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 having any knowledge of events or characters from another book. The nice thing about that to me (and I am actually reading them in their published order) is that I don't feel like I'm making a huge time commitment when I pick up an Ethshar novel. I know that it will stand on it's own and I won't feel obligated to read the next one right away. I can read the one book and know that the next one will be there waiting for me without me having to remember a lot about the series in order to know what's going on.The Unwilling Warlord is a fine example of what Mr. Watt-Evans has managed to do with the rest of the series so far. The story opens with an introduction of sorts to the main character and usually moves fairly quickly into throwing some outlandish situation at said character which the remainder of the novel will deal with resolving (if any resolution is actually possible.) In this case, Sterren, our hero, finds out that he is the only heir to the office of Warlord in a far-off land. Not only does he have absolutely NO idea what the job entails, but there is the huge hurdle of the language barrier as the people of the land do not speak Sterren's language and vice versa.I would recommend this book (and others in the series) to anyone who enjoys some lighter fantasy and especially to those who have enjoyed Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover series or the Myth-Adventures series by Robert Asprin.
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. Where he learns that he must train an army, defeat two invading countries, fend off his own tactless king, who's just making things worse. And on top of that, he may have deteriorated things further by bringing a forbidden and unknown magic to the kingdom.Outstanding: The Unwilling Warlord is light and amusing. It's great to see the pickle Sterren gets himself into, especially once he returns to the kingdom with magicians to fight the war, something that's a big no-no. Watt-Evans takes some standard traditions of fantasy and adds a unique wrinkle to them that makes this novel a kick to read.Unacceptable: There are two very different parts to this novel, and they're a bit strange to see combined, but the author does a great job doing it. I absolutely despise the Wildside Press cover of this book. Seek out the original, 1989 version if at all possible.Summary: Not my favorite Ethshar novel, but it's one of those that I start remembering how much I like it about halfway through and the last third flies by. 4/5
What do You think about The Unwilling Warlord (2000)?
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 develops Warlockry, a discipline with almost limitless power, but an unforgiving finite total use. Rather than pace himself and exercise temperence or judgement, he becomes Icarus, flying to fantastic heights, before burning and suffering a terrible fall. The joy of this book is watching Vonn discover his power and wield it to greater and greater effect. We know he is doomed, but are unable not to be thrilled by his exuberance.
—Charlie George
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 up with it in grand, sweeping ideas.
—Dan
Another well-done lightweight story in the Ethshar series. The title bugged me a bit, because I kept waiting for Sterren to do some actual warlording, but he really didn't, and Watt-Evens kept harping on his desire/plan to flee.
—Chris
