Necromancer Nine

Land of the True Game #2

by Sheri S. Tepper

Some will be kings, some will be sorcerers, and some pawns in the real lives of those who live the magical chess game on True Life. But one child is wreaking havoc; he can be any player he likes and threatens to destroy the game forever.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Young Adult

189 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Sheri Stewart Tepper was a prolific American author of science fiction, horror and mystery novels; she was particularly known as a feminist science fiction writer, often with an ecofeminist slant.

Born near Littleton, Colorado, for most of her career (1962-1986) she worked for Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood, where she eventually became Executive Director. She has two children and is married to Gene Tepper. She operated a guest ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

She wrote under several pseudonyms, including A.J. Orde, E.E. Horlak, and B.J. Oliphant. Her early work was published under the name Sheri S. Eberhart.

Reviews

[Neil Hepworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Huh. Alrighty then.

So, our intrepid hero, Peter, doesn’t do nearly as much growing in this novel as the previous. He spends much of his time either alone, or with Mavin Manyshaped, who is not a very interesting character - not at all. And the world Peter traveled in this book felt more haphazard this time around, too. Between the “rape village”, and the caricatures that inhabit The Blot, I felt that Tepper was going for shock value without a whole lot of reason for doing so.

As far as that ending goes...

While I appreciated that Tepper pulled back the curtain from her world, I wish she would have let the reader spend more time with what we thought was reality. Then, perhaps the unveiling at the end would have been more grand, allowing us to feel with the characters that reality was crumbling around them, but as it was, it felt flat. I loved the world she created in King's Blood Four, and I wanted more of it. Instead, I got...something else...something two-headed and molesting itself (that wasn’t sarcasm - that character really exists, and I don’t know why...)

Certainly the novel ended with a strong enough cliffhanger to make me read the third book, but I was glad this particularly story only covered 180 pages.

[Jane Jago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter begins to realise his potential

[Economondos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely read King's Blood Four first. This book needs the background from the prior novel.

Good, standard fantasy fare. Nice twist near the end with the origin of the magicians.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a while, I thought that the book suffered from the “second book in a trilogy disease”. Peter was being a teenager. Peter went somewhere. Peter went somewhere again. And again... and again. (Still wonderfully written, though.) Then we started veering off into sci-fi territory and things got really exciting. So I ended up gulping Necromancer Nine down, more or less :-)

[K H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. Some parts of this just didn’t age well. Dnf at page 130 out of 175. Reducing the first books rating to a 2 since parts I had hoped would come to fruition did not.

Of the things I hated:

First the rape in Betand:

A woman in Betand says she has to have sex with Peter even though she doesn’t want to because she is not currently pregnant. This is framed as a positive experience for her as Peter is a good lover.

Then ableism, again:

Upon seeing scarring on her legs, one of the characters became ‘mad’ when 10 years of imprisonment and rape didn’t result in madness. It is also said at the end of the book that there is no way she can work through this trauma in a way in which she’d be able to have joyful consensual sex. This may be true for some survivors of sexual assault, but I felt it was an off colour remark/assumption considering she just became free of her imprisonment.

There is also an evil obese character and an evil attached set of twins who get the following commentary:
“One could not exist in those shapes without becoming compressed, warped, envenomed.”


In addition:
There is no character development this far in and no world building that matters (in that we’ll probably never see the new characters or settings again I would assume since we haven’t seen Yarrel or Silkhands or Chance in this book).

Stuff I did like:

I liked Mavin and how she didn’t feel tied to her former lover.

Some characters have commentary about privilege/relations of knowledge but that’s not carried into Peter’s inner commentary (ex. Riddle on children not being taught how to defend themselves in the hope that ignorance will keep them from ever having to defend themselves: “I have even heard old Gamesmen speak with tears in their throat of the ‘innocence’ of youth. ‘Innocence’ indeed. They should say arrant ignorance and be done with it.”). In example, in Peter’s interactions with systemic problems of rape in Betand where none of the women in the town have a choice over who they marry, Peter sees himself as a saviour for helping one woman partially escape that fate.

Overall I will not be continuing this series and will be hesitant to pick up anymore of Tepper’s work.

[Athena Beanbowl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was really weird. It began well where it picked up right after the events of the first book. Then, Peter set out on his own adventure and there was a whole thing about this cursed town where a child needed to be born to break a curse, so the law of the land permitted all visiting men to sleep with the women of the town. Then, he used his magic knowledge to increase his sexual prowess. Instead of being a hero and breaking the curse and saving the women, Sheri S. Tepper decided to explore dubious consent and sexuality before breaking the curse anyway right after impregnating a young girl.

The middle portion till the end explored a whole lot of unique powers, terrain, and new characters. It was a lot. The genre expands to sci-fi at this point. The evil monster characters are exactly as disgusting and offensive as they would ever need to be.

My favorite part was the very last chapter when all their answers have already been given, and all the loose ends are tied up. I loved to know where all the characters were at the very end. I really appreciate Peter's relationship with his friend, Yarrel. It was rewarding to see them reconnect.

I have to say, Peter loving and saving Yarrels lost and enslaved sister was a little weird, but the state of the pawn women is dire in this world. The bar is in gamesmen hell.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm... a disappointment after the first book (King's Blood Four) which I really enjoyed. This one lurched into sci-fi and became a lot more "procedural" with almost none of the unusual quirky trimmings that so distinguished book#1. 2.5 Stars which I should really round down to 2, but have generously awarded 3 purely due to afterglow of book#1's 4 Stars. We are now faced with a messy amalgam of fantasy and sci-fi for book#3, which I probably will read, but not in desperate hurry...

[Onefinemess · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a crazy book. To say anything about the ending is tough without spoilers...it's 'on brand' for Tepper, I think? But definitely not where I was expecting an early 80s fantasy to go, I should have known better!

Not a bad read, pretty quick and, in true 80s fashion, almost never slow. Things chop chop along no rambling descriptions, etc. Curious to see how it all ends.

[Jonathan Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvelous! This second book focuses on world building and reveals the underpinnings of the IP. Peter gets another rollicking adventure and we get to see the mysterious Magicians and the revelations of the worlds beginning. Tepper tells a great story and shows us she is a clever world builder as well. Highly recommend

[Kiwi Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this must be my fifteenth or so reading, I remain awed at Tepper’s worldbuilding, at the craft of her writing, her inventiveness. The world of the True Game evolves into greater and greater complexity as its young protagonist grows.

[JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid second entry in the series. Much weirder than I remember it and Tepper does a great job in making you figure out the twist on your own. Show, not tell indeed.

[Kees Witteman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice
2 down 7 to go

[Steven]

The ISBN 0-441-56852-1 on the book brings up Necromancer by Gordon R. Dickson on Goodreads!

[John Loyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A year has passed since the Great Game at Bannerwell and the end of King's Blood Four. Peter tells Himmagery and Windlow that he needs to search for his mother. So he leaves the Bright Demesne to go to Schooltown and talk with Mertyn. After an adventurous journey he reaches Schooltown and Mertyn gives him a cryptic note on how to find Mavin. He first needs to go to where the people fear the unborn. It turns out this is straight forward, it's a particular town. Riddle the immutable knows of it and accompanies Peter until their paths diverge. Peter then searches for the next part of the clue, but in the meantime does some good, which could be a story by itself.

There are some more adventures, "befriend the shadows" and "beware of friends," before he reached the land of the shape shifters and has another adventure. He finds Mavin, they discuss the problems and set out to the land of the Magicians.

I loved the flow of the story. How every one or two chapters was a complete novelette until they got to the land of the magicians and wrapped up this second book in the trilogy. The character of Peter is really likable. For him it wasn't enough that he escaped from the Gifters with his life, he was disappointed he couldn't help the others that were enslaved.

Necromancer Nine raised the story a notch. Peter may be the only character that gets fully developed, but it's all we need. Each of the little stories within is interesting and leaves us with a vicarious sense of accomplishment. Upon finishing book two of The True Game I immediately started Wizard's Eleven.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book at a second hand store but hadn't had a chance to read it. I love Sheri S. Tepper! She has a fantastic mind and is a delightful storyteller. This book is a sequel to "King's Blood Four" and I enjoyed it more than the first. She isn't an author who typically does sequels and trilogies, at least in her later works. I am reading her early stuff now, since I've read all of her other books in her SF genre. Peter, the main character, continues to develop with the help of the Game pieces and in this story is in search of his mother, Mavin Manyshaped. Mavin is a fantastic shapeshifter who is quite famous but not flawless as she reminds her son. I love the post apocalyptic scenarios that Tepper creates for us and the ways in which tradition continues, even when it doesn't make any sense! The reasons the "signtists [scientists:] and Searchers [researchers:]" came to this new world eventually are brought to light in Peter's adventure to help two friends. The religious zealotry is fascinating and makes you wonder about your own unquestioned faith. Well, more likely those who have questioned it already, otherwise they probably wouldn't be reading Tepper! Right after this posting I'm going in search of the next book. I don't think I have the patience to look in all the second hand bookstores!

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our slightly-more-mature hero strikes out, disguised as a Necromancer (not entirely disguised - since the discovery of a unique set of miniature game pieces which hold the spirits of eleven historical ‘gamesmen’, Peter can shape-shift into these types of magic users and access their powers.)

Got ahead of myself a little there - he does actually have to pretend before he finds the pieces. This book made me daydream a lot about a miniatures combat tie-in. Also Tepper manages not to make it annoying that her hero has the Greatest Power Ever. Probably because he doesn’t always know how to use it, and there are characters represented in his magic powers.

Oh the minor character names, sometimes, tho! Riddle. Silkhands. Dazzle. No one outright named Evil McEvil, but it’s a close one.

We learn more about the world in general, including cute non-human inhabitants.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was much more fun and readable than the first book in the trilogy, but it had some problematic bits about women's roles and disabled people--the latter gratuitous and offensive enough that had they not been extremely brief throwaway lines, I would have put the book down.

One thing's for sure: This is not the Sheri S. Tepper of her more recent books! It's hard to recognize anything of her style or her values here. Still a really neat little fantasy/sci fi journey with some interesting twists.

[J L's Bibliomania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Necromancer Nine, the 2nd book in the trilogy about Peter, was weaker than the first book in the series.
Unfortunately the beginning contains a sexual awakening scene which is just explicit enough that I will not be handing these books to my newly-turned 11 year old. Without the implications of rape/forced sex, the rest of the fare in the books is appropriate to middle-grade readers and shows touches of the spectacular writer that Sheri S. Tepper becomes.

[Andy Bird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. This book is the middle book of a trilogy, you cannot really read it as a standalone, and in many ways you have to judge it as part of the trilogy. Therefore the comments from the first book also apply to this one. In its own right, this book holds its own, it does not slow down as some middle book sometimes do, and it moves, and expands, the story along nicely. If you liked the first book then this is a must.

[Carole O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The further into the book I got the more I enjoyed it, forget magicians, these game masters are the real deal, they are able to shape shift into any thing they want too, human or animal.

As young people they are given wooden figures, they use these for different talents, later in the book you find out how these wooden figures come into being and it is not what you expect.

[Rebecca DeLaTorre]

I adored this creepy little book when I was a pre-teen in the late eighties. I never found any of the sequels to the series and have often wondered what became of the the characters. I've finally ordered them from Amazon and eagerly await returning to this universe.

[Joshua Castleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
The ending really saved this from being a mediocre book. Some of the ideas that pulled together at the end were really fun and interesting. If the whole book had been about those things, or with other things like it, easily a 4-4.5 star story.

[Drini Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat slow, but still quite interesting. The most annoying thing is that the characters are shallow, and that it is somewhat difficult to understand the rules of the 'game', even if you've read the series. But overall, I enjoyed reading it and I liked how easy it was to read!

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sheri Tepper is a vrey good writer and I just loved this series.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as into this series as some of her other work I've read.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

#2 glad I have third handy!

[Bogdan Pantea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice unexpected sci-fi twist. Some characters are poorly developed (like the main villain), but you don't really notice it. The world where this series takes place is just amazing.

[Bracicot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book in the True Game series. A little slower than the first and third, but still excellent.

[Tim Weakley]

Really enjoying the development of Peter's talent. And the blues!