Death Dealer #01: Prisoner of the Horned Helmet

by James Silke and James Slike

Book Overview

Book by Frazetta, Frank, Silke, James R. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812538234
• ISBN13: 9780812538236
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

from the Front Cover

"In an age before Atlantis rose, an age rife, with sorcery and violence, the earth trembled beneath the all conquering hooves of the Kitzaak Horde, and only one man, Gath of Baal, dares to confront the Kitzaak lances, to stand between the never defeated armies and the lush valley that will, long millennia in the future, be know as the Mediterranean Sea. To save the peacful People of the Forest, Gath must dice with the gods, and the price he must pay is to become death made flesh, the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet."

tie between the pen and the swor....er...axe

i first read this book only a couple of years after it came out. since then i have periodically re-read the entire series. silke pens amazing imagery with vivid colour and detail, setting an incredible backdrop for the main figure: the death dealer. if you want an idea of this character before reading the book, go look at frazetta's most famous work: the warrior on the horse with the axe. it is, afterall, who the book was written about, and the picture is on the back of all four books. and what a character he is, deserving to be in the company of the best known fantasy heroes, and yet he is, strangely, an unkown. (but he would prefer it that way). i'm not telling you anymore. read the book.the writing of this book is in a somewhat unique style for this type of work: the 3rd person is somewhat laid back, matter of fact, and a little contemporary. It makes for marvelous tale-telling. a pleasant departure from the 19th century-ish tolkien writing (of which i am so terribly fond-i am a HUGE tolkien fan--mae govannen to all you others out there). very readable, highly addictive, never boring, re-reads like its the first time. a very rare thing to be said about a book i think.a few other points of interest: this is adult reading. not ideal for a jr. high book report. explicitly violent, sensuous, and dark, but never overdone so as to obscure the plot or become unenjoyable. it is exactly what fantasy storytelling should be. also, these four (prisoner of the horned helmet, lords of destruction, tooth and claw, plague of knives, resp.) are the only books. what a crying shame. and they are out of print. so, get them, enjoy them, and take good care of them--you'll be reading them over and over for years to come. they will only get harder to find as more people write rave reviews--unless, of course, someone makes a major motion picture out of them and then tor might reconsider. wouldn't that be nice.

Gath of Baal lays it down

Going way back, this was the first fantasy book I ever read, whichboth opened doors for me as a fantasy fan and a fantasy writer. I was always, of course, a fan of Frazetta's work, with his shadow-faced wizards, his primordial barbarians, and his plump, voluptuous damsels in their hip-hugger bikinis. After reading the first Death Dealer I also became a huge fan of James Silke, though sadly, I've never found any more of his work aside from the three sequels to the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet.Gath of Baal is a barbaric guardian of a realm called the Shades, which stands between a race of forest-dwellers and the nomadic encroachment of a vast desert empire. Gath's enemies, he soons discovers, are armed and armored with steel, a precious resource, though he soon discovers that not even steel will be enough. He forms a dark pact with the beautiful, ivory-skinned sorceress called Cobra, who in turn leads him to the demonic Horned Helmet. Wrought by the Master of Death, the Horned Helmet makes Gath almost invulnerable when he wears it, along with giving him access to other supernatural abilities. But there's a catch---the fact that he can't remove the helmet once he's put it on. Enter the nubile, innocent Robin Lakehair, who is virtuous enough to remove the helmet for him.This book is one of the great ones. Just like a Frazetta painting. Lusty, naked women that glisten beneath a primordial sun. Ravening, bloody battles. Demons. Barbaric sorcery. The Death Dealer books are cut from the cloth of Conan, and I'm talking about Robert E. Howard's Conan. Also a great deal like Bloodstone and the rest of the Kane books by Karl Edward Wagner. As long as you appreciate naked girls, two-fisted honor and axe-heavy battles, you'll love the Prisoner of the Horned Helmet as well as the three others after it.

Death Dealer #'s 1, 2, 3 & 4

This is quite possibly the best series I have ever read. I just recently finished the 4th book and I was amazed how James Silk could keep such a good storyline throughout the entire series. I personally recommend these books to my friends and they have had nothing but rave reviews for them also. Very descriptive, makes you feel like you're there.

Prisoner of the Horned Helmet = Great!

This book series, (The Death Dealer series) seems to be very rare. I am surprised at this! The books are great! Well... as a typical teenager, I am into books with a fantasy theme. The Death Dealer books are one of the book series I have read, and also my favorite book series. The author, James Silke, really knows what to write to inspire a good feeling in the reader! The hero, Gath of Baal, Is somewhat like a "Conan" character. Yet he does 'Un- Conan like things" in the book. Oh! By the way, these books are probably the MOST VIOLENT books you will ever read. for example: Gath, in one of the books, rips off someone's arm, and BEATS HIM TO DEATH WITH IT! then beats the assailants friends with it too. he carries around a huge axe, and the art on the covers is GREAT! this is the only book series I have ever read, that the cover was not only really cool, but the cover ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN THE BOOK!!! The second you see the art on the cover of "Prisoner of the Horned Helmet" you will want to read the book more that anything! trust me... order this book! it isn't expensive, and it is REALLY WORTH THE MONEY! Thanks for listening! Chris Gline HUT software