There are few writers that can create such visually brilliant worlds using words and tapping into the reader's imagination, but Dave Duncan is one of them. "The Cutting Edge" marks the first book in the "A Handful of Men" series, the follow up to the previous "Man of His Word", where Krasengar's genius stableboy Rap tracks across country in search of the missing Princess who should be placed upon the throne as Queen. Along the way he manages to alienate the four Wardens and even defy the Gods themselves.

"The Cutting Edge" reveals what has happened to our characters many years down the line. Rap and Inos happily married with children and rulers of their beloved tiny nation. But it seems that all is not well in the magical ambience as many things Rap had done in the previous series come back to haunt him and throw the entire continent into disarray, not excluding the Wardens! The ex-warden Zinixo who Rap had stripped of sorcery is back from his imprisonment with a legion of magically branded sorcerers as slaves to do his bidding...

Most of the favorites from this first series have returned, including the little Prince Shandie who's now in the seat of power as the Emperor of the Impire! There are many surprises in store for those who have read the "A Man of His Word" series, and many things are revealed that had been left as speculation even as the previous series came to its close. The ingenious magical system is further fleshed out, and Duncan weaves an equally magical story to boot. Those that love their books very character driven with more than just the vague hint of fantasy will be delighted with this as well as the rest of the series.

One word of note: The first 100 pages or so are not quite as action pack or memorable as the rest of this book, or the other three for that matter, but they are necessary in setting up the story and a major player in the series...

Sit back and enjoy this one!

Although I am a long-time fantasy addict, this is the first Dave Duncan novel I have ever read. It will certainly not be the last. The world of Pandemia is peopled with diverse human races, all sharing certain characteristics of the mythic creatures of our world for which they have been named. Yet they all behave in such purely human ways that the reader comes to care for every one of the main characters. To my mind, that is the first mark of a good read. Then when the author produces such intriguing happenings in their world for them to react to, spinning a story that haves the reader wondering always where the next twist in the tale will lead them, and seasoning the story with humour well put throughout, there is no longer any doubt. Pandemia is a great place to get away from the neverending task of trying to make sense of the real world - even if only for a few hours. In this book the groundwork is laid and we get to know a handful of men - and women - whose strengths and flaws make them belivable if not always realistic. What they must do to save the peace and prosperity of their world I do not know - but reading "The Cutting Edge" has certainly made me avid to find out!

I picked up book two of this series in hardcover on the sale rack of a local bookstore. After that read I set out to find the complete series in Hardcover.

This first book in the series introduces all of the characters and sets the stage for a conflict that spans another three novels. The author weaves the story line into plausible embodiments of the quotes from great literature that follow many of the chapters. Although this work is high fantasy in the tradition of Tolkien I find Duncan's work easier to read. Further, Duncan posses a unique voice and an imaginative view of magic which distinguish him from other writers who merely rehash hackneyed plots.

A very enjoyable read that more than fulfills its role in inspiring the reader to find out how the whole epic ends.

This book is the coup de grace in Mr. Duncan's "A Handful of Men" series.
As an individual work it stands as an excellent example of High Fantasy with a fresh take on magic told in a unique author's voice. As the fulfillment of the series it surpasses expectations. I was so involved in the characters and events that my attempts to foresee the plot failed twice, although the ending made complete sense and even delighted me.

To sum up I find this work the crowning achievement in an engrossing series.

Pandemia is one of my favorite worlds. I read Dave Duncans A man Of his word series ten years ago, and I have owned a copy of ever since. Whenever I feel the need to return to my Favorite fantasy series of all time, I just start with Magic casement and keep on reading. I am now just finishing readin "A living God" for the sixth time and the entire series just keeps on getting better. Read all eight books set in pandemia and just hope that Mr. Duncan writes another dozen. A Liing god is simply the capstone of a masterwork.

This book was the in my view the best work Mr. Duncan has yet done. I enjoyed it until the very last word of the very last page. Thank you for writing it.

This book picks up where Upland Outlaws left off. We see Garth's progression, as well as Rap's now essentially mudane plotting against Zinixo coming to a head. Duncan's writing is, as usual, superb; the way that he ties in his plots with classical literary quotes brings a delightful sense of continuity to each chapter. Only the fact that this book set owes so much to the first keeps it from being five stars.

Reviews are usually produced by a strong reaction to a book, either positive or negative, so to say that "The Stricken Field" is a powerful book in a dynamic series is still to state the obvious. It would be likewise obvious to mention that "Stricken Field" is actually part of a series, except that it might not be obvious that it is actually Book 7. Dave Duncan began this tale in the 4-book series "A Man of His Word", where he made every word count, every character real, and every incident matter. Duncan is a wordsmith, who savors his story, and treats his reader with honesty -- that means at times things don't go along storybook lines, and the gritty truth must be faced. The realism of Duncan's fantasy makes it far more satisfying than any other fantasy series I have read. The only books that approach his are Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion series and David Eddings' Belgariad -- and Duncan outshines them all. More than that, Duncan did not sell-out, as did Eddings, in writing his second part to the series: "A Handful of Men" is equal to the preceding four books, and takes us farther yet into a world we love and fear, and hate to leave. Read all eight books.

Like "Shadow," another of Dave Duncan's early books, this is the story of an iconoclastic hero set in the far future, in a world that doesn't work exactly the way ours does. In this world, because of the way the earth revolves and rotates, the sun moves across the sky with agonizing slowness. It takes lifetimes for a region to experience dawn, midday and dusk. From generation to generation, the people of this world forget the catastrophes that occur when the sun moves -- except for the "angels," people who have preserved the ancient knowledge and work to try and save the other people from the destruction that threatens them when the sun moves. The hero of this book, Knobil, was born among the herdsmen, a savage race where the men kill each other and exile their sons so that every man can have as many women and children as possible. Knobil, however, is the son of an angel, and his destiny soon takes him among all the other people of his world -- the beautiful but mindless seafolk, the cruel slavers, the wily traders, the terrible spinsters whose secret he discovers nearly too late.

This was my first Dave Duncan book, and I find it hard to believe the others were written by the same guy.

An interesting Sci Fi concept, great profiles of cultures in a very different world, personal growth, voodoo, world conquest: this book's got it all!

When I heard that Dave Duncan was writing a Young Adult companion piece to his Tales of the King's Blades series I was very excited, because the latter ranks in my best fantasy series top 3, along with Robin Hobb and George RR Martin.

Sir Stalwart is clearly written for the younger reader, with a shorter word count and less complex, complicated plot. But it's still vintage Duncan: breathless excitement, great characters and fresh, exciting prose. So few authors these days seem to know how to string words together in an excitingly visual way. The booskshelves are crammed with dull, pedestrian, ordinary prose. Not Duncan. He really knows how to paint a picture with words ... other writers would do well to read his books with an eye to seeing how good prose is written.

While I regret the inevitable condensation of this tale, I still highly recommend it to all action fantasy fans of any age. Roll on the next installment!

It's dedicated to Anne McCaffrey, and why not? This book does for Duncan's 'King's Blades' series what the Harper Hall trilogy did for her Pern series: offers a portal for the younger reader to enter without condescending to the older reader. The language is simpler, which lends a sense of urgency to the narrative, and the moral choices are clear-cut. At the time of the Monster War, Candidate Stalwart (known as Wart to his friends) becomes the King's secret agent against a magical plot where a magically-bound Blade would be detected. With hastily-defrocked White Sister Emerald and a load of stinking garlic, he rushes along his mission, tipping his hat to McCaffrey and T.H. White along the way. Keep in mind that the Blades books are darker and not meant for Harry Potter fans. Duncan rewards older readers with a closer look at the weird magic of this world, and a closer look at the White Sisters and their magic-sniffing talent. The sisters see everyone as a blend of the four real elements (earth, air, fire, and water) and of the virtual elements (death, love, time, and chance): one real, one virtual, so they characterize someone as a fire-death person, or an air-chance person. Duncan himself? All eight elements contend in his books, but somehow love always balances the equation.

For those of us who have enjoyed Duncan's Blades novels, this book is a godsend. It is written for a more youthful market (ie. King's Daggers instead of the King's Blades), but it dovetails nicely with the other novels.

Stalwart, a non-bound Blade, and Emerald, a White Sister-in-training get involved in plots during the Monster War era. Duncan left this era somewhat vague in the King's Blades novels. Many characters from the other novels make brief appearances.

Don't believe it is necessary to have read the Blades series, but it would help.

Characters are clever and the plot is very enjoyable. Appears that the series will contain at least three books.

This is volume 1 of "The Great Game." I read the whole series and liked it tremendously, though as an American I wasn't very familiar with the British imperial culture that makes up so much of the books. (Edward Exeter grew up as the son of a British administrator living overseas, and the magical world he visits has a similar colonial outpost of Brits, plus in many ways is like India.) I didn't really get it entirely. Then, just recently, I read Rudyard Kipling's novel "Kim" for the first time, and it all made sense. "The Great Game" is how Rudyard Kipling (and maybe others) referred to espionage in the service of the British administration in England. Like the character of Kim, Edward Exeter is an Englishman who sympathizes completely with the local population, and wanders among them disguised as a holy man. I now view Past Imperative and the following two books as sort of a really wacky and cool tribute to Kim, though I don't know if it was meant that way. I strongly recommend that you read both the series and Kim (which is an outstanding book in its own right).

"Past Imperative" is the first volume of a trilogy that takes place half in England during WWI, and half in the Vales, an odd geographic region of a world called Nextdoor, where magic works. Well, actually, according to Duncan, magic works in our world too, but we can't use it. A person from our world can use magic in any other world, where he or she is a "stranger," but no one can use magic in the world of his or her birth. Magical power is called mana, and is especially powerful at places called nodes, which also serve as gateways to other worlds. In our world, strangers work secretly, but in Nextdoor, they are gods.

"Past Imperative" is the story of Edward Exeter, a young man accused of murdering his friend in mysterious circumstances. He is rescued from a hospital and sent to Nextdoor, where he is apparently known as the Liberator; prophecies in the unnervingly accurate Filoby Testament claim he will bring death to Death. Edward wants no part of this; he wants to return to England and enlist as a soldier. He spends much of the book avoiding various deities who would prefer not to deal with the Liberator and the chaos described in the Filoby Testament.

A significant portion of "Past Imperative" is told from the point of view of Eleal Singer, a young girl who finds Edward when he first appears in Nextdoor. Those sections move slowly, especially near the beginning of the book. Edward's sections are more interesting, though they are also slow at first. The first two thirds of the book feel somewhat like a very extended first chapter, which sets up the main story. It's good to have a world developed in great detail, but it does make for rather tedious reading.

At the end of the book, Edward has abandoned Eleal to avoid falling into the clutches of Tion, one of the Five great gods of Nextdoor, thus fulfilling parts of the Filoby Testament and the first third of an ominous prophecy given to him by a gypsy fortune-teller in England. Zath, the god of Death is still alive, and Edward is now completely alone in a strange world, with no way to contact the strangers who oppose the gods, and no way to get home.

Thus far, the trilogy looks promising.

Earlier this week, a fire broke out near where I live. So, being a volunteer for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service, I was asked to help out the Red Cross by providing communication between a shelter and the Red Cross headquarters. However, I was assigned the shift from midnight to 6. I've done this sort of thing before and I knew it was going to be slow. So, I grabbed a book at random. Obviously, it was "Past Imperative". After the first few chapters, I was worried, because the book didn't seem like something I'd be interested in and it was moving pretty slow. Nevertheless, I kept reading because I didn't have anything better to do. By the end of the second night shift, I had about 1/4 of the book left to read. Instead of going home and sleeping, I went home and finished the book. In short, it's a great book if you can make it past the beginning. Sorry there are no paragraph breaks in this review, but my web browser is very old.

After a great start, this 2nd book is a major disappointment. Most of the interesting parts are given past tense, and basically dont hold any interest.... Sorry Dave, you didnt reach your usual standards on this one...

I had trouble getting into this one but it was worth it! Now, on to Round 3!!!

IMO, this is the best book of the Great Game. D'ward is perfectly balanced between human and hero. Wondefully characterized, this book was one I couldn't put down.

Dave Duncan is fine author and I very much enjoyed his tetrology, "A Man of his Word." "The Gilded Chain" is part of the "King's Blades" series, but can be read as a stand-alone fantasy.

It is based on the interesting premise: a sorcerous ritual of a sword through the heart binds each warrior to his master with absolute loyalty. Duncan is a 'show' not 'tell' author. If the spell that binds an apprentice swordsman to his blade is strong enough to kill, then by golly Duncan includes a scene where an apprentice dies.

The king to whom the hero, Durandel is eventually apprenticed is the written image of Henry VIII---from popular, overbearing youth to fat, ulcerous old age. He even has an unloved daughter who will succeed him when he dies.

If he dies. Within the plot, there is a carefully-worked-out core of sorcery. The author's magicks aren't just an overlay on the plot---they drive the action from beginning to end.

Once Durandel becomes a King's Blade, he is caught up in court politics, and earns a reputation as the only man who will say 'no' to the King. For his pains, Durandel is sent on a mission to a faraway country where a King's Blade went missing several years past.

Durandel reaches Samarinda (think Samarkand) with a minimum of travelogue, even though the journey takes two years through seas, mountains, deserts, wild beasts, hostile tribes, shipwrecks, scorpions, dysentery, and forest fires (none of which is relevant to the plot). He completes part of his mission, makes a deadly enemy, and loses a good friend. Then it's another briskly-handled two years back to King Ambrose. We can imagine the sights along the way from other fantasies (way too common) with long, pointless sections of travelogue.

What Durandel and his companions discovered in a monastery in Samarinda is the centerpiece to this book's climactic ending.

Subtract one star for overall goriness (only to be expected from a series called "The King's Blades"), and the lack of strong female characters (there is one, but she's the one plot element that seems to be tacked on as an afterthought).

Since reading the "Man of His Word" series several years ago, Dave Duncan has been one of my favorite authors. He creates a level of realism that brilliantly achieves the "suspension of disbelief". "The Gilded Chain" fits perfectly into this category.

The story at first appears to be on two separate lines, but as you read they flow into a single thread that makes the book almost impossible to put down. The characters behave as you think they should, at least in hindsight. The story has only one major drawback: reality. Rather than the optomistic happy endings, things happen in a much grimmer and believable manner.

This book is a must read for Duncan fans, and would be enjoyed by many very critical readers. Dave Duncan has created another amazing world for his readers to visit. I'm just glad I don't have to live there.

What more can I say then that? Duncan has blown away the standards of the fantasy novel. The characters become more then alive and real as you pursue the pages, they become you're friends, talking to you, telling you their most intimate thoughts and emotions. As you read, you live with them, feeling the pain and suffering, the joy and adventure that they do, as they do.

By no means a "quick read" this book draws you into the depths of the story, stimulating your imagination to have you run along side as the events unfold. It's so enticing, so good, that one could easily read it in a single night, then wish they hadn't!

The characters, the plot, the illusion, the foreshadowing, it's all there, perfectly balanced in a way that almost makes one think it was an actual occurrence of a real life. By far, one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

Well done!

This books helps to understand the why of an extramarital affair - especially the Entangled Affair. I was the infidel and the shame of what I had done threw me even deeper into depression and a confused state of mind. My counselor recommended the book for me & my husband. I read the book - my husband did not. It helped me to realize I was not alone and not a horrible person. I stood by and took my husband's anger, because I felt I deserved it, but I feel if he had read the book, it would have helped him more than me. My personal belief is that both spouses should read the book to get a better understanding of why the affair happened and how to recover. I'm giving it four stars because I have not read another book on extramarital affairs for comparison.

Extra-marital affairs! - Whether you're having one, thinking of having one, married to someone who has had or is having one, a child of someone who had one, or a friend of someone trying to cope with one, or just trying to ensure your own marriage is safe from one, READ THIS BOOK! The book covers the three types of affair: one-night stand, entangled affair, sexual addiction. It will help you understand why it occurred, why you feel as you do about it, and what you can do. The phases of the affair, and of the innocent spouse's response, are explained, as also are ways of rebuilding trust, understanding forgiveness, and restructuring intimacy. Secret affairs - those not yet revealed to the innocent spouse - are also discussed. It's a Christian book, but not the "Come to Jesus and all will be well!" variety, so don't be put off. The author is an experienced psychologist as well as Christian minister - don't let THAT put you off either! It's not a substitute for "proper" counselling or therapy, but it offers a starting point especially where counselling is not available or where the pain and shame feel too great. It doesn't matter whether the affair leads to divorce or to "forgive and forget". Those affected still need to work through it and understand what happened, because otherwise the marriage cannot be strong, or the divorcees' future lives will be damaged, or the children will be affected in their own relationships and marriages. Those directly involved may find it hard to read this book, but if they do so they will find themselves reflected in it. Their friends will find it a lifeline, as they offer support. The book has one flaw: NO INDEX!!! - so you end up reading it three times while looking for the good bits you remember seeing somewhere in it. But the table of contents is quite full, which helps fill the gap. Okay, so this book is not "The First Wives Club", but it's still worth reading. There is hope. Get it now, BEFORE you need it

This book is a must for all couples who are dealing with the devastating effects of an affair. Dave Carder looks at the different types of affairs from both sides, giving the spouse insight into the "infidel's" emotions, and vice versa. Reading this book was about the only thing that had a real impact on my husband (who had the affair). Before he read the book nothing and nobody could get through to him. Reading the book won't heal a marriage, but it helps to identify the issues that need to be resolved to start the healing process. For the first time in 5 months I'm hopeful that we may be able to reconcile our marriage.

Having just finished "The Gilded Chain," I was excited to find that Duncan had written a sequel. Unfortunately, the book left me torn. Almost the entire story remains true to the first with great characters and an engaging plot. It was one of those books that keeps you awake at night. I almost skipped a class to finish it. The ending however completely invalidated the first book. I want to know what happened. I mean really, if Mr. Duncan wanted the story to go this way, way end the other book as he did. I found this book to be frustrating beyond belief. If you've never read the first book, then you'll enjoy this, but don't read "The Gilded Chain." If you've read the first book, skip this. It will only make you want to find the author and beat an explanation out of him.

Reading the reviews of this book I am STUNNED at the number of people who were turned off and/or confused by the ending which contradicted events in The Gilded Chain. I want to quote Dave Duncan himself...IN THE BOOK. After the title page is one headed with: "Warning". Text follows.

"This book, like The Gilded Chain, is a stand-alone novel. They both cover much the same time interval and certain characters appear in both, but you can read either without reference to the other. The same is true of the upcoming third volume, Sky of Swords. However, the three taken together tell a larger story. If you read any of the two, you will note certain discrepancies that can be resolved only by reading the third."

Duncan is a terrific storyteller. Even without the warning, I had complete confidence in him. An author of his stature doesn't do something like that without reasons. I'm anxious to find out what they are. You should be too.

Quite a number of reviewers have mentioned the discrepancies between this volumn of the King's Blade stories and Gilded Chain (the first). In fact, Dave Duncan himself warns the reader that they are there. But I have not seen one instance where it is stated just how big they are. There is one in particular that is quite glaring and impossible to fathom without insider information from the father of all these fictional children, Duncan himself. (At least I hope he clears it up. I have not yet read the third book...)

The purpose of this review is simple, a bit of advice for those who are as curious as I am: Plan to read one book or all three. If, like myself, you can't bear not to know the "whys" of a vast difference in ending between one story and another, the last two pages of Lord of the Firelands will have you gaping in dismay, repeating "But... but..." rather pitifully, and craving the next installment for its potential explanation.

That said, I do love Duncan's characters and did not find the settings hard to visualize (as another reviewer did) since they are based on Europe as far as I can tell. The books take a little getting into, 75-100 pages before I start to really get interested. But once they get interesting, they hold me riveted until the last page. And, in this case, beyond. So, pardon me while I go pick up Sky of Swords to sate my curiosity...