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High Couch of Silistra #4
The Carnelian Throne
Very light edge wear. Name on inside front page and a small eraser sign. Page "111" has a tiny tear. No other marks, clean and tight. Ships very quickly and packaged carefully!
Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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295 people want to read
About the author
Janet E. Morris
106 books379 followersJanet Ellen Morris (born May 25, 1946) is a United States author. She began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 20 novels, many co-authored with David Drake or her husband Chris Morris. She has contributed short fiction to the shared universe fantasy series Thieves World, and edited the Bangsian fantasy series Heroes in Hell. Most of her work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written several works of non-fiction.
Morris was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences in 1980.
In 1995, Morris and her husband and frequent co-writer Christopher Morris founded M2 Tech. Since that time, their writing output has decreased in proportion to the success of the company, which works with U.S. federal and military agencies on non-lethal weapon systems and software.
Morris was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences in 1980.
In 1995, Morris and her husband and frequent co-writer Christopher Morris founded M2 Tech. Since that time, their writing output has decreased in proportion to the success of the company, which works with U.S. federal and military agencies on non-lethal weapon systems and software.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 31, 2017
At the conclusion of “Wind From the Abyss,” the most esoterically enchanting chapter of the Silistra Quartet, Sereth–a master Slayer turned renegade, Chayin–cahndor of Nemar, and Estri–former well keepress of Astria, overcame almost insurmountable odds to form a triune thought to represent a vision of supreme authority as foretold in ancient prophecy.
And prophecy is everything, for Owkahen – the time-coming-to-be – continues to set the tone and tempo as events flow toward a culmination that will determine the verity of what was augured in ages past.
The “Carnelian Throne” begins with our protagonists exploring a forbidden continent. A land where technological and intellectual arrogance has forged upheaval, man is subservient and the result of thousands of years of genetic manipulation has reaped incredible and deathly ramifications.
It is into this cauldron of uncertainty that Sereth, Chayin and Estri venture, unwittingly triggering a series of events that soon overtake them...or do they?
Closer examination reveals a startling juxtaposition is manifesting all around them. Epoch-spanning cycles are maturing. The wheels of circumstance have almost turned full circle and creatures of disparate genesis are brought together at a time and place that tends to support the supposition that destiny is being shaped by a biology long in the making.
Yes, witness at last the summation of catalysis genetics as they reach a pivotal nexus in a black glass chamber bathed in amber light.
If, like me, you’ve been eagerly awaiting the final installment of this epic adventure, I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed. The Carnelian Throne is artfully written, employing engrossing characters and a skillfully crafted plot that involves you from the very beginning and keeps you enthralled to the final page.
My honest opinion?
This is a truly engaging adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one saga I’ll keep coming back to again and again.
And prophecy is everything, for Owkahen – the time-coming-to-be – continues to set the tone and tempo as events flow toward a culmination that will determine the verity of what was augured in ages past.
The “Carnelian Throne” begins with our protagonists exploring a forbidden continent. A land where technological and intellectual arrogance has forged upheaval, man is subservient and the result of thousands of years of genetic manipulation has reaped incredible and deathly ramifications.
It is into this cauldron of uncertainty that Sereth, Chayin and Estri venture, unwittingly triggering a series of events that soon overtake them...or do they?
Closer examination reveals a startling juxtaposition is manifesting all around them. Epoch-spanning cycles are maturing. The wheels of circumstance have almost turned full circle and creatures of disparate genesis are brought together at a time and place that tends to support the supposition that destiny is being shaped by a biology long in the making.
Yes, witness at last the summation of catalysis genetics as they reach a pivotal nexus in a black glass chamber bathed in amber light.
If, like me, you’ve been eagerly awaiting the final installment of this epic adventure, I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed. The Carnelian Throne is artfully written, employing engrossing characters and a skillfully crafted plot that involves you from the very beginning and keeps you enthralled to the final page.
My honest opinion?
This is a truly engaging adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's one saga I’ll keep coming back to again and again.
May 28, 2017
The fourth in Silistra Quartet does not disappoint. As ever the action starts immediately, with incredible creatures, fierce battles and searching of souls. Our heroes are, by this time, ‘more than men (and women), and less than gods’ but in a land of largely bronze age people, ruled by creatures of ‘Wehrkind’ gods they appear. And the locals aren’t impressed. In a quest for answers and revenge Sereth, Estri and Chayin must battle to free themselves from old rules, old beliefs, old prejudices and ghosts of their own pasts and emerge not only victorious but as rulers of this land. Ties of loyalty are truly tested, and the question of evolution, species selection and ranking is very much to the fore.
Delcrit – the simple and lowly character we are introduced to early on – proves his worth and his destiny in a surprising twist.
The entire quartet brings forth questions on the wisdom of technology, the place in the world for the sexes, species, politics and laws. Biology is queen here, nature is queen, but the heroes must find their place among their own kind, and forge a future and protect their world from enemies many of which are of their own making.
The Silistra books are not simple, or easy to read but they are enthralling, exciting and thought-provoking. Silistra is dystopian – it is not Earth – but it COULD be. The characters are not us – but they COULD be.
As with all Morris’s work, the prose is very lyrical and very poetic. There is a beat to her work which pulls in the reader. No words are wasted, no scenes are out of place or unnecessary and thus it makes for a thrilling and evocative read.
There is treachery, love, bravery, intrigue, a lot of ‘fight or die’, complex characters and a supremely crafted world – everything one would expect in such a work.
Loose ends are firmly tied off, scores are settled and places allotted, and answers found.
5 stars.
Delcrit – the simple and lowly character we are introduced to early on – proves his worth and his destiny in a surprising twist.
The entire quartet brings forth questions on the wisdom of technology, the place in the world for the sexes, species, politics and laws. Biology is queen here, nature is queen, but the heroes must find their place among their own kind, and forge a future and protect their world from enemies many of which are of their own making.
The Silistra books are not simple, or easy to read but they are enthralling, exciting and thought-provoking. Silistra is dystopian – it is not Earth – but it COULD be. The characters are not us – but they COULD be.
As with all Morris’s work, the prose is very lyrical and very poetic. There is a beat to her work which pulls in the reader. No words are wasted, no scenes are out of place or unnecessary and thus it makes for a thrilling and evocative read.
There is treachery, love, bravery, intrigue, a lot of ‘fight or die’, complex characters and a supremely crafted world – everything one would expect in such a work.
Loose ends are firmly tied off, scores are settled and places allotted, and answers found.
5 stars.
October 20, 2017
Janet Morris is a prolific author and has a library’s worth of fantastic novels, enough to keep a reader busy for years. She has written everything from science fiction and heroic fantasy, to historical fiction and modern-day thrillers, many of them in collaboration with her husband Chris. I find her stories thoughtful, intelligent, worldly, and wise. She has a true gift with words, and her prose is always sharp and crisp, as poetic as a memorable song lyric. Her insight into human nature, as seen through the eyes of her characters, is apparent in every one of her novels I’ve so far read. No matter how strange, no matter how alien . . . her characters never come across as anything less than three-dimensional. She writes her characters with such sensitivity and understanding that even her villains are often likable and sympathetic. And now, with the release of this revised and expanded “author’s cut” of The Carnelian Throne, the fourth and final volume in her ground-breaking The Silistra Quartet, she gives us another engrossing and exciting adventure that leads to a satisfying conclusion where all loose ends are neatly tied up.
Once again, Morris writes of Estri, Chayin and Sereth . . . friends and lovers who may very well be the three that a prophecy has foretold will bring light out of the darkness. While this novel has all the wonders and magic of classic Sword & Planet in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, this is also a pure, classic science fiction adventure that pulls out all the stops, revealing the science fictional tropes underpinning the entire Silistra Quartet. It pulls together many elements that Estri’s perspective alone couldn’t do, as we follow Estri, Chayin, and Sereth to the shores of a land where no one is empowered to speak. This is a strange land, where Mankind is not at the top of the food chain, so to speak. Genetic tampering has run amok, and destiny is being molded by science. This is a new, almost stand-alone adventure for the triad as they venture into a world they may not fully understand, and yet must come to grips with in order to fulfill the prophecy.
The story starts off like a bullet train. There are semi-telepathic species of all breeds, including humans that are part beast. These creatures are ruled by a ‘dreaming’ king, and are controlled by a process of a very specific eugenics program, and the story is shaped by these frightening, intelligent and almost mythical creatures. During the course of the novel, Janet Morris brings up questions and aspects of evolution and selective breeding, and she deals with Esrti’s, Chayin’s, and Sereth’s PTSD and ‘Stockholm Syndrome as they fight to shed themselves not only from the ghosts that haunt their pasts, but from old rules and belief systems, as well. Treachery, love, loyalty and bravery stand at the heart of this novel, with characters rich and complex in thought, word, deed, and emotion. And let’s not forget the fascinating Delcrit — an unassuming character who in the end proves not only his worth, but lives up to his destiny in a surprising manner. Little touches like this are what define Morris’ well-crafted worlds and scenarios, and the little touches are the ones that often play the greatest importance.
In all her novels, Morris deals with serious themes and issues. Here she questions the use of technology — biology, genetics, and selective breeding. Politics, intrigue and sex have all played a part in The Silistra Quartet and no less in this final volume in the series. This series was way ahead of its time when first published in the late 1970s and in the early 1980s, and its subject matter still resounds with urgency and importance. Especially in this day and age, where the role of women in society and politics is more often than not challenged and questioned, where laws affecting the right of women to make their own choices over their own bodies and futures are at the forefront of the news almost every day. Indeed, Morris reflects on the role all Mankind plays on the world’s stage, and it makes one wonder if the future will be of our own making, or one designed and dictated by those who control the world’s wealth and power. The four novels that comprise The Silistra Quartet are not quick and easy reads. The Carnelian Throne, like its three predecessors, is complex and complicated, multi-layered; they can be read and enjoyed on several levels, from pure, entertaining adventure to a thought-provoking mirror of our own endangered society. Morris challenges the reader to think, and to think for ourselves. She paints a picture of a future, dystopian society that may very well become our future, if cooler and smarter heads do not triumph, if “the better angels of our nature” do not prevail.
Once again, Morris writes of Estri, Chayin and Sereth . . . friends and lovers who may very well be the three that a prophecy has foretold will bring light out of the darkness. While this novel has all the wonders and magic of classic Sword & Planet in the tradition of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Leigh Brackett, this is also a pure, classic science fiction adventure that pulls out all the stops, revealing the science fictional tropes underpinning the entire Silistra Quartet. It pulls together many elements that Estri’s perspective alone couldn’t do, as we follow Estri, Chayin, and Sereth to the shores of a land where no one is empowered to speak. This is a strange land, where Mankind is not at the top of the food chain, so to speak. Genetic tampering has run amok, and destiny is being molded by science. This is a new, almost stand-alone adventure for the triad as they venture into a world they may not fully understand, and yet must come to grips with in order to fulfill the prophecy.
The story starts off like a bullet train. There are semi-telepathic species of all breeds, including humans that are part beast. These creatures are ruled by a ‘dreaming’ king, and are controlled by a process of a very specific eugenics program, and the story is shaped by these frightening, intelligent and almost mythical creatures. During the course of the novel, Janet Morris brings up questions and aspects of evolution and selective breeding, and she deals with Esrti’s, Chayin’s, and Sereth’s PTSD and ‘Stockholm Syndrome as they fight to shed themselves not only from the ghosts that haunt their pasts, but from old rules and belief systems, as well. Treachery, love, loyalty and bravery stand at the heart of this novel, with characters rich and complex in thought, word, deed, and emotion. And let’s not forget the fascinating Delcrit — an unassuming character who in the end proves not only his worth, but lives up to his destiny in a surprising manner. Little touches like this are what define Morris’ well-crafted worlds and scenarios, and the little touches are the ones that often play the greatest importance.
In all her novels, Morris deals with serious themes and issues. Here she questions the use of technology — biology, genetics, and selective breeding. Politics, intrigue and sex have all played a part in The Silistra Quartet and no less in this final volume in the series. This series was way ahead of its time when first published in the late 1970s and in the early 1980s, and its subject matter still resounds with urgency and importance. Especially in this day and age, where the role of women in society and politics is more often than not challenged and questioned, where laws affecting the right of women to make their own choices over their own bodies and futures are at the forefront of the news almost every day. Indeed, Morris reflects on the role all Mankind plays on the world’s stage, and it makes one wonder if the future will be of our own making, or one designed and dictated by those who control the world’s wealth and power. The four novels that comprise The Silistra Quartet are not quick and easy reads. The Carnelian Throne, like its three predecessors, is complex and complicated, multi-layered; they can be read and enjoyed on several levels, from pure, entertaining adventure to a thought-provoking mirror of our own endangered society. Morris challenges the reader to think, and to think for ourselves. She paints a picture of a future, dystopian society that may very well become our future, if cooler and smarter heads do not triumph, if “the better angels of our nature” do not prevail.
August 6, 2017
The Carnelian Throne. Book Four in the Silistra Quartet.
Emerald steel at rest upon a carnelian throne.
Such is the vision that summons the preternatural heroes Estri, Chayin, and Sereth, after the unmentionable beast handler, Deilcrit, the key to more than he, or they, or all of Silistra could ever have fortold.
Enmity, lust, betrayal, courage, love and honor are what claim it, in The Carnelian Throne, the epic conclusion to the award winning author of the Sacred Band, Janet Morris’ Silistra Quartet, will summon you across boundaries of time and space. Janet Morris’ writing, intelligent, sensual, and bold, will couch you in world unlike anywhere you have ever been before.
Emerald steel at rest upon a carnelian throne.
Such is the vision that summons the preternatural heroes Estri, Chayin, and Sereth, after the unmentionable beast handler, Deilcrit, the key to more than he, or they, or all of Silistra could ever have fortold.
Enmity, lust, betrayal, courage, love and honor are what claim it, in The Carnelian Throne, the epic conclusion to the award winning author of the Sacred Band, Janet Morris’ Silistra Quartet, will summon you across boundaries of time and space. Janet Morris’ writing, intelligent, sensual, and bold, will couch you in world unlike anywhere you have ever been before.
Read
February 19, 2017Michael also has 2nd printing July 1981.
September 26, 2017
"The Carnelian Throne" turned out to be as thrilling journey as I expected, reading plenty of this author's other works before. Historical fiction is my thing, but thanks to this author I dove into the fantasy genre, or what might be defined as historical fantasy. In this book the clash between gods and their offsprings continues, spilling into forbidden lands where Sereth, Chayin and Estri happen to unleash a chain of events, some unwittingly, some on purpose, finding themselves facing forces that may be beyond their power to deal with. A spellbinding tale!
November 6, 2017
The Carnelian Throne is Author Morris's fourth book in her Dystopian series. Here we find Sereth, Chayin and Estri in their final quest to maintain a balance in this world where all species battle for dominance. You will find the characters creatively crafted and so unique. This a gift that author Morris is known for. Not your ordinary SciFi Fantasy. This series is addicting.
June 24, 2007
That it is possible to make both gratuitous booty-grinding and reptilian monsters boringly profane, shockingly and poorly described, and have a cover with a naked green chick that I find repulsive.
September 20, 2022
This fourth, and final (thank goodness), novel in the series is possibly the best written in terms of plotting and pacing. Part of it may be that the setting is entirely different, i.e., another continent on the planet where all four books (mostly) take place. It's also tonally rather different that the preceding three books - while those are absolutely dismal, this one is merely gloomy. This one also has a genuinely interesting idea/plot-device, specifically cross-species shared consciousness. Morris, though, ruins it somewhat with her tendency to over-write and provide sciency-sounding explanations. (I think a major improvement in all of these books would have been removing the SF veneer and just going down the full-fantasy route, as many of the things the characters can do is basically magic.)
However, despite being more readable, this one also suffers from many of the same problems in the other books in the series. By that I mean, e.g., the over-use of made-up words specific to Silistra - it makes sense when talking about wildlife or plants native to the planet, not so much when talking about abstract concepts for which the English equivalent words can just as easily be used (instead, you have to consult the lengthy glossaries in the back of each book). There's also the pretty repugnant sexual politics that run through all four books, although thankfully less emphasized in this fourth book (there's only one instance of sexual assault, and a whole two instances of genuine, not-coerced-in-any-way, consensual sex).
I'll just close by quoting a line from one of the characters (Sereth, while arguing with the precognitive Chayin) that pretty much sums up a thought that ran through my head while reading the entire Silistra series: "I have had about all the temporization and forereader's gibberish that I am willing to take."
However, despite being more readable, this one also suffers from many of the same problems in the other books in the series. By that I mean, e.g., the over-use of made-up words specific to Silistra - it makes sense when talking about wildlife or plants native to the planet, not so much when talking about abstract concepts for which the English equivalent words can just as easily be used (instead, you have to consult the lengthy glossaries in the back of each book). There's also the pretty repugnant sexual politics that run through all four books, although thankfully less emphasized in this fourth book (there's only one instance of sexual assault, and a whole two instances of genuine, not-coerced-in-any-way, consensual sex).
I'll just close by quoting a line from one of the characters (Sereth, while arguing with the precognitive Chayin) that pretty much sums up a thought that ran through my head while reading the entire Silistra series: "I have had about all the temporization and forereader's gibberish that I am willing to take."
January 27, 2018
I loved everything about the first three books in this series. Unfortunately, as soon as Estri, Sereth and Chayin enter a world in which it's basically still the Stone Age, in which humans are not the dominant species, everything that made them interesting goes out the window. Wehrdom is an interesting idea, but it doesn't go anywhere. Oddly, the book is riddled with typos. The ending is weird and feels rushed... this was a deeply unsatisfying end to a great story.
July 16, 2019
This series remains one of my favourites. I love the layers, the characters, the concepts. It is erotic, romantic and well written.
October 11, 2023
The book opens with the main character raping a dude so she can show her two other lovers how much she just loves to f***
It goes downhill from there.
It goes downhill from there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2016
The Carnelian Throne (The High Couch of the...
Janet Morris
After reading numerous books from this talented author I decided to search out earlier works.
The Carnelian Throne is another gem to be discovered.
Brilliant!
Janet Morris
After reading numerous books from this talented author I decided to search out earlier works.
The Carnelian Throne is another gem to be discovered.
Brilliant!
June 27, 2014
Probably would give two and a half stars. I think it is probably unfortunate that this is the first volume in this series that I have read. It does seem to be a stand alone adventure though, but, I am pretty sure the background information from the previous three books would been useful particularly in deciphering the relationships between the three main characters. The storyline itself is interesting but at times just feels like it gets weighed down. It took me a long time to read it because I simply kept putting it aside to read other things. I will, if I find them, read the other books in the series. Perhaps then I might see this book in a different light.
June 20, 2017
Read a long time ago and loved.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews