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A Handful of Men #2
Upland Outlaws
This sequel to "The Cutting Edge" sees Shandie, the rightful Imperor, having escaped the clutches of his enemies, but the power-mad Zinixo has placed a magical substitute on the throne. Enter Colvin - the greatest concentration of magic Pandemia has ever known.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
27 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Dave Duncan
140 books591 followersOriginally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 6, 2017
For millenia, the peace of the continent of Pandemia has been upheld by a Protocol restricting the use of powerful magic, a covenant controlled by the four most powerful sorcerers in the realm and by the emperor of Imps in the aptly named capital city of Hub (the sorcerors have dominion over the East, North, West and South of Pandemia). As the third millenium is coming to a close, the Protocol is broken (see book one The Cutting Edge ) by a renegade sorcerer named Zinixo - your regular evil mastermind who for once succeeds in his plans with the help of an army of zombified magicians known as the Covin. Only a handful of men (and women) survive the cataclysm, and now have the unenviable task of bringing the tyrant down. Master Rap, the half-jotunn, half-faun proverbial stableboy turned hero from the original series ( A Man of His Word ) sums up the situation in a colourful way:
If you want a picture, it's more like a houseful of mice planning to mob the cat.
Still, the heroing business requires our handful of men (and women) to at least give it as try. We know from numerous epic fantasies and from sir Terry Pratchett that impossible odds are 100 percent sure to come true. Another outlaw, the beautiful princess in exile Eshiala, hits the nail right on the head:
A just cause is a nobler purpose than mere survival
So, the first order of business for the revolution is to define the noble cause Rap and his friends will use to rally the troops around their flag. We had a glimpse about the root issue in the first volume and it is spelled even more clearly now : Zinixo came to power by misusing Power, so what we need now is the Pandemia equivalent of the Magna Carta, a new Protocol, a new Bill of Rights that will restrain the abuses of magic and put in the checks and balances that will prevent the rise of another Zinixo for at least another millenia.
To compel loyalty with power was Zinixo's evil game; the good guys must not use magic for immoral purposes, however great the temptation. This impossible idealism was the heart of the new protocol.
In one of the most isolated and secret realms of Pandemia, the same ethical questions are played on a much more personal scale as a newly introduced character, the young pixie woman named Thaile, is brought to a magic university against her will, singled out because she has been gifted with a Word of Power.
They have brought her here against her will. They expected her cooperation, yet they had coerced her, and tricked her. Could anything demons might do be worse than that?
Having read two other major epic series by Duncan, and with half of this one under my belt, I feel confident in dubbing Dave Duncan as "the ethical fantasist" . Questions of good and evil and judging actions by their consequences abound in many other fantasy epics, but what sets im apart for me from other authors is a certain subtlety of argument and a very engaging way of putting the reader right in the middle of the hero's dillema : Is magic a tool of destruction, an irresistible temptation to amass Power? Or can it be brought under control and put to good use?
Judging the book only by its synopsis, nothing much apparently happens in this middle-of-the-series episode : Zinixo quietly consolidates his power and the rebels are scattered to the four corners of Pandemia to search for allies. Lots of travelling and character building and little action (at least until the explosive last fifty pages or so). I could even grumble a bit about some very improbable decisions that were more plot driven than credibly taken. . Nevertheless, the journey was a fast paced one for me due to the already established narrative talents of Duncan, his wicked sense of humor and due to my keen interest in the fate of the 'handful' of characters in play. I noticed with other series that use frequent jumps in the POV narrator that I end up looking forward to a return of some and dreading the chapters narrated by other POV's, George R R Martin included. This time, I liked them all, most especially the couple of scoundrels that got drafted into the revolution, like signifer Ylo or thief Thinal. Thaile, one of the most intriguing and enchanting POV's here only comes on scene in the second half of the book. The fun twin heirs of Krasnegar, Gath and Kadie, 'only' have two or three scenes. And so on ...
What I'm trying to say here is that I wouldn't have minded if the book was twice as long and offered me a chance to spend more time in such good company. It's high praise from a reader who gave up on a couple of very good doorstopper epics because I felt the authors were rambling / padding their stories with unnecessary details ("Wheel of Fortune" is probably the best example of a series I would like to finish one of these days). Luckily for me, I have the next episode already on my book reader.
June 16, 2025
He didn’t know what good he could do. He had come too late. Or else the millennium had arrived a little early.
Enjoyable four-part fantasy in a Roman Empire analog universe with Middle Earth races. Magic. Fractured, competing tales of apparently disparate quests. A more personal and less violent take on epic fantasy. (Probably not four stars on an absolute scale, but is so well told.)
“Never jump to unwarranted conclusions! The pool showed me Doctor Sagorn but the result was that we met [redacted] and the warlock. Sagorn was a sort of signpost. The boy may just be another.”
The usual misdirection and crossed signals among the dispersed cast. Having set the boulder rolling, Duncan explores side characters and issues—all of which will undoubtedly tie together in Part Four. Again the pace slows to a crawl as he squeezes one book into two between the series open and close.
Loss of life she might accept, but loss of love was unforgivable.
Enjoyable four-part fantasy in a Roman Empire analog universe with Middle Earth races. Magic. Fractured, competing tales of apparently disparate quests. A more personal and less violent take on epic fantasy. (Probably not four stars on an absolute scale, but is so well told.)
“Never jump to unwarranted conclusions! The pool showed me Doctor Sagorn but the result was that we met [redacted] and the warlock. Sagorn was a sort of signpost. The boy may just be another.”
The usual misdirection and crossed signals among the dispersed cast. Having set the boulder rolling, Duncan explores side characters and issues—all of which will undoubtedly tie together in Part Four. Again the pace slows to a crawl as he squeezes one book into two between the series open and close.
Loss of life she might accept, but loss of love was unforgivable.
December 25, 2015
I swear to God that nearly 50% of this book is all exposition. Also, Thaïle doesn't even appear in the book until over 50% in. And yet somehow I still manage to enjoy the hell out of it. Since I don't know where my copy of The Cutting Edge went, I'm glad that at least I do have my copy of the book where they explain Zinixo's conspiracy.
I repeat that I absolutely adore the fact that Dave Duncan wrote this series because he had Rap do something really morally justifiable in Emperor and Clown and then realized it would completely destroy the world's economy so that another series was necessary. Oh, Dave Duncan heroes. The ones in this series are generally more likable than Rap was in the first series, though.
My suspicion about Dave Duncan is that he really enjoys writing about terrible screwed-up societies and fully understands how they get that way, but is worried that people won't like the books if he just writes about characters who are inured to how terrible their societies are.
I repeat that I absolutely adore the fact that Dave Duncan wrote this series because he had Rap do something really morally justifiable in Emperor and Clown and then realized it would completely destroy the world's economy so that another series was necessary. Oh, Dave Duncan heroes. The ones in this series are generally more likable than Rap was in the first series, though.
My suspicion about Dave Duncan is that he really enjoys writing about terrible screwed-up societies and fully understands how they get that way, but is worried that people won't like the books if he just writes about characters who are inured to how terrible their societies are.
February 22, 2016
Being the 2nd of 4 (or the 6th of 8), the narrative is left with everybody falling off a cliff and hoping that a miraculous parachute will save them. Well written. Slower paced - especially when dealing with the pixies. The edition of the book that I purchased did not a have a "map" of Pandemia included (a map would help those who had not read the previous 4 books). As in the other editions, the editing was very poor - many typos. Didn't really detract from the story. Characterizations were very well done - including Eigaze and her never-ending store of chocolates!
January 2, 2017
As always, Dave Duncan delights with an engrossing story. The second in the series, our group of heros is split as they strive to survive the magical take over of the Empire. Each group rides headlong into danger with goblins, sorcerers, and evil humans. Definitely not wanting to reach the end of each book but delving into the next helps with withdrawal symptoms.
November 16, 2015
Fabulous instalment in the series. Things get steadily worse for the heroes, and minor victories seem to only set them up for a bigger fall by the end of the book. Excellent read, diving straight into the next!
November 17, 2010
The pieces are falling into place and yet I can't see precisely where everything will end up. Every mid-series book by this man is damn good indeed, though; and this is no exception. halfway there!
March 1, 2018
I started to read this book just after i finished „the cutting edge”. My biggest problem at the time was that the first chapters just repeated the story from the previous book trying to dump as much information as possible in the quickest form. Fair enough. It was boring but is usually necessary to remind the reader of what happened. I decided to give the book a rest and come back to it much later (in this case two years later).
On a second read I had no clue what was going on. What is an "imp" or a "signifier"? Who are all those people that weren't introduced? This sequel not only continues a story from the previous book but also ties to an entire other series which the author assumes I remember well. Unfortunately this is not the case. I pity as apparently I really liked the previous series. Again I'm finding this book unreadable and giving up.
On a second read I had no clue what was going on. What is an "imp" or a "signifier"? Who are all those people that weren't introduced? This sequel not only continues a story from the previous book but also ties to an entire other series which the author assumes I remember well. Unfortunately this is not the case. I pity as apparently I really liked the previous series. Again I'm finding this book unreadable and giving up.
June 14, 2021
It lost my review! I wish the assumption was to save a draft.
Anyway.
This is a relisten.
I am finding Inos verging on too stupid to live. She has forgotten all her words of power, which should, as people forget them or die off, do something. Perhaps her faculty is for stupidity.
She has a prescient son. Does she listen? Of course not. She ignores his attempts to tell her important things. She decides he’s just foolish. She doesn’t pay attention when he tries to tell her something.
I realize that a plot development required her to be in the goblin camp, but does she have to be so stupid?
Anyway.
This is a relisten.
I am finding Inos verging on too stupid to live. She has forgotten all her words of power, which should, as people forget them or die off, do something. Perhaps her faculty is for stupidity.
She has a prescient son. Does she listen? Of course not. She ignores his attempts to tell her important things. She decides he’s just foolish. She doesn’t pay attention when he tries to tell her something.
I realize that a plot development required her to be in the goblin camp, but does she have to be so stupid?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2021
Summary: Enjoyed this as well though the outlook is looking increasingly bleak ... not sure where its going, but really engaging characters a huge premise with lots of complexities a great plot and a very readable writing style. Recommended
Plotline: Multiple threads, some get joined some don't (yet) but the whole thing just works
Premise: Complex and huge, interesting magic, love it
Writing: great characters simple, readable
Ending: Great doom and gloom (again)
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: Multiple threads, some get joined some don't (yet) but the whole thing just works
Premise: Complex and huge, interesting magic, love it
Writing: great characters simple, readable
Ending: Great doom and gloom (again)
Pace: Never a dull moment!
May 5, 2019
A good followup to 'Cutting Edge' as it continues the story of Shandie seeking to win back his throne and the adventures of his allies. The characters remain top-notch along with all the writing.
The story will continue through two more books, which unfortunately I'll have to purchase before I have the pleasure of reading them!
The story will continue through two more books, which unfortunately I'll have to purchase before I have the pleasure of reading them!
October 2, 2018
It was a chore to finish. SO boring. Hoping the next two books pick up.
April 7, 2020
Does a great job of juggling a lot of storylines, although that means that no one gets as much screen time as I'd like.
May 19, 2022
See review of The Cutting Edge
November 23, 2023
(11/23/23)
3 stars
Pretty average.
3 stars
Pretty average.
July 22, 2008
Genre: High Fantasy
This is the second book in the _A Handful of Men_ series, it continues where the last one left off (actually it continues slightly before that - re-telling the last scene of the first book from a different perspective; slightly repetitive, but interesting :-) ). Surprisingly, given the structure of the prequel series, this book (like _The Cutting Edge_ before it) is still mostly set-up. Stuff starts happening, but not at nearly the rate I was expecting.
This is the second book in the _A Handful of Men_ series, it continues where the last one left off (actually it continues slightly before that - re-telling the last scene of the first book from a different perspective; slightly repetitive, but interesting :-) ). Surprisingly, given the structure of the prequel series, this book (like _The Cutting Edge_ before it) is still mostly set-up. Stuff starts happening, but not at nearly the rate I was expecting.
April 18, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
September 30, 2012
Another fantastic read from the master!
January 5, 2013
As expected with the second book, things keep getting worse for all concerned. Moves along nicely.
February 24, 2013
Liking this follow up to the first series much better.
July 2, 2013
This is an awesome series!!!
July 21, 2021
5 stars, which is better than the last time I reread it.🍾
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews