Lord of Darkness

by Robert Silverberg


Publication history


(From Bantam 1984)

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, though you may not like him.

Other resources

(None on file)