Imatge de l'autor

Dave Duncan (1933–2018)

Autor/a de The Gilded Chain

84+ obres 13,717 Membres 281 Ressenyes 39 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Dave Duncan was born in Scotland in 1933. He graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 1955 and moved to Canada. He worked for 31 years as a geologist in the petroleum industry. He started writing novels in 1984 and became a full-time author in 1986. He has written over 40 novels including mostra'n més the series The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word, A Handful of Men, The King's Blades, The Great Game, Years of Longdirk, King's Daggers, and Seventh Sword. He has also written under the names Sarah B. Franklin and Ken Hood. (Bowker Author Biography) mostra'n menys

Inclou aquests noms: Ken Hood, Dave Duncan, David J. Duncan

Inclou també: Sarah B. Franklin (2)

Nota de desambiguació:

(eng) Dave Duncan has also written under the names Ken Hood and Sarah B. Franklin.

(ger) Dave Duncan schrieb auch unter den Namen Ken Hood und Sarah B. Franklin.

Crèdit de la imatge: Dave Duncan by Five Rivers Publishing

Sèrie

Obres de Dave Duncan

The Gilded Chain (1998) 846 exemplars
The Reluctant Swordsman (1988) 721 exemplars
Magic Casement (1990) 672 exemplars
Faery Lands Forlorn (1991) 529 exemplars
The Coming of Wisdom (1988) 525 exemplars
The Destiny of the Sword (1988) 513 exemplars
Perilous Seas (1991) 512 exemplars
Emperor and Clown (1991) 475 exemplars
Past Imperative (1995) 426 exemplars
The Cutting Edge (1992) 416 exemplars
The Jaguar Knights (2004) 362 exemplars
Upland Outlaws (1993) 347 exemplars
The stricken field (1993) 327 exemplars
The Living God (1994) 298 exemplars
The Alchemist's Apprentice (2007) 285 exemplars
Sir Stalwart (1999) 245 exemplars
The Reaver Road (1992) 202 exemplars
Hunters' Haunt (1995) 200 exemplars
Children of Chaos (2006) 199 exemplars
West of January (1989) 183 exemplars
Cursed (1995) 178 exemplars
The Alchemist's Code (2008) 177 exemplars
Strings (1989) 177 exemplars
The Crooked House (2000) 173 exemplars
Silvercloak (2001) 152 exemplars
Mother of Lies (Tor Fantasy) (2007) 149 exemplars
Daughter of Troy (1998) 135 exemplars
The Alchemist's Pursuit (2009) 134 exemplars
Hero! (1991) 133 exemplars
A Rose-Red City (1987) 132 exemplars
Shadow (1987) 127 exemplars
Ill Met in the Arena (2008) 100 exemplars
Demon Sword (Year of Longdirk) (1995) 87 exemplars
Speak to the Devil (2010) 75 exemplars
Against the Light (2012) 72 exemplars
The Death of Nnanji (2012) 62 exemplars
When the Saints (2011) 47 exemplars
King of Swords (2013) 44 exemplars
Portal of a Thousand Worlds (2017) 36 exemplars
Irona 700 (2015) 34 exemplars
Pock's World (2010) 33 exemplars
The Monster War (2006) 27 exemplars
The Runner and the Wizard (2013) 27 exemplars
Wildcatter (2012) 23 exemplars
The Eye of Strife (2015) 18 exemplars
Queen of Stars (2014) 18 exemplars
Eocene Station (2016) 14 exemplars
The Runner and the Saint (2014) 13 exemplars
Pillar of Darkness (2019) 13 exemplars
The Runner and the Kelpie (2014) 11 exemplars
The Adventures of Ivor (2015) 9 exemplars
The Ethical Swordsman (2019) 7 exemplars
La cadena dorada (2003) 1 exemplars
La forja de los héroes (2003) 1 exemplars
Hunters’ Haunt 1 exemplars
Rose-Red City, A. 1 exemplars
Future Indefinete 1 exemplars

Obres associades

Northern Stars: The Anthology of Canadian Science Fiction (1994) — Col·laborador — 83 exemplars
Tesseracts 3 (2002) — Col·laborador — 52 exemplars
Tesseracts 4 (2002) — Col·laborador — 31 exemplars
Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2013) — Col·laborador — 20 exemplars
Arrowdreams: An Anthology Of Alternate Canadas (1997) — Col·laborador — 10 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Nom oficial
Duncan, David John
Altres noms
Hood, Ken
Franklin, Sarah B.
Data de naixement
1933-06-30
Data de defunció
2018-10-29
Gènere
male
Nacionalitat
UK (birth)
Scotland (birth)
Canada
Lloc de naixement
Newport-on-Tay, Scotland, UK
Lloc de defunció
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Llocs de residència
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Scotland (birth)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Educació
University of St Andrews
High School of Dundee
Professions
Geologist
science fiction writer
Relacions
Duncan, Janet (wife)
Organitzacions
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
SF Canada
Premis i honors
Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame
Agent
Richard Curtis
Nota de desambiguació
Dave Duncan has also written under the names Ken Hood and Sarah B. Franklin.

Membres

Ressenyes

This book was really fun. More of a traditional knights and kings story. I loved the main concept of the blades and their bindings to their ward. How those bindings ruled them even if the ward they were chained to was unjust. The book had a great pace and the main character, Sir Durendal, was easy to root for.
I will be reading the next in the series.
 
Marcat
cdaley | Hi ha 14 ressenyes més | Nov 2, 2023 |
‘Mother Of Lies’ is the sequel to ‘Children Of Chaos’ and the final book in this two book series. Spoilers are inevitable if you haven’t read ‘Children Of Chaos’. so do that first.
The world of Dodec is a dodecahedron with twelve flat faces. Everyone has sworn allegiance to a single god or goddess according to their desires. Mayn is the goddess of wisdom and her followers are seers. Ucr is god of prosperity, followed by merchants. There are thirteen gods in all, helpfully listed in the preface along with major characters.

Fierce warriors from the Vigaelian face of Dodec invaded the Florengian face about sixteen years ago and conquered all before them. The doge of Celebre, the richest city in Florengia, was forced to hand over his children as hostages to Stralg Hragson, bloodlord of the Heroes of Weru. They were taken back to Vigaelia and their stories are told in book one. At the end of which they have been reunited and are making their way back home with Saltaja Hragsdor, Mother of Lies, in hot pursuit.

While they were gone, many on the Florengian face joined the Heroes of Weru and learned to fight. By dedicating themselves to Weru, god of storm and battle, they gain the power to ‘battleform’ into huge, deadly animals. Then they turned on the invaders and almost defeated them, but at great cost. Most cities are devastated. Celebre is still intact but the old doge is dying and there is much contention over who will succeed him. His legitimate children are on the way from Vigaelia, but no one in Florengia knows it yet. Dantio is a seer, Orlad a warrior and daughter Fabia a powerful sorceress who, like Saltaja Hragsdor herself, is secretly allied to the death goddess Xaran. The doge’s wife Olivia has a bastard son by Stralg Hragson, the result of rape, who thinks he should be heir. Marno Cavotti, the leader who has fought for years to liberate his homeland, might have his own ideas about that and he has an army.

As in ‘Children Of Chaos’, the story is told from multiple points of view, a different character every chapter. Each chapter starts with the character’s name in block capitals starting a sentence. ‘MARNO CAVOTTI heard the warbeasts’ fury as he dived from the parapet.’ This deft technique reminds you of the varied cast and helps you follow the story. There’s a lot to be said for clarity in commercial fiction writing. The yarn moves at a ripping pace and is sufficiently intriguing to keep you turning pages.

I enjoyed the book but not quite as much as the first one, perhaps because the children of Celebre started out quite helpless there and grew stronger through their trials. Here they are already formidable. Even so, it’s a fine tale with several twists and a neat resolution. Dave Duncan’s plotting reminds me somewhat of Kevin J. Anderson but he has more likeable characters and his prose style is smoother. He departed this vale of tears before I discovered him but left over thirty books in his wake so if you like this series, as I do, there are plenty of other books available.
… (més)
 
Marcat
bigfootmurf | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Jul 15, 2023 |
All good fantasy books start with a map and a list of characters, including gods and ‘Children Of Chaos’ is a very good fantasy. The world is a dodecahedron where every individual has sworn allegiance to a single god or goddess, there being thirteen to choose from. These range across the usual attributes of wisdom, health, prosperity, war and so on. Two faces of the dodecahedron feature in this story, the Vigaelian and the Florengian, separated by frozen mountains which few have ever crossed.
In the prologue of ‘Children Of Chaos’, Stralg Hragson, bloodlord of the Heroes of Weru from the Vigaelian Face, crosses the icy mountains and slaughters all before him. The doge of Celebre, a wealthy, civilised town in Florengia, is forced to hand over his wife, three sons and a baby daughter as hostages to Stralg. The brown-skinned Florengians are helpless before these huge, blue-eyed devils, devotees of the war god Weru, who shape shift to become huge animals for battle.

Florengia defeated, it’s the children’s story next. Years pass. Lord Dantio, the eldest son, has vanished and no one knows his fate. Benard Celebre, only eight years old when taken, is now a sculptor in the city of Kosord but has some magical skills that enable him to rescue a beautiful lady from his nemesis Cutrath Horoldson, the satrap’s spoiled son. Orlando, three when captured, has no memory of his childhood and has become Orlad Orladson, keen apprentice warrior in the Werist cult that rules the world and conquered his homeland. Meanwhile, the baby is now known as Frena Wigson and believes herself to be the daughter of a rich merchant in the city of Skjar.
The Florengian hostages have all grown up and we follow them as they learn about their heritage, decide what path to pursue and cope with the many challenges of living under a ruthless tyranny. The Werists rule. The price paid for their battle prowess is that they slowly turn more bestial each time they revert back to human form. They used to be mercenaries for whichever city could pay them but, united under Stralg Hragson, to conquer and rule instead. In this they were helped by the Witnesses, seers who know what is happening nearly everywhere. They used to be neutral but were terrified into serving the Werists. There are other gods and goddesses with many followers who have different abilities, none spectacular, though. This isn’t one of those fantasies where withering blasts of energy are exchanged by glowing eyed mages in robes. It’s subtle.

‘Children Of Chaos’ doesn’t stick to one main character but shifts point of view to cover all the children. The chapters begin with the name of the point of view character centred in large type and stick to that person. Multiple point of view switches don’t aid strong reader identification and some sages say you should have one central character but this can be too limiting in a big epic fantasy.

The rich background is put over slowly in the course of events and the characters grow on you as the story progresses smoothly to a satisfying stage post. Not the end as there’s a sequel, ‘Mother Of Lies’ which I’ll be reading soon. Note that this is only a duology, downright petite for a modern fantasy epic. Dave Duncan is new to me but a well-respected author in the field, I gather, and alas has departed this veil of tears albeit, at a ripe old age. I really enjoyed this one, looked forward to the sequel and will seek out his other works in future.
… (més)
 
Marcat
bigfootmurf | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Jul 15, 2023 |
I would not consider myself a huge reader of the Fantasy genre. I do read it but it's not my main go-to. But if I had to say, Dave Duncan's The Guided Chain is definitely in my top-five Fantasy novels. I hold a serious affection for that book and I admire the world-building and magic system of the larger King's Blades series.This book (first of a new series) is a juniorization of the previous and having nothing against YA, I dived in. At least it was a fast read and I have sated my completist tendencies. Moving on...… (més)
 
Marcat
VictoriaPL | May 6, 2023 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
84
També de
5
Membres
13,717
Popularitat
#1,692
Valoració
½ 3.7
Ressenyes
281
ISBN
395
Llengües
11
Preferit
39

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