ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.After the sorceress Delivev Ormoru rejects his marriage proposal, sorcerer Smada Rezhyk becomes worried that she's out to get him. In order to reduce her powers so that he'll have time to weave himself a protective gold shirt, Rezhyk sends his demon slave Gildrum to impregnate Delivev with Rezhyk's own seed. Gildrum takes on the form of a handsome young knight (Mellor) and shows up injured at Delivev's doorstep. As expected, Delivev falls in love with Mellor, but unexpectedly, Gildrum (who doesn't even have a heart) falls in love with her, too. However, Gildrum must return to serve Rezhyk. He doesn't tell Delivev that he's really a demon -- he lies and tells her that he'll come back after he delivers a message.Sure enough, Delivev becomes pregnant and gives birth to Cray. And, of course, Mellor never returns. When Cray becomes a teenager, he decides to find out what happened to the father whom his mother still loves. This leads to a series of adventures which create more questions than answers.Phyllis Eisenstein's Sorcerer's Son is a pleasant coming-of-age novel. The writing, for the most part, is lovely -- it flows well and is not overdone or pretentious. The dialogue, however, (and there is more of it than their needs to be) is sometimes stilted and unrealistic.The plot of Sorcerer's Son is original and interesting -- especially the parts in which Delivev or Rezhyk appear. Delivev has control over nature -- particularly snakes, spiders, and ivy. Rezhyk summons and enslaves various types of demons who live in a complex world and follow strict rules about summoning. These parts are very creative and entertaining and I found that I have developed a respect for Phyllis Eisenstein's imagination.Unfortunately, I just could not believe in Cray, the hero of the story. He was too nice, good at everything he tried, rarely complaining, and too mature, noble, and philosophical for a teenager. Except for the very rare occasions when he lost his temper, he was boring. I'm not into angsty teenage brooding, but Cray could have used a couple more personality dimensions.The ending of Sorcerer's Son was a little too sweet for me, but if you like that sort of story, then this is a good read. Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Phyllis Eisenstein page.
This is another one of those books I first read around two decades ago. I'm pleased to say it holds up to what I remembered of it. It's one of those epic quest type fantasies, with the bulk of the book being about Cray's search for the father he never knew.Cray's mother is a great sorceress who can control spiders, snakes, vines, and anything weaved from thread. (It's creepy, yet cool.)Cray's father, who was only around long enough to get his mother pregnant, presented himself as a knight. So rather than follow in his mother's footsteps, Cray chooses to become a knight like his father. He leaves on a quest to not only become a knight, but to find his father, who had promised to return after he completed one last mission.The one thing I didn't remember is how paranoid the "bad guy" / "evil sorcerer" was. When it comes down to it, he was the instrument of his own demise. No one was ever out to get him until he began to "strike back". Even so, he doesn't come across as cartoon-y, more ironic.In terms of world-building, you have sorcerers and you have regular humans. Some sorcerers - like the "evil sorcerer" - can control demons, which come in fire, water, air, and ice varieties. (Hmmm, why not earth which is the typical 4th element?) There is also a seer/oracle who can predict the future.The bdsm_ds tag is for some novel bondage/kink. I swear this book created some of my mental kinks. *g*Oh, turns out this was the first in a trilogy. Not sure if I can find the other two. They appear to be out of print.
