A fantasy book (series?) from the early 1980s

[cletusgrahame]

I'm having a devil of a time trying to remember the title of a book I read sometime in the early eighties. It may have been written earlier than that, and there were indications that it was part of a larger series though I can't remember reading anything else with the same character.

All I can remember is that the protagonist was a tall figure, not entirely human, who wielded an exceptionally large sword. The novel was rather dark, gritty and battle-oriented. The only specifics that I can remember at the moment is late in the book, when the protagonist enters a forbidden temple, the interior of which is entirely in darkness, and battles a huge, slimy worm-like creature to rescue a lady. I seem to remember there being intimations that the protagonist might be an avatar or manifestation or agent of the god of war, though he doesn't know it.

Sorry I can't be more specific than that. The book left an overall impression on me, but the particulars are lost in time (guess that means I'm getting old, eh?)

Thanks.

 

[PaulMmn]

It sounds suspiciously like #6 in the BLADE series: "Monster of the Maze," by Jeffrey Lord (1972). And he does wield an exceptionally large sword!
.
Two others in my collection are:
#9 - "Kingdom of Royth" (1974)
#10 - "Ice Dragon" (1974)
Both by Jeffrey Lord.
.
--Paul E Musselman

 

[WizardofOwls]

This sounds to me like the Lords of Dus series by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It was a series of 4 books. The titles in the series are

The Lure of the Basilisk
The Seven Altars of Dusara
The Sword of Bheleu
The Book of Silence

I think the scene you are remembering is in the second book, The Seven Altars of Dusara. This is from Amazon.com - "Garth of Ordunin had been set a new task by the Forgotten King: Bring back to Skelleth whatever he found upon the altars of the seven temples of Dusarra. As he went about his blasphemous errand he learned more about the Dark Gods -- and more about his own destiny!"

 

[cletusgrahame]

Thanks to you both. Wizard, that's exactly what it was. Bless you, I thought that was going to haunt me to my dying day.

 

[WizardofOwls]

Glad I could help i was just thinking about this series the other day. One of my favorites, but somehow I have lost my copies. Thanks for reminding me that I need to find new ones! E-bay here I come! lol