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I read a book in the 80s about a young sorcerer that learns how to bind demons to rings. I'd love to re-read it and would appreciate some help identifying the book.

My recollection of the book: The story begins with "man" seducing and impregnating a witch/sorceress. She gives birth to a son. The young man eventually serves an apprenticeship under his mother's enemy, a sorcerer that knows how to bind demons to rings. A woman serving the master sorcerer secretly teaches the fledgling sorcerer the art of demon-ring creation and eventually reveals to the young sorcerer-in-training that "she" took on a male body and fathered him with the master sorcerer's seed. She introduces him to a variety of demons and some allow the young sorcerer to bind them to rings. Father and son eventually fight with bound demons and the son emerges victorious. The demon "father" retakes his original body and reunites with the witch/sorceress.

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    The story sounds like... Tanith Lee? But she is very prolific, and I've read little of her work. It just seems like her type of plot.
    – ImaginaryEvents
    Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 3:45

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Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein

As Cray Ormoru, son of the enchantress Delivev, grows to be a man in magical Castle Spinweb, he yearns to find his father, who disappeared years before on a heroic mission. And so Cray sets out on the journey which would take him from town to castle to a fortress of bronze, totally unprepared for the sorrows and dangers that lie ahead. For the fate of Cray's father would only be discovered by the light of demon fire..

The book is the first in the Elementals series, followed by Crystal Palace, and The City in Stone.

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    The third book is The City In Stone, but seems to be unavailable. "The age of the Great Sorcerers past long ago. Now, they exist only as beings of myth and legend. Only the older elementals remember what the world was like when power and magic flowed freely. Three young apprentices use magic and elemental lore to discover where these mighty sorcerers lived. As they begin to excavate, strange things start to happen. Can Cray Ormuru stop them before the City in Stone reveals its dark secrets?"
    – sueelleker
    Commented Jun 28, 2014 at 6:24

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