A Flame in Hali

Rating:
Summary: Welcome addition to strong series
Review: King Carolin Hastur is revolutionizing Darkover through his compact--the agreement that every weapon be banned if it does not put its user at equal risk. The magical weapons that have dominated Darkover for generations, since the times of chaos at least, would be banned and magic would become limited to healing, to communications. Together with his friend and ally, Varzil Ridenow, he has spread the message and gotten agreement, but much of Darkover sees only what they lose by signing the compact.

A generation before, the Hastur king had destroyed the Deslucido family leaving only one man--and his sons alive. Now, Eduin Deslucido, who has already done so much to destroy Carolin's dreams, has an ally--a man trained in magic but now blessed or burdened with a goddess. Using this tool, Eduin hopes to destroy Varzil and then the last of the Hasturs, finally freeing himself of the curse that his father laid upon him.

Author Deborah J. Ross continues the Darkover world of Marion Zimmer Bradley in a story that feels very true to the original. In this tale of powerful magic, ancient hatreds, strong egos, and great emotion, Bradley and Ross trace out Eduin's evolving plan as well as the life-journey of the one woman Eduin has ever loved--Dyannis Ridenow, sister of Varzil.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series is a powerful set of tales (I found THE FORBIDDEN TOWER to be among the best fantasy books ever). Although A FLAME IN HALI isn't up there with the very best of Darkover, it's a welcome addition to the hundred kingdom era of that troubled planet's history.

Rating:
Summary: strong fantasy
Review: The World of Darkover enhances psychic (laran) powers and wars are fought over long distances using special laran weapons created for that purpose. At the end of the age of the Hundred Kingdoms, King Carolin Hastur and keeper Varzil Ridenow pressure the various realms to sign the Compact that would ban long distance weapons of mass destruction.

King Carolin doesn't know it but he has a very powerful enemy who wants him dead as his former friend Edwin Deslucido is under a compulsion spell laid upon him by his father to kill the entire Hastur Clan. The spell controls Edwin forcing him to turn one kingdom against another in the hopes that Varzil will die so he can finally destroy Hastur. The keep under attack houses Varzil's sister, a woman who Edwin once loved and realizes he still loves. Is his love stronger than his father's hate spell because Edwin feels compelled to save her yet is also obsessed with his sire's mission.

Mindful of Hamlet, Edwin is one of the most tragic figures ever to grace the pages of a fantasy novel. He is not an evil man but a person driven to the point of madness because of a spell put upon him by his malevolent father. A FLAME IN HALI takes the reader into the mind of Edwin, a man who can't control his actions yet in the end, good can come out of the tragedy if the Compact Carolin and Varzil forge is signed by the kingdoms to prevent what happened in Hali from ever happening again. Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross have written a brilliant finale to an exciting mini-series

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Compulsion and Free Will
Review: Truly conflicted characters are somewhat rare in the world of science fiction and fantasy. Eduin Deslucido is such a character, the centerpiece of this trilogy. Saddled with an impossible compulsion by his father to revenge his family by killing all the Hasturs, Eduin, whose basic nature is actually that of a responsible, caring, and loving man, finds himself allied with a wild laran talent in the body of Saravio, both for the surcease from the agony his compulsion causes and as a tool to further his plans for eliminating Carolin Hastur and Varzil Ridenow, whom Eduin sees as the man responsible for keeping Carolin in power.

Eduin concocts a couple of schemes to bring Varzil into an undefended position, but when it comes to actually accomplishing his goal, Eduin is shown to be a man of extreme determination and, somewhat as a surprise even to himself, a man of ideals that are diametrically opposed to the mindless revenge desired by his father. His one and only former love, Dyannis, Varzil's sister, in training as a Keeper (at a time when female Keepers were thought impossible - a nice irony to modern Darkover when the exact reverse is thought to be true), becomes an intriguing character in her own right as she struggles to discipline her own talents and, after seeing the consequences of unrestricted laran warfare, a strong supporter of Varzil's Compact to ban the use of such weapons.

The characterization of Eduin and Dyannis is excellent and is the major driver of this book. These characters have more depth than is typical for most fantasy, and their inner turmoil is believable and leads directly to much of the action. However, the plot is, compared to other Darkover books, perhaps a little weak and certain elements of the end situation feel like they were pulled out of the hat, not fully melded with the rest of the story. Although this detracts from the overall power of the book, this failing is not major.

Thematically, this book continues those themes that have shown up in many of the Darkover stories: the right to self-determination, especially for women; personal integrity; the madness of war; sacrifice of the individual to further a larger goal for all. The final scene of this book does much to make the reader understand just how the Compact came to be accepted and adhered to throughout the centuries between this book's time and modern Darkover, and closes the Clingfire trilogy nicely. The nations of today could do far worse than subscribe to a similar Compact; perhaps if they did everyone could have a sounder sleep.

---Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)