Necromancer Nine

by Sheri S. Tepper

Book Overview

Some will be kings, some will be sorcerers, and some pawns in the real lives of those who live the magical chess game on True Life. But one child is wreaking havoc; he can be any player he likes and threatens to destroy the game forever.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 044156853X
• ISBN13: 9780441568536
• Release Date: September 1983
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Not Free SF Reader

After surviving a game, Peter is getting bored, even with the thingshis elders come up with for him to do. He sets out to find his mum.

Peter, Peter, Shapeshifter.

After the great game at Bannerwell, Peter quickly tires of life at the Bright Demesne. There is much he still has to discover about his own nature, and Himaggery and Windlow never seem to lack for tasks to distract him. Finally, Peter takes matters into his own hands (claws) and declares his intention to find his mother, Mavin Manyshaped, and find out more about his heritage and powers. He visits first with Mertyn at Schooltown, where his old teacher gives him a riddle that will guide him to Mavin. An Elator suddenly arrives with news that Himaggery and Windlow have disappears, and what Peter thought was a leisurely voyage turns out to be a desperate quest.And so begins the second volume in Sheri Tepper's series about the lands of the True Game. Peter's travels will take him all over the map of the Lands of the True Game, and by the time he finds Mavin he will visit a city haunted by a ghost of the future, he will find friends in the shadows, and visit the shifty valley of Schlaizy Noithn. He will avoid an attempt to capture him. In the process, he will learn to work better with the game pieces of Barish as they provide him with needful talents for getting past the rough spots.Mavin and Peter have a quest all their own, as they seek to solve the mystery of the disappearances. They find themselves embroiled in the strange workings of Magicians and Monsters. The prize is a better understanding of how Peter's world came to be and a sense of the scale of what the young shifter must hope to accomplish if he is to bring justice to the game.Just when we were satisfied that Sheri Tepper was a promising fantasy writer. We discover that she has actually written a crossover novel where the Talents that make everything seem magical are true forces as well. This is fiercely intelligent and imaginative work, where even the most eccentric minor character is memorable. First you think the author has concocted everything out of whole cloth, and then you find that there is a convincing logical coherence that drives the events. Prepare to put this book down and immediately reach for its sequel,

Where I met Sheri's work, and never regretted it!

I found the Land of the True Game [and thus Sheri] with this book first, and adored it. Then after much searching I got the others in this [the Peter] set so I could read #1 and #3 of the True Game. Many reads later I realized that it's the sort of world you prefer to be a spectator/read about, rather than live in! But oh! what a world, what people, what Rules, what Games they play!! I actually was drawn to this [paperback] book by the cover, which was of a brown-eyed youth with fiery hair... It was one case where the illustrated hero's allure was well worth my time. [I also liked the name and legends of his discovered parent, who possesses a favorite Talent of mine.]Foundling Peter has adventures which don't go under the heading of 'typical fantasy quest/journey'. You may shrug it off as a mere rite of passage; he learns a lot about himself, and others, as he goes along - no surprise to the average reader. Peter begins by being naive; as he learns, though, he doesn't completely slough off the many qualities that make you like and identify with him. But you may be surprised anyway, because his world is like no other before in the genre, and the society well matches it. I believe Roger Zelazny recommended the book [possibly all three of the first True Game trio], which also spurred me to enter the world of the True Game. I don't want to spoil any more, unless you've a weak stomach [in which case you might want to avoid the series as it progresses, or take it in doses].If you read the other 8 books in the series [as it's 3 trilogies], you'll get to see people from different viewpoints. This is where you'd find Peter's tales are actually behind one trio and intermingled with the other. :> And I've been sorry for most Tepper readers that the True Game books went out-of-print and/or were eclipsed FAST by her other books. Starting with her beginnings definitely hooked me on her works. If you cannot find this one, the whole first [Peter] trilogy is now collected into The True Game.<p>I think the only author I could properly compare to Sheri S. Tepper would be Tanith Lee. Why? Well, if you're not afraid of being scared, having your thoughts disturbed, enjoy compelling imagery and characters, understanding different views and finding yourself taken to a place you may never have imagined... both do that to you.

A good fantasy book, with a form of fantasy not of the norm

I really enjoyed this book, and the rest of the series that it's included in. In it, a boy named Peter(the son of Mavin Manyshaped), grows up in a schooltown. In the schooltown, children that have a chance of gaining a Talent learn about the Great Game and the rules pertaining to it. Those that don't have a Talent are the pawns. So it makes the whole setting seem kind of like a chess game or something. So anyways. Peter ends up going on an adventure like most fantasy books and he ends up having some unknown Talent. He finds the Gamesman of Barish. But I won't tell you anything more about what happens because that would spoil the book. You'll just have to read it to find out everything. A good book, and it's not hard reading. I definitely recommend it.