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Swords of Raemllyn #1
To Demons Bound
Share the adventure!The long-awaited return of TO DEMONS BOUND, the first volume in the SWORDS OF RAEMLLYN series by Robert E Vardeman and Geo W Proctor brings you Davin Anane and his giant other-worldly friend Goran One-Eye in their battle to hold back gathering dark powers. Davin's lover, Lijena, is possessed by a fearsome demon that forces her to commit unspeakable acts, but can anyone save her from her fate when the Faceless Ones ride?TO DEMONS BOUND is a stirring tale of magicks and bravery, treachery and loyalty set in a thrilling new fantasy universe. Experience it now!
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 27, 2021
The atomic components of the book are completely predictable. A clever rogue is rousted from his lover's bed by jackbooted thugs in order to perform a dangerous task on behalf of the head of the city's underworld (who lives in the sewers...the cost of real estate must be murderous). He has a Fahfrd-and-Grey-Mouser relationship with a fellow rogue, and they both have deep dark secrets of obvious plot hook material.
But despite being composed of extremely recognizable and well-worn pieces, and despite going "well yes of course" to every new development thrown at me, I really couldn't say where all of this was headed, even at a base level. The entire book is the preliminary work for the rest of the series, and until the last ten pages I wasn't even sure what the rest of it would be about.
The tone of it whipsaws from a lighthearted roguish adventure very early on to an extremely grim section where the heroine is viciously brutalized--not in excruciating detail but more than I wanted to read--to the rogues back again going about their business, with intimations of an entirely independent plot line, and finally the two threads crash back together and the reader realizes that this was, is, or will be a story of high adventure (possibly with some political intrigue and perhaps with world-changing sorcery).
Maybe the series at large or at least the omnibus edition has something, but considered on its own, this book isn't much and doesn't work hard to sell the reader on the rest.
I can sort of see where the authors were going with the violence against the heroine--a trauma that motivates her for vengeance and starts her transformation into a badass--but I think it was handled improperly. The threat of that violence hanging over the character would have been more in keeping with the tone they were going for. As it stands, the time of her imprisonment and brutalization is a dark, unpleasant lump in the middle of the book.
But despite being composed of extremely recognizable and well-worn pieces, and despite going "well yes of course" to every new development thrown at me, I really couldn't say where all of this was headed, even at a base level. The entire book is the preliminary work for the rest of the series, and until the last ten pages I wasn't even sure what the rest of it would be about.
The tone of it whipsaws from a lighthearted roguish adventure very early on to an extremely grim section where the heroine is viciously brutalized--not in excruciating detail but more than I wanted to read--to the rogues back again going about their business, with intimations of an entirely independent plot line, and finally the two threads crash back together and the reader realizes that this was, is, or will be a story of high adventure (possibly with some political intrigue and perhaps with world-changing sorcery).
Maybe the series at large or at least the omnibus edition has something, but considered on its own, this book isn't much and doesn't work hard to sell the reader on the rest.
I can sort of see where the authors were going with the violence against the heroine--a trauma that motivates her for vengeance and starts her transformation into a badass--but I think it was handled improperly. The threat of that violence hanging over the character would have been more in keeping with the tone they were going for. As it stands, the time of her imprisonment and brutalization is a dark, unpleasant lump in the middle of the book.
August 30, 2021
I’ve read the entire series before and wanted to revisit them, reading them book by book instead of as 3 trilogies. In my memory it is a great collection of small adventures with clever little plots, great world building and magic in an ever expanding scope without losing sight of the small scale that makes these shine.
To Demons Bound is a rough start of what I otherwise remember to be a light, humorous and well written fantasy. While mostly Sword&Sorcery in its set-up, it takes a lot from other sub-genres too, with this first installment especially venturing into the Grimdark.
While I do enjoy this in general, it was not what I was looking for in this read and the abuse of the female main character Lijena is jarring, horrid and nasty. Among these are rape, subjugation and enslavement which are presented as characterization of the villains but mostly serve in hardening and building her character. This is all a solid foundation for the large and heroic role she has to play later on, but it is a very sour apple to bite through to get to there.
I did not enjoy these frankly appalling passages which cast dark shadows on the otherwise nice rogueish and high magical themes and decent world building.
With the knowledge it gets much better along the way I’ll continue reading these, but I can well see this not being for many modern readers and maybe I too have outgrown this sort of thing; we’ll see.
To Demons Bound is a rough start of what I otherwise remember to be a light, humorous and well written fantasy. While mostly Sword&Sorcery in its set-up, it takes a lot from other sub-genres too, with this first installment especially venturing into the Grimdark.
While I do enjoy this in general, it was not what I was looking for in this read and the abuse of the female main character Lijena is jarring, horrid and nasty. Among these are rape, subjugation and enslavement which are presented as characterization of the villains but mostly serve in hardening and building her character. This is all a solid foundation for the large and heroic role she has to play later on, but it is a very sour apple to bite through to get to there.
I did not enjoy these frankly appalling passages which cast dark shadows on the otherwise nice rogueish and high magical themes and decent world building.
With the knowledge it gets much better along the way I’ll continue reading these, but I can well see this not being for many modern readers and maybe I too have outgrown this sort of thing; we’ll see.
March 28, 2018
Wanted something light as a palette-cleanser after a lot of study-reading. Had enjoyed other sword and sorcery works by Rober Vardeman, but found this a bit flat, and unforgiveably rapey.
May 27, 2018
A promising start
Had read War of Powers years ago and not being able to find it on Kindle read this in the hope of more of the same. Not in the same league but with promise of character growth and interesting back story that promises more however there does seem to be a lot more in the series which may lead to it being more years until I read the second...
Had read War of Powers years ago and not being able to find it on Kindle read this in the hope of more of the same. Not in the same league but with promise of character growth and interesting back story that promises more however there does seem to be a lot more in the series which may lead to it being more years until I read the second...
June 19, 2019
I picked this up for a quid because I remembered this as a pretty light-hearted swords and sorcery adventure, but it turns out that it's actually very dark indeed. Not an enjoyable read at all.
January 12, 2021
Fun fantasy, Swords of Raemllyn series. 1 of 6.
November 2, 2015
When I read anything by Robert E Vardeman or Victor Milan, I can't help but comparing it with The War of Powers, parts 1 and 2. Both are for me, amazing reads, and sadly they haven't been bettered. Ever. To Demons Bound doesn't threaten that dominance, sadly. Not that it's a bad book. We follow Davin and his sidekick Goran one eye as they seek to kidnap, then rescue, then follow a mysterious beauty, their destinies all intertwined. You can see the ingredients (fighting, magic, wenching) and writing style that made War of Powers so unbelievably good, but this one kind of misses the mark. The problem with this one, for me, is that it's over written, too much detail, too much setting the scene, and not enough action. Some would say a very fine point, but one that makes all the difference to an enjoyable read. So, close, but no cigar, and sadly I'm not inclined to follow the rest of the series this time.
January 30, 2024
This is a very solid work of S&S fiction, with a major caveat. The major caveat is that the main female protagonist is treated like shit throughout. She's kidnapped, traded, raped, brutalized, possessed and humiliated. I'm hoping she gets to take her revenge at some point. She deserves it.
What I like most is how organic the plot is. Things just kind of effortlessly flow from one moment to the next. This is part one of a six part series, but by the end the major plot thread is still only really being hinted at, and I really can't wait to see where it goes.
It's pretty well written, and much better plotted than Vardeman's Jade Demon series.
What I like most is how organic the plot is. Things just kind of effortlessly flow from one moment to the next. This is part one of a six part series, but by the end the major plot thread is still only really being hinted at, and I really can't wait to see where it goes.
It's pretty well written, and much better plotted than Vardeman's Jade Demon series.
March 6, 2016
Enjoyed it from the beginning. The two main characters, Davin Anane and Goran One-Eye, are similar to Lieber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. There is a bit of humor to the story but it reads like you would imagine a sword and sorcery or heroic fantasy story would. There is action, sex, loot and magic galore. Plus it has eight sequels. The biggest downside is finding all the titles in paperback. Thankfully because of ebooks you never have to hunt them down.
March 24, 2013
I read this as an anthology
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews