The River Wall (Gandalara Cycle book 7)

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Cycle 1 but a must read...
Review: ... if only to know how things turned out (I've read Cycle 1 and "Return to Eddarta"). There have been absolutely no clues in the earlier books (at least to someone as ignorant in geography as moi) but although I relegated the connection between our world and Gandalara as only incidental it shows up again in a surprising way in this final book.

Rikardon and Tanari's relationship have become less interesting now that they're on each other's side but the development of their characters doesn't stop and things are always happening from the first book to this seventh.

I hope I can find the whole cycle 2 trilogy to complete my collection.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as Cycle 1 but a must read...
Review: ... if only to know how things turned out (I've read Cycle 1 and "Return to Eddarta"). There have been absolutely no clues in the earlier books (at least to someone as ignorant in geography as moi) but although I relegated the connection between our world and Gandalara as only incidental it shows up again in a surprising way in this final book.

Rikardon and Tanari's relationship have become less interesting now that they're on each other's side but the development of their characters doesn't stop and things are always happening from the first book to this seventh.

I hope I can find the whole cycle 2 trilogy to complete my collection.

Rating:
Summary: A sure-fire Golden Quill winner for Outstanding Storytelling
Review: There are only a few series-stories out there in existence that excells from the very first book to the last, the first chapter to the last, the very first page to the very last. George Lucas's infamous Star Wars series, the entirety of JMS's Babylon 5 series...and the Gandalara Cycle. To find a single one of this seven-book, out-of-print series is a treasure; to find an entire set is incomprehensible, because virtually all I have heard who had read it refuse, outright, to part with their copies. 'The River Wall', the conclusion to the series, not only brings to a climactic close the ongoing storyline and the plot-twist revelation, it delves into the very nature of sentient existence with the ease of a boat being pushed onto the water; Ms. Heydron carries the reader to the conclusion that we are more than just tool-using, verbose descendants of apes. That our nature is not defined by our DNA, or our physical shape, but that it's how we think, and what we do, that defines us as worthwhile beings. We are Human, and we are Gandalaran, too. Ms. Heydron and the late Mr. Garrett have written a series sentient beings can be proud to read.

Rating:
Summary: An exceptional ending to a great series
Review: With the unfortunate and untimely death of Randall Garrett, Vicki Ann Heydron writes an outstanding end to the Gandalara Cycle. Vicki, Randall's wife, creates a wonderful conclusion using their collective notes from their years of work on the series.

All of the questions from the first books are answered with a surprising twist of enlightenment. This book is written exceptionately well and is very entertaining. One could read it as an individual work and still be very well entertained. However, it is suggested the reader purchase the entire set of books that makes up the Gandalara Cycle to fully enjoy the whole storyline.

I only wish there were more copies available for public purchase. You'll find the availability of the series to be rare with good reason. Those who do own the entire Gandalara Cycle will not easily give up their copies! If there is a good resource for finding it, Amazon.com is it.

Good luck and happy reading!