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Wizard War Chronicles #2
The Questing Hero
THE LEGACY OF ODEX!
After countless eons, the fabled odex of yore — a magical disc filled with the riches and knowledge of bygone civilizations — has been discovered in the lowly kingdom of Sung. Also found was the Book of the Odex, a document so obscure that the renegade wizard of Drum was hired to interpret it. He couldn't. But he did say that the key to the odex lay in its ancient index. And the index to the odex is in the bottom of the bottle, in a palace filled with malice — a long way from Sung. Since that revelation, many a young lad has gone to seek it. None have returned. Now, brave Togura, son of a Sung ,baron, joins the cause. Questing for the index, he will be wounded, marooned, and lost. He will confront exotic women, brawny pirates, quarrelsome dragons and, finally, the incorrigible, not always knowledgeable, but occasionally hospitable, crusty old wizard of Drum!
After countless eons, the fabled odex of yore — a magical disc filled with the riches and knowledge of bygone civilizations — has been discovered in the lowly kingdom of Sung. Also found was the Book of the Odex, a document so obscure that the renegade wizard of Drum was hired to interpret it. He couldn't. But he did say that the key to the odex lay in its ancient index. And the index to the odex is in the bottom of the bottle, in a palace filled with malice — a long way from Sung. Since that revelation, many a young lad has gone to seek it. None have returned. Now, brave Togura, son of a Sung ,baron, joins the cause. Questing for the index, he will be wounded, marooned, and lost. He will confront exotic women, brawny pirates, quarrelsome dragons and, finally, the incorrigible, not always knowledgeable, but occasionally hospitable, crusty old wizard of Drum!
- GenresFantasy
200 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
54 people want to read
About the author
Hugh Cook
44 books69 followersHugh Cook was a cult author whose works blend fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for his epic series The Chronicles of an Age of Darkness.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 17, 2025
I can see why the low ratings here on GR for this, but I blame the publisher rather than Cook. It seems this was part of a larger volume Questar decided to break up into smaller chunks, and as such, it seems like an intro to something without any resolution whatsoever. Still, I like Cook's style and this was run.
Basically, Togura, son of a Sung barron (Sung is a tiny kingdom that started the adventures in The Walrus & The Warwolf (Planet Stories (Paizo Publishing)) by Hugh Cook), starts the novel doing his thing when his father announces he is to be wed to the King of Sung's daughter, a hugely fat half-troll. Not very pleased, he runs away and finds himself with the Wordsmiths, a sect in town. The Wordsmiths several decades ago came upon the Odex, along with the Book of Odex, but cannot decipher the book or really figure out what the Odex is. Things pop out of the Odex (all kinds of things) and it seems it was some sort of repository for stuff from back in the days of Tech. If only they could decipher the book! A wizard has told the Wordsmiths that a volume exists that can help with translation, but several quests for this have failed; is Togura just the man/boy to finally find it?
Well, we never learn as when Togura attempts a liaison with his sweetie at the Wordsmith's compound, his father arrives to get him back for his forced marriage. At the same time his father arrives, some mysterious assassins also arrive and the following melee, Togura's sweetie gets tossed in the Odex and disappears. Togura vows to get her back, but of course has some trials and tribulations...
Looking forward to the second half of this; hopefully Questar did not butcher the rest of the volumes in the series. 2.5 stars, rounding up!
Basically, Togura, son of a Sung barron (Sung is a tiny kingdom that started the adventures in The Walrus & The Warwolf (Planet Stories (Paizo Publishing)) by Hugh Cook), starts the novel doing his thing when his father announces he is to be wed to the King of Sung's daughter, a hugely fat half-troll. Not very pleased, he runs away and finds himself with the Wordsmiths, a sect in town. The Wordsmiths several decades ago came upon the Odex, along with the Book of Odex, but cannot decipher the book or really figure out what the Odex is. Things pop out of the Odex (all kinds of things) and it seems it was some sort of repository for stuff from back in the days of Tech. If only they could decipher the book! A wizard has told the Wordsmiths that a volume exists that can help with translation, but several quests for this have failed; is Togura just the man/boy to finally find it?
Well, we never learn as when Togura attempts a liaison with his sweetie at the Wordsmith's compound, his father arrives to get him back for his forced marriage. At the same time his father arrives, some mysterious assassins also arrive and the following melee, Togura's sweetie gets tossed in the Odex and disappears. Togura vows to get her back, but of course has some trials and tribulations...
Looking forward to the second half of this; hopefully Questar did not butcher the rest of the volumes in the series. 2.5 stars, rounding up!
September 11, 2008
A disappointing followup to WIZARD WAR.... perhaps thankfully none of the characters from that one are in this one.
November 1, 2017
Indeed, disappointing follow up to Wizard War.
June 30, 2013
The only positive I can say about this is I showed it around for one day in middle school - the soft porn part where the woman gets doused without any assistance from her, or from anything. It got a lot of positive reactions. But as we all found out over the next couple of years, that was biologically impossible. So there was a lot of disappointment involved.
Nettlebane, nettlelark, needlework, noodlefish, nottingham, nozzlepuss, negronoose, newsington, let's see how many words we can write, and pretend to call it a legitimate writing style.
Nettlebane, nettlelark, needlework, noodlefish, nottingham, nozzlepuss, negronoose, newsington, let's see how many words we can write, and pretend to call it a legitimate writing style.
May 14, 2014
Superior to Vance’s picaresque stories featuring Cugel. Both are wildly imaginative and delightfully weird, but Cook imbued his character with some sympathy (without neglecting his cruder aspects) while Vance did not.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews