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Zorachus #1
Zorachus
Thirty-three years have passed since the fall of Mancdaman Zancharthus. Raised in the south, far from the festering streets of Khymir, his son Zorachus has become a Sharajnaghi Master of the Seventh Level.
Convinced Zorachus is a living saint--- as well as the greatest wizard who has ever lived--- the head of his order sends him back to the city of his birth to thwart the Priests of Tchernobog.
But Jhymir is maintained by Tchernobog himself as an argument against organic life, and as Zorachus discovers to his horror, it is far more convincing than he could ever have imagined...
Most dark fantasies are just kidding around, but this razor-fanged specimen is the real deal, ferocious and uncompromising, a power-dive into Hell. Long a favorite of gamers because of its well-worked out magic system, it delivers a swift succession of ferocious set-pieces and a mad mob of astonishing villains, all interspersed with explicit sex and philosophical argument. If you want highly original sword-and-sorcery that takes no prisoners, look no further.
Just be ready with the bandages.
Convinced Zorachus is a living saint--- as well as the greatest wizard who has ever lived--- the head of his order sends him back to the city of his birth to thwart the Priests of Tchernobog.
But Jhymir is maintained by Tchernobog himself as an argument against organic life, and as Zorachus discovers to his horror, it is far more convincing than he could ever have imagined...
Most dark fantasies are just kidding around, but this razor-fanged specimen is the real deal, ferocious and uncompromising, a power-dive into Hell. Long a favorite of gamers because of its well-worked out magic system, it delivers a swift succession of ferocious set-pieces and a mad mob of astonishing villains, all interspersed with explicit sex and philosophical argument. If you want highly original sword-and-sorcery that takes no prisoners, look no further.
Just be ready with the bandages.
322 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
111 people want to read
About the author
Mark E. Rogers
20 books15 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Mark E. Rogers
Mark E. Rogers was an American author and illustrator. Rogers, while a student at Pt. Pleasant Beach High School, wrote a short novel, The Runestone, which has since been adapted into Willard Carroll's 1990 film starring Peter Riegert and Joan Severance, although it remains unpublished, except as a numbered, signed limited edition chapbook published by Burning Bush Press in 1979. At the University of Delaware, he continued his interest in writing, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. He was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
He thereafter became a professional writer. His published works include the Samurai Cat
series; a number of novels, The Dead, Zorachus, and the latter's sequel, The Nightmare of God; a series of books known as Blood of the Lamb; and another series called The Nightmare of God. He has also published three art portfolios and a collection of his pin-up paintings, Nothing but a Smile.
Rogers often had heart problems, he died from apparent heart failure while hiking with his family in California's Death Valley.
source: Wikipedia
Please see: Mark E. Rogers
Mark E. Rogers was an American author and illustrator. Rogers, while a student at Pt. Pleasant Beach High School, wrote a short novel, The Runestone, which has since been adapted into Willard Carroll's 1990 film starring Peter Riegert and Joan Severance, although it remains unpublished, except as a numbered, signed limited edition chapbook published by Burning Bush Press in 1979. At the University of Delaware, he continued his interest in writing, graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. He was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa.
He thereafter became a professional writer. His published works include the Samurai Cat
series; a number of novels, The Dead, Zorachus, and the latter's sequel, The Nightmare of God; a series of books known as Blood of the Lamb; and another series called The Nightmare of God. He has also published three art portfolios and a collection of his pin-up paintings, Nothing but a Smile.
Rogers often had heart problems, he died from apparent heart failure while hiking with his family in California's Death Valley.
source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 17, 2007
The cover is astonishing in its cheesiness...at least my copy is. This is the same author who wrote Samurai Cat (yay) but in this book he has Issues. I mean Serious Issues. Thank god it's a fantasy book because if it weren't I would seriously wonder if he was out there killing people. It's a GRIM book. Philosophically one of the darkest I've read in a long time...I used to call George RR Martin the serial killer of high fantasy since he kills all his characters. Now I use that term to describe the main characters in this book and their mindsets. It sucks you in, but MAN - there will never be hollywood interest in this one
June 24, 2014
Wow' I forgot how disturbing this novel/series really was, The underlining philosophy and religious undertones follow the novel from start to finish, There are plenty use of demon's and magic, show's of power but the true and distressing struggle is a moral one.
Novel takes a very righteous man a "good" man and takes him from his known' world and throws him in the middle of a land where nothing is forbidden , the only pursuit is one of power and self pleasure, no matter how disgusting or immoral, quite the opposite , Most pleasure for the people of this city is found in performing all the major sin's to an excess.
But this is not the distressing part of the novel, its in the way that this "good man" is forced into becoming a part of his surrounding's , he is disgusted by everything he see's around him and the philosophy that this is just the way All men/women truly are, those who claim to dislike/disgusted with something, secretly desire's that very thing. Everything he believe's in starts to crumble under this society.
Finding it difficult to hold onto his beliefs, the few people he see's good quality's in are proven to be "just human" , he is forced to kill to protect himself, how to protect against everyone acting om their every desire, no hesitation no thought of right or wrong.
The novel outside of the story-line has some very valid point's and I think this is what has remained with me over these many years, the writing is very graphic, depictions of act's of moral corruption and perversion are tempered with the underlining philosophy and truth of the world we live in, people are committing these very act's all around us, Yes it is much more difficult to remain Good" make choices for the better for all than for the desire of self'
Back to the book ' The story is a page turner keep's you reading I received this from a friend Sat. afternoon and just finished it Monday after work, this book rock's, Dark very nasty city welcomes home its lost son, a religious , powerful and dedicated man of "god" fight's for not just his life and soul but for the very moral's that make him a good" man.
This novel will stay with you make you think about your choice's and pay you visits in your nightmare's.
http://www.amazon.com/Zorachus-Mark-E...
Novel takes a very righteous man a "good" man and takes him from his known' world and throws him in the middle of a land where nothing is forbidden , the only pursuit is one of power and self pleasure, no matter how disgusting or immoral, quite the opposite , Most pleasure for the people of this city is found in performing all the major sin's to an excess.
But this is not the distressing part of the novel, its in the way that this "good man" is forced into becoming a part of his surrounding's , he is disgusted by everything he see's around him and the philosophy that this is just the way All men/women truly are, those who claim to dislike/disgusted with something, secretly desire's that very thing. Everything he believe's in starts to crumble under this society.
Finding it difficult to hold onto his beliefs, the few people he see's good quality's in are proven to be "just human" , he is forced to kill to protect himself, how to protect against everyone acting om their every desire, no hesitation no thought of right or wrong.
The novel outside of the story-line has some very valid point's and I think this is what has remained with me over these many years, the writing is very graphic, depictions of act's of moral corruption and perversion are tempered with the underlining philosophy and truth of the world we live in, people are committing these very act's all around us, Yes it is much more difficult to remain Good" make choices for the better for all than for the desire of self'
Back to the book ' The story is a page turner keep's you reading I received this from a friend Sat. afternoon and just finished it Monday after work, this book rock's, Dark very nasty city welcomes home its lost son, a religious , powerful and dedicated man of "god" fight's for not just his life and soul but for the very moral's that make him a good" man.
This novel will stay with you make you think about your choice's and pay you visits in your nightmare's.
http://www.amazon.com/Zorachus-Mark-E...
September 24, 2018
The protagonist is raised by ascetic wizard-warriors and sent to a city that is avowedly evil. We get explicit detail of the torture, murder, cannibalism, and other disgusting crimes happening there. He's horrified by what he sees, but turns to the dark side after he spies on the wife of his dude-bro best friend (a barbarian warrior) as she has sex with another woman. Yes, that's right, watching two women perform cunnilingus flips him from a horrified observer of brutality, cruelty, and murder into someone who is literally willing to cut off someone's face to wear as a mask.
I bought a copy of this from author Mark Rogers at Lunacon back in 1989, because I really enjoyed his Samurai Cat parodies. After hearing him talk about his writing, and reading these books, it's clear that this guy suffers from homophobia so profound it qualifies as a derangement.
If you want to read fantasy action mixed with torture porn and deep discomfort with sex and/or 'so bad it's good' gone very bad, these two books are for you. Otherwise, you probably don't floss your teeth enough, so why not take care of that now, while it's on your mind?
I bought a copy of this from author Mark Rogers at Lunacon back in 1989, because I really enjoyed his Samurai Cat parodies. After hearing him talk about his writing, and reading these books, it's clear that this guy suffers from homophobia so profound it qualifies as a derangement.
If you want to read fantasy action mixed with torture porn and deep discomfort with sex and/or 'so bad it's good' gone very bad, these two books are for you. Otherwise, you probably don't floss your teeth enough, so why not take care of that now, while it's on your mind?
January 8, 2021
Woof. Now that was something.
I picked this book off my shelf on a whim, I wanted something like Conan, and settled on this as a gag, saying I'd pretend this was Zorn's origin story. It was written by a guy who wrote something called 'Samurai Cat'? How dark could it be?
Well.
Pretty fucking dark.
The book starts with Mancdaman Zorachus achieving the final rank of the Sherijnaghim, a powerful, religious sect of wizards. When Zorachus is called upon by the leader of the city of his birth, his boss-priest man says he should go, the Red Priesthood there is scaring Zorachus' pious friends. Begrudgingly he agrees to be sent to the Las Vegas of this world (a literal City of Sin) where sheltered Zoruchas is introduced to a world of vice, violence and villainy. Throughout he makes scant friends of the Kyhmairians but befriends some Kragehul (local barbarians) in an attempt to keep his brain straight. This doesn't work well.
As you can guess while reading, Zorachus falls in love was the female Kragehul, Asa, but their Red Priesthood messes with Zorachus and co. and soon, godly Zorachus descends into a madness filled with death and revenge, things he's forbidden from by his God.
This is a brutal Descent into madness story set in a very compelling fantasy world, with tight writing and pretty decent characters to help you along. The reading is not made easier with subject matter of the book. Violence, lust and religion are very main themes that are not lost once throughout.
The quick finish the the book was almost a shock. Two chapters from the end and I felt halfway through the story. Glad to find out there is a sequel novel. I will 100% be finishing the Saga of Mancdaman Zorachus in the future!
I picked this book off my shelf on a whim, I wanted something like Conan, and settled on this as a gag, saying I'd pretend this was Zorn's origin story. It was written by a guy who wrote something called 'Samurai Cat'? How dark could it be?
Well.
Pretty fucking dark.
The book starts with Mancdaman Zorachus achieving the final rank of the Sherijnaghim, a powerful, religious sect of wizards. When Zorachus is called upon by the leader of the city of his birth, his boss-priest man says he should go, the Red Priesthood there is scaring Zorachus' pious friends. Begrudgingly he agrees to be sent to the Las Vegas of this world (a literal City of Sin) where sheltered Zoruchas is introduced to a world of vice, violence and villainy. Throughout he makes scant friends of the Kyhmairians but befriends some Kragehul (local barbarians) in an attempt to keep his brain straight. This doesn't work well.
As you can guess while reading, Zorachus falls in love was the female Kragehul, Asa, but their Red Priesthood messes with Zorachus and co. and soon, godly Zorachus descends into a madness filled with death and revenge, things he's forbidden from by his God.
This is a brutal Descent into madness story set in a very compelling fantasy world, with tight writing and pretty decent characters to help you along. The reading is not made easier with subject matter of the book. Violence, lust and religion are very main themes that are not lost once throughout.
The quick finish the the book was almost a shock. Two chapters from the end and I felt halfway through the story. Glad to find out there is a sequel novel. I will 100% be finishing the Saga of Mancdaman Zorachus in the future!
May 7, 2012
The darkest fantasy book I have yet read. Zorachus a good and noble man is dropped into a pit of vice and violence, he finds his weak spot and falls and becomes the greatest adhearant of the dark gods. This book was considered so dark fantasy, that it was not in print for a number of years.Graphic violence, sex and dark images. NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED! The redeming feature of the books are their magic systems.
July 6, 2021
Rogers goes all-out in the depiction of Khymir as a decadent Evil Empire, and leans heavily into sexuality as its surface expression (mixed heartily with body horror and casual cruelty). This goes far beyond Star Wars's Galactic Empire bureaucracy into outright sickness; Khymir is a rotting fruit of dysfunctionality all the way through their society.
By the end, the descriptions and actions come as a relentless assault against the reader, and this tracks with Zorachus's own descent. It's never clear if this is a Greek-tragic descent borne by inherent character flaw, or a result of the influence of this profoundly unhealthy environment.
At the end, it feels like Zorachus is being set up for a Darth Vader-style redemption, but could also be an "evil that destroys evil" motif that will ultimately obliterate Khymir and its rot.
By the end, the descriptions and actions come as a relentless assault against the reader, and this tracks with Zorachus's own descent. It's never clear if this is a Greek-tragic descent borne by inherent character flaw, or a result of the influence of this profoundly unhealthy environment.
At the end, it feels like Zorachus is being set up for a Darth Vader-style redemption, but could also be an "evil that destroys evil" motif that will ultimately obliterate Khymir and its rot.
March 6, 2016
Everyone else seems to have summarized this book fairly well so I wont go into that. I personally didn't care for this story b/c of the graphic nature of most of the book. This story left absolutely no doubt about the villain's motives or sheer corruption. It's like watching a very graphic horror film, when the gory moments happen you can look away, but not with a written story like this. I have NEVER read another story with the magnitude of vileness and debauchery. It will take your breath away. Finally while I didn't like this book I did really enjoy the sequel Nightmare of God and you really need them together to grasp the whole story.
October 28, 2019
Z O R A C H U S
Poor characterization and strange pacing. It's not a good book by any standard, full of obscenity and nonsense. But... I think I gave it a lot of leeway because of the stupid name of the protagonist. Zorachus. I pronounced it as rhyming with "Srirachas" and voiced him in my head like a pro-wrestler. No regrets.
Poor characterization and strange pacing. It's not a good book by any standard, full of obscenity and nonsense. But... I think I gave it a lot of leeway because of the stupid name of the protagonist. Zorachus. I pronounced it as rhyming with "Srirachas" and voiced him in my head like a pro-wrestler. No regrets.
June 29, 2021
It sure is unique.
Subsequent generations would come out with gorier, more essentially evil, more self-destructive people than the Kymerians, but I'll simply put it this way:
Like it or hate it, a more boring author would have made Zorachus a redeemer.
He is. But not in the way I'd assumed. I'll have to give him that.
Subsequent generations would come out with gorier, more essentially evil, more self-destructive people than the Kymerians, but I'll simply put it this way:
Like it or hate it, a more boring author would have made Zorachus a redeemer.
He is. But not in the way I'd assumed. I'll have to give him that.
August 11, 2007
Wheres your breaking point? Zorachus finds out. A truely good, decent & pious man is submerged into a 'pit of vice' and finds out where he is weak. When he finds out, all hell breaks loose, and you dont want to be in his path. Probably the best of the magic/horror/fantasy books ever written.
August 19, 2012
Interesting book, about main character Zorachus (powerful, fighter with magic abilities with the help of magic rings)
Zorachus uses stances to focus his power. His magic rings blast things but also cause pain to his fingers if used. Magic drains him.
Book overall is ok, but writing style from Rogers could be better
Zorachus uses stances to focus his power. His magic rings blast things but also cause pain to his fingers if used. Magic drains him.
Book overall is ok, but writing style from Rogers could be better
Read
January 15, 2009A very thoughtful book about what it means to become / be evil
June 17, 2010
Super-intense, highly original heroic fantasy. Very very dark. A whole lot of sex, violence, and philosophy. The bad guys are particularly memorable. Atmospheric as hell but very fast-paced.
January 23, 2025
4.5 stars
It started out like a good old political fantasy story, with a magical monk setting out on a quest to infiltrate the evil city of his birth, in the name of all that is good (and overthrow his birthright?). But it was what happened to the captured pirate around chapter 5, that made me realize this book was not going to be like any other book I've read.
Warning not for the faint of heart, this book is probably one of the darkest I've ever read. If you can't handle reading about sexual assault, or extreme violence, and depictions of absolute depravity, this may not be the book for you. This is X rated
This book fits many genres, sword and sorcery, political fantasy, dark fantasy, grim dark before it was ever imagined. It even has strong philosophical tones. Can a good man withstand the oppressive influences of pure evil? Are any men good men?
The writing is absolutely fantastic, it so descriptive and visual, that you can clearly see what the author is trying to portray. It also has a really cinematic quality to it.
On one hand I'm shocked this author is not more widely known. On the other hand the subject matter is so dark it almost makes sense.
This book is a must read for fans of grim dark fantasy, and this may be the first true grim dark book ever written, even if at the time they labeled it dark fantasy.
It started out like a good old political fantasy story, with a magical monk setting out on a quest to infiltrate the evil city of his birth, in the name of all that is good (and overthrow his birthright?). But it was what happened to the captured pirate around chapter 5, that made me realize this book was not going to be like any other book I've read.
Warning not for the faint of heart, this book is probably one of the darkest I've ever read. If you can't handle reading about sexual assault, or extreme violence, and depictions of absolute depravity, this may not be the book for you. This is X rated
This book fits many genres, sword and sorcery, political fantasy, dark fantasy, grim dark before it was ever imagined. It even has strong philosophical tones. Can a good man withstand the oppressive influences of pure evil? Are any men good men?
The writing is absolutely fantastic, it so descriptive and visual, that you can clearly see what the author is trying to portray. It also has a really cinematic quality to it.
On one hand I'm shocked this author is not more widely known. On the other hand the subject matter is so dark it almost makes sense.
This book is a must read for fans of grim dark fantasy, and this may be the first true grim dark book ever written, even if at the time they labeled it dark fantasy.
Read
August 20, 2022I wish i had this cover, but the pulpy one is certainly fitting
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews