Classic book review: "The Gandalara Cycle" by Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron
"The Gandalara Cycle" which was published in the names of Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron between 1981 and 1986,is an imaginative work of science fiction which is essentially one long novel in seven volumes. The seven books in the cycle are:
1) The Steel of Raithscar
2) The Glass of Dyskornis
3) The Bronze of Eddarta
4) The Well of Darkness
5) The Search for Kä
6) Return to Eddarta
7) The River Wall
In an authors' note at the conclusion of the final book, Vicki Ann Heydron explained the story of it's composition. The authors were husband and wife, and began planning the book as a joint project shortly after their marriage in 1975. An outline for the entire series and a draft of the first book, "The Steel of Raithscar" had nearly been completed when, in 1979, Randall Garrett contracted a viral infection which led to severe amnesia and made him unable to work
Working from their joint outline, Vicki Heydron completed the work. She dedicated the last book to Garrett with the words,
"To Randall -
I hope I have done well.
- Vicki.
At the start of the first book, "The Steel of Raithskar," the narrator and central character, Professor Ricardo Carillo, recovers consciousness in a very hot place, and his first thought is "the Fireball killed me" and that he has died and gone to hell. An elderly American professor of languages, he had been in poor health and had taken a sabbatical to visit Europe while he still could. He had been a passenger on a cruise liner in the Mediterranean, when the ship had been hit by a meteorite.
But Ricardo is not in hell, or heaven, he has awakened lying on the sands of a very hot desert in a realm called Gandalara, and in the body of a much younger and healthy man, who he soon discovers was called Markasset.
Or perhaps Ricardo is indeed dead but his memories have somehow been transferred into Markasset. He has Markasset's memories of he local language, but initially little else.
Markasset is of a species similar to, but not quite identical to, modern homo sapiens; and he is the rider of a great cat called Keeshah, of a species, known locally as sha'um, who sometimes form a telepathic bond with a person similar to that between dragons and their riders in Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" novels. Markasset, and now Ricardo, has such a bond with Keeshah.
Ricardo soon discovers that Markasset had been on the run, suspected of murder and the theft of a sacred jewel, the Ra'ira He sets out to clear his new name ...
In the second book of the Gandalara Cycle, "The Glass of Dyskornis," Ricardo, who now goes by the name Ricardon, has been cleared of murder, but faces threats to his life and those of Marksset's family and loved ones from a powerful moneylender. He leaves the city of Raithscar in pursuit of the actual murderer who has stolen the Ra'ira. But treachery and ambush lie in wait ...
At the start of the fourth book, "The Well of Darkness (The Gandalara Cycle Book 4)," Ricardon and Tarani are fleeing Eddarta through the Gandalaran desert after their plan to recover the Ra'ira led to dramatic events. Lonna, a bird which whom Tarani has a telepathic link similar to that between Ricardon and Keeshah, informs them that they are being pursued.
Escaping the vengeful pursuit from Eddarta is the least as their problems as Keesha has to leave them to visit his fellow Shaum and they probe the mystery of an area in the desert known as the Well of Darkness.
In the fifth volume, "The Search for Kä (The Gandalara Cycle Book 5)," Ricardon mu commune with the "All mind" which holds the memories of all Gandalarans, to learn about a second holy relic "The sword of the Kings."
And then Ricardon and Tarani must search for the lost, ancient city of Kä, where they hope to find that sword - and proof that Tarani is the rightful ruler of Eddarta.
In the penultimate book in the cycle, "Return to Eddarta (The Gandalara Cycle Book 6)," Ricardon and Tarani must travel back across the desert world of Gandalara, through Raithscar to Eddarta, where the throne has been usurped by Tarani's brother Indomel, and she will need all her strength to prove that it is rightfully hers.
In the stunning conclusion to the cycle, "The River Wall (The Gandalara Cycle Book 7)," Ricardon and Tarani re investigating an earthquake, when they make a discovery in the Valley of the Mists. This enables Ricardon to finally work out exactly what and where Gandalara is - and to realise that everyone in Gandalara is doomed unless dramatic steps are taken.
But defeating their enemies so that those measures can be taken will not be a straightforward task ...
This is a very clever and interesting series. There is some real science behind it, which I cannot discuss in this review without completely spoiling the story.
The writing is excellent, fast-paced and accessible.
Paperback copies of these books were hard to find even when I collected my copies in the 80s and 90s, although it is not impossible to acquire them even today. However, the whole series is available as ebooks, including for the Amazon Kindle, and I've put a link to the Amazon page for each book in the first sentence of the descriptions for the individual books above.
I strongly recommend this series of seven books.
Professor X
Comments