science fiction

Our Lady of Darkness - Fritz Leiber Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!
Other books by
author Fritz Leiber

"Our Lady of Darkness"
Message Board
Fritz Leiber Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Charles Smyth

SCHOLARS:
Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review? Click here to submit a review!

Click here for free online dating advice!

Review Summary
A writer, Franz Westen, falls prey to a curse put upon another - Clark Ashton Smith - by the long dead founder of Megapolisomancy, Thibaut de Castries. This is the consequence of three chance happenings: (1) Buying a second-hand book inside of which Thibaut de Castries has secreted a text between lightly gummed together pages. (2) Residing at 607 Rhodes, a room in an apartment building that had been lived in by Thibaut de Castries and frequented by Clark Ashton Smith. And concealed within the walls of which is hidden another text, ‘The Fifty Cipher'. (3) The viewing of a brown robed figure on the peak of Corona heights - a hilltop directly in front of Franz Westen's living room window. For Franz Westen this episode will prove to be even more weird than the ‘Weird Underground' TV episodes he converts into short stories.
Charles Smyth, Resident Scholar


Detailed literary breakdown of Our Lady of Darkness
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.

New movie search (click here) New book search (click here)
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book - very upbeat
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Romance Yes
Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes
Stealing/recovering/destroying - weapon - info about lifeform(s)/society/phenomena
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - fighting a personal illness/handicap - search for identity/new understanding
War or Invasion Yes
Major kinds of combat: - hand to hand - mental powers battles
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - writer
Age: - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - druggie/wino disease

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 60's-90's
Profession/status: - mastermind
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - telekinesis - mind control - can see into the future - can cast all sorts of spells
Eccentric: Yes - eccentric - obsessed - emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an average amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
scientific jargon? (SF only) - some scientific explanation
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog
Most similar books to Our Lady of Darkness
Caught In Crystal by Patricia C. Wrede
The Thirteenth Scroll by Rebecca Neason
Child of Night by Nancy Kilpatrick
Archangel by Sharon Shinn
The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Movie search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed movie search
(click here)
or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion


Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!


Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!


Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game


Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 6/30/2008 7:37:52 AM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 6/30/2008 12:55:48 AM

Lost in Space (TV): What kind of a name is Guy for a guy? 6/26/2008 10:21:30 AM

Lost in Space (TV): Wasn't it obvious that Major West was never going to get any? 6/26/2008 10:17:45 AM

Charmed: Is Piper really a Halliwell? 6/26/2008 7:20:13 AM

Alien Series: Was Vasquez a lesbian? 6/26/2008 6:57:27 AM

Charmed: What's wrong with Rose McGowan's chin? 6/26/2008 1:39:23 AM

Battlestar Galactica: Do Vipers fly past the speed of light? 6/26/2008 1:27:52 AM

Blade Runner: Was Harrison Ford on Tranquilizers or an Actor's Strike When Filming Blade Runner? 6/26/2008 1:21:38 AM

1984: 1984 6/25/2008 11:01:47 PM


Newest slaves:
Tina Turner 11:00:04 PM
Kimono Guy 11:00:04 PM
The Emperor 11:00:04 PM
Oompa Loompa 11:00:04 PM
Byron the Girlie Mon 11:00:04 PM
Dr. Smith 11:00:04 PM
Michael Ironside 11:00:04 PM
Roy Scheider 11:00:04 PM
Penny Robinson 11:00:04 PM
Bigfoot 11:00:04 PM
All slaves
(click here)


Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)