Speak to the Devil (Brothers Magnus Series #1)

A new adventure of brotherhood and magic from beloved fantasist Dave Duncan

In the Kingdom of Jorgary, the days of feudal chivalry are fading as national armies are formed. But Ottokar Magnus is still baron, and his host of brothers include Anton, an ambitious young soldier, and Wulfgang, an amiable teenager. Unable to seek his fortune as a knight errant, Anton has enlisted with the royal Jorgarian hussars and taken Wulf along as his servant.

There is magic in Jorgary, but it is regarded as Satanism, rituals performed by Speakers who are in contact with the Devil. The Speakers, though, believe that the Voices they hear belong to saints. Anton is not a Speaker...but Wulf is.

Anxious to impress the court, Anton exhibits spectacular horsemanship at a royal hunt, with a little boost from Wulf. Two nights later he is dragged before Cardinal Zdenek, the king’s chief minister. Zdenek offers him an earldom and anything else he could dream of if he will ride at once to a strategic fortress at Cardice and take command there. The count and his son have died, victims of both treason and witchcraft. The cardinal thinks that neighboring enemies are preparing to invade, using “modern” arms to capture the fort. Mortal resources alone will not suffice, but Zdenek knows that Anton’s improbable jump at the hunt was aided by supernatural power.

Anton wants nothing to do with this mission, but Wulf’s Voices tell him that they should accept the charge. The result is a harrowing ride through limbo with astonishing results.

A new adventure of brotherhood and magic from beloved fantasist Dave Duncan

In the Kingdom of Jorgary, the days of feudal chivalry are fading as national armies are formed. But Ottokar Magnus is still baron, and his host of brothers include Anton, an ambitious young soldier, and Wulfgang, an amiable teenager. Unable to seek his fortune as a knight errant, Anton has enlisted with the royal Jorgarian hussars and taken Wulf along as his servant.

There is magic in Jorgary, but it is regarded as Satanism, rituals performed by Speakers who are in contact with the Devil. The Speakers, though, believe that the Voices they hear belong to saints. Anton is not a Speaker...but Wulf is.

Anxious to impress the court, Anton exhibits spectacular horsemanship at a royal hunt, with a little boost from Wulf. Two nights later he is dragged before Cardinal Zdenek, the king’s chief minister. Zdenek offers him an earldom and anything else he could dream of if he will ride at once to a strategic fortress at Cardice and take command there. The count and his son have died, victims of both treason and witchcraft. The cardinal thinks that neighboring enemies are preparing to invade, using “modern” arms to capture the fort. Mortal resources alone will not suffice, but Zdenek knows that Anton’s improbable jump at the hunt was aided by supernatural power.

Anton wants nothing to do with this mission, but Wulf’s Voices tell him that they should accept the charge. The result is a harrowing ride through limbo with astonishing results.

Publishers Weekly

Popular fantasy writer Duncan (Children of Chaos) takes readers to an alternate 15th-century Europe where knighthood is on the wane, and the magic of Speakers is secretly courted by the same political and religious powers who condemn it as Satanism. The noble but penniless Magnus family of Jorgary has “a long and painful history of producing Speakers.” That’s why Cardinal Zdenek, the power behind Jorgary’s throne, sends brothers Anton and Wulfgang Magnus to take control of strategic Castle Gallant and defend the northern border against Duke Wartislaw. A love triangle among the daughter of the castle’s dead lord and the Magnus brothers soon mixes explosively with politics and war in a stimulating adventure grounded by deft characterizations and a vivid historical setting. The Magnus family motto is omnia audere—“I dare any odds!”—and Duncan is primed to follow it with style in this compelling new series. (June)

Originally from Scotland, DAVE DUNCAN has lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that inventing imaginary worlds is more satisfying than poking holes in the real one, he has published forty novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also in young adult, science fiction, and historical.