Keith Taylor (1) (1946–)

I picked up this book at random. I like the idea of bard as being a career option and feel that it is a shame we don't prepare more young folk for a vocation in the Bardic Arts.
The main character in Taylor's series, Felimid Mac Fal, is an instantly loveable character. He is a true roguish sort that loves to indulge in the simple pleasures of life: wine, women, gambling and laughter. Taylor does not let his character fall within the common fantasy tropes of being a vessel of absolute good. Felimid possesses a kind of moral ambiguity that we see him struggle with and shape throughout the story.
Keith Taylor spins a wondrous tale in the first book of his Bard series. This book came out when the Fantasy market was beginning to take off and publishers were being flooded with all sorts of rubbish. Taylor roots his hero and the world the hero inhabits in Irish Folklore and Mythology, Arthurian Literary Tradition and numerous other tales and mythologies that have survived from the span of time surrounding the "Dark Ages".
I have an above average background in Medieval Literature and its precursors and I found myself referring to the internet every few pages to clarify a reference the author had made. This reliance on an historically based world instead of one of pure fancy adds to the experience of reading the books. Taylor not only presents the reader with an excellent story but guides the reader into a world of rich cultural significance. After the first book you will find yourself reaching for Google less and less as you become familiar with The Gods and Goddesses of ancient Ireland.… (meer)

Servant of the Jackal God: The Tales of Kamose, Archpriest of Anubis by Keith Taylor is highly recommended for the Weird Fiction / Sword & Sorcery reader.

Skelos is a magazine of Weird Fiction (launched via Kickstarter Summer 2016); inside is great Viking-horror Novelette by Keith Taylor called The Drowned Dead Shape. It is great to know that he is still active! I hope he revisits Kamose. Taylor is also known for Cormac Mac Art (Pastiche of REH) with Andrew Offutt. A Sword & Sorcery Group Read made me aware that Taylor wrote nine tales of Kamose, sorcerer priest of Anubis, for Weird Tales in the 1990’s. Interesting is that editor of Weird Tales at the time was Darrell Schweitzer who likewise had an interest in sorcerers in Egypt with his The Mask of the Sorcerer and Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer—which are great books appealing to the same readership.

The Servant of the Jackal God: The Tales of Kamose, Archpriest of Anubis by Keith Taylor is a compilation of 11 weird tales (2 short stories made for the anthology, the others published in Weird Tales; contents detailed below). Kamose functions like a mix between Sherlock Holmes and the Grim Reaper, solving cases and judging supernatural crimes in ancient Eypt. He employs minions who serve him under stressful pretenses; these include the human thief “Si-hotep”, the serpent-human hybrid”Lamia, and demons (“Bone Breaker” and “Green Flame”). He also disguises himself to go undercover. All the while, he is plagued by rival sects, especially from Thoth who unwillingly sourced Kamose’s power (backstory revealed in the book in Chapter 3 “Haunted Shadows”). In a later story, Taylor recaps Kamose’s power:
Kamose could enchant the sea, the sky, and the earth if desired. He understood the speech of beasts and birds, so far as they had language, and could command them also. He knew the secrets of various potions that gave one the power to walk through walls, breathe beneath water or move with a celerity beyond nature—though the first had its dangers and the last exacted a price from the body. He could even change his own face and body if he chose, though the feat called for careful preparation, and required time both to effect and to reverse.”

Kamose (and his minions) encounter all sorts of nightmarish magic and creatures; my favorites include (a) an antagonist from “Corpse’s Wrath” that proves the persistence of the undead and (b) a potion that enable people to walk thru walls…but also allows imbibers to see through skin and Cthulhu-esque creatures. Expect lots of tomb raiding, thaumaturgy, betrayals, and awesome magic. The milieu is infused with Egyptian (Khem) mythology and history, from animated shabti dolls, ghostly ka bodies, and alchemy; deities from Kush and Libya. Chapter one sets the stage by introducing us to a real Pharaoh Setekh-Nekht, whose future is fictionalized as is the transition to Ramses III’s reign.

Although published in serial form, Taylor clearly had a novel-like vision with entwined story arcs spanning across and through all the chapters. The adventure is great stuff, but this set doesn’t close all the story arcs completely; you’ll be left desiring more adventures of Kamose. In fact, there are several obscure points (not really spoilers) that are presented as it there will be a sequel: (1) Ramses III relationship with Kamose is just beginning to brew by the end of this and reeks of untapped potential; (2) the mysterious injury Kamose gets in the opening chapter remains pleasantly obscure; the healing process consumes the remaining ~10 chapters (few years) but there is more to that epic battle yet unexplained; (3) lastly, the opening of the last chapter indicates that the Kush-magician/murder in Chapter 1 may have encountered a different fate than Kamose expected.

Contents:
Daggers and a Serpent - 1999 Weird Tales
Emissaries of Doom - 1999 Weird Tales
Haunted Shadows - 2000 Weird Tales
The Emerald Scarab - 2001 Weird Tales
Lamia - 2001 Weird Tales
What Are You When the Moon Shall Rise? - 2002 Weird Tales
The Company of the Gods -2003 Weird Tales
The Archpriest's Potion - 2003 Weird Tales
Corpse's Wrath - 2006 Weird Tales
Return of Ganesh - 2012 – new material for this book
The Shabti Assassin - 2012 – new material for this book… (meer)

Not bad. The horror was occasionally too blunt for me, but there are some good moments of suspense and anticipation too. I liked particularly the setting, Ancient Egypt, and felt the book did it justice. The magic, politics, and mystery was all grounded in a good sense of place.

Servant of the Jackal God was originally a series of short stories, which is obvious when you read it. Chapters are episodic, even though they do feed into an overall plot, and basic facts are repeated more than is necessary for someone who would be reading all the chapters at once, but that was a minor irritation I stopped caring about rather quickly. There's a decently large cast of characters, most of them shifty and dangerous, and watching some of them suffer was a practice in sadism.

The titular character, Kamose, is about as overpowered as you can get without getting boring. He's lived for centuries, and has a mastery of magic that far exceeds any other living being, but he spends most of the book in a weakened state, fending off unknown political enemies. Unfortunately, by the end of the book the mystery of who those political enemies are and how Kamose will deal with them is still unsolved. Maybe it's good that I cared enough to be frustrated over that, since it's proof that I was invested in the story, but still, I feel a bit as if I was cheated out of an ending.… (meer)

Well researched book. 30's Pulp fiction influence is apparent. The 1st story in the collection giving the background was a trifle slow and ponderous. Once one adjusts to the style, the rest of the collection of stories flow swiftly. Kamose and his cynicism seemed rather modern. The sense of menace he generated fit the story lines and really. Added to the atmosphere. A secondary character, the thief Si-Hotep,had a nice raffish feel reminiscent of the British amateur detectives of the 30's and 40's. look forward to reading more of Mr. Taylor's work.… (meer)