The Book of the Beast

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Название:The Book of the Beast

Автор: Tanith Lee

Издательство: Overlook TP

ISBN: 0879516984

Дата издания:1997-02-01

Страниц: 240

Язык:Английский

Формат:rtf, epub

Размер:1.30 MB

Raoulin, a young student in 18-century Paradys, the Paris of an alterate world full of complex and twilight mystery, has a flexible mind. When he discovers that his lodgings are haunted by a beautiful, green-eyed woman claiming the name of a girl ten years dead, he is hardly surprised. The surprise comes later, when a tryst with green-eyed Helise leaves him infected with the curse of a monstrous beast, half bird and half lizard, whose possession turns his eyes green and drives him mad. Thus begins the second book of the Paradys Tetralogy, a tale as intricate and dark as its predecessor, and fully as excellent. Unlike others in the tetralogy, "The Book of the Beast" is a full novel unfolding in nine linked story-chapters, further subdivided into "The Green Book: Eyes Like Emerald" and "The Purple Book: From the Amethyst." (Readers who have completed the entire tetralogy may notice that the entire color wheel, primary and secondary colors as well as black and white, are represented in the titles and themes of the stories.) "Eyes Like Emerald" deals with the characters of the present time, including Raoulin's dilemma, Helise's own tragic history, and the efforts of a Jewish scholar and his sorcerous daughter to defeat the beast and save Raoulin. "From The Amethyst" looks back to Paradys' origins as the Roman town of Par Dis, where the centurion Retullus Vusca received from a mysterious courtesan a talisman that would change his life and the lives of his descendants forever. Present in all times is the beast, bird-headed and lizard-scaled, a malevolent demon whom neither steel nor sorcery can destroy.