Le contrat de la sorcière

Birthright #4

by John Gregory Betancourt, Prudence Bakouny (Translator)

En ce temps-là, tout allait bien à Grabentod.
Sabre au clair et rage au ventre, nous écumions les mers pour le compte du roi Ulrich, un fameux gaillard malgré son beau palais et sa noble dame. Puis les ennuis ont commencé. Une fois notre roi enlevé par des truands, il fallait bien payer sa rançon, non? Je ne sais plus qui a eu l'idée d'aller prendre une monnaie d'échange dans l'antre de la Sorcière, mais on a tous applaudi, même ceux qui avaient des crochets en guise de mains. Manque de chance, cette vieille harpie, mi-femme mi-serpent, cachait plus d'un tour dans son chaudron. Tu peux me croire, fiston, on en a bavé !

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons

246 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 18, 1996

About the author

John Gregory Betancourt is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and mystery novels as well as short stories. He has worked as an assistant editor at Amazing Stories and editor of Horror: The Newsmagazine of the Horror Field, the revived Weird Tales magazine, the first issue of H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror (which he subsequently hired Marvin Kaye to edit), Cat Tales magazine (which he subsequently hired George H. Scithers to edit), and Adventure Tales magazine. He worked as a Senior Editor for Byron Preiss Visual Publications (1989-1996) and iBooks. He is the writer of four Star Trek novels and the new Chronicles of Amber prequel series, as well as a dozen original novels. His essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications as Writer's Digest and The Washington Post.

Reviews

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nobody is probably EVER going to read this book, but it deserves way more stars than the ratings it has!!

While not a great piece of literature, this book is a lot of fun for someone looking for a quick and adventurous read. From goblins to the undead and LOTS of magic, this book is full of all the goodies of an epic fantasy novel.

I hated the ending though. Nothing was wrapped up, and it felt entirely rushed. It was almost like they were going to write a sequel, but it never happened.

[Lorewarden]

This was a short but engaging standalone novel in the Birthright campaign setting. In it, a small pirate kingdom's regent faces political challengers while the king is away, kidnapped by another kingdom. Various characters see progress to be made in their goals in the territory of an evil creature known as The Hag. It was an entertaining read, but but nothing really gets resolved - the novel felt more like the middle of a much larger story. Perhaps that larger political story is an important part of the Birthright campaign setting - I wouldn't know.

[Robert Furlong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because it looked nice and cheesy but I was honestly surprised. All-around well written and engaging book that makes me want to look up the rest of the series

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve never read anything in this world setting before and was curious about it. It’s fine. Nothing that blew me away or made me want to explore it more.

[Eric O · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books nobody's ever read. It shares the distinction of being one of my three most hated novels of all time. It's been many years since I read this, but the silliness of the entire story is burned into my memory.
The actual plot has nothing to do with what you read on the jacket, the "hag" is in it even less than her "contract," and not a whole lot gets resolved by the end. Maybe deadlines and miscommunication contributed to the flub, but I don't think much could have saved this from being a hilarious mess.
In my opinion, the only thing this book had going for it was the name of one of its characters: Candabraxis. Not the character himself, mind you - he didn't do much for me - but his name was something else.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of a handful of Birthright novels, released the same time as the game. This one's in an area near the home of some of my players' charcters. Seemed like something that should be researched, then.

Kinda blah, really.