Warlord of Ghandor

by Del Dowdell

The fighting men of Ireland were gathering to repel Cromwell's invasion - and with them marched the Dowdalls under their brave chief Robert. The master swordsman of Europe, he returned to lead his kinsmen's steel against the invaders. Then, to the confusion of history, he vanished. - Here at last is his story - the story of Robert of Eire who marched to fight an Earthly foe only to find himself in desperate combat against beast men and alien warriors of another world.

Genres: Fantasy, Sword and Planet

253 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 16, 1977

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite possibly, one of the worst Sword & Planet novels I've ever read. The hero is like a giant among his foes and I never felt remotely as if he were threatened as he hacked through their weapons with ease.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent adventure story. The narration is first person, which I liked. The author combined several elements from other authors' past works. Altogether a wonderful story of action and adventure.

[Mr.bbolt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously a knock off of the John Carter series. But this one is better written. My 14 year-old self certainly enjoyed it. I've read it a couple of times.

[Dex · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of a big pile of yellowing DAW paperbacks I found in an antique/flea shop in Brussels, all going at 2 Euro a pop. I was drawn to this one by the references to 17th century Ireland, a period of personal interest.

So, yes, this is dire quality sword and planet fiction. A number of reviews say it is sub-par Edgar Rice Burroughs but I think that's doing Edgar a disservice. Okay, so it is fantasy, but the 'historical' elements lack any research and are just as much fantasy as the whole alien world idea. And that annoys me.

Several things strike me as odd about the whole story. First off, although published in 1977, it has the look and feel of something written as a series for the kind of periodicals that abounded in the 20s and 30s. Even the word count seems so precise and managed, as if it is written for a 'pay by the word' old world periodical.

The hero is dire, the protagonists are dire, the plot is dire. So why couldn't I put it down? Probably because I couldn't believe that it was actually that bad! But it was; getting to the last page did not provide any satisfaction.

[Roger Carleton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, the thing that did bother me was how powerful Robert of Erie was.
Del DowDell stated about this book "This then is his adventure as he set it down over 300 hundred years ago. While I have no reason to believe that this is true, I neither have reason to believe that it is not. You must judge for yourself."