Rating: 
Summary: Blaster-toting blond has brains, kicks ass!
Review: On the surface, The Price of the Stars kicks off a traditional space opera series. Lots and lots of spaceships and blasters, and it's damn good fun too. But I reread Doyle and MacDonald's work not for the superb action -- everything from a crashing spaceship to a midnight corridor gunfight -- but for the memorable characters, utterly believeable, who find themselves caught up in it. In particular, Beka, one of the three sibling protagonists of the series, is the most convincing tough heroine I've ever encountered. We readers don't just learn the characters' names -- we get acquainted with them, until we can easily imagine that undercover assasination and poisoned beer are as big an event in their lives as they would be in our own. This book has real people in it, and real story too. The novel is an extra large plateful of what I read science fiction for.
Rating: 
Summary: A good, solid start to a fun series
Review: Price of the Stars is a solid start to the Mageworld series; I like the characters and the basic idea. This is space opera, and though it isn't quite up to the Liaden Universe series by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee I think it is a lot more fun than the grim and hyper gory Harrington books by David Webber (which is just Hornblower in disguise!).If there's a quibble I have with The Price of the Stars it is the idea that the protagonist could sneak around playing a member of the opposite sex for so long.I also thought the unprounceable name of the disguised character was rather silly, even if it is an anagram for "keen trap". This book and the mageworld series are for fun reading and aren't hard science fiction; if you like the Liaden books you'll probably like these. I have the whole series of these but the Harrington books I gave away. L70
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Journey To Another Universe!!!
Review: Space pilot Beka Rosselin-Metadi is drawn into galactic intrigue after her mother, a political leader, is assassinated. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the assassins target Beka and her two brothers, none of whom have any particular political aspirations. That results in the assassins exposing themselves and inviting retaliation. This novel is described on the cover as "Mageworlds Book One." The story left me with the impression that I had missed a previous novel. The authors keep referring back to some supposed previous actions. Many of the novel's characters seem to be only partially developed. Overall, it is an average adventure novel. The heroine and her allies skip from planet to planet seeking the villains, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind. It is somewhat a Perils of Pauline type story as Beka escapes from a series of confrontations with her enemies.
Rating: 
Summary: A somewhat meandering plot
Review: Space pilot Beka Rosselin-Metadi is drawn into galactic intrigue after her mother, a political leader, is assassinated. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the assassins target Beka and her two brothers, none of whom have any particular political aspirations. That results in the assassins exposing themselves and inviting retaliation. This novel is described on the cover as "Mageworlds Book One." The story left me with the impression that I had missed a previous novel. The authors keep referring back to some supposed previous actions. Many of the novel's characters seem to be only partially developed. Overall, it is an average adventure novel. The heroine and her allies skip from planet to planet seeking the villains, leaving a trail of dead bodies behind. It is somewhat a Perils of Pauline type story as Beka escapes from a series of confrontations with her enemies.
Rating: 
Summary: Junk Food
Review: Thanks again to Amazon.com and its reviewers I found another series that is to my liking. I have seen this series before in the past years but for whatever reason, never tried one - until now! WOW, what a fun and exciting start to a sci-fi series that blends everything I look for in a good book - a blend of fantasy, sci-fi, with lots of action and adventure.
This nice blend has created a fun read with quite a few interesting, and growing characters that I look forward to reading more about in the near future.
I won't bother with telling about the storyline since I seem to be the one behind on reading this series!
If you like your sci-fi mixed with fantasy with lots of action and adventure - this one is for you!
Rating:
Summary: PRICE OF STARS IS WORTH THE PRICE!
Review: Thanks again to Amazon.com and its reviewers I found another series that is to my liking. I have seen this series before in the past years but for whatever reason, never tried one - until now! WOW, what a fun and exciting start to a sci-fi series that blends everything I look for in a good book - a blend of fantasy, sci-fi, with lots of action and adventure.
This nice blend has created a fun read with quite a few interesting, and growing characters that I look forward to reading more about in the near future.
I won't bother with telling about the storyline since I seem to be the one behind on reading this series!
If you like your sci-fi mixed with fantasy with lots of action and adventure - this one is for you!
Rating:
Summary: Like Honor Harrington? This is Better!
Review: The first time I read this fabulous book, I read it straight through for the incredibly well realized adventure. Now, after having bought and gobbled up THE LONG HUNT, latest in the series, I had to go back and reread the entire series again. This time it's even better--not only the realistic detail about space ships, the military, and what it feels like to be in a blaster battle, but the humor, and best of all, the subtle hints about twists and turns to come. The publishers are wise to keep this one in print. It's going to be a classic
Rating:
Summary: The Swashbuckling Domina
Review: The Price of the Stars is the first novel written in the original Mageworlds trilogy. At this time, however, it is the fourth of the series in internal chronological sequence, following The Gathering Flame. In the previous book, Perada Rosselin and Jos Metada headed the resistance movement in the First Mage War and the subsequent establishment of the Republic. Although the Republic won the war, the cost was extremely high; in addition to the military losses, Entibor was rendered uninhabitable by tectonic upheavals, Sapne lost most of its population to plague, and Ilarna was decimated and its Adepts wiped out by invading forces. The Mageworlds also lost heavily, with the Republic destroying its naval forces, exterminating its Mages and dismantling its interstellar mercantile capabilities. Moreover, Arekhon Khreseio sus-Khalgath sus-Peledaen, in his role as Ser Hafrey, was discharged as Armsmaster of the Rosselin family, with Tillijen appointed as his replacement. Three decades later, Perada is a member of the Grand Council of the Republic and her consort, Jos Metada, is Commanding General of the Republic's Space Force. Ari Rosselin-Metada is a Lieutenant in the RSF Medical Corps at Namport on Nammerin, Owen Rosselin-Metada is an apprentice in the Adept Guild, and Beka Rosselin-Metada is copilot on the armed freighter Claw Hard. With the help of her brother Owen, Beka had ran away from home to become a commercial star pilot. She is determined that she will never be the Domina of Lost Entibor, but an assassination plot against her mother contravenes her ambitions. At Waycross on Innish-Kyl, she accepts ownership of the Warhammer from her father in order to track down the instigator of the plot. At Embrig Spaceport on Mandeyn, she is saved from an assassination attempt by the Professor, the current persona of Arekhon, who is still protecting the Rosselin family despite his formal dismissal as Armsmaster. Ari and his friend Nyls Jessan, a fellow medic from Khesat, bring in a farmer who has Rogan's disease, normally a dry world ailment and rather unexpected on the very wet Nammerin. As usual, supply is snafued and cannot provide the required medication, tholovine, in a reasonable time, so Ari and Llannat Hyfid, an Adept and medic, set out to get some through the local Quincunx -- i.e., criminal syndicate -- representative. Unfortunately, this simple task eventually results in a fire, an armed chase, and a deadly duel with a Mage. Owen has been working for Errec Ransome as a special operative, investigating Mage operations within the Republic, for the last 10 years. His tasks lead him to Pleyver Flatlands, where he crosses paths with Beka and the Professor. They part company and then Beka and the Professor meet Nyls Jessan while being followed and shot at by an estimated 200 armed thugs. The shootouts continue from there on. This novel initiated the Mageworlds series. It started as a short story that insisted on becoming longer. Now it incorporates 7 novels and still has room for more. Recommended for anyone who enjoys interstellar action and intrigue on a large scale.
Rating:
Summary: The Swashbuckling Domina
Review: The Price of the Stars is the first novel written in the original Mageworlds trilogy. At this time, however, it is the fourth of the series in internal chronological sequence, following The Gathering Flame. In the previous book, Perada Rosselin and Jos Metada headed the resistance movement in the First Mage War and the subsequent establishment of the Republic. Although the Republic won the war, the cost was extremely high; in addition to the military losses, Entibor was rendered uninhabitable by tectonic upheavals, Sapne lost most of its population to plague, and Ilarna was decimated and its Adepts wiped out by invading forces. The Mageworlds also lost heavily, with the Republic destroying its naval forces, exterminating its Mages and dismantling its interstellar mercantile capabilities. Moreover, Arekhon Khreseio sus-Khalgath sus-Peledaen, in his role as Ser Hafrey, was discharged as Armsmaster of the Rosselin family, with Tillijen appointed as his replacement. Three decades later, Perada is a member of the Grand Council of the Republic and her consort, Jos Metada, is Commanding General of the Republic's Space Force. Ari Rosselin-Metada is a Lieutenant in the RSF Medical Corps at Namport on Nammerin, Owen Rosselin-Metada is an apprentice in the Adept Guild, and Beka Rosselin-Metada is copilot on the armed freighter Claw Hard. With the help of her brother Owen, Beka had ran away from home to become a commercial star pilot. She is determined that she will never be the Domina of Lost Entibor, but an assassination plot against her mother contravenes her ambitions. At Waycross on Innish-Kyl, she accepts ownership of the Warhammer from her father in order to track down the instigator of the plot. At Embrig Spaceport on Mandeyn, she is saved from an assassination attempt by the Professor, the current persona of Arekhon, who is still protecting the Rosselin family despite his formal dismissal as Armsmaster. Ari and his friend Nyls Jessan, a fellow medic from Khesat, bring in a farmer who has Rogan's disease, normally a dry world ailment and rather unexpected on the very wet Nammerin. As usual, supply is snafued and cannot provide the required medication, tholovine, in a reasonable time, so Ari and Llannat Hyfid, an Adept and medic, set out to get some through the local Quincunx -- i.e., criminal syndicate -- representative. Unfortunately, this simple task eventually results in a fire, an armed chase, and a deadly duel with a Mage. Owen has been working for Errec Ransome as a special operative, investigating Mage operations within the Republic, for the last 10 years. His tasks lead him to Pleyver Flatlands, where he crosses paths with Beka and the Professor. They part company and then Beka and the Professor meet Nyls Jessan while being followed and shot at by an estimated 200 armed thugs. The shootouts continue from there on. This novel initiated the Mageworlds series. It started as a short story that insisted on becoming longer. Now it incorporates 7 novels and still has room for more. Recommended for anyone who enjoys interstellar action and intrigue on a large scale.
Rating:
Summary: Ships and guns and badguys, oh my!
Review: There is a scene in this book where the protagonist steps into the middle of a corridor under fire, raises her blaster, and calmly picks off the enemy one shot at a time. It may well be my favorite scene in any space opera, written or filmed. I pick up this book on occasion just to reread that scene. The thing is, the whole book is like that. "Price of the Stars" is a throat-grabber from word one, a book I could not put down. If you're looking for Grand Canvas adventure in the classic swashbuckling style, you can't do better than this book. My one complaint, and it's minor, is that the romance gets short-shrift and seems abrupt when it's brought full circle. I felt that way about the romance in all of the Mageworlds books, but since that's not what I'm reading them for, I'm not too bothered. Certainly it hasn't stopped me buying all the Mageworlds books and devouring them!
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