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Tanith Lee

Delirium's Mistress Hardcover – 5 February 2014

by Tanith Lee (Author)

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"The Vazdru do not weep."
"Who weeps? Not I."
"Each word spoken was a tear."
-- from Delirium's Mistress

Delirium's Mistress is the fourth book of the stunning arabesque high fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales.

Long time ago when the Earth was Flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle.

She is the neglected daughter of Azhrarn, Demon Lord of Darkness, and she has many names -- Soveh, Azhriaz, Sovaz, Atmeh. Half demon, half mortal, she is Moon's Fire, vulnerable child, vengeful sorceress, terrifying Goddess of a wondrous city of cruel delirium that spans thirteen kingdoms, and a humble priestess of life's true wisdom. When her lover, Chuz, Prince Madness himself, is taken from her, she who is Daughter of Wickedness and Delirium's Mistress finds herself on a journey spanning an eternity of lives, in her search for love and redemption, and the ultimate truth of humanity, Godhood, and self.

Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love.

Discover the exotic wonder that is the Flat Earth.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

TaLeKa
Publication date

5 February 2014
Dimensions

15.2 x 3.18 x 22.9 cm
ISBN-10

1607621290
ISBN-13

978-1607621294
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ TaLeKa (5 February 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1607621290
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1607621294
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.2 x 3.18 x 22.9 cm

Customer Reviews:
23 ratings

Tanith Lee
20
Mass Market Paperback
2 offers from $18.10
Tanith Lee
20
Mass Market Paperback
2 offers from $7.48

About the author

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Tanith Lee

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Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of over 90 novels and 300 short stories, a children's picture book (Animal Castle), and many poems. She also wrote two episodes of the BBC science fiction series Blake's 7. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award best novel award (also known as the August Derleth Award), for her book Death's Master (1980).

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Danie Ware (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

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Leo Jansen

As always I enjoyed the writing of one of my favourite authors

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 July 2014

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I have this book translated in Dutch and have read it mulitple times. As always I enjoyed the writing of one of my favourite authors

One person found this helpful

夜の翼

史上最高の傑作だと思います

Reviewed in Japan on 5 November 2007

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邦訳では『熱夢の女王』上下２巻として出版されました。

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。

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Hroswitha

Not an improvement on the earlier books.

Reviewed in the United States on 31 July 2017

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Although I encountered Night's Master, Death's Master, and Delusion's Master long ago, I had never heard that Lee released additional titles in this series. Night's Master is absolutely the best of the Flat Earth series, though the weaknesses of Lee's writing came, unfortunately, to dominate the text. Her Achilles' Heel was this: she simply wasn't good at developing an overarching narrative or a character arc and sticking to it. She was magnificent when writing description, and in the breadth of her imagination. Her language, though stilted and unnatural at times, suits her lush (there's that word) prose stylings. Yet those destractions, the narrative side-bars, the long sections of the book that seem to move the principals no closer to a goal - ANY goal - but loop back and forth along the same moral dilemmas faced in other books by more interesting characters.

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.

3 people found this helpful

Selectronica

a classic!

Reviewed in the United States on 30 January 2019

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this classic should be taught in schools!

Iris Chiago

These are undoubtedly some of the best fantasy tales out there

Reviewed in the United States on 18 November 2015

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These are undoubtedly some of the best fantasy tales out there. I have loved these stories for two decades, and never forgot them. Recently I tried to find them in the library, but they are no longer at libraries, so I had to buy them. It's okay, though because now I have them in my own personal library, which is where they are meant to be.

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Delirium's Mistress Hardcover – 5 February 2014

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