Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: I picked up this book because it was co-written by a favorite author of mine (even though she isn't given credit on the cover) and was a bit disappointed. I thought the book's style was too much MZB and not enough bes Shahar.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible!
Review: I'm an avid fan of MZB, but this book just didn't make the cut. It's attempts to link book events to real life and other books are just tedious. And it follows a relatively stable character across decades in which he just doesn't change. Pick up a different MZB book -- you'll be happier.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip this one.
Review: I'm an avid fan of MZB, but this book just didn't make the cut. It's attempts to link book events to real life and other books are just tedious. And it follows a relatively stable character across decades in which he just doesn't change. Pick up a different MZB book -- you'll be happier.
Rating: 
Summary: A Fitting End
Review: It's good to have read the other reviews before writing this one, because a couple of them confirmed what I had suspected -- that some references were to books that I haven't read yet. Although much of the action in HEARTLIGHT takes place before GHOSTLIGHT, WITCHLIGHT, and GRAVELIGHT, part takes place after these, so it should be read last. (Alternatively, you could start with HEARTLIGHT and save chapter 24 through the end of until after you've read the other three.) This book didn't seem overlong to me. I started late yesterday morning and continued reading even though I didn't finish until after midnight and I had to fight off the effects of three nights of too-little sleep. I wanted to learn more about the mysterious Colin MacLauren who was alluded to in the other volumes. I liked seeing younger versions of characters I'd met already, even though I felt a bit as I did when I saw "The Phantom Menace" after having seeing the three "Star Wars" movies that were made first although they take place later -- sorry because I knew the sad outcomes for some of those characters. MacLauren's various battles with Evil didn't make me feel that they were too repetitious. I would expect someone in his line of work to have to go through more than one such battle in his lifetime. I think there's enough variation in the details. In a way, it's a shame that this book came out before the shambles that is the final USA Presidential election of the 20th century -- it's fun to speculate how that might have been worked in with the other historical events and overall plot. Random comments: (Chapter one) 1956 was the 6th decade of the 20th century, not the 5th. This is a common mistake that I shared until reading about various decades of life in my library's medical journals forced me to work it out. Your first decade of life is from zero [birth] through age 10. Your second is from ages 11 through 20, and so on. It's the same with each century. By the same reasoning, the first century AD was from zero through 100, the second from 101 through 200, and so on. The 20th century is called that because it began in 1901 and will end on 31 December 2000. That is why this book is correct in stating that the real turn of the millennium is 2,000, not 1999. (Chapter 4) I'm not sure if it's true, but I read somewhere that President Kennedy screwed up his German and actually told the people of Berlin that he was a [jelly?] doughnut. Given Toller's secret, I don't feel at all bad about what Colin does to him. In fact, I thought our hero's guilty feelings were excessive. Simon's dreadful accident didn't seem so horrifying after finding out what he had done earlier. (Chapter 16) If MacLauren's birthday is February 2nd, then he was born on Candlemas, the old celebration of the purification of the Virgin Mary -- any symbolic significance? I thought that "elide" into all the other late-night emergency calls of Colin's life bit was a typo for "slide", but the word is real. (Chapter 18) As I recently learned, the real McCoy is spelled "Wedgwood", not "Wedgewood," so that heirloom plate may not have been so valuable. (Chapter 19) MacLauren's guilt seems even more senseless after reading his self reminders about persons of the Light who turn to the Dark. Chapters 22 and 23 are a real treat for the Lovecraft fan. Also, the description of the old Lattimer house delighted me because it made me think of Jackson's Hill house. I assume that the old TV Show Barnabas Sally named the cat for was Barnabas Collins of "Dark Shadows". The one aspect of MacLauren's beliefs that I found truly offensive was that before we are reborn, each of us choses the suffering we deal with in our current lives. To me that sounds like the ultimate in "blame the victim" mentality. However, I acknowledge that my viewpoint might be different if I were a true believer in reincarnation. HEARTLIGHT is not a book for those seeking easy entertainment, but I think readers looking for something to sink their mental teeth into will find it very rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Heartlight
Review: Marion Zimmer Bradley tells a good story, but is a graceless writer. She (and we) could have benefited greatly from a strong editor.This novel is particularly distracting because it is so filled with avoidable, mundane errors. (What happened to the copy editor?) For instance, the hero is described as age 19 during WWII, "barely old enough to vote". Well, readers, the voting age wasn't lowered to 18 for another 30 years. Joe Kennedy Sr. is described as a senator (he wasn't); and Bradley's knowledge of NYC geography is faulty, to be kind. She has Bellevue on the lower east side, near the Brooklyn Bridge; an address in the East 30's as "just off Sixth Avenue"; and describes 8th Street and Broadway as on the West side. I can only imagine the errors on the subjects that I don't know as well. I urge the publishers to have copy editors, proofers and researchers correct the worst of these mistakes before the next printing.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing . . .
Review: Never have I read a work of fiction that actually made me think of a period of our recent history in a new light. Marion works magic by weaving an already compelling storyline of believable rituals and magick into a convincing explanation for and which ties many of the key moments of turmoil of the twentieth century. Her characters are people anyone can identify with; their lives aren't sickingly happy, nor are they perfect. They have their good times, their sorrows, their hurts, anger, and the guilt of their mistakes. Nor are her antagonists completely bad--there is always room for redemption. I also enjoyed the way Marion weaved Colin's story to cross those of characters from the three previous novels in the series. It gave us a chance to see these characters from a totally new perspective, and in the cases of Thorne Blackburn and Hunter Greyson, we were given a glimpse into their youth and personalities that we were not shown in _Ghostlight_ and _Witchlight_. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever asked the question, "Why?"
Rating:
Summary: This book is majorly confusing!
Review: The book constantly refers to obscure, out of print books. I felt as if there was more to each section than the plot told.
Rating:
Summary: Highly enjoyable!
Review: This story was a pleasantly long, absorbing, and highly entertaining look into the life's work of lightworker Colin McLaren who serves his cause via the occult tools available to him. MZB has a thorough understanding of ceremonial magic and her occult background is well represented in this book.
Colin battles against evil, searches for his mystical heir and struggles against his failing strength as he becomes an old man in service of the light. As a character study, it's wonderful - depicting the orbit and work of one man and the effects that he has on all those whom he meets. Read it as a fictional occult autobiography and it won't disappoint.
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