Tale of the Comet is a 1997 Science Fantasy novel by Roland Green, based on the second edition Dungeons & Dragons module of the same name.
In deep space, the Rael starship Faworta is under heavy attack by the forces of the Overseer, a collective of robotic warriors and cyborgs bent on galactic conquest. The ex-marine captain Jazra manages to escape; however, the ship bursts into eye-searing flame as the fuel begins to burn from contact with the dimensional portal the Overseer was using to ferry troops into the ship.
The burning ship is visible on a planet known simply as "the World"; where it is mistaken for a comet by much of the local population, and it has driven the local Prophet, Aston Tanak insane. People come from miles to listen to the prophets sermons; during one of them, the Faworta makes landfall...
Tropes:
- Adventure-Friendly World: Enough so that "Adventurer" is a career choice.
- BFG: One Rael soldier uses a gun called a "Magnum Cannon."
- Came from the Sky: The Fawarta.
- Cyborg: The Doomed, biologicals taken over by the Overseer.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Aston Tanak blunders off a cliff during one of his insane wanderings.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Jazra is concerned that the starship crash will destroy the planet. It doesn't but the surviving evil robots and cyborgs on board almost do.
- Escape Pod
- Fantasy Aliens: Aside from the aliens the setting is a pretty standard fantasy world.
- Functional Magic: Anyone can learn it. One Rael survivor learns a spell by watching a local wizard do it; he cheats with a stick and a technical manual in place of a staff and spell-book. It takes him a couple of tries though... Seems to be Theurgy, since certain spells require one to invoke deities; and wizards have a taboo about doing so unless casting.
- Hive Mind: The Overseer.
- Inhumanable Alien Rights: Defied. Jazira considers being ousted as an alien secondary to letting bandits kill a family of natives.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same
- Portal Network: The Overseer doesn't need ships for transport with its Extra-Dimensional Shortcut, but all those big guns are nice to have.
- Robot War: The Overseer has some shades of SkyNet and the Borg.
- Science Fantasy: Bog-standard fantasy setting + Alien Invasion = Sci-Fantasy.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The Rael accidentally let the Overseer escape confinement; they decided they had to be the one to put it back in.
- Standard Fantasy Setting: Until an alien spaceship crash-lands on it...
