2) - Zaragoz

So the next book from 1989 is called Zaragoz and was written by Brian Craig, and with this being 1989 Warhammer fiction means its not his real name.  Two books in and two pseudonyms already.  Brian Stableford is the real name of the author.  Is it just me or is that a cooler name?  Anyway thats the cover of the book i have which is the 2002 reprint by the Black Library.  Now at this point i need to point something out which i hope someone can help me with.   Zaragoz is the name of the town where the adventure takes place and it is outlined in the background.  I suspect the wizard Semjaza is the evil looking dude at the top.  But who is the massively muscled guy with the double handed sword???  There is no one like that in the book.  Orfeo the hero is a traveling player with a lute!  And all the main people fight with rapiers.  I suspect the artist couldn't be arsed reading the book and got the jist of it but just assumed the hero would be a stereotypical fantasy hero.  Anyway i found some more covers, not sure which is the original but lets take a look.

Well at least this one has two wizards fighting which follows part of the story of Zaragoz.  Except this is clearly the cover of the Warhammer Battle Magic Supplement and actually has nothing to do with the book or the story.

In Case you don't know the title lets write it lots of times!

I suspect this one is the original.  Nice pic of what i presume is meant to be Zaragoz.  Focusing on the town which is what the novel is called after.  Shame it doesn't look like the town as described in the book, not even close.  Also i think Ive seen this picture before in a WFRP supplement but i cant be sure on that.  So the best cover i think is the reissue one.  Yes the one with a character not even seen in the book is still better than the other two, that's how bad it is.

So this book is the first in a trilogy called the Tales of Orfeo.  Orfeo is a wandering minstrel (although he dosnt call himself that as only elves are true minstrels), therefor we will call him a spoony bard from now on.  Orfeo has been captured by Arabian slavers and at this early juncture i noticed something.  In order to make a fantasy setting apparently you take a real place and remove an A.  Spanish Town of Zaragoza becomes Estalian town (Warhammer version of Spain) of Zaragoz.  The Arabian desert is called the Sahra, nothing at all like the Sahara!  So using this new found technique i will build a fantasy setting of my own.

I give you the Blood Bowl team - Rel Zaragoz!

Fastest Horse Racer in all of Estillia - Fernndo Lonso!

And Rphel Ndl...........damm it that doesn't work!

 SPOILER ALERT TIME 

Ok ill leave the fantasy setting to the experts.  Right this book does not ease you in, i give to you the prologue which features Maro who is a young sailor that was captured along with Orfeo.  The Caliph decides he will make a good Eunuch slave for servicing the King of Songhai as he must have had experience as a whoreboy aboard the ship.  I kid you not that was the term used.  I thought i had picked up a book from the specialist section rather than a warhammer novel! 

Right turns out the Caliph is form Zaragoz and Orfeo just happens to have been there and has a tale to tell.  So the Caliph does him a deal, if he tells him the tale and it is to his liking he will let him go free.  Oh he will let Maro go as well, who must be cacking himself by now.

So we come to Part One entitled - A Web of Intrigue

Orfeo is wandering through Estalia where he finds the town of Zaragoz and he quickly rescues a priest of law from some bandits outside town.  Luckily the spoony bard is handy with a sword and they run off, maybe he does look like the guy on the cover.  So they spend the first night in a tavern and almost get into a brawl but it is stopped by the arrival of a noble, Rodrigo Cordovo.   Zaragoz is a town around a lone peak with a castle at the top.  The richer you are the further up the mountain you live.  Brian Stableford does an excellent job of setting the scene.  Zaragoz is a very believable location and I enjoyed the set up in the tavern that shows the various types of people that populate the town.  Oh and Orfeo saves a lady of the night so ends up bedding her, while sharing a room with a priest of law, slightly awkward.

So Cordovo hires Orfeo to play for him and he comes into contact with the chief of secret police Sceberra, who is painted to be an arse, spoiler, he really is an arse.  During the performance the priest of law who is called Arcangelo appears and prophesies the end of Zaragoz under the leadership of the evil duke.  Of course this pisses off the loyalists and Orfeo is taken in for questioning since he arrive in Zaragoz with Arcangelo and is tarred by association.  Again so far so good, the intrigue is building nicely as the characters are introduced.  So instead of the usual questioning the dukes wizard Semjaza, who is described to look quite repulsive, uses magic and finds Orfeo to be a good and honest man, well thats nice, lets go home.  Instead he is visited by the sorceress Morella d'Arlette.  Fancy name and a fancy girl who is clearly a follower of Slaanesh.  Now today Orfeo would be horrified but this is old school so even though he is a bit worried he still goes with it.  The ladies love a spoony bard.  So anyway she uses her magic to ahem enhance the experience.  So its described as the best experience of his life but then he back tracks quite quickly and describes how he would rather have an act between two people rather than one using the other as an instrument.  I have a theory about this.  I reckon Brian Stableford got a bit carried away with his fantasy of magic sex with a sorcerers and then panicked when he thought his wife might be a bit upset by this and has frantically back tracked before he was put in the dog house.

Anyway he comes back to find Cordova has been kidnapped and of course ends up rescuing him.  Its about this stage that the story starts to stall.  Its not so much as the intrigue stops its more the writing for me which just dosnt flow well at all and the story suffers for it.  Again the hero bests all the kidnappers, i know they are wounded but maybe the artist did read the book and that is Orfeo on the front cover, how else can he beat all these guys?

So they summon Sceberra to try and find out whats going on and during the conversation, Zaragoz's chief of secret police comes up with this blinder.  "If a man were to believe all that he heard argued he would not be a man at all, but a radish"  This is going downhill fast.

Radish, well known for believing anything you tell it...

So its Orfeo's turn to be kidnapped and gets tortured by Sceberra who tweaks his nipple, with something horrific.  This was actually a bit tough to read, bit squeamish here and you are left in no doubt to what is going on.  Sceberra does point out that what is the point in men having nipples, it is a valid point and its one im sure Stableford was thinking about in the bath.  You do get a bit more background into the story of Zaragoz thanks to another prisoner.


Interlude - The book has an interlude!  I forgot Orfeo is telling the tale to someone else!  Guess he survives then.  Eunuch watch - Maro still not a Eunuch.

Part Two - The Night of Masks

So the tale resumes and the big rescue attempt is planned (I dont want to say who and what in case you do want to read it).  At this point i was a bit suspect of where the twist was going to come from and was maybe over thinking it.  This is the best thing about a book like this but still the pace was still dragging a bit.  So the rescue attempt starts and there is no way this is going off without a hitch.  Oh look its gone wrong.  Orfeo again bests all the soldiers.  I have to say that its not as bad as i make out, he is clever with his tactics and uses the environment to his advantage.  But the main problem is that the chapters feel padded.  Take chapter eleven as an example.  It starts with a great fight scene between Orfeo and Sceberra on a bridge and ends with a bit of a twist which is well done.  But my god in the middle is endless descriptions of a cave.

Its a Dark Cave!

Its another Dark Cave!

Its a dark cave!  I get it!  My mind is capable of imagining what a dark cave looks like.  I know he is trying to set the scene and atmosphere but the details are tedious and to me it just feels like padding.  ITS A CAVE, ITS DARK!  MOVE ON!

Guess what the next chapter is more cave drivel.  Although at least this time there is a foreboding menace stalking Orfeo.  Its cave dwelling white haired apes, a bit of a let down, this is warhammer fantasy, there must be all sorts of strange fantasy creatures that could have been used instead.  Another filler chapter.

So anyway Orfeo is rescued and is back in Cordovos house.  All that happens in the next chapter is that Orfeo finds the wizard Semjaza in the library and they have a talk.  Sounds rubbish but in fact its a really good chapter and offers great insight into Semjazas thinking and therefore the thinking into anyone willing to use chaos.  Very well written and one of the best chapters of the book, just dont read it when your tired or you will need to read it again....didnt happen to me at all...no no.

So finally the night of masks arrive, where the nobles wear fancy masks but the servants have to wear plain black masks that cover only their eyes.  Oh god they have all gone as Zorro!

The guys were all delighted that they had wore the same costume, the women on the other hand were distraught

So at this stage Bedlam ensures where a tide of rats appear along with the white apes, again not very fantasy like.  But then some daemons appear, well not really daemons its a black cloud of doom that begins to devour the castle. 

The Big Bad Guy

I wont ruin the ending for you but its really not that great.  The sense of danger and excitement just was not there for me.

Epilogue - Keep forgetting he is telling the tale to the Caliph!  Turns out Semjaza was his brother, decides to let Orfeo and the boy go free.  So he wont be made a Eunuch.  But who knows whats been going on, it took Orfeo two days to tell his tale and poor Maro was just left in that room....

Zaragoz started of really well as i really enjoy the mystery and the conspiracy aspect.  But it just didn't flow that well though.  And the big twist is that their is no big twist.  How can you have a book about politics and intrigue without a twist?  The good guys stayed good and the bad guys stayed bad.  Only Arcangelo had any hint of going against his beliefs to make him more powerful.  It just feels like a wasted opportunity to me.  There were some good moments talking about the nature of existence and also must be one of the only novels that gives insight into Estalia in the warhammer library.  Also despite the age no real fluff issues to speak of, they were some but they were minor.  I found the end to be very anti-climatic which going by the build up was a huge letdown.  All the good work done to set up the characters could have led to some memorable battles or events but a big cloud gets them instead.  It may be suffering because i read it straight after Drachenfels but to me Zaragoz was a bit of a disappointment.  It had the setting, the characters and an great premise but in the end it did not deliver.  It could have been great.

Rating - 5/10