Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #722484 in Books
• Published on: 1990-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of adventure yarns may relish this blend of fantasy and historical fiction if they take to the author's baroque, tinted prose and lush imagination. Jaki Gefjon, son of a native Borneo woman and a Dutch sea captain, starts life as witch-doctor's slave and apprentice. Later kidnapped by pirates, he befriends his captor, Trevor Pym, famed for his dreaded man-of-war, the Wyvern. Jaki falls for Lucinda, the headstrong daughter of Pym's arch-rival, Captain William Quarles. Crammed with intrigue, pirates' battles, curses and visions, this seafaring saga takes Lucinda and Jaki from the South Seas to India to the New World. Various plot strands interweavethe encroachment of colonialism on the world of spirits, Jaki's hard-won self-acceptance after abandoning the role of European gentleman, the clash of duty versus romance as Lucinda defies her father. But the cardboard characters defeat the book's epic and historicl pretensions. Attanasio's previous novels include Radix , a Nebula Award nominee, and Arc of the Dream.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Seventeenth-century adventure awaits readers in Attanasio's ( Radix ) novel. Jaki Gefjon is a half-breed, raised among headhunters of Borneo and trained as a "soul catcher" (medicine man). Drawn by the mystery of his Dutch father into a European way of life, Jaki joins pirate captain Trevor Pym under the fearsome serpent banner of Wyvern to combat the mercantile empires exploiting Asia. Jaki's saga is laced with mysticism as he struggles to understand the meaning of his life, buffeted by competing cultures. His mother, his mentor, Jabalwan, the pirate Pym, and his English wife help him to progress to self-knowledge. This solid adventure/fantasy is recommended for popular fiction collections. William C. McCully, Park Ridge P.L., Ill.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Exceptional. Unforgettable.
This was the first Attanasio book I ever read, but certainly not the last. However, nothing has ever eclipsed the magnificence of Wyvern. I've never found anything else (by any author) that quite matches this in its sweeping scope. The setting is also wonderfully exotic and refreshingly different from most books in the historical fantasy genre.

One of the two greatest adventure books of all time
When I first read Tolkien's trilogy in 1971 I never thought that I would find any adventure that I liked as well until I read Wyvern while on a backpacking trip. I have since reread it twice and find it as facinating as the first read. I can't believe that it is so difficult to find. I cannot recommend this adventure story highly enough.

A devastating culmination
If you are a fan of Mr. Attanasio's earlier works this seems to be the point where his theme of human potential and suffering finally concludes with a subtle but tragic realization.

If you have never read Atanasio's work this would be a fine place to start.

Wyvern is perhaps the most consistently violent tale I've ever seen from the author, but it is never gratuitous. This is a terribly moving story that will stay with you for many years, no mere work of light fiction for an evening's entertainment.