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Sebastian (Novel)
| Sebastian | |
|---|---|
 Sebastian Book Cover, written by Anne Bishop | |
| Author(s) | Anne Bishop |
| Publisher | Roc |
| Publication date | February 7, 2006 |
| Media type |
Hardcover Paperback eBook |
| Length | 448 Pages |
| ISBN | 978-0451460738 |
| ASIN | B000PC0SD2 |
For other uses of the word Incubus, see Incubus (disambiguation).
Sebastian is a novel written by Anne Bishop. It is the first work in the Landscapes of Ephemera series by this author. In this work the title character,Sebastian, is a half-incubus. As well his best friend Teaser is an Incubus as well.
Overview
- Title: Sebastian
- Author: Anne Bishop
- Published By: Roc
- Length: 448 Pages
- Format: Hardcover, Paperback and eBook
- ASIN: B000PC0SD2
- ISBN-10: 0451460731 (Hardcover)
- ISBN-13: 978-0451460738 (Hardcover)
- ISBN-10: 0732283728 (Paperback)
- ISBN-13: 978-0732283728 (Paperback)
- Publishing Date: February 7, 2006
Details
- Title: Sebastian
- Author: Anne Bishop
- Format: Paperback
- Publisher: Roc
- Pages: 448
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451460731
- ISBN-13: 978-0451460738
- Release Date: February 7, 2006
Plot Summary
Welcome to Ephemera, full of thousands of magical landscapes interconnected by bridges that may or may not take a traveler where he wants to go, for here the destination is always determined by the heart's true desire. One such landscape is the Den, a town of perpetual twilight inhabited by creatures of the night because it shelters all things hidden, secret, and dark. Half-incubus Sebastian and his friend, Teaser, have lived in the Den for years, happily plying their trade to lonely women in the flesh and in their dreams.
But something evil roams among humans, trolls, waterhorses, and other creatures, and the corpses of heinously murdered victims are found with alarming regularity. When that evil enters the Den wearing Teaser's and others' faces, Sebastian must perilously journey to Wizard City for help. There, another, more insidious evil awaits. With the help of cousin Glorianna Belladonna, Teaser, and his love, Lynnea, Sebastian will risk everything to save Ephemera. But will everything be enough?
The incubus Sebastian is the bastard child of a succubus and the wizard Koltak. Being an incubus has not made his life easy. Forced to flee every city or town he settled in, he has never known a home. Until one day, his cousin, 15-year-old Glorianna Belladonna, creates a landscape where demons can live, called the 'Den of Iniquity'. It is a 'carnal carnival' filled with gambling, drinking, prostitution and demons. Shocked by her actions and her ability to create a landscape, the wizards and Landscapers question her. She simply responds, "Even demons need a home." The wizards attempt to lock her into her own garden, but fail. She is then declared rogue.
Meanwhile, Sebastian, living in the Den of Iniquity and ignorant of the sacrifices his cousin has made for him, begins to tire of the life he lives, finding simply having sex with women no longer interesting. When he first stumbled into the Den when he was a 15 year old boy, he and his first and foremost friend Teaser, another incubus, prowled around the Den, using their abilities to entertain themselves. This life no longer holds any appeal. He yearns for love - and it appears in the form of Lynnea. She is a catalyst whose "heart wish" (a strong wish deeply embedded within her) delivered her to the Den. Her arrival brings about 'opportunity and change'.
Characters
- Sebastian - an incubus that lives in the Den of Iniquity, and the titular character.
- Glorianna Belladonna - a rogue Landscaper who wields unprecedented powers and Sebastian's cousin.
- The Eater of the World - a Cthulhoid shape-changing monster that has recently been released into the landscapes. It feeds on fear, horror and other dark emotions.
- Lynnea - a naive woman, Sebastian's love interest, sometimes referred to as "rabbit" or "tigress". She is a catalyst for change.
- Teaser - an incubus, and Sebastian's first and best friend.
- Koltak - Sebastian's unloving father and a status-seeking wizard.
- Filo - Innkeeper in The Den of Iniquity.
- Lee - Sebastian's cousin and Glorianna's brother.
- Nadia - Sebastian's aunt, mother to Glorianna and Lee. Nadia has provided Sebastian with intermittent tastes of a loving family life through his childhood. She is also a Landscaper in her own right.
- Peter - Glorianna's and Lee's father, and Nadia's husband. Also brother to Koltak. Peter is missing and presumed dead. He is a wizard.
Book Review
The following review is from the Amazon.com listing in the External Links below:
- 5 out of 5 stars
- A Message on the Heart
- Reviewed On: February 11, 2006
- Reviewed By: Reina Shaillot
After reading the House of Gaian Trilogy, I was loathe to pick up Sebastian, worried that it might turn out similar. I was thrilled to find out that Sebastian is completely unlike the House of Gaian, and far more similar to Bishop's first trilogy, Black Jewels.
Sebastian is the story of Ephemera, a luscious, complex, fully-formed world that pulls you in and refuses to release you. The Eater of the World has been inadvertently released back into the landscapes by the hot-headed Landscaper, Nigelle. It quickly begins Its quest to suck Ephemera's landscapes of all hope and Light, leaving them deserted and desolate wastelands. The only person who can stop It is the Landscaper Glorianna, called Belladonna, and her cousin the incubus Sebastian. But Glorianna is supposed to be walled into a garden, and Sebastian is probably too concerned with Lynnea, the sweet country girl he just met, to care.
The first thing you will think when you open Sebastian is "What the hell?" The narration plunges you headfirst into the thick of the story, not stopping to explain the nature of Ephemera's worlds and power structure. Although this could be detrimental to the story, it turns out to be quite the perk. Piecing together the way Ephemera functions is half the fun in this story.
What I loved most about this story is that it is the first of all Anne Bishop's story that is more than just fantasy, action, adventure, and romance. This story has a message. When you strip away all the trappings of a fantasy story, Sebastian, and hopefully its sequel Ephemera, is a story about the human heart and the effect that it has on the world around it. Even though, in our world, squabbling teenage girls won't cause rocks to drop from the sky, their attitudes have an obvious effect on the people around you. The Landscaper's greeting and farewell "Travel lightly" should mean as much to the reader as it means to the characters. Be careful of what baggage you carry in your heart, because that baggage will effect the people and world around you.