Fire and Fog

(Cenotaph Road 5)
by
Robert E. Vardeman

Ace, July 1984, 215 pp.
ISBN: 0-441-23824-6

Genre: Fantasy
Reviewed: 2/23/2002

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

And Evil Surrender

"You have beaten me, Lan Martak," said Claybore without a hint of rancor. This more than anything else put Lan on guard. Claybore would never surrender. Not this easily. Not when there was a single spell yet to be cast, a single geas to be applied.

"Then I want proof of it!" shouted Lan. He blasted outward with the most devastating spell of which he was capable. Lan almost laughed aloud when he saw Claybore's skull begin to split in half.

Then he screamed. From within the skull came insects of all sizes and shapes. Pincers snapped, mosquito-stingers probing, the cloud of insects erupted forth and filled the entire chamber . . .

 

Synopsis

Lan Martak, Krek and Inyx walk the Cenotaph Road following Clarbore and end up on a planet where the rain splashes fire as it hits the ground and if you are caught out in the fog, you go insane. Broit, new leader of the Heresler, a clan of gnomes that are the gravediggers for all the other gnome clans, bring the three into the mountain.

A gnome mage, Lirory, leads the Tefize gnomes against the Heresler in battle after battle. Lirory has collected Claybore's arms and legs and hidden them on inside the mountain. After giving Clarbore his arms, Claybore seeks out his legs, but only Lirory knows where they are. Lan, with Claybore's tongue in his mouth, has something to say about Claybore getting his legs back.

Ever since Krek put Claybore's Iron Tongue in Lan's destroyed face, the tongue has imbued Lan with powerful magic and spells that he knew nothing about are now easy to perform. But something is wrong with Lan. Is the tongue turning him evil? Why does he protect Kiska, a woman that has vowed to kill him? Why is he treating his friends so badly? Can he really prevent Clarbore from getting his legs all by himself?

Fire and Fog is the fifth book in the Cenotaph Road series. This book picks up where Iron Tongue leaves off. This is a fantasy story about Lan Martak, his companion mountain spider, Krek, and Inyx as they pursue the evil sorcerer Claybore with the intention of preventing Claybore from collecting all of his body parts and reattaching them back to his body, thereby giving him unlimited magical power. Ducasien, a warrior from the same land as Inyx, joins the group with the intention of helping Inyx. She finds herself torn over this new fighter, as he looks a lot like her dead husband, and the love she has for Lan, who seems to be rejecting her friendship.

 

Review

The characters that Robert E. Vardeman has created are some of my favorite. But Lan took a nasty turn in this story as the evil Iron Tongue in his head turns him against his friends. I didn't like that. Maybe this is needed for the conclusion to this series in the last book, Pillar of Night, I don't know. Obviously Lan must become strong enough to defeat Clarbore, but I sure hate to see him leave his friends behind. I don't think he can do it alone, even though he seems to think that he can.

The world Mr. Vardeman has created in this story is dismal. That might have has a slight impact on the way I felt about this book.

Overall, I found Fire and Fog to be a good continuation of the story and I am looking forward to seeing how this whole thing ends.

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.

This site was created and is maintained by Conan Tigard
2002