, and Gene Wolfe. The richness of the reading experience is often taken for granted, except when the author believes so deeply in their own invented world that they communicate the feeling all escapists long for, then the work feels at times, more real than the reality around us.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

On Tanith Lee’s Flat Earth, humans live in the space between apathetic gods and vain and meddlesome demons. In the first FLAT EARTH book, Night’s Master, we met Azhrarn, prince of demons and ruler of the night who found and loved a human orphan. I loved that book for its exotic setting and gorgeous fairytale quality, but Death’s Master, the second FLAT EARTH book, is even more enchanting. While the first book was a series of connected tales, Death’s Master is a traditional novel. This time we meet a second Lord of Darkness, Uhlume, Lord Death, when he makes a deal with Narasen, a human warrior queen.

Narasen, the Leopard Queen of Merh, doesn’t like men. When she rebuffs a powerful magician, he curses her, causing plague, famine and barrenness to settle in Merh. An oracle announces that the land will be healed when Narasen, who is barren, bears a child. After the people of Merh have sent all the men they can muster to Narasen, she seeks escape by asking the witch Lylas, Death’s Handmaiden, to arrange a deal with Death.

Uhlume, the Lord of Death, gives Narasen a child, but the price she must pay is heavy: after giving birth, she must remain under the Earth with Uhlume for 1000 years. The rest of the story follows Simmu, Narasen’s hermaphrodite child; his friend Zhirem, whose mother also made a deal with Death; Lylas, who assigns nine virgins to guard the waters of immortality; the demon Azhrarn, who can’t help but meddle in human affairs; and other characters that’ve unfortunately come to the attention of demons.

It’s hard to truly like any of these characters, which, I suspect, is the main reason that the FLAT EARTH books are not universally loved. Tanith Lee’s characters are all well-developed, but they don’t give back. They’re not interested in whether you like them, so you’re not likely to find yourself really caring what happens to any of them. Tanith Lee isn’t offering us friends. Instead, she offers a vision of a world that’s completely foreign, yet peopled by real humans who we can relate to, whether we like them or not. Lee uses this unfamiliar world to explore familiar human nature in a way that isn’t possible outside a fantasy setting.

One theme in Death’s Master is the idea that when life becomes difficult, we often preserve sanity by knowingly casting illusions. When Narasen goes with Death to the underworld, she sees all the humans who’ve made similar deals with Death and must live in his kingdom for 1000 years. The place is horrible, but they’ve constructed illusions to make it bearable. When Narasen scorns these weak-minded people, Death explains that they survive by creating their own reality:

"The soul is a magician. Only living flesh hampers it... This land is a blank parchment where anyone may write what they wish."

Another theme is the boredom that comes with immortality on Earth. When the well of immortality is discovered and some humans drink from it, their lives eventually become pointless and dull. Lee suggests that the gods knew that the constant threat of pain and death is what gives life its meaning and joy:

"Men could not have too much. Ecstasy and vulnerability belonged in the same dish. The fear the cup would be snatched away was what gave the wine its savor and as Zhirem’s cup was sure, so was his joylessness... to die is a fear, but to live is a fear, also."

These ideas are so beautifully examined in Death’s Master, but Tanith Lee’s writing isn’t unrelievedly heavy. In fact, I think she’s one of the funniest writers I know and even this dark tale has plenty of humor. The scene in which all nine virgins were disqualified in three nights is hilarious and this description of Yolsippa the charlatan had me literally clapping my hands in delight:

"Generally Yolsippa was not a sensual man, but there was one thing, and one thing alone, which could stir him instantaneously and irrepressibly to amorous frenzy. This singular thing was a member of either sex who happened to be cross-eyed. Now the reason for this is a matter of conjecture. Possibly Yolsippa, in his tender years, had been nursed by a woman with just such a feature who had toyed indelicately with him so that ever after the erection of his weapon became associated with the strabismus of his nurse. Now and again Yolsippa had taken himself into a brothel and there lain down with straight-gazing harlots in an effort to be rid of the ridiculous taint. But it was no use; the perversion remained. Indeed, many afflicted by the squint had been most grateful for it. However, the cross-eyed being that Yolsippa had suddenly caught sight of in the desert border town was none other than the local prizefighter, a man near seven feet high with a prodigious girth, the belly of a boar and the fuse of an ox. Yolsippa completely comprehended the unwisdom of his passion, but no sooner had the two blood-shot squinting eyes been fixed on him than he began shuddering in a seizure of profound desire. Nor was it any use to seek his own medicine for dispelling such emotion since it was made of water, spirit, and mules’ urine."

Here, and in all of her writing, you can clearly see the influence of Jack Vance, who Tanith Lee calls “one of the literary gods” in her afterword to her story in the anthology Songs of the Dying Earth. In fact, Lee says that “Influence is too small a word. What I owe to Vance’s genius, as avid fan and compulsive writer, is beyond calculation.”

Indeed, Tanith Lee’s imagination and writing style are a fantasy lover’s dream. If you haven’t read Tanith Lee, you’re missing one of our age’s best fantasists. If you’re not into the twisted dark fairytales found in FLAT EARTH, you should at least try some of her short fiction, which is easily found in the best anthologies.

I listened to Susan Duerden narrate the audio version which was just released by Audible Frontiers. Her lush voice is gorgeous and I think she has the sexiest male voice I’ve ever heard by female or male narrator. The sing-song quality I mentioned in my review of Night’s Master was less noticeable this time. If you’re an audio reader, don’t miss this. Death’s Master, originally published in 1979, won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1980.


Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

Devotees of Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth series luxuriate in her vibrant, exotic prose and her thematically dark stories which are said to be founded on Arabian and Babylonian lore, not to mention a fair dose of Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories albeit with much less humor. This second book in the series is a step up from the first book with a stronger storyline and more accessible characters, which eventually earned it the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel, the first time ever awarded to a female author. Sexual trigger warnings are still set off like jumpy car alarms due to a varying degree (or lack) of consent in many situations, and the adult content will be anywhere from eyebrow-raising to titillating depending on the reader's tastes.

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hands down, not only the best sequel I have read, but one of the best fantasy novels I've read.

Note: For the sake of this review, I give the genderfluid character Simmu the pronouns they/them, for mere simplicity's sake. In the book they are called he/him when they are a man and she/her when they are a woman. They are technically both and fluid, so I just simply use they/them.

In Night's Master, we were introduced to the Lord of Wickedness, Azhrarn, one of the five Lords of Darkness who dwell within the world of the Flat Earth. Now, we are introduced to Uhlume, Lord of Death, whose own interactions with the humans of the Flat Earth will unleash a series of events that will destroy loves and friendships, caused death and undeath, and bring about immortality.
When Narasen, the lesbian queen of Merh, refuses the advances of the wizard Issak, both her and her land are cursed with bareness and the only way to end such a thing is for her to conceive a child, something she really, really, really doesn't want to do. With the aide of the immortal, bisexual witch Lylas--who has her own plans--who greatly devoted to Uhlume, Narasen comes to conceive a child who change sex at will, Simmu. However, upon the birth of Simmu, Uhlume comes to collect his due from Narasen and Simmu, orphaned, is whisked across the Flat Earth until they come to a temple. There, they meet and befriend and love another orphan Zhirem. And it is from the children's meeting that everything truly spirals out.

Wow...This book. This fucking book, man! I have so much I want to say and I'm not sure I can. The gist of it is Tanith Lee has written a fantasy book that is equal parts adventurous, dark, mystical, dream-like, sexual, tender-hearted, and tragic. It is rare for an author to produce such a book that has made me laugh, frustrated (in a good way), invested, gasp "NO!," misty-eyed, punch my desk, and feel overwhelmed by everything I read. All if it is kept together both the beautiful prose Lee utilizes and the persistent atmosphere and themes that permeates each page and word. Lee's prose is so gorgeous here, as usual, with how she uses colors to describe how the characters look and for the world looks, and just how she delves into the characters' interiorities. Night's Master felt like a collection of connected fairy-tales, but Death's Master, itself a complete novel, felt like a psyho-sexual corrupted hero's journey, if that makes any sense. One Simmu's goals is to become a hero, in fact. As I state in my review of the previous book, Tales from the Flat Earth is a dark series with some uncomfortable moments, but it's tone in general is fairly grim, though I would not say it's grimdark. Lee kept this tone throughout the novel, but we were still able to feel the more tragic and tender moments without this tone vanishing completely.

In Night's Master, hubris was a constantly downfall of many of the characters. Hubris still lingers here, but there's now a focus on love here. Love that grows between two characters and shatters is very prevalent between Simmu and Zhirem, Simmu and Kassafeh. One-sided love like Lylas has for Uhlume, that Kassafeh has for Zhirek. And sometimes, some characters just have a total absence of love for a long period, like Narasen and Uhlume--the latter more so because he's the asexual embodiment of death--until they get some form of it. This persistence of love makes me think of Azhrarn's sacrifice near the end of the last book, which was said to be done in love too. True, genuine love for humanity? Who can say? But anyway, while I would not say love is a salvific force here that "can change the world," it is obvious that love brings the characters closer to each other and gives them a light in this dark world. However, it's that hubris that once again brings everyone down. Well, nearly everyone. Some people make it out unscathed, others...not so much.

Speaking of characters lets start with the star of the show: Simmu.
Before I read this book, so many people told how messy and tragic they found Simmu's story. And I have to say I agree. Simmu is Narasen's child, conceived when she got pregnant from an undead twink--I'm not making that up, by the way. However, for a long time, growing up, Simmu is unaware of their parentage, but remembers witness Uhlume dragging Narasen down to the underworld and developing a hatred for death. Simmu lives only in the temple with priests and the other boys, including Zhirem who was made immortal from his mother and a witch lowering him into a well of fire; something oddly reminiscent of a certain scene from the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. Simmu and Zhirem become closer as the years go by and while tending to some villagers, for the first time in years, Simmu changes into a woman and has sex with Zhirem, something the latter comes to regret and hate along with his own immortality. Now, I want to point something out here. Since Simmu has been presenting male (for lack of a better term) for most of their life at this point, some of the other priests believe they and Zhirem are in love with each other, which they kind of are, but the priests are homophobic about it. Throughout the novel, Simmu changes sex based on certain situations and I couldn't help but wonder if the reason why Simmu made love to Zhirem as a woman is because of some inherit fear of homophobia. Lee is an author who shows, doesn't tell, and leaves a lot up to interpretation, so I will come back to this later. However, is this act of sex and Simmu and Zhirem's eventual self-exile from the priests and subsequent wandering that kicks things off.
At this point, Simmu goes off on a quest to end death, to challenge and defeat Uhlume themself. They hate death itself and wish to end. Especially, after witnessing Zhirem commit suicide and turning back into a man, though they are unaware of Zhirem's immortality at this point.. Azhrarn, of course, dips his fingers into the trouble and pushes Simmu in the right direction. Not for any specific vendetta or beef with Uhlume; he's just in it for the love of the game. Also, he removes Simmu's memories of Zhirem which leads to some...eventual tragic moments.

Simmu is hellbent on ending death and wants to send nothing to Uhlume. Because of this they do not eat any food made from an animal, nor do they kill. Even the sight of dead bodies makes them unwell. At one point, they return to the kingdom Narasen ruled and see the death plague her undead form delivered unto her former subjects and they dread touching her.
Now, you might be thinking, how is Simmu going to defeat death without even killing anyone? How can you kill death? Remember that hubris I mentioned earlier? Also the fact that Simmu is still like a teenager at this point. Yeah, Simmu has no plan to defeat Uhlume until Lylas tells them about a well of immortality on Earth that sits directly below the well of the gods in Upperearth--seen briefly in Night's Master--and that drinking its waters makes everyone immortal. The only way to beat death, to strike fear into death, is to take death away from the world.
Does Simmu get what they want? In a way. For a moment.
It is with the help of Kassafeh, a priestess, that Simmu is even able to get to the shrine of the well. So, Kassafeh is another character introduced later in the book, and she's quite a gal. She dislikes the gods, Uhlume too at first, and is a very opinionated young woman. She got sent to be one of the virgin priestesses of the well at a young age and hated it. Simmu become her lover and her liberation, for a time. Simmu changes into a woman to sneak into the shrine--again, changing only because that situation demands it--and then at night changes into a man to have sex with the priestesses so that their vows of virginity end and thus break the protection over the well. The priestesses all think it's Kassafeh having sex with them because they can't fully see Simmu, somehow, but Kassafeh somewhat resembles Simmu, and the implications behind that are amazing! They know Kassafeh is a woman, but think she is the one penetrating them at night and want to sleep wit her again. The priestesses are not abhorred by the possibility that Kassafeh might have a penis. They're thrilled by the gock! Amazing!

Anyway, Simmu and Kassafeh, and eventually the crooked bisexual merchant Yolsippa, become the first Immortals in the Flat Earth and go on their quest to defeat death. However, Kassafeh, who might be the smartest person in the entire book, isn't blind. She knows Simmu is obsessed with their "hero's journey" of fighting death, and even she is getting a sense that this might not all be worth it. And it's here I should mention that Simmu spends most of the remainder of the book as a man, trying to gather more immortals and becoming even more hellbent on this path to wanting war and destruction. Hmmm...We're done with that theme yet.
Uhlume, frustrated by Simmu and co's continued quest, and by Narasen trying to take over the realm of the dead with Lylas, tries to determine what to do. Azhrarn, of course, throws a grenade (not literally, that's a figure of speech) and tells him of the magician, Zhirek.

Zhirek is, of course, Zhirem, who only wants to die, destroy Simmu after their betrayal, and become Azhrarn's servant. Uhlume promises him at least two out of three and Zhirek goes on his "hero's journey" to stop Simmu and learn magic. Zhirek's path is far more destructive than Simmu's is, at least at a personal level. Much like Simmu, he is hellbent on vengeance. He hurts and uses so many people through coercion and his magic; he does not care about any of them. Zhirek goes to many places, including the depths of the ocean which the Lords of Darkness all fear because it is not of the Earth. He finds an undersea kingdom and the Princess Hhabaid helps in his quest. However, much like Kassafeh was to Simmu, Hhabaid soon realizes she is only a useful piece for Zhirek. Zhirek and Simmu are two scorned former friends and lovers, even if only one of them remembers it, on their own "heroic quests," craving nothing but destruction for their desired targets.
This brings me back to another series I read by Lee, The Birthgrave trilogy, particularly the last two books Shadowfire (also called Vazkor, Son of Vazkor) and Hunting the White Witch (also called Quest for the White Witch). Those books follow the son of the protagonist from the first book, and he is very much a macho, cruel Conan warrior-type. He is absolutely cruel and treats women horribly up until the end. It is my personal belief that in those last two books, Lee was deconstructing the uber-macho warrior of sword and sorcery, revealing him as kind of an emotionally-stunted manchild who really doesn't understand women and only knows violence as the answer. In Death's Master, with Zhirek and Simmu as a man, Lee takes this commentary a bit further, but still makes it all subtle.
Zhirek is a magician on his own hero's journey--the concept of what makes a "hero" is brought up a few times--but he helps practically no one except himself. This "hero" brings only hurt and destruction.
Simmu's hero journey and want for vengeance, makes them completely reject, perhaps even forget, their woman side which they only transform into once towards the end on accident while having a nightmare, witnessed by Kassafeh. Kassafeh tries to become Zhirek's lover, but she realizes that she's only became a pawn in is revenge too. Simmu has to be a man because that was the only way they could gather more immortals in their plight against death. The cruel world of the Flat Earth is one where might makes right and Simmu could only do that as a man, in their own eyes, at least. It's ironic, sad, and somewhat comical all at once. Nasaren, Simmu's lesbian mother, was a skilled hunter and fighter in her own right. Some of her subjects even derisively called her a man-woman because of it. Nasaren at the beginning of the book never saw herself "taking on masculine strength" or "becoming like a man" when she fought Issak off or tried to search for a solution to the curse laid upon her and her land. Interestingly enough, this all kicks off because of a man, who was hurt by another man, tried to force himself upon a woman. And all of it only got worse because of the Lords of Darkness, no matter how uncaring they may be towards humanity, intervened.
Subtle, but Lee knows what she's doing. Clever lady. I cannot say that if Nasaren had been more willing to have and raise a child and if Simmu hadn't been afraid of her when they first met after years that Simmu could've avoided all of this, because that would be wishful thinking on my part. Still, one wonders how it could've been. Maybe love could've saved them.

Nonetheless, surprisingly, Nasaren, Lylas, and Kassafeh, all three of these women who have been through so much, kind of come out on top at the end. I was shocked, but happy at their fates at the end. Nasaren becomes Queen of the Dead with Lylas at her side and, possibly, as her lover. Kassafeh escapes the oceanic destruction Zhirek brings to the city of immortals Simmu created, alongside Yolsippa and both come to serve Uhlume. However, after Nasaren takes over the underworld, Uhlume leaves, with no protest or issue, the underworld and...becomes Kassafeh's lover!? Damn. Girl finally lucked out. Got away from the shitty people in her life, but got the embodiment of death as her boyfriend. Ironic, because the god the priestesses worshipped at the shrine was technically Uhlume under another name, but Kassafeh never knew.

And that brings me to Zhirek and Simmu's fates....Oh my God!
I just...I...
When I first read that part, I was shaking and punched my desk. I had to drive somewhere afterwards and I was shaking in my car and talking to myself excitedly. I have never been more devasted from a fantasy book in my life before. Apart of me doesn't want to type this out, so all of you can experience it for yourselves, BUT I HAVE TO! Under spoilers it goes!
After drowning the city of immortals and having said immortal sealed in barnacles and crust, Zhirek takes Simmu to the same well that made him immortal. He kisses Simmu's forehead, saying what he's about to do will haunt him forever. he throws Simmu down the well. He intends for Simmu to burn for eternity in vengeance...but they don't, they disintegrate. Zhirek becomes a hermit, slowing losing his mind. At one point he is visited by three demons who mock him and then he breaks down a cries remembering his time with Simmu and feels cheated by the Lord of Death. Simmu's remains were taken to the realm of the demons where the Lord of Wickedness resurrected/transformed them into a demon. Simmu has no memories of their life before, but is free. It's implied and revealed that Simmu was one of the three demons who mocked the Zhirek but did not recognize him.

Dear God! I was a mess after reading that! Zhirem and Simmu, the most doomed lovers ever! Their love was the one that needed to endure the most, but it couldn't. Realizing that it could've just makes it hurt even more.
There is some light though. Simmu's fate. You know how I said above that Simmu had to change sex because of what the situations called for? Well, they don't have to worry about that anymore. They're free to do as they want at the end. Although they have "a male body," the type of demon Azhrarn made them into are fluid and they don't need to worry about how or when they change. They can do it whenever.

My soul is crushed, but not broken.

Everything was nearly perfect about this book, save for the pacing in a few places. It got slow in some places, but there's never anything boring going on.

Death's Master is one of most tragically beautiful fantasy novels I have ever read and it is the standard to which I will hold all fantasy to from here on out. This was like nothing else out there.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

At first this second volume of the series seemed more coherent and an improvement on book 2. It revolves around the children of two mothers: one woman who is a queen and has to bear a child to save her land and people in order to lift a curse, and one who attempts to save her son from the enemies who will threaten his life by making him immune to all threats. Nothing ends happily for either the mothers or their sons. The two boys eventually end up as close friends while they endure a strict and life-denying upbringing at a monastery, but are then riven apart by their own, no longer quite human, natures and the interference of demonic forces: the lord of darkness Azharn, a key figure in book 1, and Uhlume, the lord of death.

There are a lot of characters, a lot of action, but no one who can really be cared about or sympathised with. The nearest is a rogue and conman who ends up immortal when Simmu, one of the sons, the one borne to lift the curse, decides to wage a "war" against death by obtaining the elixir of life and dishing it out to chosen people (except that the conman drinks from the flask without permission as he is dehydrated in the desert). Otherwise, the characters behave perversely just to bring about their own ill fortune it seems, with Zhirem, the one who cannot be killed, deciding to be wicked and setting out to make himself a supremely powerful wizard whose one goal is to destroy Simmu and everything he has worked for. And equally oddly, Simmu and co, having partaken of immortality, become indolent and ossified within a few years - this might be understandable after centuries but seems unlikely after a few years. There are various other characters who are wicked just "for the fun of it" rather than for any real reason and it all became rather overlong and tedious by about two thirds of the way through. I read to the end just to find out what happened, but can't say I enjoyed it so this is an OK 2-stars for me sadly.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which we meet Uhlume, Death's Master, another Lord of Darkness, kin to Azhrarn, Night's Master, and in which Uhlume and Azhrarn contest with each other.

Not directly, of course; but through two children of extraordinary birth: Simmu and Zhirem, both of whom are (indirectly) created by one Lord but end up (indirectly) serving the other as their destinies intertwine and separate and violently oppose one another.

Although, like Night's Master, this is more-or-less a collection of shorter tales, unlike Night's Master, there's a much more definite overarching thread linking everything together -- Simmu and Zhirem.

As with Night's Master, this is a dark and luxuriant book, full of terrors and wonders, awe and love and hatred, told in Tanith Lee's inimitable, mythic prose.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Night's Master was a loosely-tied collection whose central point is the demon lord Azhrarn as he meddles and ruins puny mortal lives according to whim and faerie menace. Here he is a background puppeteer, still manipulating events with almost artistic motivations, as well as a faint malice towards his not-cousin Uhlume, Lord of Death.

But this story is about a set of humans or mostly-humans and the long movements of their mutually-destructive actions, in a world that is profoundly unsympathetic. There is no cosmic justice, no moral compass, no sense that any wrong is repaid or wrongdoer receives comeuppance. This book does not care what you think, and bears no moral and no internal meaning other than itself. It in fact has many cases where illusion provides meaning or solace to an otherwise comfortless existence.

It returns full circle to stability: even human immortals are ground down and forgotten. The universe continues without them.

Lee's characterizations continue to amaze. The Lord of Death is neither capricious nor vicious, but mostly bored. A powerful witch concocts cosmic defenses, but she is physically and emotionally fourteen years old: her constructions are the gaudy over-the-top things of a child. Vicious, constant malice is dreary and miserably habitual, a tiresome compulsion. And Zhirek's final cruelty is not out of revenge, as expected. The act itself is to resonate within Zhirek's soul to keep him sane for his entire long life--digesting from anger to satisfaction to regret to crushing self-hatred. That this final act is taken from him by Azhrarn's incidental activity makes it all more poignant, ironically flipping the millennia-long suffering from Simmu back to Zhirek.

[Adam Meek · Rating 4 out of 5]

another dark fantasy masterpiece from Tanith Lee

[Craig Laurance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death's Master is finally an ebook. It's an epic fantasy told in the high style full of eroticism and horror, as well as beauty. Part runaway Wildean fantasia, part Arabian Nights, here's what I said about the Flat Earth series as a whole:

The eroticism in the text [is} exploratory but tempered by a peculiar kind of innocence, helped in no small part by the jewel-like precision of the prose. There [are] horrors in the stories, but there [is] also tenderness. It is [Tanith] Lee's special talent to mix both tenderness and terror.

[D.D. Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in Tanith Lee’s Flat Earth series is again very interesting like the previous one but it is also a very different one in the manner the story is told. Whereas the previous book Night’s Master was split into multiple parts with somewhat loosely connected stories that all served the purpose of creating a unifying tapestry this one more or less follows a few core characters over the course of the entire novel. There are two characters who are priests, Simmu and Zherim, who both being friends separate at a pivotal point in the plotline and then for the rest of the book you get to see them greatly grow and change and become incredibly powerful. Because of his experiences with death Simmu hated death and wished to defeat death and he did this by seeking immortality and dragging others into this prison of immortality with him as well, thus he becomes immortal on purpose. Then there is Zherim who yearned for death but because of a spell his mother had a witch put on him when he was a child he is unable to die except by old age, thus immortal by accident. It was not his mother’s choice to make so this ends up causing him major problems later. For example he cannot even take his own life which he tries to at the pivotal point I mentioned in what becomes a very tragic scene. It is all a very puzzling predicament but I kind of figured out how it would shape out in the end, with a show down between Zhirem and Simmu, between life and death. The book ends with a bang! An epic conclusion that is sure not to disappoint.

There were many parts of this novel I immensely enjoyed and then there were other parts I didn’t enjoy as much but in the end like with Night’s Master it all came together perfectly and so as a reader I felt very rewarded. Again I feel better about this book after I’ve finished it than I did when I was initially reading it. I’m hard pressed to say which book in the series I’ve enjoyed more so far. If I enjoy the next book as much as the previous ones then this is shaping up to be one of the best fantasy series’ I’ve read. These two books are already nearly as good as the best fantasy I’ve read anyway, making this definitely the best fantasy you’ve never heard of. Tanith Lee is such a well liked author among people in the industry its surprising she isn’t read more by fantasy fans. In an interview I read she said that she doesn’t write what people want to read and that’s obviously been her problem as far as breaking out into the mainstream is concerned. She writes what she wants to write and doesn’t pigeonhole herself to writing one particular thing and I greatly respect her for that.

I’ve heard people compare this series to the Dying Earth and although I can see the similarities and I don’t doubt the influence there is one particular author that was in my mind when I read this book, one whom has influenced many fantasy authors. In an interview when asked about one weird fiction author she thought was undervalued Tanith mentioned Mervyn Peake. This comes as no surprise since she really does do a great job of emulating his style. I love being right. Here she did the best job of anyone I know of describing Peake’s writing style:

“I hope I’m in error here, but I think generally Mervyn Peake is still not properly valued. His incredible 3-volume epic (the 4th volume cut short by his early illness and death) of the Groan Dynasty and their habitat, Gormenghast, is unique–in that word’s true meaning. There was nothing like it. And where there is, somewhat, now, that is due only to the exquisite influence of his work on others. He wrote like no one else. His was, and is, a Voice that–though I suppose it is copy-able–stays yet unreachable. His structures–words, images–his moon-high illuminations and abyssal shadows are frankly inimitable. He breaks the rules, even of Weird, while remaining one of the kings of it. Here and there Peake can, admittedly, be a densely-forested read, but these passages are, too, like a graceful movie of perfect camera-work and lighting. Like paintings coming calmly into life. Or riotously. The sequence circles on itself like music, and then one falls out into the glowing, breathable water of his prose. Peake can terrify and make laugh, and shock and tantalize–and break your heart. He can do it in 10 pages. Or 3 words. Unique, as I said.”

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Господарят на нощта продължава хладната си, отчасти незаинтересована, отчасти пълна с любопитство игра с любимата си играчка - човешките същества от света на плоската земя. От мрака се появява обаче и нов играч - самият господар на смъртта. И човешките пешки започват да падат една след друга, докато двамата безсмъртни владетели си разменят послания.

Тук Танит Ли се е опитала да изгради цялостна история, а не поредица от елегантни миниатюри както в първата книга. И - поне за мен - не се е получило особено добре.

Първата една трета се изчита на един дъх. Какво би могло са е по-интригуващо от отчаяна и горделива кралица в договорка със смъртта; човешко дете, странстващо в нощта в компанията на демони; друго дете, запратено в кладенеца с огъня на неуязвимостта; пародия на манастир, където обядът на скромните монаси (в стил гурме) не бива да се прекъсва от болни просители на здравните услуги на лечебницата им; еликсир на безсмъртието? След спиращата дъха завръзка, от момента с търсенето на еликсира на безсмъртието нататък, обаче историята се разпилява без ясна посока. Героите изобщо не осъществяват взаимодействие, вместо това Танит Ли изморително скача от герой на герой, като всеки съществува независимо от събитията и няма почти никаква връзка с основния сюжет. Решенията им най-често са лишени от каквато и да е логика.

Краят е силен и донякъде компенсира предхождащото лутане из страниците. Но отново консистентността ми се губеше за сметка на иначе прекрасни и живописни описания. Танит Ли сякаш се наслаждаваше на определени параграфи просто от интерес към думите, чист самоцел, без да държи да имат някакъв по-цялостен смисъл. Също така очакванията ми към господаря на смъртта никак не се оправдаха - оказа се доста скучно всемогъщо създание.

Третата книга се очертава - поне по описание - доста по-фокусирана, да видим.

[Mely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the Flat Earth books I read, and it's still my favorite. What I mostly remember is the gorgeous Whelan cover and the awesome if necrophiliac warrior queen. Shut up, she was too awesome.

[Zan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night's Master is a swirling collection of ideas, the Arrabesque taken to incredible fantastical highs, characters created, destroyed, stories weaving together, all to a singular unexpected apex - Death's Master by contrast is composed of a single story - though it is composed of many disparate parts that combine to make it so - and I think basically the only difference in quality between the two and which you prefer will entirely come down to which style you prefer - wilder inventive ideas with more stuff thrown at the wall, or singular character connection?

Either way, both come with Tanith Lee's incredible writing, this sing-song storytelling that's so much a myth or fable it just begs you to read it to someone. Each and every page has a beautiful description, or fabulous image, this style of writing firing the mind's imagination better than anything else I can think of. The story here is almost immaterial, two figures set as friends and then against each other, struggle with Immortality - but how Lee uses these ideas, these situations to build up these thematic concepts, overloaded with pointed imagery. It's just masterful, that's all there is to it.

I think the only people I'd steer away from these books are the particularly squeamish - There is a heavy focus on embodiment, physicality, and with that comes the obvious two things, sex and violence. Nothing here is more explicit than what you'd read in any given romance or horror novel, the writing is evocative but generally keeps you at a distance - but the topics and themes dive deeper, dealing with whatever you name - incest, rape, mutilation, genocide, etc etc. Lee's Flat Earth is a brutal, terrible land, but one whose description is just so incredibly poignant, you're drawn in like a moth to a flame. No one is doing Fantasy-as-Mythology better than this. No one.

[Isaac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strongly believe that Book 1 was better than Book 2.

Tanith Lee said that each Book has a different demon. In Book 1, I totally felt that all the tales at situated in the Flat Earth and every tales revolves around Azhrarn, more or less. And there's no real protagonist or main character in Book 1. Azhrarn is the central figure that all the tales revolve around. But he's not the main character, as there's really no main character. Each tale has its own main character but the book as book as a whole doesn't. But for Book 2, which is supposed to be revolving around Death with other characters. He doesn't have much screen time. Azhrarn probably had just as much if not more than Death. He's mentioned but he doesn't really do anything. Also, each tale tells you something. Like the first one is to not trust demons, for example. I don't remember most of them. But each tale just tells you something, like cause and effect or something.

But in Book 2, I don't get that feeling anymore. Although Death is supposedly to be the demon of the book, he doesn't seem like it. And Book 2 actually feels like there is a protagonist. Well, two protagonists. I also can't rationalize most of Zhirem's decision.

When I read books, I always seek out whether certain plot points, events or whatever are well developed or not. Like should things really proceed how the author writes it as? Based on what the author built up, or written, up to a certain point, would that character really do what s/he did? Because Tanith Lee oriented Book 2, Death's Master, mainly around Zhirem and Simmu, there's a lot more character development and basis for them than any other characters in Book 1 and 2 (other than Azhrarn). So, to me, some of the things that happened or things they decided to do just doesn't connect to me.

For example, what's wrong with being invulnerable? Sure, your father thought you're possessed. The temple and priests tried to brainwash you. The temple and priests decided to shun you. But do any of these things really turn a person to how Zhirem would behave? I mean, at the end of the day, just walk back and be a farmer, then he'll have an awesome life. Or be a warrior, he will be a hero, unlike Simmu.


In short, things happened because that's what the author wrote. It works if it's just small, short tales instead of more centralized one. But it makes no sense as it is.

Another example is Narasen. She knows what the curse is. She's a lesbian and hates men. She knows her land is cursed. She loves power. She knows the curse says that sleeping with men is useless. Why the hell would she not just go invade other cities? This land is infertile, so we're going to stay here and die.

[Χρυσόστομος Τσαπραΐλης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ένα ακόμα εξαιρετικό (αν και κάπως τραβηγμένο σε μέγεθος, εξού και τα 4 αστέρια) βιβλίο από την Τάνιθ Λι, αυτή τη φορά περισσότερο σπονδυλωτό μυθιστόρημα αντί για συλλογή διηγημάτων. Η γλώσσα και ο τρόπος γραφής για μια ακόμα φορά μαστορικά, η θλίψη για μια ακόμα φορά πανταχού παρούσα. Θα την ήθελα να έχει εναντιωθεί κάποια στιγμή σε κυρίαρχες αξίες (πχ το αναπόφευκτο του θανάτου και η τιμωρία όσων προσπαθούν να του ξεφύγουν, ή την τραγωδιολαγνεία όσον αφορά τους πρωταγωνιστές) αλλά όπως και να χει, θεσπέσιο ανάγνωσμα.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, beginning with the clash between a curse and a pride, yielded a bargain first. Then it, like a hugely complicated dream, followed its own path into a labyrinthine landscape full of strange humans and stranger demons. The first half of the story as in 'Book One' moved swiftly, with some very interesting characters— all involved in a complicated dance of pain and pleasure. But the second book became slow, meandering and pondrous.
But the world-buliding was superb, once again.

[B G · Rating 4 out of 5]

A excepción de la misteriosa obsesión que tenía la autora por violar a la peña, lujazo de estilo, de aire de cuento y de elegancia. Diría que todas las mujeres son desgraciadas y terminan fatal, pero también lo hace con los hombres, lo cual me place. Vivan la tragedia y el sufrimiento eterno.

[Ана Хелс · Rating 5 out of 5]

Приключенията в света на Плоската земя, отпреди боговете да се разбудят и създадат живота, такъв какъвто знаем, че е вече загинал преди хилядолетия, продължават с високо признатата и награждавана история за дните и нощите на великия Господар на смъртта или самата Смърт преди качулката и косата. Прекрасният демон Юлум, с белите си коси и черната си кожа, събира душите на напускащите тленността, и ги отвежда в земите отвъд, но понякога и в земите отдолу, в зависимост от сделката, сключена от притежателите на искрицата човешки дух в края на съществуванието им. И колкото повече биват отвеждани, толкова повече търсят своят начин да избегнат срещата със смъртносния безразличен дявол. Естествено, човешко е.

Да отлагаш срещата с господаря на смъртта е едно нещо, но да бъдеш господар на самата Смърт, която носи края , и да я караш да има твоите търсения и ограничения, е съвсем друга задача, която по различен път трима не съвсем по човешки замесени младежи, достигат сред поредицата си от криви стъпки и погрешни решения. Един племенен принц , с неясен баща и дарено от майка си почти проклятие за пълна неуязвимост към тлението; едно многополово същество , заченато от мъртъв и смъртна, менящо принадлежността си към силните и слабите физически според гордите си емоции; и една девойка, създадена от целувката на въздушен господар на етера, с очи в цвета на вселената, поред привличат погледа както на господаря на смъртта, така и на познатия ни господар на нощта, които съвсем естествено си съперничат за владението на живата раса.

Историята прелита през животи, лишени от естествения страх от края, отдадени на слепи удоволствия, безкрайни търсения и замираща човечност, където страстта се съживява само с приближаването до неминуемата смърт, която за пореден път пропуска личните си задължения , подчинена на надбожествена измама с есенцията на съзиданието. Нашите герои, заслепени от любов и омраза, често едновременно като цялостно чувство, пътуват от дълбините на чистите океани до пясъците на червените пустини, в търсене на смисъла на живота , но което е и по-важно - смисъла на смъртта. А това пътешествие е така декадентско и деградиращо всичко свързано с човещината като есенция, че в края демоничната страна по един или друг начин побеждава, обезмисляйки най-лелеяната концепция за вечния живот, фактически оказала се непоносима за ограниченията на човешкото съзнание.

Господарят на смъртта е център образът, предизвикван ежесекундно както от ходещите под слънцето, така и от тези, живеещи в мрака на подземните демонски селения. Самотата на събиращия последен дъх, липсата на обич и още повече – липсата на истинска омраза, създават изключително жив образ на меланхоличния принц , скитащ ��атоварен с най-тежката задача от сътворението насам, а именно да разплита с утешение нишките на живота на най-добрите божествени създания – хората. Историята е доста по – консистентна, и последователно логически свързана от предходната Господарят на нощта, без да представя твърде много герои и приказки, въпреки вечното пътешествие към небитието, концентриращо се върху легендата за извора на живота и грешките на божествените, оставящи с пълно безразличие най-доброто си постижение да изгние на воля. Философия с красивите одежди на епична приказка за пораснали, никога небивали деца. Очаквам следващата си среща с народите на Плоската земя, когато реалността е била най-скучната идея на някой попреял демон, а има толкова други варианти…

[Douglas Milewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death's Master (1979) by Tanith Lee challenges my ability to review books. How do I even summarize this work? By all rights, this book shouldn't work, but it does, which makes it absolutely fascinating to me. Thinking through everything that I've read, I can't say that I've ever read anything like this book. It's not for everyone. This work can throw you just as easily as it can capture you. It requires something of you, the reader, if only the dedication to reach the end.

This book follows a biography model, following the life of Simmu, from the inexplicably strange circumstances of his birth, through his childhood, adventurehood, his crowning successes, and through to his final fate. While following this story, we also follow the story of several other characters closely associated with Simmu, such as Zharak.

Overall, the writing proceeded thickly and formally, feeling mildly archaic even for 1979. Fortunately, Tanith knows how to work with this thickish prose, pulling it like taffy to extrude the tale. And what an improbable tale it is, full of overpowered characters who successfully prove that overpowered actions create overpowered results, generating overpowered reactions, which generate more overpowered results, and so one. When the story centers around the fundamental powers of of the universe, such as Death and the Prince of Demons, overpowered ceases to be a meaningful term.

The book is also an "adult" fantasy novel, so sexual situations about. To be clear, the book is not explicit, but it is forthright. It contains sexual situations of all sorts, some of which are gender bending, and some of which are jaw-droppingly outlandish. Lee can and does push sexuality in new and unique directions.

This was my first Tanith Lee. I liked this well enough to read more of this series, but not so much that I'll rush out and buy some right now.

[Jay Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book it's a shame that it doesn't hold it together towards the end. This is the third book by Tanith Lee that I have read and second from the tales of flat earth series. This novel can best be described as an epic, sweeping story that will keep you busy for many hours. I was hooked by this book, the interconnecting stories of love, sex, mystery and high fantasy are breathtaking. This is an incredible feat of myth making here, the stories are dark, mature and full of intrigue. Unfortunately after weaving such a multi stranded intricate tale the book buckles under its own weight; it doesn't wrap the stories up satisfactorily considering the sheer imagination and complexity the novel had built up by the third act. Its for this reason I rate the book a 4 out of 5 rather than a 5. It's a shame because arguably the climax is the most important part of a story. The tale is too intricate, too detailed and too multi stranded that wrapping it up in a satisfactory manner would have been an incredible feat. Even with all the negatives fantasy fans should pick this book up. Tanith Lee is a special author and I can't wait to read the next book in the tales of flat earth series.

[Joyce Lavene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE Tanith Lee's writing. I've followed her for years. This books is easily as good as the first in the series, Night's Master. She is the queen of dark fantasy! It's a short read with many graphic and elaborate descriptions that enthralled me.

[Sirensongs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon re-reading, this book was just as darkly wondrous and captivating as the first time I read it, several years ago. Tanith Lee's originality and brilliance will never cease to amaze me.

[Maša · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death has a body in Flat Earth, but we meet him throught actions of others. Although every man knows him, he seems detached and impotent, almost.

Flat Earth is full of magic, superstition, wonder, and cruelty, and our protagonists try to take charge of their lives, which are often under powers greater than their own.

This lush story reminded me of Vance, and the atmosphere is sensual, and mysterious. It reads almost like a fairy tale, and the author woves a rich tapestry. It is a bit repetitive, but not less intoxicating.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty nice.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doesn't quite have the narrative consistency of the first one but it does have the ornate gothic imagery, the inter connected mythology, the dream like quality etc, so who cares?

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really took my time with this one. Not because it was bad but because, like the first one, Night's Master, it is just so worth absorbing gradually and at a languid pace. While I did prefer Nights Master as an overall narrative, this was a worthy sequel.

[Stuart Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A re-read from my youth. Just as perfect and evocative as I remember. Lush prose, and great storytelling in the grand tradition of the Persian Myths and Arabian nights of old.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

had these books for 30+ years, read many times, still as good as before