A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.
The fourth installment in Lee’s breathtaking series, Tales from the Flat Earth, Delirium’s Mistress returns to a shadowy and mythic world where demons battle for dominion, and the fate of mankind is shaped by the whims of capricious and volatile beings.
Beneath the mortal realm of the Flat Earth, demons lurk. But Azhriaz—daughter of the mortal priestess Dunizel and the demon known as Night’s Master, Azhrarn—bridges these two worlds, a being of both light and darkness. Raised on an isolated isle in the demons’ realm of Underearth, guarded and hidden away from demon and mortal alike, Azhriaz was meant to sleep forever, never knowing the world outside her dreams.
But other forces in the Underearth are moving to wake Azhriaz. Prince Chuz, the demon known as Delusion’s Master, has made an enemy of Azhrarn, after his betrayal cost Dunizel her life. Chuz seeks out Azhriaz’s island, drawn by her latent power and entranced by her beauty. To release Azhriaz from her eternal slumber, Chuz must create the grandest illusion he has ever rendered. If he succeeds, Azhriaz will be reborn as Delirium’s Mistress, a sorcerous of extraordinary power. Perhaps even more powerful than Azhrarn himself....*
Delirium's Mistress* in the fourth book in the Flat Earth sereies.
In the age of demons, when the Earth was still flat, a daughter was born to a mortal beauty and Azhrarn, Demon Lord of 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 dark dreaming. For if her father was the Lord of Night, her mother was descended from the Sun itself.
And her beauty and power soon called to another mighty 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 would she 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....
This book has all of the lush eroticism, shimmering enchantment, and fey loveliness of the previous two books, told in the same intricate, lapidary prose, and adds the powerful themes of growth and change. Delirium's Mistress is the story of Sovaz (at first), the offspring of that union between Azhrarn the Prince of Demons and the priestess Dunizel which was a major part of Delusion's Master. Throughout this book, there is a sense of the weight of the ages that have passed on the Flat Earth. Much of the action is the result of long-past intrigues of the various Lords of Darkness. Shades of the past appear to advise characters at key junctures. The book begins with the love affair between Chuz, Prince Madness, and Sovaz/Azhriaz/Atmeh, which is quickly interrupted by the revenge Azhrarn takes as a result ov Chuz's actions in Delusion's Master. The remainder of the book concerns the heroine's search for her true self- is she Sovaz, the child of Dunizel, the Moon's Soul and embodiment of good? Is she Azhriaz, the merciless, all-powerful daughter of wicked Azhrarn? Or is she something more? Azhriaz's journey of self-discovery also becomes a force for the transformation of other characters. By the book's end, Azhrarn has been forever changed by the love of Dunizel and her daughter. The cruel Zhirek of Death's Master is reborn as a gentle healer and teacher through his association with Azhriaz. And a much-mellowed Chuz is eventually reunited with his beloved, who finally knows who she is and what she must do. This is a truly wonderful book... it continues all of the exotic magic and mystery of the first two books, and adds some real wisdom and humanity, too.
Description:
Delirium's Mistress by Tanith Lee
A recognized master fantasist, Tanith Lee has won multiple awards for her craft, including the British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror.
The fourth installment in Lee’s breathtaking series, Tales from the Flat Earth, Delirium’s Mistress returns to a shadowy and mythic world where demons battle for dominion, and the fate of mankind is shaped by the whims of capricious and volatile beings.
Beneath the mortal realm of the Flat Earth, demons lurk. But Azhriaz—daughter of the mortal priestess Dunizel and the demon known as Night’s Master, Azhrarn—bridges these two worlds, a being of both light and darkness. Raised on an isolated isle in the demons’ realm of Underearth, guarded and hidden away from demon and mortal alike, Azhriaz was meant to sleep forever, never knowing the world outside her dreams.
But other forces in the Underearth are moving to wake Azhriaz. Prince Chuz, the demon known as Delusion’s Master, has made an enemy of Azhrarn, after his betrayal cost Dunizel her life. Chuz seeks out Azhriaz’s island, drawn by her latent power and entranced by her beauty. To release Azhriaz from her eternal slumber, Chuz must create the grandest illusion he has ever rendered. If he succeeds, Azhriaz will be reborn as Delirium’s Mistress, a sorcerous of extraordinary power. Perhaps even more powerful than Azhrarn himself....*
Delirium's Mistress* in the fourth book in the Flat Earth sereies.
In the age of demons, when the Earth was still flat, a daughter was born to a mortal beauty and Azhrarn, Demon Lord of 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 dark dreaming. For if her father was the Lord of Night, her mother was descended from the Sun itself.
And her beauty and power soon called to another mighty 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 would she 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....
This book has all of the lush eroticism, shimmering enchantment, and fey loveliness of the previous two books, told in the same intricate, lapidary prose, and adds the powerful themes of growth and change. Delirium's Mistress is the story of Sovaz (at first), the offspring of that union between Azhrarn the Prince of Demons and the priestess Dunizel which was a major part of Delusion's Master. Throughout this book, there is a sense of the weight of the ages that have passed on the Flat Earth. Much of the action is the result of long-past intrigues of the various Lords of Darkness. Shades of the past appear to advise characters at key junctures. The book begins with the love affair between Chuz, Prince Madness, and Sovaz/Azhriaz/Atmeh, which is quickly interrupted by the revenge Azhrarn takes as a result ov Chuz's actions in Delusion's Master. The remainder of the book concerns the heroine's search for her true self- is she Sovaz, the child of Dunizel, the Moon's Soul and embodiment of good? Is she Azhriaz, the merciless, all-powerful daughter of wicked Azhrarn? Or is she something more? Azhriaz's journey of self-discovery also becomes a force for the transformation of other characters. By the book's end, Azhrarn has been forever changed by the love of Dunizel and her daughter. The cruel Zhirek of Death's Master is reborn as a gentle healer and teacher through his association with Azhriaz. And a much-mellowed Chuz is eventually reunited with his beloved, who finally knows who she is and what she must do. This is a truly wonderful book... it continues all of the exotic magic and mystery of the first two books, and adds some real wisdom and humanity, too.