Form: Novel
Year: 1983
Publication history:
- 1983 : Lord of Darkness (hc) , Arbor House, 559 pp., ISBN 0-87795-443-7
- 1984 : Lord of Darkness (pb) , Bantam, 613 pp., ISBN 0-553-24362-4
- 1984 : Lord of Darkness (hc) , Gollancz (UK), 559 pp., 03347-9
- 1985 : Le Seigneur des Ténèbres (hc) , Laffont (France), 633 pp., ISBN 2221012925 (in French Le seigneur des ténèbres)
- 1989 : Herr der Finsternis (pb) , Lübbe (Germany), 603 pp., ISBN 3404281756 (in German )
- 1993 : Herr der Finsternis (pb) , Lübbe (Germany), 953 pp., ISBN 3404134761 (in German)
- 1995 : Herr der Finsternis (pb) , Lübbe (Germany), 698 pp., ISBN 3404252454 (in German )
- 1996 : Le Seigneur des ténèbres, tome 1: Le Navigateur (hc) , Denoël (France), ISBN 2207244563 (in French Le seigneur des ténèbres)
- 1996 : Le Seigneur des ténèbres, tome 2: Le Guerrier (hc) , Denoël (France), 439 pp., ISBN 2207244571
In the late 16th century, young British seaman-adventurer Andrew Battell is abducted by Portuguese pirates while seeking treasure off the coast of Brazil. Shipped in chains to the steamy slave-trading colony of Angola, he is seduced and betrayed by a passionate woman, tortured in Angola's foulest dungeons, then finally condemned to death. Escaping to the African interior, Battell begins the most frightening adventure of his life--a nightmare journey into a strange and exotic world, where, to survive, he rises to become trusted blood brother to the barbaric and mysterious warrior-king call the Lord of Darkness.
Not science fiction, but still really cool. An English sailor gets shipwrecked in Africa in the late 16th century. Kind of an African Shogun. The title character of this book also shows up in To the Land of the Living. And the novel serves to prove once again that Silverberg can make even a cannibal king into a character you understand, even if you don't like him.