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Rating: 
Summary: An End to Wandering - A Path to Vengeance
Review: The Horseclan series contains nearly 20 books which were published between 1970 and the late 80's. The setting is post World War III America - a common theme for sci fi from that time period. No apes ruling the planet or roving punk rock bikers though...This series is more like an epic, with numerous plot threads (some of which are related and some that are not), alot of 'history' and more charachters than you can count. This book is the seventh in the series and not a good jump on point for new readers. You really need some understanding of the Horseclan world to follow what's going on here. This particular story has about 5 plots which all eventually come together (which doesn't always happen in this series) and are resolved. There's plenty of action - it get's graphic at times, so it's not for the feint of heart. The charachters are very interesting, but sometimes Mr. Anderson goes into too much detail on the backrounds of the minor ones, making for a little bit of tedious reading . Overall its a fun read and fits in well with the other HC novels. The plot moves towards a somewhat predictable conclusion, but there are enough twists to keep the reader guessing. If you enjoy this series its definately worth picking up as an addition to your Horseclans collection.
Rating: 
Summary: You gotta love 70's Sci-Fi
Review: The Horseclan series contains nearly 20 books which were published between 1970 and the late 80's. The setting is post World War III America - a common theme for sci fi from that time period. No apes ruling the planet or roving punk rock bikers though... This series is more like an epic, with numerous plot threads (some of which are related and some that are not), alot of 'history' and more charachters than you can count. This book is the seventh in the series and not a good jump on point for new readers. You really need some understanding of the Horseclan world to follow what's going on here. This particular story has about 5 plots which all eventually come together (which doesn't always happen in this series) and are resolved. There's plenty of action - it get's graphic at times, so it's not for the feint of heart. The charachters are very interesting, but sometimes Mr. Anderson goes into too much detail on the backrounds of the minor ones, making for a little bit of tedious reading . Overall its a fun read and fits in well with the other HC novels. The plot moves towards a somewhat predictable conclusion, but there are enough twists to keep the reader guessing. If you enjoy this series its definately worth picking up as an addition to your Horseclans collection.
Rating:
Summary: An End to Wandering - A Path to Vengeance
Review: The Horseclans novels are like olives -- you either acquire a taste for them or you don't. They're not great literature, which is why I gave this book a score of only 3, but if you get caught up in the saga, it won't matter. You'll want more, and there are a lot of them! The story is set in precataclysmic North America, approximately 600 years after nuclear war, man-induced plagues, and worldwide seismic disturbances have thrown humanity into a brutal pre-industrial age. Much of California and the East Coast have sunk into the sea. What remains of the eastern states, from Canada to Georgia, has been settled by waves of dark-skinned and dark-haired adventurers from Europe (Spaniards, Greeks, Armenians, etc.) called the Ehleenee. While these early invaders were rugged fighters in the mold of Athenians and Spartans, the current crop are little more than decadent dictators ruling over downtrodden peasant farmers. The first book in the series (see The Coming of the Horseclans) details the odyssey of the War Chief of the horseclans, Milo of Morai, a mutant immortal from the 20th century, as he leads the nomadic horseclans on a great migration from the high plains of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. After 200 years of searching for other immortals, Milo has returned to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead the nomads to their destined homeland by the sea. Since, unbeknownst to the clanspeople, earthquakes long ago sent their original home, Ehlai (Los Angeles), to the bottom of the ocean, Milo convinces them to travel east rather than west. In their way stands the armed might of the Ehleenee and the treacherous Witchmen -- pre-Holocaust scientists who have survived the centuries by repeatedly stealing new bodies to house their minds and who have their own designs for ruling existing civilization. In the first six Horseclans volumes, the narrative moves forward in time. However, this seventh book of the series (and the next few which follow) all take place before the great migration. The call has gone out and the clans are gathering to hear Milo's words of prophecy which promise and end to their wandering. Yet before they can abandon their hunting grounds, they have one last debt to settle. They must rescue a young girl and her two brothers, who were kidnapped and sold into slavery, and teach their enemies the price of harming people of the clans. But the path to vengeance leads them straight into a sword-swinging battle with two powerful armies. These books are primarily military science fiction and not for the faint of heart. There are lots of vivid descriptions of battles, torture and ghastly wounds. The prose is spare and very action-oriented. While not a fan of military fiction in general, I was sucked in by the animal component of the series. The clanspeople have the ability to communicate telepathically with their specially bred war horses and with a genetically engineered wild feline, the "prairie cat," which ressembles a blend of puma and sabertooth. I'm also obssessed with translating the terminology of the time -- it becomes a kind of game -- figuring out what words like Ehlai (LA), Pitzburk (Pittsburg), Karaleenos (Carolinas), Neekohl (Nicole), Kuk (Cook), Hwallis (Wallace) all mean. If you like Larry Niven's Man-Kzinn Wars series, you might enjoy the horseclans saga.
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