From
the back cover
“Across
deserts wrested from the savage Kitzaak Empire, into the deadly, steaming
jungles of the Daangall, to the mysterious plateau of the Bayaabar, the land
beyond dreams, goes Gath of Baal, the Death Dealer, in search of the legendary
noon, beautiful Queen of the Cats. Yet among his companions, who serves the
dreaded dark lord? Who plans treachery? Gazul, the bounty hunter, strangely
linked to Gath’s past? Bilbaar, the young tracker, able to talk with animals?
Fleka, the slave girl, sensuously serving whichever man is the strongest? Who
will leave the Dangaal alive?
“In
the jungles, the only law is the law of tooth and claw.”
Review
Caveat:
possible (light) spoilers in this review.
In the
three years after the events of Lords of Destruction, Gath─who knows his
identity, but little about his past─has wandered the scope of wild lands, engaging
in various and briefly mentioned adventures. Now, he is given a chance to
discover something about his past when Gazul, a shifty bounty hunter, makes him
an appealing offer to not only recover some of his memory, but fight Chyak
(feline master of Noon, Queen of the Cats). The cost: Gath must help Gazul
capture Noon, an elusive, animalistic being. Along for the ride is Bilbarr, Gazul’s
earnest and brutalized servant boy, and Fleka, whose carnal charms are not as
random as the back-cover blurb suggests.
While
this vividly penned, Conan-esque series continues to be a pre-P.C.,
nightmare-for-feminists pulpy read, Gath’s character─still a harsh Barbarian─has
become more socialized, matured since the events of the first two books. This
is especially clear in Gath’s dealing with Bilbaar and Fleka, as well as his immediate
post-Chyak-battle feelings about the saber-tiger he has defeated. Not only
that, the writing in this third book feels tighter, more character-focused than
previous Death Dealer entries.
Consistent
with the other books, there is plenty of sensory-rich, icky action, death,
betrayal, hypermasculinity and hypersexualized femininity (which is relatively subdued,
compared to Prisoner of the Horn and Lords of Destruction). In
short: if you don’t mind the above qualities and want a rough-and-tumble
slaughterama fantasy adventure, this is a great work, whether you’ve read the
first two books or not. Worth owning, this.
Followed
by Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer: Plague of Knives.
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