Subject: IBIC REVIEW #11, "The Living God" by Dave Duncan

From: [email-masked] (Internet Book Information Center)
Date: 17 May 1994 18:34:56 GMT

IBIC REVIEW #11, "The Living God" by Dave Duncan

I thoroughly enjoyed this, the fourth and concluding volume in Dave 
Duncan's "A Handful Of Men" series, which is itself a sequel to Duncan's 
"A Man of His Word" series starring the stableboy-turned-sorcerer Rap, 
King of Krasnegar.

Dave Duncan's character as an author reminds me of the character of Bink 
in Piers Anthony's A SPELL FOR CHAMELEON--an ordinary person whose 
abilities, average in most respects, are transformed and transfigured by 
a single, mysterious, extraordinary talent. (Incidentally, for those who 
have not read CHAMELEON, I mean this as a compliment; it is an excellent 
book.)

Duncan's fantasy world, which is populated by imps, elves, dwarves, 
goblins, jotunn, and dragons, is not an especially original conception.  
Nor is the plot of "A Handful of Men", which involves a magical threat to 
the foundations of the Impire of Pandemia.  Without Duncan's 
transfiguring talent, this would be routine genre stuff.

The talent that makes Dave Duncan special and makes his Rap novels jewels
of the fantasy genre is a simple one: he is a wonderful storyteller. 
Because of this talent, his fantasy world, based on a handful of clever
premises, is skillfully elaborated.  His plot is crisply executed and
builds to a conclusion which I found both satisfying and surprising.  His
characters are utterly engaging and his style lucid and literate.  In The
talent that makes Dave Duncan special and makes his Rap novels jewels of
the fantasy genre is a simple one: he is a wonderful storyteller.  Because
of this talent, his fantasy world, based on a handful of clever premises,
is skillfully elaborated.  His plot is crisply executed and builds to a
conclusion which I found both satisfying and surprising.  His characters
are utterly engaging and his style lucid and literate.  In short, his work
is a prose poem to the art of writing entertaining fiction.  short, his
work is a prose poem to the art of writing entertaining fiction. 

So to continue the Xanth analogy, what are the future prospects for 
Duncan's work?  Is there any sign that he is beginning to repeat himself 
and churn out formula product?   Thankfully not; this, the eighth novel 
in the Rap series, is as fresh as the first.   There is no obvious sequel 
to this book, so it's difficult to guess where he will go from here; but 
my hopes are high.

--Frederick Zimmerman

%A Duncan, Dave
%T The Living God
%I DelRey
%C New York
%D April 1994
%G ISBN 0-345-37899-7
%O hardcover, US$20.00
%P 385 pp.

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