Lammas Night

by Katherine Kurtz

Book Overview

What Magic Can Stop Adolf Hitler -- History's Most Evil Black Magician? Modern War The year is 1940. Hitler's Germany is about to employ the secret arts of evil witchcraft to destroy England. What can... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345295161
• ISBN13: 9780345295163
• Release Date: November 1983
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Spectacular!

LAMMAS NIGHT is one of the most original and interesting treatments of World War Two-era fiction ever to be penned. Like many another reader, I came across Sir John Cathal Graham while reading the ADEPT series, and wondered why he didn't rate his own series. I still wonder why he is the central character in only this one book, because Gray Graham is fascinating and complex, far more multidimensional than the too-well-turned-out Sir Adam Sinclair, and capable of so much more literary development. This is one of my favorite books. Kurtz's writing is crisp, detailed, fast-paced, informative and even educational without being dry. The book could serve as a primer on practices of the Old Religion, which it portrays in a sensitive and sympathetic light. LAMMAS NIGHT includes a spirited discussion of reincarnation theories and comparative religion, written with subtlety and creativity. There are no lectures in the book, just presentations fitting seamlessly into the telling of the tale. There are no magical pyrotechnics here, just psychological drama, good taut storytelling, a compelling plot, and a sense of historical place and time that is undeniably alluring. Hardly the stuff of "Sword and Sorcery" or "fantasy," writing, this novel could easily be classed with Ludlum, LeCarre, Forsyth, and Follett as an espionage thriller par excellence. This may be Ms. Kurtz's finest book.

There are more things in heaven and earth ...

I found Lamas Night to be a thoroughly enjoyable read, even though I cried at the end. There truely are more thing in heaven and earth then are dreamed of in anyone's philosophy. The book gives a real feeling for war time Great Britain and the Old Religion. This is something that the average nonpagan reader would usually have very little access to. One can almost imagine the "wise folk" of Great Britain banding togeather to do what they could to protect a beleagered island nation from going under to a mad man. The characters are people you would like to know, and show that pagan does not mean evil. Although it is fiction you find yourself almost believing it could have happened. I hope the authors write another such book featuring John Graham and Phillipa Rhodes Sinclair. Such a book would be truely Stellar!

Lammas Night

I enjoy this book immensely and have read it several times. It is not, however, for whiffenpoof pagans. rather it is based in the serious and very sacred and ancient tradition of the sacred king who dies for his people. The prince is also, IMO, a representative of everyone who died in WWII on the Allied side. As to Gray, I respect this character tremendously and wish KK would publish more stories about him. I would buy them all.

This is my favourite book...

LAMMAS NIGHT is the one book that I will go out of my way to be sure I always have more than one copy of in my library. I currently have three (one autographed). Kurtz's characters -- particularly Col. Sir John Cathal Graham -- are *fascinating* and so completely captivating that when I found Gray in one of her ADEPT books I was delighted to find that those books were set in the LAMMAS NIGHT universe and that I might have a chance to further explore it.

One of the best ever!

This is absolutely one of the most gripping books I've ever read. The historical details are precise but not tedious. The characters are achingly real - complex, imperfect, compelling. Kurtz's understanding of ritual magic is excellent and non-sensational, and her ability to draw on historical hints to weave it into the events of WWII is outstanding. This book will change you - the world will never quite look the same after you put it down