The End-Of-Everything Man: Chronicles of the King's Tramp, Bk. 2

by Tom De Haven

Overview

The imaginative fantasy adventure begun in Walker of Worlds continues.
 
The Order of Things has been fulfilled. Jack, the King's Tramp, has returned to his native world of Lostwithal. With his witnesses from Kemolo—our Earth—he has warned the King about the coming Epicene. Actions can now be taken to stop chaos from overwhelming the universes. 

But can they? The Mage of Four has spirited the Epicene off to some distant place in Lostwithal. Neither can be found. If the Mage cannot be stopped, the Epicene will fulfill the awful purpose for which it was born. 

Plots and problems grow still more complex. Returning from a restive Ramble, Jack discovers Peter Musik, Money Campbell, and his other friends gone—each seeking the answer to his personal quest. Jack must walk once more. Perhaps his skill at causing fortuitous “accidents” will somehow pull everything together. 

“This is a major fantasy story: miss it at your peril”—Locus

“If what you really want is intelligent, lively contemporary fantasy, with a 120-proof story and quirky characters, Walker of Worlds is a beakerful... This guy’s visions are worth putting into your head.”—Orson Scott Card

“A tour de force.”—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385264310
Publisher:	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/01/1991
Series:	Chronicles of the King's Tramp , #2
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tom De Haven is the author of eight novels, including the Derby Dugan trilogy and the nonfiction book Our Hero: Superman on Earth. A frequent contributor to The New York Times, he lives in Virginia and teaches creative writing at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Editorial Reviews

This second installment in De Haven's trilogy sustains the excitement begun in Walker of Worlds . The Epicene, an apocalyptic mud monster, threatens to mature and tear its way into the fourth ``moment,'' or universe, thus releasing the deadly Last Humans. The survival of the three known moments hangs in the balance. A small group from Kemolo (the moment in which PW readers reside) travels throughout Lostwithal (a moment in which people eat the insides of beetles as narcotics). Peter Musik, journalist from Kemolo, searches for his new love, Money Campbell--she's been captured by the art-prince, who hideously transforms her as he paints. Jere Lee, a homeless woman, courts Master Squintik, Cold Mage and possible savior of the universe. While herky-jerky jumps and cliffhanger chapter endings are at times irritating, the complex plot never bogs down. Masterful comic relief and pacing, as well as strangely appealing characters, such as an albino midget in an Hawaiian shirt who occupies a game room in his ``landlord's'' subconscious, lift the tale above the usual. New readers should plunge right in--an assortment of plot devices entertainingly recap the first book. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A bag lady, a journalist, a college student-turned-call girl, and an ex-chauffeur follow the call of Jack the Walker into another world where an evil wizard and a child of mud threaten the existence of all the worlds unless the right people find a way to stop them. Continuing the story begun in Walker of Worlds ( LJ 5/15/90), De Haven's latest foray into fantasy displays the same highly charged prose and genuine compassion for life's losers. Although not for fantasy purists, this exuberant modern fairy tale belongs in most libraries.

Library Journal