Grab Companions On The Road Constructed By Tanith Lee Viewable As Edition
Novellas
"Companions On The Road"
"The Winter Players" I wouldn't classify it as young adult or even children as other people seem to have done, it is not too complicated, and it reads easily, but definitely not something intended for children.
The world is not really detailed in depth, but feels familiar without being cliche, It's a nice change of pace to have some fantasy without all the info dumps, And as a reader you learn enough about the background to understand everything,
Short, but fun, The siege was over. The citadel of Avillis had burned, burned through the night, with its terrible Lord and his monstrous children in it, Nothing remained now but broken walls, charred stumps where trees had, grown, tattered lattices open to the sky, But at the heart of the palace the great Cup of Avillis stood untouched: pure gold, crusted with jewels each worth an emperor's ransom.
Small wonder that Kachil, common thief, should covet it, Or Feluce, dapper arrogant climber riches would mean much to him, But why did Havor of Taon, the hawk, join them to carry the cursed Cup away For it was Havor who found that the Chalice once stolen could not be lightly cast aside, even in horror and despair.
While always, inexorably, halfseen, slipping through shadows, shapes in the mind's eye, three phantom riders followed after it across the winterblasted plain,
This chilling tale of flight and inescapable pursuit rises to a confrontation of ghostly powers, Havor thought his story could have only one ending, but the spirit world can summon Forces of Light as well as Dark, I remember buying this book brand new from WH Smiths when I was a teen it was probably one of the first books I bought myself and one of my first fantasy stories the price on the back is.
oh, how things have changed!, Then I lent it to a friend who never gave it back, so when I saw a copy for sale second hand a few years ago I snapped it up.
From the back cover: The citadel of Avallis lies destroyed, its evil lord dead and there is loot aplenty for the victorious soldiers.
In a chill vault deep below the vanquished citadel, Havor of Taon and his companions discover the greatest treasure of Avallis a gold chalice encrusted with priceless jewels.
But as the three looters flee across the hostile countryside, they discover that the dark powers of Avallis are not so easily brushed aside
This is the beginning of the story:
“The night they took Avillis was a night of blood, and bloodred flame.
It was the last city this side of the Great River, the end of the Kings long autumn campaign, The trees were already stripped back and bare as old bones when the troops came marching from the South, the skies white with snowwaiting.
”
If you dislike that sort of prose you wont enjoy this story, If, like me, you do, then you may enjoy it immensely, Tanith Lee was an underrated writer, This novella my copy was less thanpages is a perfect little dark fantasy horror dark, not grimdark, Although it would probably be marketed as YA, its too good to be wasted on ungrateful teenagers if you can find a copy, add it to your TBR pile.
Five well deserved,
A plangent fantasy tale strong writing and heart, And this sums up exactly why I adore Tanith Lee, She is such an exceptionally clever writer that can make apage novella have the depth and complexity of any a great fantasy tome.
This classic fantasy quest begins with the burning of the city of Avaris, Commander to the king's army, Havor or Taon, resigns soon after, sickened, it would seem, by the pillaging of the city around him.
He leaves the burnt ruins of the city to fulfil the dying wish of a young soldier, to bequeath his impoverished family with his earnings upon his demise.
But on his departure from the city he is trailed by another of his soldiers and the conversing duo, wrapped up in only each other, find their gold stolen by a surviving member of the city's waning civilisation.
The thief,
upon threats of death, promises to lead the pair to untold treasures in return for his life and a third of the spoils.
This the pair do, but they leave the city with far more than gold as shadows on the horizon continue to dog their journey and haunt their dreams with the promise of death.
Like all of Lee's work, this was extraordinarily wellpenned piece, I not only read her writing but feel every one of my senses evoked by the sensational style, There is beauty to be found in every paragraph and it makes every one of her stories a joy to read, regardless of the genre or what the narrative contains.
But these things too are a joy to devour, Despite the seemingly simple storyline and the small cast of characters, there are untold wonders awaiting to be discovered amongst the limited pages of this book, that continue to feel fresh and innovative decades after its publication.
Tanith Lee writes beautifully, and these two stories are no exception to that rule,
The Story, . .
The first story is about three unlikely companions who steal a cursed chalice, Their fate is a harsh one, but perhaps there is redemption for one of them by the end of the long journey, The other my favourite is about a young priestess who follows a thief and is caught in the web of fate, destined to repeat her mistakes.
. . or is she
My Judgement, . .
These two stories are not your average runofthemill fantasy tales, but instead touch on largerthanlife themes such as fate, destiny and moral.
If you liked Tanith Lee's tales from the Flat Earth, then you'll probably also like these, even though these have nothing directly to do with the Flat Earth setting.
I know that I liked them, Красивата фантазия на непрежалимата Танит ни отвежда в една реалност, натежала от магия и безсърдечие, в свят на войни, и врагове, и липса на надежда в нещо, свързано с мир или спокойствие. Обсадата на непознат град е към края си. Победителите пишат историята, но не и преди да плячкосат и насилят като послушни добри завоеватели все пак имат нужда да се разтоварят от военния стрес, нали. По случайност се събира една разнолика група от оплискани до ушите с кръв мародери, които намират странното съкровище на вече бившите владетели на града прекрасна принцеса вещица, баща ѝ доста тъмен субект с влечение към некромантия, и брат ѝ местния Джейми Ланистър, обгърнато с вълни от проклятия и черна магия. И дори изпечени живи на клада и разкъсани на дребни парченца от диваците завоеватели, духовете на тези три същества с почти митичен статус не изчезват към светлината, а остават в мрака да мъстят на унищожителите си. Или поне на представителна извадка от тях, каквато се оказват тримата ни грабители.
Ястреб, котка и лисица благородник в изгнание, обикновен главорез и садистичен мошеник , започнали чужда война заради обещанието за богата плячка, стават жертва на триото демони, а смъртта идва толкова красиво Изтънчени илюзии, зловещи сънища наяве, ледена пустош без изход, поробеният народ, обичащ своето познато и постоянно зло, вместо непознатото и хаотично такова методи за екзотични мъчения не липсват. Трима съвсем обикновени наглед войника се възправят срещу отмъстителни и много разгневени полу богове. Ясно е на чия страна са шансовете и съдбата, но понякога нещо съвсем простичко, като това да спазиш обещанието пред мъртъв непознат, дава едно рамо напред в борбата срещу стихиите.
Красота, както винаги, щом излиза изпод перото на Танит Лий. Кратичка книжка, но толкова наситена и многоцветна, дълбока, омагьосваща и смразяваща до кости, че рита стабилно по кокалчетата която и да е гигантска поредица с все понадебеляващи части, очевидно писани от алчни, средно талантливи женици, напипали пулса на не особено придирчивата си публика, интересуваща се само от идентифициране на ниско ниво с героите на която и да е сага. Но Танит е съвсем друга бира, че даже вино отлежало, попило аромати и сенки от години сънища и още повече кошмари, намерили своя естствен път към белия лист. Красота в думите, красота в образите, красота в сюжета. Прелестна почивка от тежестта на приемливата посредственост, белязваща реалността ни. Мечтите са важни, повярвайте ми. .