Reave the Just and Other Tales: Stories - Softcover

Donaldson, Stephen R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553580140 ISBN 13: 9780553580143

Publisher: Spectra, 2000

Synopsis

The sciencefiction master presents his first collection of short, fantastic tales in more than fourteen years, containing eight stories of heroic adventure in dramatic alternative worldsincluding three that have never appeared in print before. Reprint.

About this title

Review:

Stephen Donaldson is best known for immense and doom-laden genre sagas, in particular his debut fantasy epic The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and the SF "Gap" sequence. His first book of short stories Daughter of Regals (1984) was uneven--muddied by an early weakness for unwieldy language. Reave the Just is a far stronger collection, with five powerful pieces, two adequate ones and just one dud. Donaldson's fantasies show a scarifying intensity of moral concern and complication. The title character Reave works towards justice through deep pain, not least to himself. Elsewhere we find the agonies of a sympathetic and even pious vampire who's denied the easy option of feeding on animals; a Dark Lord who reasonably protests that his researches into black magic have harmed no one and shouldn't attract persecution from self-righteous White mages; an exploration of the peculiar honour of ninja-style warriors; and another wizard who helps a filthy idiot girl towards beauty and self-reliance for very bad reasons indeed. Effective and sometimes harrowing tales, clearly told: Donaldson has abandoned the oversized thesaurus he once relied on, and now writes with a quieter conviction that hits hard. --David Langford

Review:

‘If there is any justice in the literary world, Donaldson will earn the right to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tolkien.’
Time Out

‘A writer of central significance as an author of demanding and exploratory fantasy.’
JOHN CLUTE

‘The most individual of the Tolkien successors.’
Guardian

About this edition

• Publisher: Spectra
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0553580140
• ISBN 13: 9780553580143
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback