Voidfarer

by Sean McMullen

Book Overview

At first Wayfarer Inspector Danolarian thought the huge oval thing that had fallen from the sky was a dragon's egg. When it opened, however, he knew that it was much, much worse. His world was being... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765352923
• ISBN13: 9780765352927
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.0" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

A Touch of Romantic Fantasy to the Moonworlds Saga

The best of the Moonworlds series so far, in my opinion. I really liked Voyage of the Shadowmoon a lot, and I liked Glass Dragons too, but this book out-shines the others. The writing is definitely getting better. The story is all about an alien invasion of the planet Verral and what the locals do to fight it off - old idea, creative new angle. It ties up some loose ends from the previous two Moonworld books but you don't need to read the earlier books to appreciate this one, as the books are pretty much stand-alone, self-contained stories. Minor characters from the earlier books such as Lavenci are now major characters. It is just as action packed and fast-paced as the previous books. The humour is just as bawdy. I am impressed with Sean McMullen's ability to write three distinctly different leading male characters for each of his Moonworlds books. Danolarian could be described as the traditional hero but with a very BIG secret. This book is also very romantic, due to the Danolarian-Lavenci courtship sub-plot. The other sub-plot is the political and social repercussions from the goings-on in the earlier books have finally arrived. The third sub-plot is the founding of democracy on Verral. The three sub-plots are neatly integrated with the main story line. My only complaint - Laron is a minor character in this book.

Invasion of the Moonworld

McMullen is never so crass as to actually describe it, but the Moonworlds Saga is set on the earth-sized moon Verral, which orbits with its three sister moons around a kind of Super-Jovian ringed planet. Where our Jupiter generates strong magnetic fields, Verral experiences etherics, which give rise to a kind of sorcerous magic. A kind of magic which, if wrongly used, can have all kinds of disastrous consequences. Voidfarer follows the further adventures and misadventures of the motley cast of characters first introduced in "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" and continued in "Glass Dragons." This time, the threat to the safety of the moonworld Verra comes from an invasion by the sorcerors of its sister moon Lupan. The Lupan sorcerors are far more powerful than those of Verral. On their giant glass tripod war machines, the Lupanese set out to conquer Verral. Yes, it is a fantasy version of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" but it's also a McMullen, which means humor, love, sex, intricate plotting, betrayals and epic journeys across stunning fantasy landscapes. It's also the story of the arrival of democracy on the feudal moon of Verral, which gives McMullen the chance to spoof most Marxist cliche's. No character in a Moonworld story is exactly who what he or she appears to be. No McMullen character's motivations are what you think they are. This story, told in the first person by a kind of roving marshal, is self-contained. You don't have to have read "Shadowmoon" or "Dragons" to enjoy this tale, but if you haven't you'll miss half the fun. When the courtier Laron says he is an old man in young man's body, it means far more if you have read "Shadowmoon." And there will plainly be a sequel. The Moonworlds Saga does't pretend to be high concept stuff. This is not Tolkien or any of its tedious horde of Tolkien wannabes. But it is fun and sometimes delightful reading. McMullen improves with each book. Recommended.