Queen of Demons

In the world of the Isles, the elemental forces of magic are rising to a thousand-year peak. A small band of companions has set forth across a world In the process of transformation in search of their destinies. Now their epic adventure continues.

"The world building and characterization here are among Drake's best, and the magic is well thought out. Drake clearly has on a fantasy saga as big as Eddings', Jordan's, and Goodkind's and as eminently worth reading. —Book List

More shapely than the original volume, and beguilingly set forth,"—Kirkus Reviews

"Some authors are powerful storytellers. Others evoke images that we did not believe existed. When the two are combined you have a powerful writer. Lord of the Isles is a magnificent example of what David Drake can do." —Gordon R. Dickson

Cover Art by Donato

Paperback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First Edition: August 1998
ISBN 0-312-86468-X

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-0-8125-6493-8
ISBN-10: 0-8125-6493-6

Copyright 1998 by David Drake

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

Tor Books on the World Wide Web:
http://www.tor.com

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webscription.net

To Jennie Faries,
a neat person and a cherished member of my extended family.

Acknowledgments

Among the people who helped on this one were Dan Breen, who would have graced the very finest of scriptoria; Mark L. Van Name and Allyn Vogel (yes, I worked another computer to death); Sandra Miesel and John Squires, who separately provided material that made it possible for Queen of Demons to develop the way it did; and my wife, Jo, who was unfailingly supportive while under the pressure of the project I diverged further and further from what passes for my norm. I should also mention that my editor, Dave Hartwell, practiced a policy of benign neglect under circumstances where less trusting people would have worried more publicly about when they would see the book. Thank you all.

Author's Note

The readers who identify Celondre with Horace are correct; the translation is my own. My Aldebrand is not Macrobius but rather a less-able analogue of him. Macrobius' Saturnalia has given me many hours of pleasure and puzzlement. I was trained in history but my temperament is that of an antiquarian, a very different thing. Fiction is a better world for me than the snake pits of Academe could ever be.

As before, the general religion of the Isles is based on that of Sumer.

The words of power, voces mysticae, used by wizards in this volume are from binding spells of classical times. They are not part of my religion, but they were an aspect of the religious belief of millions of people who were just as intelligent as you and I are. Personally, I didn't care to pronounce the voces mysticae when I was working on the book.