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Lords of the Triple Moons
The Old Lords of Rehannoth have been overthrown by rebel leaders who use the powers generated by the great machines to maintain their brutal rule. Only the two surviving children of the Lords, Johab and Ellora, can restore the balance and free their people. But first they must free themselves from captivity--and find the Chasm of Genlith! Part of the series, Tales of the Triple Moons.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1983
23 people want to read
About the author
Ardath Mayhar
141 books28 followersArdath Frances Hurst Mayhar was an American writer and poet. She began writing science fiction in 1979 after returning with her family to Texas from Oregon. She was nominated for the Mark Twain Award, and won the Balrog Award for a horror narrative poem in Masques I.
She had numerous other nominations for awards in almost every fiction genre, and won many awards for poetry. In 2008 she was honored by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as an Author Emeritus.
Mayhar wrote over 60 books ranging from science fiction to horror to young adult to historical to westerns; with some work under the pseudonyms Frank Cannon, Frances Hurst, John Killdeer, Ardath P. Mayhar. Joe R. Lansdale wrote simply: "Ardath Mayhar writes damn fine books!"
She had numerous other nominations for awards in almost every fiction genre, and won many awards for poetry. In 2008 she was honored by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America as an Author Emeritus.
Mayhar wrote over 60 books ranging from science fiction to horror to young adult to historical to westerns; with some work under the pseudonyms Frank Cannon, Frances Hurst, John Killdeer, Ardath P. Mayhar. Joe R. Lansdale wrote simply: "Ardath Mayhar writes damn fine books!"
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 5, 2018
Lords of the Triple Moons is written by Ardath Mayhar, a prolific author and poet from Texas. A blurb on the back of the book, written by none-other than the queen of modern sci-fi—Andre Norton—states that Ardath Mayhar’s work is something she reads over and over and finds great pleasure in. This piqued my interest.
Andre Norton herself is often listed as an inspiration—so who inspires the inspirer? I would like to know, and the stocky, bored-handsome young man on the cover and his oh-so sleek robotic bird looked like the perfect sort of campy, and I’d be lying if I denied that I kind of wanted the woman on the cover’s outfit.
Anyway, I bought Lords of the Triple Moons with few expectations other than a fun, quick romp. Despite being published in 1984—some years after pulp’s heyday—this is definitely a pulp novel.
The premise is straightforward: there are two races; one benevolent, wise, and old. The other is young, impulsive, and almost certainly human. A human, jealous of the power of the older-race, incites a coup and murders all of the old race except a young boy, whom he imprisons and plans to use to learn the secrets of the old race. This child promises revenge.
Since Mayhar is a poet, her command of the English language is masterful. The cadence of her sentences and paragraphs is smooth like butter. And despite the rather serious premise, her spectacular use of language allows room for a very natural feeling humor.
Regardless, though, I threw the book down in disappointment around page 34. Why, you ask? What Lords of the Triple Moons boasts in wordsmithing, it lacks in pacing and appropriate story-telling.
Between chapter two and chapter three, a decade passes. This massive leap in time is barely mentioned, which is confusing since both chapters take place in the same jail cell. I shrugged, and figured this was necessary to allow our child-protagonist to grow into our bored-yet-handsome young man protagonist.
Then he wakes up, free as a bird, on a mountain side. The sun shines on his face, the wind rustles his hair. How did he get there? Beats me; it happened between chapters. Even his plotting, his realization that he could maybe perhaps escape if he pulls his scheme off perfectly—even that happens between chapters.
How am I supposed to feel invested in this guy’s success when I never actually get to see him strive for anything?
Then he blows up some massive weaponry with a fancy arm-band, walks a bunch, and ends up deciding he needs to meet with the people still loyal to both him and his race: the plainsfolk. So he sets off.
—Chapter Break—
And when we rejoin him—you guessed it!—the emotional reunion is over and he sits amongst the aftermath of the party, taking in the mess and the passed-out revelers, and considers the future.
What the hell? I am vaguely curious if this book has a climax or if that, too, exists in the gap between chapters, but I’ll never know. Sometimes I put a book down, almost disappointed that I can’t muster up the interest to keep going (The Wave and the Flame comes to mind), but this is not one of those times.
I wonder if this particular Ardath Mayhar book is a fluke, though, and I'm willing to give her another go. If you happen to be an Ardath Mayhar fan, would you care to suggest a novel for me that best showcases her style?
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
Andre Norton herself is often listed as an inspiration—so who inspires the inspirer? I would like to know, and the stocky, bored-handsome young man on the cover and his oh-so sleek robotic bird looked like the perfect sort of campy, and I’d be lying if I denied that I kind of wanted the woman on the cover’s outfit.
Anyway, I bought Lords of the Triple Moons with few expectations other than a fun, quick romp. Despite being published in 1984—some years after pulp’s heyday—this is definitely a pulp novel.
The premise is straightforward: there are two races; one benevolent, wise, and old. The other is young, impulsive, and almost certainly human. A human, jealous of the power of the older-race, incites a coup and murders all of the old race except a young boy, whom he imprisons and plans to use to learn the secrets of the old race. This child promises revenge.
Since Mayhar is a poet, her command of the English language is masterful. The cadence of her sentences and paragraphs is smooth like butter. And despite the rather serious premise, her spectacular use of language allows room for a very natural feeling humor.
Regardless, though, I threw the book down in disappointment around page 34. Why, you ask? What Lords of the Triple Moons boasts in wordsmithing, it lacks in pacing and appropriate story-telling.
Between chapter two and chapter three, a decade passes. This massive leap in time is barely mentioned, which is confusing since both chapters take place in the same jail cell. I shrugged, and figured this was necessary to allow our child-protagonist to grow into our bored-yet-handsome young man protagonist.
Then he wakes up, free as a bird, on a mountain side. The sun shines on his face, the wind rustles his hair. How did he get there? Beats me; it happened between chapters. Even his plotting, his realization that he could maybe perhaps escape if he pulls his scheme off perfectly—even that happens between chapters.
How am I supposed to feel invested in this guy’s success when I never actually get to see him strive for anything?
Then he blows up some massive weaponry with a fancy arm-band, walks a bunch, and ends up deciding he needs to meet with the people still loyal to both him and his race: the plainsfolk. So he sets off.
—Chapter Break—
And when we rejoin him—you guessed it!—the emotional reunion is over and he sits amongst the aftermath of the party, taking in the mess and the passed-out revelers, and considers the future.
What the hell? I am vaguely curious if this book has a climax or if that, too, exists in the gap between chapters, but I’ll never know. Sometimes I put a book down, almost disappointed that I can’t muster up the interest to keep going (The Wave and the Flame comes to mind), but this is not one of those times.
I wonder if this particular Ardath Mayhar book is a fluke, though, and I'm willing to give her another go. If you happen to be an Ardath Mayhar fan, would you care to suggest a novel for me that best showcases her style?
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
May 9, 2023
Lords of the Triple Moons by Ardath MayharLords of the Triple Moons
My sister and I walked into Ardath's bookstore in Nacogdoches, TX in the mid '80's. We were selling mom's crocheted bookworms.
Ardath was really nice to us. She told us that she wrote books and I, very young at the time, told her I wanted to write, too, and had been writing stories.
She signed and gave me this copy of her book!
I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. A fantasy with a touch of science fiction. Names and places that sound like they came from old sci-fi books or Buck Rogers.
It's a fantasy realm where there are a race of people called "Lords." They command special powers, all of which aren't clearly defined. But they could project themselves great distances with their mind.
If one was locked in a dungeon, for example, with great concentration they could escape.
Or read minds, or see through the eyes of a mechanical Hawk like bird to scout the lands. Or reduce a group of enemies to dust (without their crystals) with their mind but not quite clear how.
The pacing is good, it moves along pretty quick with no real "dead spots." The entirety, whether in their voice or not, is written in the same bizarre voice that, at times, is hard to read and confusing. I had to go back a few times and re-read passages to understand what was happening.
The plainsfolk (those under the Lords), and the Lords themselves all sound and talk like religious fanatics and/or cults. They were surely the "good guys" but sounded like a cult.
I'm not disappointed in the story, it was just a very unusual world to be in for a while.
My sister and I walked into Ardath's bookstore in Nacogdoches, TX in the mid '80's. We were selling mom's crocheted bookworms.
Ardath was really nice to us. She told us that she wrote books and I, very young at the time, told her I wanted to write, too, and had been writing stories.
She signed and gave me this copy of her book!
I don't think I've ever read anything quite like it. A fantasy with a touch of science fiction. Names and places that sound like they came from old sci-fi books or Buck Rogers.
It's a fantasy realm where there are a race of people called "Lords." They command special powers, all of which aren't clearly defined. But they could project themselves great distances with their mind.
If one was locked in a dungeon, for example, with great concentration they could escape.
Or read minds, or see through the eyes of a mechanical Hawk like bird to scout the lands. Or reduce a group of enemies to dust (without their crystals) with their mind but not quite clear how.
The pacing is good, it moves along pretty quick with no real "dead spots." The entirety, whether in their voice or not, is written in the same bizarre voice that, at times, is hard to read and confusing. I had to go back a few times and re-read passages to understand what was happening.
The plainsfolk (those under the Lords), and the Lords themselves all sound and talk like religious fanatics and/or cults. They were surely the "good guys" but sounded like a cult.
I'm not disappointed in the story, it was just a very unusual world to be in for a while.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews