"David Drake - Crown of the Isles 01 - The Fortress of Glass" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

craftsmanship. When I need a reference, it appears magically in my in-box
within a couple hours.
Mark Van Name has been my friend for more than twenty years, and for that
reason I dedicated a book to him back in 1990. Mark is a variety of things
besides being my friend, however. Among them, he's a management and marketing
consultant; in which capacity he advised me on the structure of The Crown of
the Isles, the trilogy of which this novel is part.
Computers (two of them) Died in Making This Book. (Yes, I'm used to it by
now.) Mark, my son Jonathan, and Jennie Faries got me out of holes.
My wife Jo bore with me, fed me superbly, and kept the house as clean as
possible under the circumstances. (I'm really going to clean up my mess of
paper now.)
My thanks to all those above, and to others who just by being nice people made
my world brighter than it would've been otherwise.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
As before in the Isles series, I've based the magic on that of the
Mediterranean Basin in Classical times. The voces mysticae (which I've called
words of power) are taken from real spell tablets. Their purpose was to call
the attention of demiurges (entities between men and Gods) to the wishes of
the person casting the spell. I do not personally believe in Classical magic
or any magic, but neither do I choose to pronounce the voces mysticae aloud:
I've been wrong before.
In my writing I always use bits and pieces not only of history but of other
fiction, scenes and phrases that made a strong impression on me. This time the
plot was shaped in part by my study of Spawn, a story by P. Schuyler Miller.
Those of you who haven't read Spawn can find it reprinted in the fat anthology
The World Turned Upside Down, along with many other stories which the three
editors found particularly memorable.
Another direct influence was Ovid, who can be amazingly evocative with a mere
line or two. For an example of what I mean, compare (on my website; see below)
my translation of the Perseus section of the Metamorphoses with the portion of
Fortress involving Cashel and the Daughter of Phorcys.
Again as usual, I've translated scraps from real Latin poets into the fabric
of this novel. While it's rarely a good idea to assume that a fictional
character is expressing the author's real beliefs, I will note here that
Garric's observations on O fons Bandusiae summarize the reasons I carried the
OCT edition of Horace with me through my time in the army in 1969-71. There
are times and places in which it's very important to have proof that
civilization exists, or at least that it once existed.
Dave Drake
david-drake.com
Chapter 1
Tenoctris the Wizard stood in the prow of the royal flagship, staring intently
at the sky. "Sharina," she said, "we're suddenly in a focus of enormous power.
There's something here. There's something coming here."
Sharina glanced upward also. "Is it good or bad?" she asked, but the wizard
was lost in contemplation.
Cumulus clouds were piled over the island of First Atara on the northern
horizon, but here above The Shepherd of the Isles there was only a high chalky