What do you think?
Rate this book
Horseclans #9
The Witch Goddess
WHICH IS MIGHTIER--SCIENCE OR THE SWORD?
Stranded in a land peopled by wild cannibal tribes and monstrous half-humans, Bili of Morguhn and his small band of warriors have sworn to aid the mysterious Prince Byruhn of Kuhmbuhluhn in his war against these savages. But even as they train for battle, another force is on the move--the Witchmen, evil scientists led by Dr. Erica Arenstein and armed with weapons far more lethal than any known to the men of the Horseclans. Bent on recovering a twentieth-century technological treasure trove, the Witchmen will destroy anything that stands between them and their goal. And, if Dr. Arenstein can join the power of the Witchmen with fighting prowess of the cannibalistic Ganik tribes, even Bili's proven warriors may not long survive...
Stranded in a land peopled by wild cannibal tribes and monstrous half-humans, Bili of Morguhn and his small band of warriors have sworn to aid the mysterious Prince Byruhn of Kuhmbuhluhn in his war against these savages. But even as they train for battle, another force is on the move--the Witchmen, evil scientists led by Dr. Erica Arenstein and armed with weapons far more lethal than any known to the men of the Horseclans. Bent on recovering a twentieth-century technological treasure trove, the Witchmen will destroy anything that stands between them and their goal. And, if Dr. Arenstein can join the power of the Witchmen with fighting prowess of the cannibalistic Ganik tribes, even Bili's proven warriors may not long survive...
201 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1982
10 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Robert Adams
74 books68 followersFranklin 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 9, 2019
Another exciting chapter of the Horseclans.
This episode sees more of the evil scientists including Erica and Dr. Braun after the earthquake in the mountains all races and factions are running for their lives, by mistake Erica is picked up by the Ganiks and assumed their leader as the Witch Goddess, meanwhile after being separated the devious Braun tricks Corbett and his soldiers into taking him back to the centre and betrays them.
Witch Goddess Erica is leading the Ganiks into war against the other tribes but secretly holds allegiance only to herself.
Bili is still alive and all of this is told in retrospect as he thinks over his long, adventurous life.
Fantastic action and fantastically spun worlds the adventures just keep getting better.
This episode sees more of the evil scientists including Erica and Dr. Braun after the earthquake in the mountains all races and factions are running for their lives, by mistake Erica is picked up by the Ganiks and assumed their leader as the Witch Goddess, meanwhile after being separated the devious Braun tricks Corbett and his soldiers into taking him back to the centre and betrays them.
Witch Goddess Erica is leading the Ganiks into war against the other tribes but secretly holds allegiance only to herself.
Bili is still alive and all of this is told in retrospect as he thinks over his long, adventurous life.
Fantastic action and fantastically spun worlds the adventures just keep getting better.
March 14, 2025
Here you have it- yet another installment in Robert Adams' lengthy Horseclans saga. Those of you who follow my reviews might wonder why I continue to bother with the series, seeing as I've only rated one of the first nine installments higher than three stars (Revenge of the Horseclans), but the books are bizarrely endearing in their mediocrity. Truly one-of-a-kind stuff. Perhaps the most interesting thing here is that, as the series progresses and its narrative shortcomings become increasingly obvious, I've actually discovered more motivation to continue onward. It seems that unique worldbuilding and realistic battle sequences eventually win out over clunky prose and a lack of character development. And this brings us to Witch Goddess, which epitomizes my love/hate relationship with the Horseclans books as well as any installment up to this point. Equal parts enthralling and frustrating, with just enough advancement of Adams' overarching narrative to justify its existence.
In terms of Adams' fictional timeline, Witch Goddess is a direct continuation of The Death of a Legend. This will undoubtedly come as a relief for most readers, seeing as it corresponds to a continuation of the core story of the series. Apart from the book's prologue, it also avoids the extended flashbacks that sabotaged The Death of a Legend. The end result is one of the more straightforward narratives in the series. That being said, the book is unpredictable in that Adams refuses to focus upon the adventures of Bili Morguhn and his disparate band of followers. Bili is still a central figure, and about one-third of the story recounts his campaign against the Muhkohee savages, but the rest of the novel is told from the perspective of various Witchmen. These Witchmen are the scientifically-advanced reincarnations of the 21st century US officials who have been secretly opposing our heroes plans since the beginning of the series. In particular, a group of Witchmen have found themselves caught in the middle of the conflict between Bili and the Muhkohee, and the abandoned scientist Erica Arenstein takes advantage of the situation to set herself up as the titular "Witch Goddess" of the Muhkohee. Also figuring prominently is the conscientious military man Jay Corbett, who is leading the remnant of the Witchmen contingent back to their southern stronghold.
Witch Goddess ranks somewhere in the middle of the Horseclans that I've read up to this point. In terms of readability, it's a clear improvement over the flashback-laden The Death of a Legend, and Adams' prose style is definitely continuing to improve. Yet as I alluded to above, the novel continues to epitomize many of Adams' idiosyncrasies. As such, it's unlikely to impress anybody who doesn't already have a soft spot for the series, even if I can understand how it might become a favorite among some fanboys. The novel's inevitable divisiveness stems primarily from its perspective shift to the Witchmen. Although the infusion of modern technology is fascinating from a worldbuilding perspective, it gives Witch Goddess an entirely different feel from all of its predecessors. It also distracts from Bili's central story, which has been crying out for resolution since at least The Savage Mountains. This means that Witch Goddess adds even more complexity to Adams' world without significantly advancing the overall plot. A constantly unspooling ball of yarn that leaves a bigger and bigger mess as you go along. It doesn't help that all of the Witchmen (apart from Corbett) are thoroughly unlikeable individuals, and that Adams goes out of his way to portray the Muhkohee as disgusting.
Despite its many narrative flaws, Witch Goddess is a relatively fun read that mostly avoids the tedious sequences of earlier Horseclans. Only that extended prologue left me scratching my head: did we really need another retelling of a scene from an earlier novel? Three stars feels like the only appropriate rating for a book that is equal parts entertaining and frustrating. At this point, I plan to give Adams one more chance with Bili the Axe. If that volume doesn't meaningfully advance the overall plotline, I may be forced to give up on the entire series.
In terms of Adams' fictional timeline, Witch Goddess is a direct continuation of The Death of a Legend. This will undoubtedly come as a relief for most readers, seeing as it corresponds to a continuation of the core story of the series. Apart from the book's prologue, it also avoids the extended flashbacks that sabotaged The Death of a Legend. The end result is one of the more straightforward narratives in the series. That being said, the book is unpredictable in that Adams refuses to focus upon the adventures of Bili Morguhn and his disparate band of followers. Bili is still a central figure, and about one-third of the story recounts his campaign against the Muhkohee savages, but the rest of the novel is told from the perspective of various Witchmen. These Witchmen are the scientifically-advanced reincarnations of the 21st century US officials who have been secretly opposing our heroes plans since the beginning of the series. In particular, a group of Witchmen have found themselves caught in the middle of the conflict between Bili and the Muhkohee, and the abandoned scientist Erica Arenstein takes advantage of the situation to set herself up as the titular "Witch Goddess" of the Muhkohee. Also figuring prominently is the conscientious military man Jay Corbett, who is leading the remnant of the Witchmen contingent back to their southern stronghold.
Witch Goddess ranks somewhere in the middle of the Horseclans that I've read up to this point. In terms of readability, it's a clear improvement over the flashback-laden The Death of a Legend, and Adams' prose style is definitely continuing to improve. Yet as I alluded to above, the novel continues to epitomize many of Adams' idiosyncrasies. As such, it's unlikely to impress anybody who doesn't already have a soft spot for the series, even if I can understand how it might become a favorite among some fanboys. The novel's inevitable divisiveness stems primarily from its perspective shift to the Witchmen. Although the infusion of modern technology is fascinating from a worldbuilding perspective, it gives Witch Goddess an entirely different feel from all of its predecessors. It also distracts from Bili's central story, which has been crying out for resolution since at least The Savage Mountains. This means that Witch Goddess adds even more complexity to Adams' world without significantly advancing the overall plot. A constantly unspooling ball of yarn that leaves a bigger and bigger mess as you go along. It doesn't help that all of the Witchmen (apart from Corbett) are thoroughly unlikeable individuals, and that Adams goes out of his way to portray the Muhkohee as disgusting.
Despite its many narrative flaws, Witch Goddess is a relatively fun read that mostly avoids the tedious sequences of earlier Horseclans. Only that extended prologue left me scratching my head: did we really need another retelling of a scene from an earlier novel? Three stars feels like the only appropriate rating for a book that is equal parts entertaining and frustrating. At this point, I plan to give Adams one more chance with Bili the Axe. If that volume doesn't meaningfully advance the overall plotline, I may be forced to give up on the entire series.
August 1, 2013
(There are 18 books, and I read until Book 10, Bili the Axe)
I read a bunch of these books, and eventually I got bored of it, but man, what a ride. The story is set in a post-apocalypse world. Everything has gone wrong, from nuclear warfare to plagues, so nothing remains from our time. This new world is run by barbarians and swords. In the new world, there are a few changes. Some clans have the ability to mindspeak to a few select animals, such as big cats (which are more like panthers), and a select few have the power of immortality. Such as our main character, the Undying High Lord Milo!
Milo starts up as a small clan leader, and eventually his clan starts growing bigger as the novels progress.
The series is a manly fantasy story with none of the silly dancing elves stuff. Every few pages, someone gets either killed or raped, and the good guys usually are responsible for both. There isn’t a really strong plot or characters to speak off, but if you have to want to pretend you are a man and raping some villagers and chopping off heads, then it can be fun.
I read a bunch of these books, and eventually I got bored of it, but man, what a ride. The story is set in a post-apocalypse world. Everything has gone wrong, from nuclear warfare to plagues, so nothing remains from our time. This new world is run by barbarians and swords. In the new world, there are a few changes. Some clans have the ability to mindspeak to a few select animals, such as big cats (which are more like panthers), and a select few have the power of immortality. Such as our main character, the Undying High Lord Milo!
Milo starts up as a small clan leader, and eventually his clan starts growing bigger as the novels progress.
The series is a manly fantasy story with none of the silly dancing elves stuff. Every few pages, someone gets either killed or raped, and the good guys usually are responsible for both. There isn’t a really strong plot or characters to speak off, but if you have to want to pretend you are a man and raping some villagers and chopping off heads, then it can be fun.
October 23, 2014
I've read this once, while I read the first few a couple of times over the years. The first few books are pretty good. Nothing superb, but a fun, fast read if you like this kind of thing. It's more of a fantasy, but there is a Science Fiction basis - it's a post apocalyptic (nuclear war) world where a nomadic people are the good guys. Some super smart animals, a few immortals & such dropped in.
By about book 6 or 7, I got a little worn out with the series. I didn't care for this one as much as some of the others. I've been meaning to go back & read it again, since I didn't have the entire series all at once, but read it out of order, in scattered pieces across the years.
By about book 6 or 7, I got a little worn out with the series. I didn't care for this one as much as some of the others. I've been meaning to go back & read it again, since I didn't have the entire series all at once, but read it out of order, in scattered pieces across the years.
January 22, 2016
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
July 28, 2010
See my review of the Horseclans series under Swords of the Horseclans, Horseclans #2.
October 29, 2010
Battle axes, sabertooth tigers, massive bears, oh my! Mountain battle scenes laid out meticulously. What more could a guy ask for?
September 24, 2011
YEAH!!! Another one! I love this series.
June 6, 2023
11/20.
October 30, 2008
Not one of the best in this series.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews