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Wizard's Bane: Book one of the Sojourn Chronicles
Wizard's Bane is the first book of The Sojourn Chronicles, sixbooks that recount the adventures of Dale, a member of a large space fleet, who is marooned on a world similar to 18th-century Earth. He discovers very quickly that being stranded is the least of his problems; the world he is on is about to be destroyed and he's the only one that can save it. Without any clear direction, or the tools to do so, he sets out to try, encountering magic, mayhem and chaos at every turn.Wizard's Bane has received rave reviews and even been compared to the Shadow Trilogy by George Lucas.
- GenresFantasy
428 pages, Paperback
First published October 21, 2004
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 9, 2025
A unique, creative blend of science and technology with fantasy and magic!
Dale is a man in trouble, stranded, lost and seriously out of place - transported through a galactic space warp and marooned on Earth by means and enemies unknown! He is worried to discover that his sophisticated, technologically advanced tools and weaponry, normally capable of modifying and controlling the people and the environment around him are now undependable, inconsistent and frequently out of commission entirely. But the tools that he does have and his charismatic force of personality are sufficient to gather around him a ragtag collection of misfits that seem to have also lost their place in the world - a thief bent on reform and self-improvement, an "animal-whisperer" who dropped out of the local wizard's college, the spoiled son of a baron, a demon held in thrall by a sorcerer's spell who can't seem to stay out of trouble and the runaway pacifist son of a cutthroat murderer.
As Dale and his strange fellowship fight for their lives against Gorgs that, time and again, materialize out of nowhere to attack them, (think really mean, really ugly and really powerful ogres - big brutes with a serious attitude problem) they come to the realization that the entire world is under attack by a magical force that survived the Wizard's War thought to have ended over fifty thousand years earlier. The world's only hope for survival against an impending all-out attack rests with Dale's technological know-how reaching the city of Villenspell and enlisting the magical aid of the City of Wizards!
The obvious themes of "fellowship", "quest" and "world survival" beg for the reader to compare WIZARD'S BANE to Tolkien's classic LORD OF THE RINGS. I wouldn't presume to make such a grandiose comparison but it is clear that Ms Christiansen has succeeded admirably in drawing on the work of the giants before her while still injecting a dose of originality that is at once charming, thrilling, humorous, moving and unique in its own right! As the first novel of a six-part epic, WIZARD'S BANE focuses primarily on the character development of the "fellowship" and the realization of the extent of the trouble the world is really in as it comes under attack from the Gorg army. In a manner reminiscent of Clifford Simak's warm pastoral style of writing, Christiansen's characters are realistic, personable, down-home and easy for any reader to identify with and care about. Her credible, completely natural dialogue flows easily and there are plenty of light moments that will cause a chuckle or a wry smile. That WIZARD'S BANE barely gets revved up on the plot can be forgiven on the understanding that there are five novels left for the now eager reader to enjoy.
Where WIZARD'S BANE creatively departs from the standard medieval based sword fantasy is Christiansen's unique marriage of sci-fi and creative technology with good old-fashioned wizardry and magic - the science even touches quite clearly on relativistic concepts of time dilation and space warping!
Highly recommended for lovers of both sci-fi and fantasy! In fact, I can't think of a better book to introduce devoted readers of one genre to the joys of the other! I think I'll head off to the bookstore to look up a copy of VILLENSPELL - CITY OF WIZARDS.
Paul Weiss
Dale is a man in trouble, stranded, lost and seriously out of place - transported through a galactic space warp and marooned on Earth by means and enemies unknown! He is worried to discover that his sophisticated, technologically advanced tools and weaponry, normally capable of modifying and controlling the people and the environment around him are now undependable, inconsistent and frequently out of commission entirely. But the tools that he does have and his charismatic force of personality are sufficient to gather around him a ragtag collection of misfits that seem to have also lost their place in the world - a thief bent on reform and self-improvement, an "animal-whisperer" who dropped out of the local wizard's college, the spoiled son of a baron, a demon held in thrall by a sorcerer's spell who can't seem to stay out of trouble and the runaway pacifist son of a cutthroat murderer.
As Dale and his strange fellowship fight for their lives against Gorgs that, time and again, materialize out of nowhere to attack them, (think really mean, really ugly and really powerful ogres - big brutes with a serious attitude problem) they come to the realization that the entire world is under attack by a magical force that survived the Wizard's War thought to have ended over fifty thousand years earlier. The world's only hope for survival against an impending all-out attack rests with Dale's technological know-how reaching the city of Villenspell and enlisting the magical aid of the City of Wizards!
The obvious themes of "fellowship", "quest" and "world survival" beg for the reader to compare WIZARD'S BANE to Tolkien's classic LORD OF THE RINGS. I wouldn't presume to make such a grandiose comparison but it is clear that Ms Christiansen has succeeded admirably in drawing on the work of the giants before her while still injecting a dose of originality that is at once charming, thrilling, humorous, moving and unique in its own right! As the first novel of a six-part epic, WIZARD'S BANE focuses primarily on the character development of the "fellowship" and the realization of the extent of the trouble the world is really in as it comes under attack from the Gorg army. In a manner reminiscent of Clifford Simak's warm pastoral style of writing, Christiansen's characters are realistic, personable, down-home and easy for any reader to identify with and care about. Her credible, completely natural dialogue flows easily and there are plenty of light moments that will cause a chuckle or a wry smile. That WIZARD'S BANE barely gets revved up on the plot can be forgiven on the understanding that there are five novels left for the now eager reader to enjoy.
Where WIZARD'S BANE creatively departs from the standard medieval based sword fantasy is Christiansen's unique marriage of sci-fi and creative technology with good old-fashioned wizardry and magic - the science even touches quite clearly on relativistic concepts of time dilation and space warping!
Highly recommended for lovers of both sci-fi and fantasy! In fact, I can't think of a better book to introduce devoted readers of one genre to the joys of the other! I think I'll head off to the bookstore to look up a copy of VILLENSPELL - CITY OF WIZARDS.
Paul Weiss
February 15, 2016
A classical style fantasy novel that draws its influences from many recognizable sources, Wizard’s Bane captures the reader’s attention and draws them into the pages. In the opening paragraphs that are vaguely reminiscent of the start of Terminator: The Movie we meet Dale, a man from a technologically superior world who finds himself marooned in a land of magic. Dale has a penchant for attracting a rag-tag band of followers that, not surprisingly, ultimately end up matching the character profiles found in the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
This group of misfits sets out on a multi-focal quest to restore Dale’s missing powers, discover the truth about themselves, and what good fantasy novel would omit – save the world from sure destruction at the hand of otherworldly invaders. The pacing of the story takes a backseat to character development in this book, so not much progress is made towards the fulfillment of their quest, a good thing in this case as all of the characters possess strong but likeable personalities making it difficult to choose a favorite.
As this is book one in a series, the ending is very much a cliffhanger, since it ends rather abruptly right before they reach their first of many goals. Fortunately books two and three, Villenspell: City of Wizards (2005) and Wizards and Wanderers: Book Three of the Sojourn Chronicles (2006) are already available, and books four through six are written but not yet published according to the author’s website.
A few minor flaws: the proof-reading isn’t perfect, leaving behind a few errors that wouldn’t be caught by a spell-checker. The layout style is a little odd and takes a little getting accustomed to as there are an abundance of new paragraphs, the majority of which are only one sentence long.
Reviewed by Sarra Borne (Hectaizani)
This group of misfits sets out on a multi-focal quest to restore Dale’s missing powers, discover the truth about themselves, and what good fantasy novel would omit – save the world from sure destruction at the hand of otherworldly invaders. The pacing of the story takes a backseat to character development in this book, so not much progress is made towards the fulfillment of their quest, a good thing in this case as all of the characters possess strong but likeable personalities making it difficult to choose a favorite.
As this is book one in a series, the ending is very much a cliffhanger, since it ends rather abruptly right before they reach their first of many goals. Fortunately books two and three, Villenspell: City of Wizards (2005) and Wizards and Wanderers: Book Three of the Sojourn Chronicles (2006) are already available, and books four through six are written but not yet published according to the author’s website.
A few minor flaws: the proof-reading isn’t perfect, leaving behind a few errors that wouldn’t be caught by a spell-checker. The layout style is a little odd and takes a little getting accustomed to as there are an abundance of new paragraphs, the majority of which are only one sentence long.
Reviewed by Sarra Borne (Hectaizani)
June 12, 2015
Wizard's Bane - Crystalwizard (6/10)
Fantasy; book 1 of the Sojurn Chronicles; read for [FantasyFavorites].
A solid read that appears on the surface to be a standard "travelling" fantasy, but carries some interesting hidden depths. The growing suspicion of a historical war between magic and psionics and the contrast between the local inhabitants of the planet (a fairly standard fantasy setting) and the high-tech psi characters from off-world raise this up to a higher level. My main issue with the book, which lowered its score, was that I got very tired of the travelling, travelling, travelling and the way we just kept on and on collection more members of the company. All the same, certainly not a bad book. Give it a try.
[Copied from LibraryThing.]
Fantasy; book 1 of the Sojurn Chronicles; read for [FantasyFavorites].
A solid read that appears on the surface to be a standard "travelling" fantasy, but carries some interesting hidden depths. The growing suspicion of a historical war between magic and psionics and the contrast between the local inhabitants of the planet (a fairly standard fantasy setting) and the high-tech psi characters from off-world raise this up to a higher level. My main issue with the book, which lowered its score, was that I got very tired of the travelling, travelling, travelling and the way we just kept on and on collection more members of the company. All the same, certainly not a bad book. Give it a try.
[Copied from LibraryThing.]
September 25, 2009
Crystalwizard did a fantastic job of coming up with lovable characters and an original storyline that will keep you entertained. People who enjoy magic, science, mystery and adventure stories will have a great time following Dale and his band of misfits as they travel though old Earth in search of the power that brought Dale there.
This is a great blend of science and magic that leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. I have also read the second book of the series, "Villenspell: City of Wizards: Book two of the Sojourn Chronicles." This book does a good job of picking up where Wizard’s Bane left off.
This is a great blend of science and magic that leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. I have also read the second book of the series, "Villenspell: City of Wizards: Book two of the Sojourn Chronicles." This book does a good job of picking up where Wizard’s Bane left off.
September 22, 2009
Crystalwizard is just getting started with the first book of her series. She makes sure we get inside the character's heads and get to know them quickly.
I tend to like books with a lot of different characters and here CW doesn't let you down. What starts with 2 men, quickly grows to a team of six who are forced to face danger after danger as the true impact of what they might be facing sets in.
It diffenately leaves you looking forward to the next book.
I tend to like books with a lot of different characters and here CW doesn't let you down. What starts with 2 men, quickly grows to a team of six who are forced to face danger after danger as the true impact of what they might be facing sets in.
It diffenately leaves you looking forward to the next book.
didnotfinish
June 22, 2008I started reading this book in electronic book format. I thought it would be interesting because it's kind of a cross between science fiction & fantasy, and I'm trying to read more science fiction. But I just could not get into this book. I wasn't that crazy about the writing style and never really became attached to the characters. So I decided not to finish it.
June 19, 2009
Seems to be a self-published first novel (correct me if I'm wrong) - a darn good story - not terribly original but well-told. Pretty decent for being self-published, but honestly the editing is so poor it's distracting. In spite of that, I'd read another book by this author...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews