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The Unwilling Warlord

(Ethshar #3)

Lawrence Watt-Evans (Goodreads Author)

3.94 · Rating details · 955 ratings · 30 reviews

A STAR RISES IN THE SOUTH

When the foreigners confronted Sterren in Ethshar of the Spices he was uneasy; when they all but abducted him, taking him to an obscure kingdom in the south, he knew he was in a terrible predicament.

A predicament some might actually find appealing - he was by heredity the Ninth Warlord of Semma, least of the small kingdoms; ...more

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Paperback, 248 pages

Published December 1st 2000 by Borgo Press (first published October 14th 1989)

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· 955 ratings · 30 reviews

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Feb 23, 2012 Stefan Yates rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: stefan-dusty-bookshelf-2014, fantasy

Another entertaining entry in the Ethshar series. What Lawrence Watt-Evans excels at is writing an entertaining and humorous story without things getting too absurd or slap-stick. His books are well-written, fast-paced, and have well-developed characters.

Another nice thing about this series is that even though the books are part of a series, the only real connector between them is that they take place in the same world. You can pick up any book in the series and read it without havin ...more

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Aug 24, 2016 Grace Crandall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: enjoyers of understated humor

Shelves: fun-and-adventurous, lesser-known-treasures

Allow me to rant about my new favorite book.
Actually, it seems like every book is my new favorite these days. This is entirely the fault of the books themselves; they insist on being epic--and this story did not break that trend, though it succeeded in breaking quite a few others.
The Unwilling Warlord begins by introducing us to the somewhat self-interested, vaguely roguish character of Sterren, who plies his trade of professional gambler ably enough to make a comfortable living, but quietly e Allow me to rant about my new favorite book.
Actually, it seems like every book is my new favorite these days. This is entirely the fault of the books themselves; they insist on being epic--and this story did not break that trend, though it succeeded in breaking quite a few others.
The Unwilling Warlord begins by introducing us to the somewhat self-interested, vaguely roguish character of Sterren, who plies his trade of professional gambler ably enough to make a comfortable living, but quietly enough to avoid the eye of the law.
So, when a ragtag group of forbidding-looking foreigners shows up asking for him, Sterren is not overly keen on learning their intentions. As it turns out, however, they only intend to restore him to a long-lost ancestral inheritance, which would be good news--save for the fact that this inheritance is the position of Warlord (read: General) in a faraway kingdom about to go to war, and Sterren must either accept command of the kingdom's armies or die.
The story seems to start off a little slow, which isn't entirely a bad thing. It's not boring, but the first half of the book is dedicated to world-building and situation-setting, all of which is capitalized on (quite fantastically) in the second half. there's also a lot of growth going on for Sterren, who begins the story thinking almost exclusively about himself and ends it by thinking of everyone but himself. I really loved the way this change was executed--in quiet, unassuming stages that are barely noticable and entirely devoid of angst.
the perspective of the book also changes rather dramatically somewhere around the mid-way point. at first, the main worry of the story is about Sterren's responsibility, as Warlord, of defeating the kingdom's enemies. these enemies, however, are not the true danger, and the second half of the book revolves around an entirely different conflict. this is generally something they warn you against in Writer Land, but for the purposes of this story I thought it worked rather well--the main themes, questions of power and corruption, loyalty and self-interest, remained the same throughout the story, and the change of antagonist merely served to give them a new perspective.
And while this was a very deep story, there was also an enchanted cockroach who harassed the enemy by singing an annoying sea chanty for hours on end, an event which I will hold as the crowning achievement of literary ridiculousness until some challenger comes to cast it down. ...more

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Dec 16, 2012 Chantal Boudreau rated it it was amazing

You’ll hear me say I love fantasy and I hate it, because most fantasy lacks realism. Not that I’m suggesting there shouldn’t be elements of fantasy in a fantasy novel, but that the characters should be less than perfect, the situations less than ordained and less than typically heroic, and the scenery not so overly scenic. If you can give me a story like that, that is well written, I’ll give you a fantasy novel I’ll enjoy.

There are a select few fantasy writers I love, because they de ...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Sadie Forsythe rated it liked it · review of another edition

This is one of those books that I've had on my shelf so long that I don't even know where it came from. I also didn't know it was third in a series when I picked it up to read. Maybe I was missing some things, but it seemed like I was able to follow it without problem. And it was amusing. It's basically about a guy who finds himself in a series of ridiculous situations and finds his way out of them. The problem was that even though I chuckled regularly, I never found myself overly interested in ...more

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Nov 25, 2017 Matthew Reads Junk rated it really liked it

The interesting thing about all of these Ethshar books is the non-conventional situations the characters are in and how they get out of them. The dilemma posed is solved in the first two-thirds of the book, only to create a bigger problem - which is solved without fighting or battles, a refreshing change in a fantasy novel.
The writing and characters are pretty basic and simple and basic which holds back this book from being top of the line.

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Mar 24, 2008 Curtiss rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: fantasy, recorded-on-audio-cd

This is one the Magic of Ethshar series of books. I recorded most of them, including this one, in 50-55 minute installments for my local Golden Hours radio service for blind or reading-impaired listeners. I also made CD copies for myself.

My favorite book in the series is The Missenchanted Sword, closely followed by The Blood of a Dragon.

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Oct 08, 2019 Yanik Franken rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This has a rough start and isn’t helped along by Watt-Evans’ pragmatic writing style in diving into the story. I had almost put it down if not for the interesting premise.
Once the characters have been introduced and the tone set in the first part, the book devides into a further two act which are both very much more interesting and ramping up in originality.
While the writing style and characters remain more or less the same, the story unfolds into some pretty fun and cool twists while giving i ...more

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Nov 06, 2017 Brian Rogers rated it liked it

Another Ethshar book, another mundane fantasy as only Watt-Evans writes. This one is more frustrating than the prior two, because while it shares the tone and elements of the other book the second act is fully of really interesting stuff - a clever cast of misfit magicians with an untrained warlord running a guerrilla war - to which the first act has built towards nicely, the third act changes gears in ways that I don't want to spoil, but not only is the solution obvious, the protagonist knows i ...more

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Feb 22, 2019 Sean Helms rated it liked it

Another tale of misadventure by Watt-Evans and a nice diversion.
The reluctant hero, a young gambler who lives by the luck of the dice, is abducted by agents from one of the tiny Small Kingdoms. He's informed that he is now the Ninth Warlord of Semma, whether he likes it or not. He soon discovered the army is pathetic and hardly existent; his officers are worthless; plus, he himself doesn't know the first thing about wars or leading an army. Worst of all he can't even surrender, because to do so ...more

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Mar 09, 2019 Allen McDonnell rated it it was amazing

An old favorite.

Lord Sterran, humble gambler of Ethshar, finds hinself shanghaied into the upper nobility of a small kingdom after his great uncle dies without a direct heir. Whats a common sense fellow to do when suddenly thrust into a title and duties he never knew existed, didn't train for, and doesn't want anyway? I read this novel many years ago and enjoyed it enough to buy it again on Kindle. Highly recommended.

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Dec 02, 2018 Kes rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, read-2018

This is a light, entertaining read - Sterren learns that he is the hereditary war lord of a Small Kingdom, and sets out to make the best of it. His missteps end up (view spoiler).

I liked that the books consistently had happy endings. Sterren was resourceful and good at keeping calm in the face of his difficulties.

2.5/5

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May 18, 2017 Alison Swearingen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, magic

This was a very entertaining read. I really liked how the main character was a pretty ordinary guy who just made the best of his situation. Enough fantasy elements to be interesting and not too much to be irritating or confusing.

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Aug 18, 2017 Quinn Wolfert rated it it was amazing

Ethshar for the win! I loved how you grow to love the characters by the end of the book. The world is ever so intriguing. Love it!

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Aug 05, 2019 Marsha rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure, fantasy, fiction

It starts a little slow, but picks up steam. I didn't like the character at first, but he has a nice growth arc, and turns into someone you wouldn't mind knowing

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Aug 26, 2014 Mark Sanchez rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read this book after seeing Yudkowsky recommend it in an old LessWrong post. When reading it, I also thought I saw passages that influenced Yudkowsky, but I unfortunately didn't make note of them. One might be the refusal to use magic in battles as something similar to similar to the Interdict of Merlin. Another might have been the inherent restrictions on power (Warlock's die when they get too powerful, mages need ingredients, witches just aren't that powerful, etc) as the importance of count ...more

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Mar 13, 2011 Neal Kristopher rated it really liked it

Reviews Of Unusual Size!

Re: Sterren is bad at pretty much everything but dice, and that's mostly due to a very slight touch of warlock abilities. And it's hard to be too successful without people being sure you're cheating, especially when you are, technically. So he's tempted when a mysterious band of foreigners appear, certain that Sterren is their long lost hereditary warlord. Though he entertains thoughts of sneaking away, Sterren goes along, off to the distant kingdom of Semma. ...more

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Oct 15, 2013 Mitch Armstrong rated it it was amazing

Imagine a land unlike anything on earth. Where magic is more common than bugs and the world is constantly changing. That's where the Unwilling Warlord takes place. A world like ours but very unlike at the same time. It's very juxtaposing to our own world. The book the unwilling warlord is a fantasy book written by Lawrence Watt-Evans and revolves around a young man named Sterren. Apparently Sterren is first in like to be warlord for a far off country so he is kidnapped and taken there, being tol ...more

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Oct 29, 2008 Charlie George rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Harry Potter fans, fans of fantasy magic

Shelves: books-read-twice, fantasy, magic

This is my second favorite of the Ethshar series, of which I'm very fond, after The Misenchanted Sword (5 stars). The world has an elaborate and very well-concieved system of magic, with vastly different rules and capabilities for Wizardry, Witchcraft, Demonology, and a host of other disciplines.

**SPOILER ALERT**
The Unwilling Warlord tells the story of Vonn, an ordinary guy not only thrust into an extraordinary situation, but also suddenly granted extraordinary abilities. He de ...more

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Jan 31, 2010 Melanti rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, 2011

This is the third book in the Ethshar series.

One of the defining things about this series (forgive me if I'm wrong, this is only the second novel I've read so far) is that the magic contained has strict limits. A magical sword turns on its wielder after a being drawn a certain number of times. Or, in this book, a warlock only has a certain amount of magic that he can cast before he goes insane.

It's a lighthearted sword and sorcery type series. The characters aren't quite as fully fl ...more

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Apr 04, 2009 Dan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: signal

I am a huge fan of the Ethshar series. The secret to this series is that it's originally based on the author's RPG world, which grew in complexity until it was no longer feasible to actually run an RPG in it. Most of the books focus on some aspect of his world (in this case, the power known as "warlockry"); they describe how it meshes with the rest of the world, and the forces keeping it in balance.

Characterization is not one of Lawrence Watt-Evans's strengths, but he more than makes ...more

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Oct 06, 2008 K. Axel rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, partial-review

Not a bad Ethshar book, just not the best I've read so far. It was a hard read, mostly because the first 150 pages are very slow and not all that interesting, but then the story starts to unfold in a way that you had not seen coming. Unfortunately, the book unfolds too late and it ends up being... just ok.

It's a must-read for Ethshar fans, and especially if you are planning on diving into the Vondish Ambassador, which I just have!

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Feb 24, 2014 Kevin Driskill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi-fantasy

Another addition to a great legend. The world of Ethshar is richer and new characters have come to life. Warlockry is amazing and mysterious and we have here a tantalizing taste. This story carries us to a far corner of the world and fills in blanks we didn't know were there. Delightful and addictive.

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Jul 05, 2016 Bria rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Bria by: Michael Raimondi

Typical fantasies are too realistic, not fantastic enough. The true fantasies are those where the protagonist is an intelligent, sensible person who clearly assesses situations reasonably and deals with them pragmatically.

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Mar 18, 2009 David rated it really liked it

Another Ethshar story, featuring a young man hired to defend a kingdom who creates something of a monster while finding a way to carry out his mission and must then deal with the consequences. Part 1 features the kingdom defense; Part 2, the consequences. Good fun.

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