Burning Tower

Burning Tower (2006) – Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Pocket Books | ISBN: 9780743416924
Condition: As New | Sold by Crappy Old Books

Magic. A magnificent force capable of reshaping reality, defeating monsters and making the impossible appear perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, it also has a distressing tendency to attract ambitious sorcerers, ancient evils and individuals who believe that possessing supernatural powers entitles them to interfere with everybody else’s lives.

Welcome to Burning Tower, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s sweeping fantasy adventure, in which the familiar complications of politics, warfare and human ambition are made considerably more entertaining by the addition of magic, mythical creatures and an alarming collection of supernatural dangers.

Set in the richly imagined world introduced in The Burning City, this sequel returns to a civilisation where magic is an everyday reality, although one whose usefulness depends rather heavily upon whether somebody happens to have enough magical power available.

At the centre of the story is Tower, a remarkable young woman whose unusual nature and extraordinary abilities place her at the heart of events far beyond the ordinary concerns of her community.

Accompanied by a colourful assortment of companions, she becomes involved in a dangerous expedition through unfamiliar territories, encountering strange peoples, formidable enemies and mysteries whose solutions are unlikely to be found in the average traveller’s handbook.

Naturally, journeys in fantasy literature rarely proceed according to schedule.

There are dangerous landscapes, unexpected alliances, magical complications and the inevitable discovery that certain individuals possess rather more ambitious plans than they initially admitted.

Niven and Pournelle bring their characteristic enthusiasm for elaborate world-building to the proceedings, creating a fantasy setting that treats magic not merely as a convenient way of solving problems but as a force with its own limitations, consequences and peculiar logic.

This is particularly satisfying for readers familiar with Niven’s science fiction, where even the most extraordinary inventions generally operate according to identifiable rules.

Here, supernatural power becomes something almost scientific: a resource that can be exploited, exhausted and occasionally misunderstood with disastrous results.

Meanwhile, the characters must contend with the familiar problems of trust, loyalty, leadership and the uncomfortable possibility that the person confidently announcing a brilliant plan has neglected several important details.

Originally published in 2005, Burning Tower combines adventure, mythology and speculative imagination with the storytelling talents of two celebrated authors whose collaborative works have delighted science-fiction and fantasy readers for decades.

There is something wonderfully ironic about a world filled with supernatural abilities in which people still manage to encounter precisely the same problems that trouble entirely ordinary human societies.

Power corrupts, ambitious individuals behave foolishly, and lengthy journeys invariably involve somebody making a disastrous decision.

Apparently, magic cannot cure stupidity.

This 2006 Pocket Books edition, offered in As New condition by Crappy Old Books, is an excellent acquisition for admirers of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, collectors of epic fantasy and readers who enjoy imaginative adventures with unusual magical systems and richly developed fictional worlds.

A substantial, entertaining and inventive journey into a realm where ancient powers, extraordinary creatures and human ambition combine to make everyday existence spectacularly unpredictable.

Because living in a world where magic actually works sounds absolutely wonderful.

Until somebody uses it to create a monster, overthrow a kingdom or accidentally unleash an ancient catastrophe.

At which point one begins to appreciate the comforting reliability of electricity.

Even if the bill is rather excessive.

Keep browsing: See more Fantasy books Other books by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle