Trumpets of War

Horseclans #16

by Robert Adams

A MAD KING SLAIN, A REALM TO RECLAIM.

The High King Zastros and his evil witch queen had finally met their match when they'd challenged Milo Morai and his Confederation Army to battle. Yet with the menace of Zastros destroyed, the Confederation faced a still greater challenge--for in his mad campaign, Zastros had drained the very lifeblood from his kingdom of Southern Ehleenoee.

Only chaos now reigned there, as bandits, killers, and bands of renegade warriors roved the land, slaughtering all who opposed them. Milo had pledged to bring peace back to this devastated realm. But could his former enemies, now become allies, be trusted to live by Confederation law in their troubled lands? Or did traitors wait to betray Milo's warriors to a terrible doom?

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 3, 1987

About the author

Franklin Robert Adams (August 31, 1933 - January 4, 1990) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer, formerly a career soldier. He is best known for his "Horseclans" books. He wrote as Robert Adams, an abbreviated form of his full name.

Adams was an early pioneer of the post-holocaust novel. His Horseclans novels are precursors to many of today's attempts at this type of story, many of which do not exhibit his painstakingly detailed world view or extraordinary plot follow-through (many of his Horseclans books are so interlinked that they make sense only when read in order; he did not create many "stand alone" books in the series).

Hallmarks of Adams' style include a focus on violent, non-stop action, meticulous detail in matters historical and military, strong description, and digressions expounding on various subjects from a conservative and libertarian viewpoint.

Reviews

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

King Zastros is destroyed and his kingdom of the Southern Ehleenoee is in ruins, wrecked by the years of wars wages by their mad King.
Renegade, barbarians and bandits roam the despoiled country and those tasked with rebuilding both the trust of the people and the kingdom from further depredations by roving war bands have their own battles to face from within when an aged ally Pavhlos turns rogue due to senility.

[Michael]

I was disapointed with this one. Having the title "Trumpets of War" and showing an elephant in plate armor on the cover, I thought it would be mostly about fighting elephants. It was not. The majority of the book seemed to be about the politics of re-establishing a governement after a failed atempt to conquer the world. These was some writing about training the elephants, but when there was an actual battle, (note: battle, not a war) the elephants were hardly used.

[Simon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well this was an interesting albeit slightly disappointing experience. I can remember absolutely adoring the Horseclans book when I was a kid, and having gotten an ebook reader I was finally able to track down some of the long out of print titles I'd never read.

Only this was a vast disappointment, there was really no narrative structure to speak of, it was just a bunch of stuff that happened that didn't really gel with any of the other stuff. Nor did it complete the big ongoing story that I remember from the previous books in a satisfying way.

I'll maybe have to go and re-read some of the older ones I remember enjoying to see if they are still good.

[BrokenMnemonic]

I rated this a three mostly for nostalgia, given how young I was when I first started reading this series, and how long I waited to read the final 7 books that were never released in the UK. Well, I added a star for the elephants. Who doesn't love elephants?

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Horseclans series is probably the best blend of fantasy and SiFi I have ever read. Pretty much something for everyone in these books. Great characters, epic storyline, fantastic writings. My highest recommendation

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review of the Horseclans series under Swords of the Horseclans, Horseclans #2.

[bluetyson]

Trumpets of War (Horseclans, No 16) by Robert Adams (1987)

[Fatbaldguy60 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of rehashing and telling the same story from different [and on occasion the same] viewpoint.

[Steve]

Horseclans

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fragmented and confused.