
Delirium's Mistress: Tales from the Flat Earth, Book Four
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In the age of demons, when the Earth was still flat, a daughter was born to a mortal beauty and Azhrarn, Demon Lord of the Night. This Daughter of the night was called Azhriaz, and she was hidden away on a mist-shrouded isle, spirit-guarded, to spend her life in dreams. But Azhriaz was destined for more than dreaming. For if her father was the Lord of Night, her mother was descended from the Sun itself.
Her beauty and power soon called to another might demon lord, Azhrarn's enemy, Prince Chuz, Delusion's Master, who worked a magnificent illusion to free Azhriaz from her prison and transform her into Delirium's Mistress.
As Mistress of Madness and Delirium, she would become known in realms of both demon and humankind. And her destiny would make her goddess, queen, fugitive, champion, seeress - and her to whom even the very Lord of Darkness would one day bow down.
- Listening Length17 hours and 5 minutes
- Audible release date6 March 2012
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB00O27DVYE
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
Listening Length | 17 hours and 5 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Tanith Lee |
Narrator | Susan Duerden |
Audible.com.au Release Date | 06 March 2012 |
Publisher | Audible Studios |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B00O27DVYE |
Best Sellers Rank | 82,728 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 2,650 in Classic Literature 8,240 in Classic Literature & Fiction 9,448 in Fantasy (Audible Books & Originals) |
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries


リーの「平たい地球シリーズ」の最後の巻。後に外伝が1冊出ましたが、この豪華きわまりないシリーズをしめくくるにふさわさしい圧倒的な迫力で胸を打ちます。
リーはもともと既存の伝説や神話を自己流に料理して、フェミニズムふうのスパイスや美こそがすべてというような独特の観点をもっていたのですが、本作では「少女の成長」「女性の自立」をテーマにしているように思います。
妖魔を父に、ほうき星の精の母を良心に持ち、生まれながらに闇と光、悪と善を身に備え、世界を破壊するほどの魔力を持ちながらも迷い、ゆれ、不安に泣くおさなごとしての「女王」。
恋に破れ、夢に傷ついた彼女が、しかし悪の化身である父すらも許し、癒しを施す最後のシーンはまさに圧巻です。
リーの英語は言葉の配置にセンスがあり、特に難しい言葉を使っているわけではないのに、脳内で擬古文に翻訳してしまうような独特のカラーを持っています。
日本で出版された翻訳と見比べて、翻訳者がいかに苦労なさったか(笑)そしてノリノリで訳されたのか行間を読むのも楽しみだと思います。
たれかしらざる。
翻訳の最後の、おわりの一文に、訳者の勝利宣言を見る思いがしました。

A writing instructor at my university common gave nascent authors this advice: If you, as an author, ask your readers to carry a Volkswagon to the top of the mountain, figuratively speaking, they will do so. But when they get it there, they expect you to do someone with it. Delirium's Mistress is littered with abandoned Volkswagons.
Far too often, Lee interrupted her narrative to insert a sub-plot. Vampires? Sure. The release of an imprisoned immortal and immoral scholar from his prison of eternal coral? Why not. The capture and long endurance of the hero/protagonist by mildly hostile sea people? Or the resurrection (a plot point Lee never tired of using) of a mildly evil character from an earlier book who seeks redemption through the protection and education of the hero/protagonist? Archangels sent by the Gods to destroy those who worship the hero/protagonist? I guess. It all just gets so jumbled and tedious, though.
Motivations among characters are hard to find. Lacking such intrinsic elements in the novel, Lee offers us the distraction of incomparably beautiful maidens with raven/red/silver tresses and breathtakingly gorgeous men , all loved by the more-than-human elements of the Flat Earth, and all left without development.. Oh, and palaces made of improbable materials and peopled by impossible beings.
What worked in Night's Master was an overarching theme - the wicked and perverse interventions of Azhrarn, Prince of Demons, in the affairs of men - rendered in the books over the course of time and presented in short vignettes with a definitive conclusion. All the assembled stories made the finale satisfying, even if Azhrarn himself was the only consistent character. Delirium's Mistress never seems to end. Nor does it offer much purpose to the narrative, except to offer more glimpses into the Flat Earth, more ways to think about Azhrarn who, as he is perfected and immortal, does not change, and more ways to grow tired of multi-paged descriptive prose providing details into a garden, a palace, or a shrine.
If I had to guess, it would be that Lee adored her creation of Azhrarn, the immortal and beautiful beloved who offers cruelty and sweet delirium to those he favors, and wanted more and more of a venue to explore him. As Azhrarn is a rather limited character, she wanted to create his "un-brothers", but in each book, Azhrarn dominates the pages.
So if you came looking for a continuation of the Flat Earth series and found Delirium's Mistress, I would say you should probably stop with Death's Master and let the rest go. Or go write your own book set in this world.

