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Master Of Devils (2011)

by Dave Gross(Favorite Author)

3.81 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1601253575 (ISBN13: 9781601253576)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Paizo Publishing, LLC

review 1: (Crossposted from Lost Hemisphere)It’s been awhile since I wrote my last review of one of Dave Gross’ novels; life being what it is, I’ve only just recently been able to finish Master Of Devils, the second of Dave’s Pathfinder novels, but given that I was a little… verbose in my review of Prince Of Wolves, I thought it only fair that I ramble for a bit on Master as well. Again, courtesy warning, I make no promises about spoilers.As a quick recap of my thoughts from the previous review:• Dave Gross’ ability to flip back and forth between the voices of his two protagonists is awesome.• After reading Prince I found myself liking the crude, brash Radovan, and thinking Varian was a bit of a git.• As much as I enjoyed it, the reader needs familiarity with the ... morePathfinder setting/world to sink into Prince.So, enter Master Of Devils. I had originally thought I’d be much better off stepping into Master, having had at least a basic introduction to the Pathfinder universe through Prince, but no. Right out of the gate Gross throws me for a loop by setting the entire novel in a Fantasy Asian setting. None of the standard tweaks on European fantasy settings, instead we get Shao-Lin style monasteries, Kami, and chop-socky action that seems like it would lend itself, or indeed be at home in, any subtitled 1980’s Hong Kong cinema action flick. Perhaps I was more open to the setting than I had been with Prince, but if I was to say that Master had a weakness, it’s that the setting is so chock full of Fantasy Asian tropes that in parts the story has a degree of predictability. Once Radovan and Varian are separated and we’re given a basic introduction to their current circumstances, it’s not a very large leap of storytelling logic at all to figure out what’s going to happen to them in the last chapters of the story - their respective parties are going to end up in direct conflict. Honestly, I don’t have a big problem with this. In a world of movie teaser trailers and constant remakes of both historical events and older films, knowing how it’s all going to end isn’t hugely significant; rather, I’m more interested in how the story is told. What sort of growth do we see in characters and relationships, what little twists and tweaks do we get to experience along the way towards the inevitable conclusion. Counterbalancing the predictability of the conclusion with well-crafted prose and development is the key. This is something Dave Gross has proven adept at. Count Varian Jeggare is, as mentioned, a character that I wasn’t particularly drawn towards when compared to his bodyguard Radovan, after reading Prince of Wolves. I’d found the Count to border on foppish arrogance, and to be honest, he still packs a fair bit of that in Master Of Devils, but it’s countered by the humility of his situation. He’s forced to pose as a supplicant asking admission to a monastery which, this being straight out of a pre-English-speaking Jackie Chan movie, focuses is less on monastic faith and more on kicking the snot out of each other. Varian is a capable swordsman, but proceeds to relinquish the aforementioned snot to each and every one of his opponents, securing his position as holding the lowest standing among the lowest ranked monks. This established, it’s not long before we see more of the Varian we met in Prince Of Wolves. Much as in the former novel, Varian’s arc is pregnant with intrigue and mystery as a member of the royal court arrives for an extended stay at the monastery along with a eunuch you just *know* is up to no good, clandestine meetings between movers and shakers aren’t quite as clandestine as the participants thought, and there’s an assassination attempt on the life of a poor girl who can’t carry a tune in a bucket (possibly my favourite of the Princess’ characteristics). I think Varian’s character is redeemed somewhat for me in this book, which is amusing given that in discussions with the author after my last review he had wondered if my opinion of Varian would change after reading Master Of Devils. Maybe it’s just the sadistic sod in me, but the tale of Varian’s endurance as he spends a full year with the initiates, not daring to reveal his true nature, peeling vegetables and having to skip training to attend to household chores, went a long way towards humanizing the character. There was less of a snobbish “We have people to do that sort of thing…” about him. Granted, he had no real choice but to play the role of the untitled plebeian, but it was a role I enjoyed him in. I’ll be interested to see if his year at the monastery had more of an effect on him than just teaching him martial arts, when I move onto the next book in the series.While Varian spent his year in the monastery, Radovan toured the length and breadth of Tian Xia after being locked in his devil form by a self-obsessed one-armed wandering “hero”, Burning Cloud Devil. It’s just a name, he’s not actually hellspawn like Radovan… but he is convinced that Radovan is the key to revenge against the dragon that killed his wife and took his arm. The premise here seemed a little forced to me, in the same manner as it might happen in an actual tabletop RPG where the DM is railroading the player character(s) into a particular campaign. Burning Cloud Devil turns up, sees Radovan in his devil form, does some voodoo, tells Radovan “You’re stuck in Devil form now, unless you sign this contract and agree to learn my uber technique and kill the dragon for me”. I get that Radovan is muddled with grief for his mistakenly-presumed-dead employer, but the seeming ease in which Burning Cloud Devil gets Radovan to sign on for a year-long commitment to study under a guy who’s clearly a fruit loop, in a country where he doesn’t even speak the language, required some significant suspension of disbelief for me (as appropriate as it is to suspend disbelief over a plot point when you’re already suspending it for a fantasy setting). Nothing of the character from Prince Of Wolves suggested, to me at least, that he’d be so readily submissive, even if Burning Cloud Devil had the form-lock trump card. Still, once we’re over that hurdle, Radovan’s story is – much like it was in Prince of Wolves – where you get most of the action scenes. Varian’s hot on the trail of mystery and intrigue, Radovan’s punching things in the face, and that’s how we like it. Dave Gross leads us on a merry journey across the land as Burning Cloud Devil seeks out challenger after challenger against which to test his pupil, upping the stakes and choosing more and more dangerous foes, ranging from a tree-leaping sociopath with a penchant for decapitation to deadly seamstresses, a bipartisan paladin and a family of snake folk. While I’m not immediately a fan of how Radovan ended up with his mentor, each of the conflicts in Master Of Devils is engaging, detailed just enough to paint the picture in my mind’s eye while not distracting from choreography and wire-fu worthy of Hong Kong’s cinema’s finest.Now we come to the third iron that Dave Gross has thrown into the fire. Master Of Devils expands upon the two-arc formula of Prince Of Wolves by including a third arc, following Varian’s wolfhound Arnisant. Separated from Radovan and Varian early on, Arnisant is thwarted by supernatural wards when he tries to follow his master, and instead seeks the assistance of a reincarnated judge in the body of a cricket, who uses Arnisant’s not inconsiderable physical presence to help him round up a small army of spirits and creatures of folklore, in order to combat Burning Cloud Devil and stop him achieving his ultimate goal. Arnisant’s tale was a difficult one for me to get into. This is not a reflection of the author’s ability or lack thereof to convincingly write a story from the perspective of a canine, but that I was more engaged in Radovan and Varian’s tales. As with Tad Williams’ Otherland series, I found myself reading through one story arc merely as a stepping stone to the arcs that I was more interested in. This made it difficult to enjoy Arnisant’s arc on its own merits. That said, the gathered kami had among their ranks personalities that were, frankly, wonderful. I very much enjoyed the portrayal of the spider maiden and the noxious goblin, though the Hopper was just plain weird. Honk!So to wrap it up…I came into Prince Of Wolves unfamiliar with Pathfinder, and found myself wrapped up in a visceral tale drawing on gothic horror elements. I stepped into Master Of Devils expecting - based purely on the title, granted, I made a point of avoiding synopses – more of the same with some significant exploration into Radovan’s hellish lineage; instead I found a romp through an Asian Fantasy setting with pretty much everything one could want from such an environment. Warrior monks! Weird spirit creatures! Dudes flying on clouds! Wire-fu! Court intrigue! Little bits of yellow paper flying everywhere! More than anything else, Master Of Devils is an adventure. Master Of Devils was not at all what I was expecting when I opened the cover, and I have absolutely no problem with this. The question is, what does Mr Gross have in store for me next…
review 2: Master of Devils, by Dave Gross, long time successful game designer and author of Pathfinder Tales novels, has come up with another winner. This tale follows his two old favorite characters, Count Varian Jeggare and his devoted, if somewhat acerbic and downright inflammatory (especially when he’s on fire) bodyguard, Radovan in a romp through the Pathfinder world of Golarion’s far-eastern flavored realm of Tian Xia.The action and intrigue never stop in this story. From the opening scene—You gotta love a novel that opens up with the phrase “Run for it!”—to the twists and turns of the end, you will be on the edge of your chair. It reminds me of every wonderful Chinese martial arts movie I have ever seen and loved. Gross builds the tale as a web of double edged lies and deceptions happing to both of the characters independently that really works beautifully. By the time you are halfway through, it is something you can’t put down, waiting for the next twist of the knife, the next unwilling act of slaughter prompted by careful falsehoods and paper thin promises. The pace is a steady ramp up from the get-go, and by the ending, you will be frothing at the mouth for the crescendo.Another trait that makes Gross a top-notch RPG author is his ability to weave setting into the story to a level that the fans of this world feel that they are truly there. Gaming and gaming worlds are obviously this author’s stock and trade, and once again, he weaves a flawless tapestry that is so integral to the story, never onerous description, but rich and enveloping, you will fall in love with the world as much as the characters.Without spoilers, I will let you know that there are already more tales with these two characters, so don’t expect either of them to die…maybe… This is fantasy, after all. Dave Gross has just released a new Jeggare/Radovan novel with Paizo, Queen of Thorns, and with the success and popularity of his work so far, I am sure there will be more. Additionally, you can read free web-fiction stories based in the world of Golarion by Dave Gross and some of Paizo’s other fine authors (past, present and future) on their Pathfinder Tales Web Fiction Page: paizo.com - Pathfinder® / Pathfinder Tales / Web Fiction . Full disclosure: I am friends with Dave Gross, which may have biased this review…whether positively, is another question.Fuller disclosure: I have a Pathfinder Tales novel coming out in April of 2013. Falling in love with RPG gaming, fiction and specifically Paizo’s setting of Golarion may have influenced my review, and certainly pushed me to approach Paizo for the opportunity to write for them. Therefore, my opinion of this novel line may be influenced by that love. That said, I believe you would enjoy this and other Pathfinder Tales stories without ever having played the RPG. Give the free web-fiction a read, and find out for yourself. less

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