Kill the Dead, by Tanith Lee

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The Giamarga
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Kill the Dead, by Tanith Lee

Post by The Giamarga »

Everybody who's a Ravenloft fan should pick up this novel. I found a reference to it in the Complete Necromancer Guide's description of the Deathslayer kit.

It's a story about a ghost slayer (can you say PF inquisitor) who practices his trade in a rural countryside that could easily be Mordent. While on the quest to destroy a mysterious ghost town, he crosses paths with some ghosts and a down on his luck bard, laying some ghosts to rest and uncovering other ghosts in a greatly spun narrative.

A must read for any Ravenloft fan imho.
a review wrote:The 1980 novel KILL THE DEAD is a perfect introduction to Tanith Lee’s writing in the Gothic mode. The short novel has all of her hallmarks: two tortured Byronic anti-heroes, a beautiful witch antagonist and a plot that is full of twists that allude to and subvert literary tropes. The novel concerns the mordantly humored exorcist Parl Dro, and his dealings with a hapless musician and a vengeful female lich [rather a ghost] (an undead sorceress). The prose is lovely and musical, full of rich imagery that incorporates Tarot symbolism throughout the text. The dialogue is is full of quips and dry humor. Some of Lee’s best work is at the novella length, and KILL THE DEAD, reissued as an ebook by Immanion Press, is an excellent example.
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