Whitemantle. Robert Goldthwaite Carter
Читать онлайн.| Название | Whitemantle |
|---|---|
| Автор произведения | Robert Goldthwaite Carter |
| Жанр | Героическая фантастика |
| Серия | |
| Издательство | Героическая фантастика |
| Год выпуска | 0 |
| isbn | 9780007388004 |
Whitemantle
Book Three of the Language Of Stones
Robert Carter
For Andrew Ritchie – the Brompton man – who gave me back my fitness.
‘I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, in order to keep it out of as many things as possible.’
Sean O’Casey
The Plough and the Stars
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE DOUBLE DEPETRIFICATION
CHAPTER THREE THE BIER OF ETERNITY
CHAPTER EIGHT MAGOG AND GOGMAGOG
PART TWO THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT BE KING
CHAPTER NINE THE LAMB HYTHE YALE
CHAPTER TEN THE WINDOWLESS CHAMBER
CHAPTER ELEVEN PROMISES AND PIECRUSTS
CHAPTER TWELVE THE KING OF PENTACLES
CHAPTER FOURTEEN PROPHECIES, LIBELS AND DREAMS
CHAPTER FIFTEEN THE FAST-FLOWING STREAM
CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE SLEEPLESS FIELD
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN THE DOOMSTONE OF THE WEST
PART FOUR THE END OF ALL THINGS
CHAPTER NINETEEN THE IRON TREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE SECOND DUEL
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO THE STONE THAT WAS HEALED
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR A BROKEN LAND
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE WHITE SNOW, RED RIVER
THE STORY SO FAR
Whitemantle is the third novel in the Language of Stones cycle. The first two, called The Language of Stones, and The Giants’ Dance, recount the story of Willand, an ordinary boy who stands on the threshold of manhood. On the day that Will turns thirteen, the wizard Gwydion takes him away from home and explains certain extraordinary prophecies that concern the third and final coming of an ancient hero-king called Arthur. Gwydion suggests that Will himself is that predicted incarnation, but Will does not want to believe it.
However, as Will’s adventures progress dark forces are seen to be at work, chiefly embodied in the person of Maskull, a ruthless sorcerer and Gwydion’s arch-enemy, and the Sightless Ones, a sinister order of tax collectors who squeeze the common people and try to persuade them to believe in the mind-enslaving ‘Great Lie’. Gwydion is at pains to hide Will’s true identity from the world, and so the boy is lodged in secret, first with the fearsome hog-headed Lord Strange, then with the family of Duke Richard of Ebor, where he is educated in lordly ways. Will also comes to learn ‘the redes’ – the rules that govern magic – and he meets a girl named Willow who becomes his friend. He is also befriended by the House of Ebor’s venerable herbalist, Wortmaster Gort, and he stands up to Edward, the Duke of Ebor’s wilful heir, eventually winning his respect.
But while Will is learning, the Realm is slipping into war, for the present king is descended from a usurper, and there are many who believe he is not the rightful king. In fact, King Hal is being controlled by his beautiful but greedy queen, Mag, and her violent ally, Duke Edgar of Mells. Set against their party is the House of Ebor and its allies, who believe that Duke Richard must be recognized as sovereign. Duke Richard himself is content to wait until the sickly Hal dies, for the latter has no heir, but when the queen falls unexpectedly pregnant, rumours begin to circulate that the child has been fathered by the Duke of Mells as part of a scheme to keep Richard from his just deserts. The gauntlet of conflict