The War of Powers
Encyclopedia
The War of Powers is a series of 6 epic fantasy fiction novels, co-written by Robert E. Vardeman
and Victor Milan
. The books were first published in 1980.
Later, the first three books were collected together to form "The War of Powers part 1" with the last three books forming "The War of Powers part 2: Istu Awakened".
Both synopses can be found on the back cover of each book.
For full summary of the books check below.
Except that the parcel was a jug containing a genie called Erimines the Ethical, who knew the secret of immortality but was actually more interested in sex after being bottled up on his own for more than 1,400 years.
Except that the wizard to whom the package was addressed turned out to be dead on arrival - murdered - and Fost Longstrider, space courier, looked likely to go the same way.
Just the start of a huge sprawling fantasy saga, studded with helter-skelter chases, beautiful bandits, floating sky cities, a super-intelligent war eagle and demonic powers - an epic of high adventure and all-action imagination.
And so it happens that mankind's most terrible enemy, the Demon of the Dark Ones, released from a ten-thousand-year bondage, is let loose to rampage and devour across the planet.
So the saga sweeps on - a tidal wave of great battles, hot pursuits, of plots, passions and flights of fantasy.
Pursued by Moriana’s sadistic cousin Prince Rann, they finally come to the glacier-locked city of Athalau, site of the last great battle between the Star Demon Istu and Felarod the Mystic which took place ten thousand years before.
Venturing inside the city they eventually discover a shining black and white jewel of incredible workmanship. Hung next to it is a plain stone talisman which the two ignore. Up until this point, Moriana and Fost have avoided the question of who will take the amulet, but the matter is resolved when Moriana stabs Fost through the heart as he reaches for it. Sobbing with grief, Moriana folds Fost's hands over the unremarkable stone, which he grasped in his death throes, and takes the black and white jewel before leaving the city in the company of Ziore, the ghost of an embittered nun who once followed Erimenes' teachings of denial.
After some time, Fost regains consciousness. It seems that the unregarded stone on his chest is, in fact, the Amulet of Living Flame which has exhausted its final energies in reviving him. Fost learns from the abandoned Erimenes that Moriana has mistakenly taken the Destiny Stone, a jewel capable of altering its wearer's luck for good or ill. Despite her treachery, Fost realises that he still loves Moriana and he and Erimenes set off in pursuit to warn her of her mistake.
Meanwhile, Moriana attempts to raise an army from the northern kingdoms to retake her city. At first her recruitment drive is unsuccessful, but Synalon soon changes their minds when she launches a war of conquest against the other city states of the Sundered Realm. The two sides clash in a titanic battle, but the Destiny Stone betrays Moriana, leading to her defeat. She is able to escape, and in desperation decides to contact the reptilian Fallen Ones, the original builders of the Sky City, with hopes of forming an alliance. The book ends as Fost arrives on the battlefield. He is too late to intercept the Princess, and the garbled last words of a dying soldier mislead him into thinking she has returned to the Sky City. He announces his decision to follow her.
Forming an alliance with the Fallen Ones, Moriana finally retakes the city but is betrayed at the last by the leader of the reptiles who uses his magic to free the demon Istu, who has been chained to the bedrock of the floating city since the War of Powers ten thousand years before. Now, with the Fallen Ones in control of the city and Istu released from his prison, they embark on a crusade to eliminate the human race.
Forced into an uneasy alliance with Synalon and Prince Rann, Fost and Moriana rally humanity's survivors but are gradually forced back to the ancient city of Athalau. They form a plan to summon the World Spirit, as Felarod the Mystic did during the War of Powers, with the hope that this time they can destroy Istu utterly. With the help of Felarod's descendants, Moriana contacts the World Spirit but cannot control it. Synalon then steps forward, volunteering to focus the power that Moriana wields. Gaining access to the Sky City, Rann and Fost fight side by side to protect Synalon while she channels the World Spirit. After a titanic battle Synalon is able to destroy Istu, but is then killed when the city collides with a mountain and is destroyed. Just before the city's destruction Fost straps the mortally wounded Rann onto the back of his war eagle and escapes.
With the Fallen Ones defeated, Fost and Moriana turn to rebuilding the reborn Athalau.
Robert E. Vardeman
Robert Edward Vardeman is an American science fiction fan and writer. He got his start in writing by writing for science fiction fanzines, and was nominated for the 1972 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Vardeman is one of the founders of Bubonicon, a science fiction convention in Albuquerque, New...
and Victor Milan
Victor Milan
Victor Woodward Milán is an American writer known for libertarian science fiction and an interest in cybernetics. In 1986 he won the Prometheus Award for Cybernetic Samurai. He has also written several shared universe works for the Forgotten Realms, Star Trek, and Wild Cards Universes...
. The books were first published in 1980.
Novels
The books were originally published as series of six novels:- The Sundered Realm
- The City in the Glacier
- The Destiny Stone
- The Fallen Ones
- In the Shadow of Omizantrim
- Demon of the Dark Ones
Later, the first three books were collected together to form "The War of Powers part 1" with the last three books forming "The War of Powers part 2: Istu Awakened".
Synopsis
The Synopses of War of Powers Part 1 and War of Powers Part2: Istu AwakenedBoth synopses can be found on the back cover of each book.
For full summary of the books check below.
The War of Powers part 1
It seemed like a routine delivery job.Except that the parcel was a jug containing a genie called Erimines the Ethical, who knew the secret of immortality but was actually more interested in sex after being bottled up on his own for more than 1,400 years.
Except that the wizard to whom the package was addressed turned out to be dead on arrival - murdered - and Fost Longstrider, space courier, looked likely to go the same way.
Just the start of a huge sprawling fantasy saga, studded with helter-skelter chases, beautiful bandits, floating sky cities, a super-intelligent war eagle and demonic powers - an epic of high adventure and all-action imagination.
The War of Powers part 2: Istu Awakened
Now the Princess Moriana has to ally herself with the alien lizard creatures, the Fallen Ones. But their price is the sending of a human volunteer on a Quest that may well be a sacrifice - the seizure of the fabled, death-guarded black diamond called the Heart.And so it happens that mankind's most terrible enemy, the Demon of the Dark Ones, released from a ten-thousand-year bondage, is let loose to rampage and devour across the planet.
So the saga sweeps on - a tidal wave of great battles, hot pursuits, of plots, passions and flights of fantasy.
Plot summaries
Set in the fantasy world of The Sundered Realm, the story concerns itself with the adventures of Fost Longstrider, a hard living warrior who makes a living as a courier and Princess Moriana Etuul, heir to the throne of the magical City in the Sky.The War of Powers part 1
Fost Longstrider is a courier commissioned to deliver a clay jar to the powerful mage Kest-i-mond. When he finds his client dead, Fost discovers that the jar contains the spirit of the long-dead philosopher Erimenes the Ethical, a man who once preached the value of total abstinence. Fourteen hundred years as a ghost have given him time to reflect, however, and he now preaches a philosophy of total hedonism and bloodlust. His value to Kest-i-mond is his knowledge of the whereabouts of the Amulet of Living Flame, a mystical talisman that will grant eternal life. Falling in with the beautiful Princess Moriana, who plans to use the amulet to overthrow her evil sister Synalon and reclaim her throne, Fost and Erimenes set out on a journey to recover the relic.Pursued by Moriana’s sadistic cousin Prince Rann, they finally come to the glacier-locked city of Athalau, site of the last great battle between the Star Demon Istu and Felarod the Mystic which took place ten thousand years before.
Venturing inside the city they eventually discover a shining black and white jewel of incredible workmanship. Hung next to it is a plain stone talisman which the two ignore. Up until this point, Moriana and Fost have avoided the question of who will take the amulet, but the matter is resolved when Moriana stabs Fost through the heart as he reaches for it. Sobbing with grief, Moriana folds Fost's hands over the unremarkable stone, which he grasped in his death throes, and takes the black and white jewel before leaving the city in the company of Ziore, the ghost of an embittered nun who once followed Erimenes' teachings of denial.
After some time, Fost regains consciousness. It seems that the unregarded stone on his chest is, in fact, the Amulet of Living Flame which has exhausted its final energies in reviving him. Fost learns from the abandoned Erimenes that Moriana has mistakenly taken the Destiny Stone, a jewel capable of altering its wearer's luck for good or ill. Despite her treachery, Fost realises that he still loves Moriana and he and Erimenes set off in pursuit to warn her of her mistake.
Meanwhile, Moriana attempts to raise an army from the northern kingdoms to retake her city. At first her recruitment drive is unsuccessful, but Synalon soon changes their minds when she launches a war of conquest against the other city states of the Sundered Realm. The two sides clash in a titanic battle, but the Destiny Stone betrays Moriana, leading to her defeat. She is able to escape, and in desperation decides to contact the reptilian Fallen Ones, the original builders of the Sky City, with hopes of forming an alliance. The book ends as Fost arrives on the battlefield. He is too late to intercept the Princess, and the garbled last words of a dying soldier mislead him into thinking she has returned to the Sky City. He announces his decision to follow her.
The War of Powers part 2
Synalon Etuul has begun her conquest of The Sundered Realm, and Moriana's first attempt to reclaim the City in the Sky has failed. With Fost working with the Sky City Resistance, Moriana attempts to enlist the aid of the Fallen Ones, the reptilian builders of the city who were overthrown several millennia before.Forming an alliance with the Fallen Ones, Moriana finally retakes the city but is betrayed at the last by the leader of the reptiles who uses his magic to free the demon Istu, who has been chained to the bedrock of the floating city since the War of Powers ten thousand years before. Now, with the Fallen Ones in control of the city and Istu released from his prison, they embark on a crusade to eliminate the human race.
Forced into an uneasy alliance with Synalon and Prince Rann, Fost and Moriana rally humanity's survivors but are gradually forced back to the ancient city of Athalau. They form a plan to summon the World Spirit, as Felarod the Mystic did during the War of Powers, with the hope that this time they can destroy Istu utterly. With the help of Felarod's descendants, Moriana contacts the World Spirit but cannot control it. Synalon then steps forward, volunteering to focus the power that Moriana wields. Gaining access to the Sky City, Rann and Fost fight side by side to protect Synalon while she channels the World Spirit. After a titanic battle Synalon is able to destroy Istu, but is then killed when the city collides with a mountain and is destroyed. Just before the city's destruction Fost straps the mortally wounded Rann onto the back of his war eagle and escapes.
With the Fallen Ones defeated, Fost and Moriana turn to rebuilding the reborn Athalau.