[Lohengrin]

Hey all, I need some help

A very brief background: I imagine most of you are familiar with the TV show, Heroes - the villain, Sylar, is a superhero who acquires his powers by killing other heroes and stealing their powers. I was telling my wife that I had read a fantasy novel about 15 years ago that had a villain who did something similar - in the story, there were some people who had very minor magical capabilities, like being able to make something glow ... nothing terribly impressive, individually. Anyone who had this ability was always secretive about it because there was a powerful, evil wizard who acquired his power by hunting down these gifted people, killing them, and binding their soul (and their powers) to him ... so individually, none of these gifted people were all that powerful, but the guy who had an aggregate of all of these minor powers was very strong.

Anyways - the main character had one of these minor powers and the book focused on him and this mage who discovered the hero's power and was trying to kill him to obtain it ... I can even picture the cover of the book, but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it!

Does anyone have a clue as to which book I'm talking about? :confused:




Loh

[Werthead]

It sounds a bit like The Runelords by Dave Farland, which is set in a fantasy world where people gain magical attributes from one another. However, the characters in this series become really, really powerful and the weaker characters can usually do more than just make stuff glow. The first book came out 13 years ago (IIRC), which put it in the right timeframe though.

[James Barclay]

Isn't there a similar idea behind Highlander? 'There can be only one' etc.

Just musing

NOM

[Obtuse]

It also sounds a bit like The Legend of Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert, but I don't recall thinking the main character's power (the ability to adjust his mass, or something like that) was minor.

BTW, the premise behind Highlander is similar, except that specific skills aren't gained by killing other immortals, only power in general.

[Lohengrin]

The Legend of Nightfall, that was it! Thanks for the responses, guys - you have no idea how many weeks I have been agonizing, trying to remember the title of this book.


Loh

[nicba]

The Legend of Nightfall, that was it! Thanks for the responses, guys - you have no idea how many weeks I have been agonizing, trying to remember the title of this book.
Loh

There's a follow-up on The Legend of Nightfall, called The Return of Nightfall. And it is, in my opinion, just as good as the first one.

http://www.amazon.com/Return-NightFall-Mickey-Zucker-Reichert/dp/0756402018

[Obtuse]

There's a follow-up on The Legend of Nightfall, called The Return of Nightfall. And it is, in my opinion, just as good as the first one.

http://www.amazon.com/Return-NightFall-Mickey-Zucker-Reichert/dp/0756402018

I didn't know there was a 2nd 'Nightfall' book. I'll have to check that out. Thanks nicba.

[Lohengrin]

Thanks Nicba, I may have to check that out - actually, I will probably have to reread Legend of Nightfall first. Most of what I have read for the past 5 years is historic non-fiction (ancient Romans, Greeks, Carthaginians, etc) and I haven't read a fantasy or sci fi novel since I reread the LotR trilogy right before the first movie was released. For some reason, watching Heroes on NBC (specifically Sylar) triggered that recollection of Nightfall, which triggered a desire to start reading fantasy books again ...


Loh