The Death of the Necromancer

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best!
Review: I found this book at the recommendations amazon showed me and bought it immediately. I never regreted it for a second! This book is wonderful! Death of the Necromancer is placed in a city in which all comes toghteher. Light and darkness, virtue and decadence, love and hatred. The main charakter, Nicholas Valiarde, seems to be all these things. On the onw hand a minor noble, on the other the underworld leader Donatien. But of course he is not the only fascinating person in this book (and he IS fascinating!). This was the first thing I read, where I liked the policeman.

I think I don't want to give too much of the book away, after all, it lives from the unexpected, but it tells more than just a story, as so many other books, it allows deep insight in the charakters of all the people in it. This is, what in my opinion makes any book good. This one I would even call great!

Rating:
Summary: Tons o Fun!!!
Review: I loved reading this book - a great combination of fantasy, mystery, history, romance - i loved the entire cast of characters. I love reading "team" books, and this team, led by Nicholas Valiarde, is one of the best. Fantays is my favorite genre, and this was a great and unique spin on that genre. I'm going to check out the rest of Martha Wells' books, and i would love to read any further exploits that Nick and his merry men and women get themselves into!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great book! Deserved it's Nebula nomination!
Review: I read "Wheel of the Infinite" also by Martha Wells. I loved that book so much I had to read her other works. So I read this one, and I enjoyed it very much! The story is compelling and the characters are witty and full of life. The setting is amazing! If this was adapted to the movie screen it would win the oscars for art direction for sure. Vienne reminds me of Paris(well a darker version of it). Most of the book takes place at night which adds a wonderful atmosphere if you read this at night. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Great Integration!
Review: I thought the author did a splendid job of mixing genres...part mystery, part fantasy, part horror. It kept it very interesting.

Rating:
Summary: An eminently enjoyable book
Review: I wouldn't call this book a masterpiece but it was still very good. Filled with fun and excitement as well as some *very* interesting characters the book draws you in from the first chapter. The plot is original, intriguing and not *too* predictable. All in all I had a lot of fun and am going to try desperately to get my hands on some of her earlier, out of print, books.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: I'm not a great fan for mystical magical medieval fiction, but this book had me engrossed. Highly entertaining from the first few pages to the last, it is written in an easy to follow way, and introduces the reader to various concepts of sorcery and regal courts in a way that allows the enjoyment of reading to continue.

The story is well paced, with wonderful detail at all of the right points. The villain is revealed slowly and methodically, giving you time to feel for the other characters as they are built up.

The plot is as shown in other reviews, but what I'd like to add is this. If, like me, you are not a big follower of such tales, don't be put off. Give it a go, it is very good indeed. I'm sure expert readers of this field have a different view, but nobody can argue that the plot, pace and detail in this book is entertainment at close to its best.

Only 4 stars since I wasn't entirely happy with the rushed ending, but otherwise great.

Rating:
Summary: Tolkien + Dumas = Wells
Review: I've been a Martha Wells since I read "The Element of Fire" back in college. She combines the best of two worlds--swashbucklers a la "The Three Musketeers" and high fantasy. What a combination! And "The Death of the Necromancer" doesn't disappoint.

In this book, we return to Ile-Rien, approximately 100 years after the events of "The Element of Fire". All the main character, Nicholas Valiarde, wants is revenge on the man who framed his foster father. Instead. he finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy of murder, magic and mayhem.

An impressive and well-realized plot, a fantastically realistic setting and great characters combine for a wonderful read. Don't miss this one!

Rating:
Summary: Among the Best Fantasies of the Decade
Review: I've previously read three of Martha Wells' other novels and thoroughly enjoyed them all, but she really outdid herself in "The Death of the Necromancer". This is the one of the most fast-paced, unpredictable, and exciting books ever written in any genre. The hero Nicholas is a thief in the Victorian-era city of Vienne. He and his gang of associates are working on a complex plot to bring down Rive Montesq, the criminal overlord who killed Nicholas' foster father. However, in this story little ever goes as planned. For instance, during the very first chapter, our heroes attempt a carefully organized robbery of a noble house during a party, but things go awry because some other seemingly supernatural force want to carry out a robbery in the same house on the same night. Virtually every plot event in the book has a twist of that sort, thus keeping you truly on your toes for the length of the book.

And how 'bout those characters, eh. Like George R. R. Martin, Wells has the ability to sketch unforgettable personalities in just a few strokes, rather than wasting long passages on character development. Her characters are suave, confident, and sexy, while at the same time being unquestionably real. For instance, leading lady Madeleine is a famous actress, and her experience in the theatre helps her work with disguises and assume different roles as she navigates the intrigues of Vienne. The relationship between Nicholas and Madeleine isn't a typical fantasy coupling where the characters swoon for each other and never experience any problems. It is, rather, and real relationship, complete with bickering and arguments, but there's real love there as well. Wells does a magnificient job with the minor characters as well. I particularly like how Reynard, who is gay, isn't treated as some sort of joke or curiosity, but rather as a three-dimensional human character.

Let's all hail Wells for getting the details right. Descriptions are short and effect, infodumps are nowhere to be found. Martha Wells understands that the reader doesn't need lengthy lectures, and that supernatural elements are actually more creepily effective if they aren't fully explained. Dialogue is sharp, and lines that are supposed to be funny actually are funny. Fantasy, you see, need not be entirely ponderous multi-thousand page bricks of clichéd characters and trite sayings. It is, in fact, possible to have fun with imaginative novels. And though the number of authors with the courage to do so may be small, that can't stop us from enjoying books like "The Death of the Necromancer" when we find them.

Rating:
Summary: Among the Best Fantasies of the Decade
Review: I've previously read three of Martha Wells' other novels and thoroughly enjoyed them all, but she really outdid herself in "The Death of the Necromancer". This is the one of the most fast-paced, unpredictable, and exciting books ever written in any genre. The hero Nicholas is a thief in the Victorian-era city of Vienne. He and his gang of associates are working on a complex plot to bring down Rive Montesq, the criminal overlord who killed Nicholas' foster father. However, in this story little ever goes as planned. For instance, during the very first chapter, our heroes attempt a carefully organized robbery of a noble house during a party, but things go awry because some other seemingly supernatural force want to carry out a robbery in the same house on the same night. Virtually every plot event in the book has a twist of that sort, thus keeping you truly on your toes for the length of the book.

And how 'bout those characters, eh. Like George R. R. Martin, Wells has the ability to sketch unforgettable personalities in just a few strokes, rather than wasting long passages on character development. Her characters are suave, confident, and sexy, while at the same time being unquestionably real. For instance, leading lady Madeleine is a famous actress, and her experience in the theatre helps her work with disguises and assume different roles as she navigates the intrigues of Vienne. The relationship between Nicholas and Madeleine isn't a typical fantasy coupling where the characters swoon for each other and never experience any problems. It is, rather, and real relationship, complete with bickering and arguments, but there's real love there as well. Wells does a magnificient job with the minor characters as well. I particularly like how Reynard, who is gay, isn't treated as some sort of joke or curiosity, but rather as a three-dimensional human character.

Let's all hail Wells for getting the details right. Descriptions are short and effect, infodumps are nowhere to be found. Martha Wells understands that the reader doesn't need lengthy lectures, and that supernatural elements are actually more creepily effective if they aren't fully explained. Dialogue is sharp, and lines that are supposed to be funny actually are funny. Fantasy, you see, need not be entirely ponderous multi-thousand page bricks of clichéd characters and trite sayings. It is, in fact, possible to have fun with imaginative novels. And though the number of authors with the courage to do so may be small, that can't stop us from enjoying books like "The Death of the Necromancer" when we find them.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite So Far
Review: I've read all of Wells' books through Wheel of the Infinite (in order, as it happens) and I believe that she had the most fun with this one. Fast paced, it is more entertaining than plot summaries convey. Give it a try.