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Ethshar #10
The Vondish Ambassador
Once, not so long ago, A warlock named Vond built an empire in the southern part of the Small Kingdoms. Vond is gone, but his empire survives under the rule of a seven-person Imperial Council and a young regent named Sterren. The Empire of Vond was hardly trouble-free after Vond's departure. Its neighbors are understandably wary of further expansion, there are questions about how Vond's magic became so potent, and so on. Most of the World, though, doesn't care -- Vond is off there in the southeastern corner of the World, far away from anywhere important.
But one day a dockworker named Emmis watches a Vondish ship arrive in Ethshar of the Spices and finds himself hired as native guide and aide to someone who claims to be Vond's ambassador plenipotentiary to the overlords of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars.
But who is the Vondish ambassador, really, and what is his true business in Ethshar? And who has followed him to the city?
But one day a dockworker named Emmis watches a Vondish ship arrive in Ethshar of the Spices and finds himself hired as native guide and aide to someone who claims to be Vond's ambassador plenipotentiary to the overlords of the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars.
But who is the Vondish ambassador, really, and what is his true business in Ethshar? And who has followed him to the city?
232 pages, Hardcover
First published November 19, 2007
2 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 25, 2009
Another enjoyable journey to the realm of Ethshar, by Mr. Watt-Evans. Like his other works, this is an enjoyable blend of fun fantasy & the amusement of putting characters in interesting situations & seeing where human nature takes them. Also with his books, there's a very satisfying end, reached through hard work, good sleuthing, and magic!
December 14, 2023
Better than average for the series, with the author's usual fresh premise. A young dockworker happens to be the first person the ambassador from the new Empire of Vond sees when he arrives in Ethshar of the Spices, and gets recruited as a local guide and assistant. Fortunately, he's intelligent and loyal, and both foils an assassination plot against his employer and helps the ambassador's mission to succeed. (I don't really consider those spoilers, because this is the kind of book where of course he does, and the real entertainment factor is seeing how he does it.)
Apart from a "crevice" that sounds a lot more like a crevasse, and a few minor typos of the level of missing quotation marks, it's well edited. I continue to be a bit skeptical about how good-hearted and averse to war (and, highlighted in this book, assassination) the people of Ethshar are, given that this is also a society that has slavery, but real human societies are weird and full of contradictions.
Apart from a "crevice" that sounds a lot more like a crevasse, and a few minor typos of the level of missing quotation marks, it's well edited. I continue to be a bit skeptical about how good-hearted and averse to war (and, highlighted in this book, assassination) the people of Ethshar are, given that this is also a society that has slavery, but real human societies are weird and full of contradictions.
July 3, 2023
This is the start of the new (to me) Ethshar books of which there are five.
Several years ago a warlock travelled to the small kingdoms in an attempt to escape the calling, the whispering in the head of all who use that magic and eventually disappear when the sound becomes louder, flying off to the north to never be seen again. Vond, for that was the warlock's name, found a new source of power there and used it to conquer eighteen of the small kingdoms and fuse them into one empire before he disappeared.
Now the Vondish empire has sent an envoy to Ethshar to meet with the overlord of one of the three cities...
Pretty fun read, gives a bit more insight into the power source that Vond found in "The Unwilling Warlord" and lets us have a glimpse at what's happening around the Empire. The main character doesn't quite amuse me as much as some of the previous books but a fun read.
Several years ago a warlock travelled to the small kingdoms in an attempt to escape the calling, the whispering in the head of all who use that magic and eventually disappear when the sound becomes louder, flying off to the north to never be seen again. Vond, for that was the warlock's name, found a new source of power there and used it to conquer eighteen of the small kingdoms and fuse them into one empire before he disappeared.
Now the Vondish empire has sent an envoy to Ethshar to meet with the overlord of one of the three cities...
Pretty fun read, gives a bit more insight into the power source that Vond found in "The Unwilling Warlord" and lets us have a glimpse at what's happening around the Empire. The main character doesn't quite amuse me as much as some of the previous books but a fun read.
March 28, 2014
There hasn't been a bad book in the loosely interconnected Ethshar novels but this was ultimately probably the least of them. Not that it didn't have the usual curious blend of grounded reality and well thought-out fantasy that Lawrence Watt-Evans is so fascinatingly good at. Very few others ever bother to try to inject what feels like common sense and casual/everyday elements into their otherwise fantastical stories. There's always something very human, work-a-day, and lived-in about the logic of the characters and the setting of the story - they do things, think things, and experience things that don't tend to fit into the standard fantasy mold. For example, in Vondish Ambassador, the simple passage in the book goes into about whether or not city guards should carry swords vs. truncheons... or if horses should be used to haul carts in cities vs. oxen. In other hands, this wouldn't work but Watt-Evans managed to make it interesting... and surprising in a, "hey, every other fantasy novel does it THIS way and he does it THAT way... that's interesting" kind of way.
All that said, Vondish Ambassador kind of gets weighted down by the history and geography of Ethshar of the Spices. It's great early on but as the story and the mystery continues to unfold, these asides start to get in the way of the pace of the story and it started to lose my interest. That's the point of the three stars on this. I won't say it was a slog because his stories are always better than that, but it wasn't as fascinating in its final third as it could have been.
Still, a recommendation for anyone who likes the previous nine books or anything else he's written... and for anyone else who hasn't read the other books, get to it. Maybe by the time you get to book 10, you won't mind my nitpicks.
All that said, Vondish Ambassador kind of gets weighted down by the history and geography of Ethshar of the Spices. It's great early on but as the story and the mystery continues to unfold, these asides start to get in the way of the pace of the story and it started to lose my interest. That's the point of the three stars on this. I won't say it was a slog because his stories are always better than that, but it wasn't as fascinating in its final third as it could have been.
Still, a recommendation for anyone who likes the previous nine books or anything else he's written... and for anyone else who hasn't read the other books, get to it. Maybe by the time you get to book 10, you won't mind my nitpicks.
January 9, 2010
The Story...
In the Vondish Ambassadir we follow Emmis, a simple dockworker in Ethshar of the Spices, who is hired by Lar Sember's son, the Vondish Ambassador. He is well paid, but soon realises why; life as an ambassador's aide can be quite hard and full of strange tasks. Soon Emmis, the aide, is thrust into a strange game between the various nations of the Small Kingdoms. He must visit theugists, magicians, lords, fight assassins, but mundane and magical, but is in the end rewarded for all his troubles.
This is a true Ethshar story, with lots of magic, intrigue and world-shattering... well, I probably shouldn't say too much about this. The reader, like Emmis, comes to a greater understanding of the world throughout the story.
My Judgement...
I like Ethshar. I really do. However, some of the books are far better than others, and as far as this book goes, it falls somewhere in between. The strength of the Vondish Ambassador is that it explains a lot about the world. You realise that Ethshar looks very much like our world, and yet, is nothing like it.
When that is said, I would highly recommend that you read the Unwilling Warlord first, as it tells the story of how Vond came to be. It's not absolutely necessary, but it will make this story more interesting and easier to understand.
In the Vondish Ambassadir we follow Emmis, a simple dockworker in Ethshar of the Spices, who is hired by Lar Sember's son, the Vondish Ambassador. He is well paid, but soon realises why; life as an ambassador's aide can be quite hard and full of strange tasks. Soon Emmis, the aide, is thrust into a strange game between the various nations of the Small Kingdoms. He must visit theugists, magicians, lords, fight assassins, but mundane and magical, but is in the end rewarded for all his troubles.
This is a true Ethshar story, with lots of magic, intrigue and world-shattering... well, I probably shouldn't say too much about this. The reader, like Emmis, comes to a greater understanding of the world throughout the story.
My Judgement...
I like Ethshar. I really do. However, some of the books are far better than others, and as far as this book goes, it falls somewhere in between. The strength of the Vondish Ambassador is that it explains a lot about the world. You realise that Ethshar looks very much like our world, and yet, is nothing like it.
When that is said, I would highly recommend that you read the Unwilling Warlord first, as it tells the story of how Vond came to be. It's not absolutely necessary, but it will make this story more interesting and easier to understand.
September 13, 2016
A breezy read, good if you had read 'The Unwilling Warlord' since the Ambassador came from a kingdom created in the book and, and the happenings in that book set the background to this one. Not to worry if you're new to the Ethshar series, much of the background is explained well in the book. An Ambassador from the Kingdom of Vond comes to Ethshar, seeking to stop Warlocks (a class of magic users in the Ethshar universe) from going to Vond to create more havoc. He is followed by representatives of other rival kingdoms suspicious of his motives and who try to assassinate him. I'd recommend this for a lazy weekend read.
February 11, 2018
Follow-up (if not exactly a sequel) to The Unwilling Warlord. The main character is Emmis, dockworker in Ethshar who is hired by the Vondish Ambassador to be his guide to the city. As well as help accomplish his secret mission, which proves to be trickier than expected.
Very good read for existing fans of Ethshar, newcomers might be a little confused and miss references to past novels. More of a classic Ethshar novel which follows only one character (as opposed to say, the Spell of the Black Dagger) and is a more personal story than epic or world changing.
Very good read for existing fans of Ethshar, newcomers might be a little confused and miss references to past novels. More of a classic Ethshar novel which follows only one character (as opposed to say, the Spell of the Black Dagger) and is a more personal story than epic or world changing.
June 18, 2020
The Second Serial
Much like The Spriggan Mirror this novel was written in serial fashion with comments from readers being available to the author as each chapter was released on a weekly cycle. Here we see the Wizard Guild make one of its rare direct interventions in politics between various powers because the danger to The World justifies intervention. If you are reading the entire series this novel falls between The Unwilling Warlord and The Unwelcome Warlock.
Much like The Spriggan Mirror this novel was written in serial fashion with comments from readers being available to the author as each chapter was released on a weekly cycle. Here we see the Wizard Guild make one of its rare direct interventions in politics between various powers because the danger to The World justifies intervention. If you are reading the entire series this novel falls between The Unwilling Warlord and The Unwelcome Warlock.
July 15, 2011
The spiritual sequel to Watt-Evans's "The Unwilling Warlord", The Vondish Ambassador, is a followup tale of the intrigue that follows in Ethshar of the Spices as the newly formed Empire of Vond sends an ambassador.
Overall, an enjoyable story with an appealing main character.
Overall, an enjoyable story with an appealing main character.
June 1, 2015
The Eshthar series never disappoints. I was not convinced when I read the summery/teaser on the story but this tale far exceeds the description. I am so looking forward to the next book and last of the series, but I will be sad to run out of books in one of my all time favorite stories.
December 14, 2009
It was light, and clever, and I got the biggest kick out of the details. An enjoyable read all around, left me with a smile.
September 28, 2011
Only read the rough online version. Need to get the real book.
January 11, 2012
Another good performance by Watt-Evans.
March 18, 2013
I love the Ethshar books, but this is one of the best of the bunch
June 7, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
June 25, 2013
Another find addition to the series.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews