Darkworld Detective

Rating:
Summary: Offworld Private Eye, With a Twist
Review: Darkworld Detective is a fantasy detective novel. Kamus of Kadizar is the one and only private eye on Ja-Lur, the Darkworld, where science and sorcery uneasily co-exist. A half-breed Darkworlder, he has visited Earth through a limited cultural exchange program, where he discovered the vocation of private investigator and determined to bring these functions back to the Darkworld.

The Darkworld is a planet that is partially overlapped by the Darkness, an adjacent universe where magic can be effected by rituals. Those having the Blood of the Darklands can manipulate such magic by word and potions. The Darklord has the strongest magic, but his son Jann-Togah is also very powerful. Kamus has some magical abilities, but they are relatively weak.

Darkworld has one spaceport near the city of Mariyad. The Terrans would like to build more, but the Darklord is content with the single existing spaceport. The Terrans keep encountering bad luck -- quakes, plagues, spontaneous human combustion, etc. -- whenever they try to construct another. The Darklord also enforces his Mandate that Terran science/technology is not allowed to function outside the limits of the port nor are manifestations of Darkness allowed within the port itself.

A thousand years prior to this novel, the Darklord attempted to conquer all of Darkworld, but was foiled, primarily by Mondrogan the Clever, a Terran/Darklander half-breed. Thereafter, the Darklord has been restricted to Ja-Agur, but his influence is felt everywhere on Ja-Lur.

This novel is actually an accounting of four different, yet related, cases during a time of magical disruption prior to Shadownight. All indications are that the Darklord will once again attempt to conquer the whole planet. Forces are gathering and the powers to be, both local and interplanetary, are growing nervous.

In The Big Spell, Kamus acquires a client, a Darklander slave, who immediately tests his abilities by summoning a Darkling, a denizen of the Darkness. After Kamus defeats the creature, his client Valina asks him to find Kaan Ta'wyys of Thanare, an offworlder who had recently come to Ja-Lur with another Unity agent, Daniel Talon of Earth. These agents were searching for Edward Knight, another Terran but of the Blood. Knight had been onworld for seven years and had grown powerful in Darkness magic.

Kamus reluctantly agrees to do some work for Valina. As he is checking his sources, Kamus learns that some barbarian is looking for him and eventually discovers that the barbarian is working with Daniel Talon and they want Kamus to find Valina. Then things get really confusing.

In The Maltese Vulcan, Kamus is hired to protect a local deity from another solar system who has been threatened with assassination. He is also reluctant to take this case, but his client is poisoned while talking to him and then he meets a nice girl connected with the case and then her suitor is murdered, so what else can he do but catch the assassin and solve the murder.

In Murder on the Galactic Express, Kamus is hired to guide an android and an Osteomech, a former human converted to a skeletal being made of bone, brainbox and fields, to a wrecked spaceship in the mountains. According to the android, he has rescued the Osteomech from a death-worshipping cult known as the Order of the Osteomechs, who are now hunting for them with murderous intent. Kamus is reluctant to take the case, for he has other things to do, but the android, Orpheus, offers to show him where the Black Mask, a powerful magical token, is hidden near the wreck. On their way through the mountains, Kamus encounters Valina fleeing from a vigilante mob.

In The Man with the Golden Raygun, Kamus is trying to reach the Darklord to prevent his conquest of the planet and is offered a ride by an offworlder in an aircar. Since Kamus is short of time, he accepts and flies off with Valina and Polaris Lone, the offworlder. They make good time until the Darklord's Mandate, which had been ineffective for a while, suddenly flares up again and the aircar technology ceases to function. Suddenly they have to use the aircar as a boat.

This novel is written in a style somewhat like the American detective story tradition, but Kamus is definitely not one of the violent killer types. He uses his sword to protect himself from assaults and his magical abilities to disable his attackers, but never intentionally harms nor threatens anyone. He gathers information and solves puzzles, usually in full view (but some clues are only suggested during the action). While these mysteries could possibly be solved by an alert reader, the endings always lead off into unexpected directions.

Highly recommended for Reaves fans and for anyone else who enjoys magical detective stories with unexpected endings.

Rating:
Summary: Offworld Private Eye, With a Twist
Review: Darkworld Detective is a fantasy detective novel. Kamus of Kadizar is the one and only private eye on Ja-Lur, the Darkworld, where science and sorcery uneasily co-exist. A half-breed Darkworlder, he has visited Earth through a limited cultural exchange program, where he discovered the vocation of private investigator and determined to bring these functions back to the Darkworld.

The Darkworld is a planet that is partially overlapped by the Darkness, an adjacent universe where magic can be effected by rituals. Those having the Blood of the Darklands can manipulate such magic by word and potions. The Darklord has the strongest magic, but his son Jann-Togah is also very powerful. Kamus has some magical abilities, but they are relatively weak.

Darkworld has one spaceport near the city of Mariyad. The Terrans would like to build more, but the Darklord is content with the single existing spaceport. The Terrans keep encountering bad luck -- quakes, plagues, spontaneous human combustion, etc. -- whenever they try to construct another. The Darklord also enforces his Mandate that Terran science/technology is not allowed to function outside the limits of the port nor are manifestations of Darkness allowed within the port itself.

A thousand years prior to this novel, the Darklord attempted to conquer all of Darkworld, but was foiled, primarily by Mondrogan the Clever, a Terran/Darklander half-breed. Thereafter, the Darklord has been restricted to Ja-Agur, but his influence is felt everywhere on Ja-Lur.

This novel is actually an accounting of four different, yet related, cases during a time of magical disruption prior to Shadownight. All indications are that the Darklord will once again attempt to conquer the whole planet. Forces are gathering and the powers to be, both local and interplanetary, are growing nervous.

In The Big Spell, Kamus acquires a client, a Darklander slave, who immediately tests his abilities by summoning a Darkling, a denizen of the Darkness. After Kamus defeats the creature, his client Valina asks him to find Kaan Ta'wyys of Thanare, an offworlder who had recently come to Ja-Lur with another Unity agent, Daniel Talon of Earth. These agents were searching for Edward Knight, another Terran but of the Blood. Knight had been onworld for seven years and had grown powerful in Darkness magic.

Kamus reluctantly agrees to do some work for Valina. As he is checking his sources, Kamus learns that some barbarian is looking for him and eventually discovers that the barbarian is working with Daniel Talon and they want Kamus to find Valina. Then things get really confusing.

In The Maltese Vulcan, Kamus is hired to protect a local deity from another solar system who has been threatened with assassination. He is also reluctant to take this case, but his client is poisoned while talking to him and then he meets a nice girl connected with the case and then her suitor is murdered, so what else can he do but catch the assassin and solve the murder.

In Murder on the Galactic Express, Kamus is hired to guide an android and an Osteomech, a former human converted to a skeletal being made of bone, brainbox and fields, to a wrecked spaceship in the mountains. According to the android, he has rescued the Osteomech from a death-worshipping cult known as the Order of the Osteomechs, who are now hunting for them with murderous intent. Kamus is reluctant to take the case, for he has other things to do, but the android, Orpheus, offers to show him where the Black Mask, a powerful magical token, is hidden near the wreck. On their way through the mountains, Kamus encounters Valina fleeing from a vigilante mob.

In The Man with the Golden Raygun, Kamus is trying to reach the Darklord to prevent his conquest of the planet and is offered a ride by an offworlder in an aircar. Since Kamus is short of time, he accepts and flies off with Valina and Polaris Lone, the offworlder. They make good time until the Darklord's Mandate, which had been ineffective for a while, suddenly flares up again and the aircar technology ceases to function. Suddenly they have to use the aircar as a boat.

This novel is written in a style somewhat like the American detective story tradition, but Kamus is definitely not one of the violent killer types. He uses his sword to protect himself from assaults and his magical abilities to disable his attackers, but never intentionally harms nor threatens anyone. He gathers information and solves puzzles, usually in full view (but some clues are only suggested during the action). While these mysteries could possibly be solved by an alert reader, the endings always lead off into unexpected directions.

Highly recommended for Reaves fans and for anyone else who enjoys magical detective stories with unexpected endings.