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Dodec #2
Mother of Lies
The past fifteen years have not been kind to Celebre, the greatest city on the Florengian face of a dodecahedral world. Its walls have been breached and its Doge humiliated by the evil Bloodlord Stralg; all four of its heirs kidnapped and taken over the Edge to Vigaelia; its Dogaressa forcibly impregnated by Stralg and--when her husband's health begins to fail--left to rule over a city teeming with Stralg's troops. And if you think Stralg is bad, wait until you meet his sister Saltaja, a fanatic who sees no human cost as too great to keep the Hrag dynasty in power and her goddess--evil Xaran, the Mother of Lies--appeased.
But there are a few great hopes for the future of the city: the Mutineer, Marno Cavotti, who will not stand to see his hometown destroyed and is massing a powerful liberation movement mere inches beyond Stralg's grasp. And the four heirs of Celebre--each with god-given expertise in their respective fields of artistry, combat, wisdom, or death--are wending their way back over the Edge to their birthplace. Of course, even as Marno and the Celebre children are working towards the common goal of defeating the Hrags, they're all painfully aware that once that hurdle is crossed only one of them can wind up on the throne.
Continuing the storyline set out in Children of Chaos , Mother of Lies is a fierce, kinetic romp that will keep readers guessing until the last blow is dealt.
But there are a few great hopes for the future of the city: the Mutineer, Marno Cavotti, who will not stand to see his hometown destroyed and is massing a powerful liberation movement mere inches beyond Stralg's grasp. And the four heirs of Celebre--each with god-given expertise in their respective fields of artistry, combat, wisdom, or death--are wending their way back over the Edge to their birthplace. Of course, even as Marno and the Celebre children are working towards the common goal of defeating the Hrags, they're all painfully aware that once that hurdle is crossed only one of them can wind up on the throne.
Continuing the storyline set out in Children of Chaos , Mother of Lies is a fierce, kinetic romp that will keep readers guessing until the last blow is dealt.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Dave Duncan
142 books597 followersOriginally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 16, 2013
This was a fabulous ending to Dave Duncan's 'Dodec books'. Although the worlds are impossible by our law's of physics (at that size all planets would be round, not having 12 sides!) The premise is interesting as was his unique magic system as well as the 'gifts' the Gods gave. But aside from being an interesting world and a very interesting magical system the whole book is character driven.
And driven it is. From page one of the book you are on a roller coaster ride of fear and violence tempered with the facts of life that occur when a family is together.. Especially if you've been separated from each other from toddlerhood. As each of the four children once taken as hostages to another face of the planet have grown, they each having their own plots and ideas of how things are going to work. It isn't until near the end that you have an inkling that anybodies ideas might carry them through the night to the dawn of a new day.
A book set that deserves a larger audience. Dave Duncan has written over 12 series. There's a damn good reason why they keep publishing him. His writing works on all levels. Can't wait to get into more of his books.
And driven it is. From page one of the book you are on a roller coaster ride of fear and violence tempered with the facts of life that occur when a family is together.. Especially if you've been separated from each other from toddlerhood. As each of the four children once taken as hostages to another face of the planet have grown, they each having their own plots and ideas of how things are going to work. It isn't until near the end that you have an inkling that anybodies ideas might carry them through the night to the dawn of a new day.
A book set that deserves a larger audience. Dave Duncan has written over 12 series. There's a damn good reason why they keep publishing him. His writing works on all levels. Can't wait to get into more of his books.
January 3, 2017
I read this almost back-to-back with volume 1, and I'm glad I did.
Credit to Duncan for starting out this time with a list of the key players and where we left them at the end of the previous book. I wish more multi-volume authors would do that.
The story ripped along, meticulously structured and self-consistent as always. But in the end it just didn't leave me with even a little bit of "Wow, that was good!" Maybe I grew tired of a world in which life is cheap and most people are subjugated by violence or magic or both, and rape and killing are casual. Oh wait, that's most fantasy books, isn't it? (Recent exception: Re-reading Stardust, thank you Neil Gaiman!)
Maybe Saltaja just became too much Cruella de Vil, or the witch from Snow White, or the Ice Queen from Narnia, or whatever. Stock character, really, nyah-hah-hah. OK, she had to be EEE-villll so we could wonder what would happen to Fabia, but really ....
Coupla times I stalled and thought "Huh?" over simple things, like a troop of warriors disappearing in quicksand. In our world, at least, quicksand is rarely more than a few feet deep and can be dealt with. Duncan might have just left it as very deep fine dust, which can indeed swallow people (happens in grain silos, for example).
Another that was just NOT acceptable was
The whole dodec thing seemed unnecessary. A mountain range would have sufficed. And in the end notes Duncan says Nardalborg Pass would be 600 miles above sea level. Lookit, Olympus Mons on Mars is 16 miles high. The Pass would be more than twice the height at which the International Space Station orbits. Duncan admits the dodec's infeasibility, but I can't really accept that it could be so different from our planet that any humanoid species could breathe even at a fortieth of the height given. Was it important to have 12 faces, 12 gods? There was no hint of one-god-per-face, or any other reason to create Dodec.
Also, if we're going from sea level to +600 miles, we must have some serious hills. Paddling up the Milky (you don't row a canoe, Dave, unless you put oars in it, and as a Vancouver Islander you should know that!) must have been arduous, even for strong paddlers, which they weren't.
Benard and Dantio were believable, Wales good, Chies execrable (if this were a movie, people would boo whenever he appeared). Speaker Ardiel was irritating until it became apparent that we was actually comic relief. Heth and Horth were good too (I kept expecting a "hearth" joke).
You have to admire Duncan's plot-building, because everything follows from what he gave us earlier, and few details are just abandoned. And the details of what the Werists, Seers and Witnesses could and couldn't do were well worked out (not so much the Chosen).
Also good was the idea that if you train your warriors to be fiercely loyal to their unit leader, then they will likely be more loyal to him than to the top officers ...
But from mid-book on I felt a growing sense of here comes A, who's immensely powerful, and suddenly B is all shazam, I've got power too! This happens several times, in between episodes where opposing forces are carefully weighed and military analyses made. By the end, whenever tension built, I was left wondering which character would go Ka-blam! and zap everyone in sight with his or her or its magic.
The plot-resolving scene was admirable, because Duncan had carefully set up who couldn't be the next doge. That almost made up for the rushed feeling I got as Duncan quickly ran through the major confrontations that had to be dealt with before we could close.
Credit to Duncan for starting out this time with a list of the key players and where we left them at the end of the previous book. I wish more multi-volume authors would do that.
The story ripped along, meticulously structured and self-consistent as always. But in the end it just didn't leave me with even a little bit of "Wow, that was good!" Maybe I grew tired of a world in which life is cheap and most people are subjugated by violence or magic or both, and rape and killing are casual. Oh wait, that's most fantasy books, isn't it? (Recent exception: Re-reading Stardust, thank you Neil Gaiman!)
Maybe Saltaja just became too much Cruella de Vil, or the witch from Snow White, or the Ice Queen from Narnia, or whatever. Stock character, really, nyah-hah-hah. OK, she had to be EEE-villll so we could wonder what would happen to Fabia, but really ....
Coupla times I stalled and thought "Huh?" over simple things, like a troop of warriors disappearing in quicksand. In our world, at least, quicksand is rarely more than a few feet deep and can be dealt with. Duncan might have just left it as very deep fine dust, which can indeed swallow people (happens in grain silos, for example).
Another that was just NOT acceptable was
The whole dodec thing seemed unnecessary. A mountain range would have sufficed. And in the end notes Duncan says Nardalborg Pass would be 600 miles above sea level. Lookit, Olympus Mons on Mars is 16 miles high. The Pass would be more than twice the height at which the International Space Station orbits. Duncan admits the dodec's infeasibility, but I can't really accept that it could be so different from our planet that any humanoid species could breathe even at a fortieth of the height given. Was it important to have 12 faces, 12 gods? There was no hint of one-god-per-face, or any other reason to create Dodec.
Also, if we're going from sea level to +600 miles, we must have some serious hills. Paddling up the Milky (you don't row a canoe, Dave, unless you put oars in it, and as a Vancouver Islander you should know that!) must have been arduous, even for strong paddlers, which they weren't.
Benard and Dantio were believable, Wales good, Chies execrable (if this were a movie, people would boo whenever he appeared). Speaker Ardiel was irritating until it became apparent that we was actually comic relief. Heth and Horth were good too (I kept expecting a "hearth" joke).
You have to admire Duncan's plot-building, because everything follows from what he gave us earlier, and few details are just abandoned. And the details of what the Werists, Seers and Witnesses could and couldn't do were well worked out (not so much the Chosen).
Also good was the idea that if you train your warriors to be fiercely loyal to their unit leader, then they will likely be more loyal to him than to the top officers ...
But from mid-book on I felt a growing sense of here comes A, who's immensely powerful, and suddenly B is all shazam, I've got power too! This happens several times, in between episodes where opposing forces are carefully weighed and military analyses made. By the end, whenever tension built, I was left wondering which character would go Ka-blam! and zap everyone in sight with his or her or its magic.
The plot-resolving scene was admirable, because Duncan had carefully set up who couldn't be the next doge. That almost made up for the rushed feeling I got as Duncan quickly ran through the major confrontations that had to be dealt with before we could close.
July 15, 2023
‘Mother Of Lies’ is the sequel to ‘Children Of Chaos’ and the final book in this two book series. Spoilers are inevitable if you haven’t read ‘Children Of Chaos’. so do that first.
The world of Dodec is a dodecahedron with twelve flat faces. Everyone has sworn allegiance to a single god or goddess according to their desires. Mayn is the goddess of wisdom and her followers are seers. Ucr is god of prosperity, followed by merchants. There are thirteen gods in all, helpfully listed in the preface along with major characters.
Fierce warriors from the Vigaelian face of Dodec invaded the Florengian face about sixteen years ago and conquered all before them. The doge of Celebre, the richest city in Florengia, was forced to hand over his children as hostages to Stralg Hragson, bloodlord of the Heroes of Weru. They were taken back to Vigaelia and their stories are told in book one. At the end of which they have been reunited and are making their way back home with Saltaja Hragsdor, Mother of Lies, in hot pursuit.
While they were gone, many on the Florengian face joined the Heroes of Weru and learned to fight. By dedicating themselves to Weru, god of storm and battle, they gain the power to ‘battleform’ into huge, deadly animals. Then they turned on the invaders and almost defeated them, but at great cost. Most cities are devastated. Celebre is still intact but the old doge is dying and there is much contention over who will succeed him. His legitimate children are on the way from Vigaelia, but no one in Florengia knows it yet. Dantio is a seer, Orlad a warrior and daughter Fabia a powerful sorceress who, like Saltaja Hragsdor herself, is secretly allied to the death goddess Xaran. The doge’s wife Olivia has a bastard son by Stralg Hragson, the result of rape, who thinks he should be heir. Marno Cavotti, the leader who has fought for years to liberate his homeland, might have his own ideas about that and he has an army.
As in ‘Children Of Chaos’, the story is told from multiple points of view, a different character every chapter. Each chapter starts with the character’s name in block capitals starting a sentence. ‘MARNO CAVOTTI heard the warbeasts’ fury as he dived from the parapet.’ This deft technique reminds you of the varied cast and helps you follow the story. There’s a lot to be said for clarity in commercial fiction writing. The yarn moves at a ripping pace and is sufficiently intriguing to keep you turning pages.
I enjoyed the book but not quite as much as the first one, perhaps because the children of Celebre started out quite helpless there and grew stronger through their trials. Here they are already formidable. Even so, it’s a fine tale with several twists and a neat resolution. Dave Duncan’s plotting reminds me somewhat of Kevin J. Anderson but he has more likeable characters and his prose style is smoother. He departed this vale of tears before I discovered him but left over thirty books in his wake so if you like this series, as I do, there are plenty of other books available.
The world of Dodec is a dodecahedron with twelve flat faces. Everyone has sworn allegiance to a single god or goddess according to their desires. Mayn is the goddess of wisdom and her followers are seers. Ucr is god of prosperity, followed by merchants. There are thirteen gods in all, helpfully listed in the preface along with major characters.
Fierce warriors from the Vigaelian face of Dodec invaded the Florengian face about sixteen years ago and conquered all before them. The doge of Celebre, the richest city in Florengia, was forced to hand over his children as hostages to Stralg Hragson, bloodlord of the Heroes of Weru. They were taken back to Vigaelia and their stories are told in book one. At the end of which they have been reunited and are making their way back home with Saltaja Hragsdor, Mother of Lies, in hot pursuit.
While they were gone, many on the Florengian face joined the Heroes of Weru and learned to fight. By dedicating themselves to Weru, god of storm and battle, they gain the power to ‘battleform’ into huge, deadly animals. Then they turned on the invaders and almost defeated them, but at great cost. Most cities are devastated. Celebre is still intact but the old doge is dying and there is much contention over who will succeed him. His legitimate children are on the way from Vigaelia, but no one in Florengia knows it yet. Dantio is a seer, Orlad a warrior and daughter Fabia a powerful sorceress who, like Saltaja Hragsdor herself, is secretly allied to the death goddess Xaran. The doge’s wife Olivia has a bastard son by Stralg Hragson, the result of rape, who thinks he should be heir. Marno Cavotti, the leader who has fought for years to liberate his homeland, might have his own ideas about that and he has an army.
As in ‘Children Of Chaos’, the story is told from multiple points of view, a different character every chapter. Each chapter starts with the character’s name in block capitals starting a sentence. ‘MARNO CAVOTTI heard the warbeasts’ fury as he dived from the parapet.’ This deft technique reminds you of the varied cast and helps you follow the story. There’s a lot to be said for clarity in commercial fiction writing. The yarn moves at a ripping pace and is sufficiently intriguing to keep you turning pages.
I enjoyed the book but not quite as much as the first one, perhaps because the children of Celebre started out quite helpless there and grew stronger through their trials. Here they are already formidable. Even so, it’s a fine tale with several twists and a neat resolution. Dave Duncan’s plotting reminds me somewhat of Kevin J. Anderson but he has more likeable characters and his prose style is smoother. He departed this vale of tears before I discovered him but left over thirty books in his wake so if you like this series, as I do, there are plenty of other books available.
July 12, 2026
I'll bet it's good, but I couldn't keep the characters straight. I'm thinking it's a me problem, not a problem with the book. I decided not to finish it rather than continue in frustration.
September 9, 2008
Seriously, major spoilers here. Don't read this if you don't want to be spoiled. That said...
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the action and the fast pace. The characters were great: interesting and fun to read about. The plot was intriguing. In general, the book did a great job of keeping me focused and reading.
However, I wasn't really too thrilled with the ending. It felt a little rushed, especially the battle for Celebre. Maybe I was losing my concentration at that point, but it definitely felt a little too sudden in starting and a little too quick in ending.
I wasn't pleased by Waels's death. At all. Yes, part of that was my emotional reaction to the whole thing. I liked Waels. I didn't want him to die. Also, I hate to say it, but the fact that the gay guy, faced with a horribly life-threatening situation, dies, while the straight guys all pull through when faced with similarly horribly situations, is a little suspect to me. Yes, Marno ends up mauled and deformed, but he's still alive. Would it really have hurt to let Waels have a similarly miraculous recovery? A year or two ago, I probably wouldn't have noticed that kind of disparity, but now...Well, I do, and I don't like it.
Marno was the other thing I didn't really like. I just wasn't convinced that he's secretly this sweet, sensitive guy. Sure, it was said a couple times, although not exactly in those words, but his actions all went in the other direction. We saw Marno be ruthless. We saw him show very little regret for his ruthlessness. The only time we might have seen this other side of him was when he was talking to Fabia after they were married, with the art and the goblets and whatnot. It just wasn't enough to convince that Fabia falling for him was believable, you know? Maybe if we'd seen some of the conversations they had in the chariot, I wouldn't be having such a hard time, but since we didn't...I guess I think that there was a little too much telling and not enough showing where Marno was involved. I know I'll sound superficial when I say this, but it's not that easy to get past physical deformities like Marno's, and I'm just not convinced by Fabia's swift acceptance of him as a husband.
Also, the complete refusal to even consider Fabia as dogaressa kind of irked me. I'd have been fine with her age and lack of experience being cited as the reason she couldn't be dogaressa, but the focus on her gender was annoying. Oh, and this line: "Dogaressa Oliva had done her best, no doubt, but it was good to have a doge in charge again." Yeah, I know it's an in-character comment, not necessarily a reflection on the author or anything like that, but grr. Way to hit my buttons!
Still, my quibbles don't change the fact that I did enjoy the book a great deal. The ending really is the only thing that I'm dissatisfied with. I'll definitely be seeking out more Dave Duncan in the future.
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the action and the fast pace. The characters were great: interesting and fun to read about. The plot was intriguing. In general, the book did a great job of keeping me focused and reading.
However, I wasn't really too thrilled with the ending. It felt a little rushed, especially the battle for Celebre. Maybe I was losing my concentration at that point, but it definitely felt a little too sudden in starting and a little too quick in ending.
I wasn't pleased by Waels's death. At all. Yes, part of that was my emotional reaction to the whole thing. I liked Waels. I didn't want him to die. Also, I hate to say it, but the fact that the gay guy, faced with a horribly life-threatening situation, dies, while the straight guys all pull through when faced with similarly horribly situations, is a little suspect to me. Yes, Marno ends up mauled and deformed, but he's still alive. Would it really have hurt to let Waels have a similarly miraculous recovery? A year or two ago, I probably wouldn't have noticed that kind of disparity, but now...Well, I do, and I don't like it.
Marno was the other thing I didn't really like. I just wasn't convinced that he's secretly this sweet, sensitive guy. Sure, it was said a couple times, although not exactly in those words, but his actions all went in the other direction. We saw Marno be ruthless. We saw him show very little regret for his ruthlessness. The only time we might have seen this other side of him was when he was talking to Fabia after they were married, with the art and the goblets and whatnot. It just wasn't enough to convince that Fabia falling for him was believable, you know? Maybe if we'd seen some of the conversations they had in the chariot, I wouldn't be having such a hard time, but since we didn't...I guess I think that there was a little too much telling and not enough showing where Marno was involved. I know I'll sound superficial when I say this, but it's not that easy to get past physical deformities like Marno's, and I'm just not convinced by Fabia's swift acceptance of him as a husband.
Also, the complete refusal to even consider Fabia as dogaressa kind of irked me. I'd have been fine with her age and lack of experience being cited as the reason she couldn't be dogaressa, but the focus on her gender was annoying. Oh, and this line: "Dogaressa Oliva had done her best, no doubt, but it was good to have a doge in charge again." Yeah, I know it's an in-character comment, not necessarily a reflection on the author or anything like that, but grr. Way to hit my buttons!
Still, my quibbles don't change the fact that I did enjoy the book a great deal. The ending really is the only thing that I'm dissatisfied with. I'll definitely be seeking out more Dave Duncan in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2012
"Two people could not shed their clothing and normal dignity, embrace each other in the most intimate ways possible, rollick like small children while performing the most adult of actions and exulting in the most potent of pleasures -"
Yup, he's as open and liberal about sex as about anything else. As I flew through this wonderful end to the series, I couldn't help but feel ... overwhelmingly satisfied. Everything came together, not in a clanging, surprising way, but in the way you're accustomed to with a Duncan, which is just what you want. As ever, the characters and writing pretty much force you into reading and, although there were no real surprises, it was a pretty, happy, neatly packaged ending with all the hallmarks of family affairs Duncan-style throughout.
Yup, he's as open and liberal about sex as about anything else. As I flew through this wonderful end to the series, I couldn't help but feel ... overwhelmingly satisfied. Everything came together, not in a clanging, surprising way, but in the way you're accustomed to with a Duncan, which is just what you want. As ever, the characters and writing pretty much force you into reading and, although there were no real surprises, it was a pretty, happy, neatly packaged ending with all the hallmarks of family affairs Duncan-style throughout.
July 17, 2013
The second and final part of the Dodec series. The children of Celebre cross the Ice onto the second face of the dodecahedron world in pursuit of the warlord Stralg. But his sister Saltaja, a devotee of the Mother of Lies, is in pursuit.
A wonderful fantasy, unusual and beautifully detailed and structured. I get such satisfaction from reading these, and I've re-read them many times. The ending is unexpected, funny, and very satisfying. Highly, highly recommended.
A wonderful fantasy, unusual and beautifully detailed and structured. I get such satisfaction from reading these, and I've re-read them many times. The ending is unexpected, funny, and very satisfying. Highly, highly recommended.
September 14, 2008
This is Parte the Second of a two part series. Dave Duncan is always fun. His characters are likable, his plots are wild, and he does not take himself too seriously. Sort of a more low key pleasant version of Terry Pratchett. My literary version of Frosted Flakes when I get tired of crunchy granola.
December 19, 2008
I really enjoyed this book, as an easy read. It offered me a soft respite while I'm waiting for the next Malazan Book of the Fallen or Song of Ice and Fire.
Its story is less complex than the two above mentioned, but that was what I wanted to fill my craving for a short, spicy interlude between my more convoluted story-archs.
Its story is less complex than the two above mentioned, but that was what I wanted to fill my craving for a short, spicy interlude between my more convoluted story-archs.
February 5, 2011
The first one was better. All those things that I raved about in the first review that the first book had the good sense to leave out were pretty much in this one. Again, sigh. Still a good book and a nice wrap-up to all of the fun conflict from the first one, but had a couple of parts that make it less recommendable to certain people.
February 27, 2009
Good conclusion of the two part series.
July 12, 2009
Good escape, second in a 2 book series.
May 30, 2010
Brilliant fantasy romp as always from Dave Duncan
September 30, 2012
Quality from start to finish!
February 7, 2016
Turgid and inconsistent
July 15, 2011
A really good read.
I didn't see the ending at all.
Well done.
I didn't see the ending at all.
Well done.
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