Covers
Cover for Held wider Willen (German) ("Hero against his Will")
by Attila Boros
Cover for Toguras Rückkehr (German) ("Togura's return")
by Attila Boros (probably)
Lulu Cover for
The Wordsmiths And The Warguild (Lulu.com)
by Hugh Cook using Lulu Resources.
Back Cover
'Thanks to the wizard of Drum,' said the Brother,
'we know where to find these boxes. The nearest is
in the bottom of a green bottle in Prince Comedo's
Castle Vaunting in Estar. A monster protects the
bottle from those who would acquire it.'
'Charming,' murmered Togura.
Togura would not have chosen the profession of
questing hero but in the end he had no choice.
He was caught between The Wordsmiths and
The Warguild, the two organizations which vied for
power within the dismal kingdom of Sung,
a land famous simply for being so often and so richly insulted.
Besides, if he did not find the index, the key to
the magical treasure chest known as the odex, he
would never be able to claim his love from its
mysterious depths.
Inside Cover
The odex was a thing grey disk; Togura could just have
spanned its diameter with his outstretched arms. Seen side-on,
it appeared to disappear entirely. Seen from an angle, it acted
as a mirror, reflecting the surroundings.
'Stand in front of it,' said Brother Troop.
Togura moved round in front of the odex, which hung in the
air, standing knee-high off the ground without any apparent
means of support. As he came directly in front of it, the mirror
surface broke up into discordant cascades of colour and light.
These shimmered, swirled, stretched, contracted and pulsed.
'Is it angry?' said Togura, warily.
At his words, a puff of red mist broke loose from the surface
of the odex. It twirled lazily in the air.
'Who knows?' said Brother Troop.
Reviews
'Cook's tale covers fairly familiar territory but does so with literacy, skill, humor, and considerable ingenuity in his worldbuilding, characterization and systems of magic.' - Booklist'
From Publishers Weekly
Cook began his fantasy series Chronicles of an Age of Darkness with the witty Wizards and the Warriors, which viewed magicians as their world's equivalent of none-too-responsible nuclear physicists. This second volume offers the picaresque adventures of stalwart, hapless Togura Poulaan. Seeking only to free his beloved Day Suet, Togura escapes war, imprisonment and encounters with spirits, pirates, dragons, talking rocks and pagan tribes. In fact, the author seems to delight in tormenting his hero, a somewhat Don Quixoteish figure. The resulting shifts in tones ardonic, philosophic, pragmatic and pedagogic keep the reader interested and off balance, never sure what's next or why. The highlight of the book is the depiction of the odex, the creature that has swallowed the heroine. Part bottomless cornucopia, part garbage disposal, this being punctuates its random disgorging of items, people and monsters from other universes by burping up ghosts.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Fleeing for his life from an impossible marriage, a bullying brother, and a vindictive father who heads the powerful Warguild, Togura undertakes a frantic quest for the rival Wordsmiths' Guild to find a magical index rumored to lie hidden in a bottle inside a castle far from the dismal land of Sung. This sequel to The Wizards and the Warrior displays Cook's comedic sense in broad strokes as the luckless, endearing hero bumbles his way from disaster to disaster in an entertaining fantasy. JC
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
UK
Hardcover
Colin Smythe
7 October 1987 (0-86140-267-7) out of print
Paperback
Corgi (Transworld)
1987 (0-552-13130-X) out of print
USA
Paperback editions, divided into two volumes, being described as volumes 2 and 3
of the Wizard War Chronicles:
THE QUESTING HERO
Popular Library (Warner Books)
March 1988 (USA 0-445-20654-3; Canada 0-445-20655-1) out of print
and
THE HERO’S RETURN
Popular Library (Warner Books)
October 1988 (USA 0-445-20664-0; Canada 0-445-20665-9) out of print
The English and American editions are out of print, but the text is available
from Hugh Cook's website http://zenvirus.com
German
Held Wider Willen
Heyne
1998 (3-453-14035-4)
Toguras Ruckkehr
Heyne
1998 (3-453-14039-7)
Where to Find
OUT OF PRINT
Available online! [link to Zen Virus]
Listed at Amazon.com
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