The Carnelian Throne is Volume 4 in Janet Morris' bestselling Silistra Quartet. Still controversial after five decades, this Perseid Press edition has been expanded and revised by the author.
Estri is a god, daughter of light.
Chayin is a god, son of darkness.
Sereth is 'hase-enor,' son of all flesh.
Lovers and friends, could they be the prophesied three who would wield the Sword of Severance, Se'Keroth, and bring light out of dark?
"One from the east, born of ease and destined; One from north of south, divine, exempt of question; The third from out the west, astride a tide of death," quoted Chayin. He was not smiling. It is a long epic. All has been foreseen. We all know that tale's end." -- Estri Hadrath diet Estrazi in Wind from the Abyss by Janet Morris
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"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." -- C. Brown, Locus Magazine
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"The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." -- Frederik Pohl
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"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is in Janet Morris' Silistra series: High Couch of Silistra (originally entitled Returning Creation), The Golden Sword, Wind from the Abyss, and The Carnelian Throne." -- Anne K. Kaler, "The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine."
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"[...] today I thought I'd look at one of the most successful fantasy debuts of all time, a series that became a huge international hit with its first release, launching the career of one of the most prolific fantasy writers of the late 20th Century: Janet Morris' The Silistra Quartet.
"The Silistra Quartet began with Janet's first novel, High Couch of Silistra [...] from Bantam Books in 1977 [,,,] the far-future tale of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient war that left the planet scarred and much of the population infertile. With a dangerously low birth-rate, it's not long before the human colonists of Silistra develop a new social order, with a hierarchy based on fertility and sexual prowess.
"All told, there were four volumes in what came to be known as The Silistra Quartet [...].
"High Couch of Silistra (1977) [...] The Golden Sword (1977) Wind from the Abyss(1978) The Carnelian Throne (1979)" -- John O'Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature
Industry Reviews
"Engrossing characters in a marvelous adventure." -- C. Brown, Locus Magazine
*****
"The amazing and exotic adventures of the most beautiful courtesan in tomorrow's universe." -- Frederik Pohl
*****
"The best single example of prostitution used in fantasy is Janet Morris' Silistra series... Estri's character is most like that of Ishtar who describes herself as "'a prostitute compassionate am I'" because she "symbolizes the creative submission to the demands of instinct, to the chaos of nature ...the free woman, as opposed to the domesticated woman". Linking Estri with these lunar and water symbols is not difficult because of the moon's eternal virginity (the strength of integrity) links with her changeability (the prostitute's switching of lovers). [...] Morris strengthens the moon imagery by having Estri as a well-keepress because wells, fountains, and the moon as the orb which controls water have long been associated with fertility, [...] In a sense, she is like the moon because she is apparently eternal, never waxing or waning except in her pursuit of the quest; she is the prototypical wanderer like the moon and Ishtar. She is the eternal night symbol of the moon in opposition to the Day-Keepers [...] At her majority (her three hundredth birthday), she is given a silver-cubed hologram letter from her mother, containing a videotape of her conception by the savage bronzed barbarian god from another world. [...] If Estri's mother then acts as a bawd, willing her lineage as Well-Keepress to her daughter, then Estri's great-grandmother Astria as foundress of the Well becomes a further mother-bawd figure when she offers her prophetic advice in her letter: "Guard Astria for you may lose it, and more. Beware of one who is not as he seems. Stray not in the port city of Baniev ...look well about you, for your father's daughter's brother seeks you". Having no brother that she knows of does not stay Estri from undertaking the heroic quest of finding her father." - Anne K. Kaler, The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine
*****
"[...] today I thought I'd look at one of the most successful fantasy debuts of all time, a series that became a huge international hit with its first release, launching the career of one of the most prolific fantasy writers of the late 20th Century: Janet Morris' The Silistra Quartet.
The Silistra Quartet began with Janet's first novel, High Couch of Silistra [...] from Bantam Books in 1977 [,,,] the far-future tale of the colony planet of Silistra, still recovering from an ancient war that left the planet scarred and much of the population infertile. With a dangerously low birth-rate, it's not long before the human colonists of Silistra develop a new social order, with a hierarchy based on fertility and sexual prowess.
"All told, there were four volumes in what came to be known as The Silistra Quartet [...].
"High Couch of Silistra (1977) [...] The Golden Sword (1977) Wind from the Abyss (1978) The Carnelian Throne (1979)
-- John O'Neill in Black Gate Adventures in Fantasy Literature
