Paragon Lost: A Chronicle of the King's Blades - Hardcover

Duncan, Dave

3.88

1,519 ratings by Goodreads

9780380978960: Paragon Lost: A Chronicle of the King's Blades

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0380978962 ISBN 13: 9780380978960

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2002

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Over time, many legends have emerged from the shadows of Ironhall. Now one new Blade towers above his brother in arms: Sir Beaumont. His heart is the strongest and most pure and his mind is as keen, swift, and accurate as his sword. A glorious future seems predestined for young Beau on the day he sets out in the service and company of the elderly Lord Wassail, on a mission to escort King Athelgar's chosen bride to her new home and royal wedding.

But the road is not to be an easy one, for it winds through the harsh and frozen domain of the evil Czar Igor, who cows his subjects with a steady diet of terror, brutality, and the blackest of magics. And when polite diplomacy gives way to horror and blood, Sir Beaumont becomes one of the tragedy's prime victims -- though he lives still.

Stripped of his sword and banished from the Blades in disgrace, he faces a grim future as a homeless pariah, a creature to be shunned and despised. But redemption can come from unexpected directions and in unrecognizable guises. Approached in secret by the legendary Durendal, now Grand Master of the Order, the dishonored paragon is offered one last chance to win back his weapon and his place among his brother Blades. But to do so, he must ride back through the icy gates of Hell ... to battle the Devil himself.

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About the Author:

Dave Duncan is an award-winning author whose fantasy trilogy, The Seventh Sword, is considered a sword-and-sorcery classic. His numerous novels include three Tales of the King's Blades -- The Gilded Chain, Lord of the Fire Lands, and Sky of Swords; Paragon Lost, a previous Chronicle of the King’s Blades; Strings, Hero; the popular tetralogies A Man of His Word and A Handful of Men; and the remarkable, critically acclaimed fantasy trilogy The Great Game.

From Publishers Weekly:

Canadian author Duncan offers plenty of swashbuckling fantasy adventure in this outstanding stand-alone novel, a follow-up to the three books in his loosely connected Tales of the King's Blades series (The Gilded Chain; Lord of the Fire Lands; Sky of Swords). Set during the reign of King Athelgar about a dozen years after the action of the previous volumes, the present story follows the binding of Sir Beaumont, one of the best of the King's Blades (swordsmen) in the land of Chivial, to the aged Lord Wassail, who must escort a royal princess from the court of the treacherous and insane Czar Igor and deliver a bride to the king. Along with fellow blades Arkell and Oak, Beaumont travels a narrow path in order to keep Wassail safe. Meanwhile, Igor desires his own blade and seeks the secrets of the rituals needed to gain one, aided by vicious ensorcelled dogs and the murderous strelsy. It's up to Beaumont, now disgraced and out of favor, to retrieve and stop a missing blade, Swithin, who's bound to the czar's brother-in-law, from reaching the czar's court. Rich, evocative language and superior narrative skills lift this mix of quest, swordplay, politics, love and honor high above the usual run of genre fiction. This book can only enhance Duncan's reputation as one of the leading masters of epic fantasy.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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