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Dark Thane (The Last Clansman Book 2)
by Miller Lau check out websites: www.earthlight.co.uk and www.millerlau.com
His beloved wife Una has died in circumstances where, it is hinted, Regan might have done more to save her. This sours relations between father and daughter. When riders arrive to announce that the Thane has died and Tristan will take the throne, Regan tells them she is his twin sister and, likewise, heir. She isn't! Thinking that Tristan might need help in his new role, Talisker does not reveal the lie. They are made co-rulers but Regan is the stronger character and so dominates the realm. She falls under the influence of Jahl, a scheming demi-god. He exploits her arrogance and her innate hatred of the Sidhe beast men who share the realm. Soon there is torture, corruption, and war. Tristan flees to Edinburgh, Talisker's home town, where a dangerous young man called Knox has taken over a religious cult. Jahl becomes more powerful and begins to influence events there as well. The two plots intertwine. Talisker and others from Sutra cross over to Edinburgh. From a low-key beginning the story develops into a rich, ambitious saga with two worlds in peril. There is no single central character in the story but rather three or four key figures whose point of view we share. Like a modern thriller writer, Lau switches scenes from one place to another to keep the tension mounting. The technique works. It is a long book (is there such a thing as a short fantasy novel nowadays?) but I was never bored. As to the writing, I never noticed it. Not a word jarred, not a sentence had to be read twice. The author's own voice was never heard. For this kind of book - pure story - that is perfect. Like Stephen King's ‘The Mist’ this is basically a ripping yarn - a B-movie of a book. It has some memorable characters and a strong sense of place. You find yourself casting the film as you read: Sean Connery as Talisker! Christopher Walken as Jahl! It is sufficiently gripping that I will probably go forth and buy Talisker, book one in the series, with my own hard earned loot. That, I suppose, is meaningful praise. Eamonn Murphy
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OTHER REVIEWS - June 2002
NEW NOVELS Diplomatic
Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold The
Book Of The Unicorn by Nigel Suckling The
Treason Of Dortrean (The Arrandin Trilogy Book 2) by Marcus Herniman The
Empire Of Fear by Brian Stableford Mediations
On Middle-Earth: New Writings On The Worlds Of J.R.R. Tolkien edited by Karen
Haber Thorns
of Nature edited by Doyle Eldon Wilmoth Jr Richard
Matheson’s The Twilight Zone Scripts Wizardborn
(The Runelords Book 3) Harry
Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone Dark
Thane (The Last Clansman Book 2) by Miller Lau Fortress
Of Grey Ice (Book Two Sword Of Shadows) by J V Jones Paper
Tiger Fantasy Art Gallery edited by Paul Barnett
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Miller
Lau does not have a lot to say about the human condition. He is
eloquent, however, on the condition of Gods, demi-gods, magicians,
beast-men, warriors and gigantic black flying scorpions from the
void.
Talisker,
the eponymous hero of book one, is now retired quietly with Regan
his strong-willed daughter and his crippled stepson Tristan, who
is nephew to the Thane of Soulis Mor. 
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