Kate's Book Reviews


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Adam Nichols - The War of the Lords Veil (Millennium (Orion))

ISBN 1-85798-187-1 (paperback 1-85798-188-X)

First published 1994.

That's `Lords Veil', not `Lord's Veil'. There is a difference.

This book is advertised on the front as `A sword-and-sorcery treat'. Oh dear. Perhaps this should have warned me off; but when the library's about to close, you just have to grab whatever's closest.

It's not actually that bad, although the author does have some incredibly irritating aspects. The continual use of `thou is' and other distractingly archaic forms was one. Also, the putting of the word `them' in italics whenever it was referring to the invading army lead me to mentally emphasize it even when this interrupted the flow of the sentence. The word `coolth', which I'm sure isn't really a word, first put in an appearance about halfway through the book, and turned up more and more frequently as the story went on.

I like a book with good ideas, though, and this one's got a few. I liked the pseudo-sciencey bits; the virtual reality demon helms; and the genetically-engineered Lords Veil and the Pit denizens.

The cover of this book (hardback first printing, at least) has almost nothing to do with the story.

8 May 1998
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