PG16- "Magewars" trilogy (v,b)

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The Price of the Stars for Beka Rosselin-Metadi, Heir to the Domina of Lost Entibor (currently an orbiting slag heap, courtesy of the Magewar) is to find the people who had her mother, the Domina, killed and take her revenge upon them. Her father, General Metadi, hero of the Magewar, is the one who gave her the opportunity to hunt these people down in return for not having to come back home to be Domina, but it ends up being even more of a family affair than originally planned. Beka's older brother Ari, a Space Force medic, and her younger brother Owen, the Guild of Adept's (who have uncanny powers and tend to keep to themselves) oldest apprentice, both end up involved in the ever-increasing levels of complexity in this story. Along with an interesting assortment of people who get pulled in on the way, some more willingly than others. The background universe is complicated and well-thought out, and the characters definitely come to life, but if you're looking for plot resolution rather than things just getting more mysterious, this is not the book for you. There's a lot more hinting about things going on that we don't know about yet than there is explanation of them, partly because it's the first book in the Mageworlds series, and partly I think because the authors like writing that way. It's the sort of book which tends to focus on the more independent-minded and perhaps not quite lawful people in the universe, so if you like those sorts of characters and don't mind the lack of resolution it's worth reading.

Starpilot's Grave is the second book in the Mageworlds series, following Beka and the rest of her family, along with the other characters they dragged in along the way, as the Second Magewar begins. The authors were careful to make this book readable without having read the first, which works partly because none of the plots that were introduced in the first book were really finished. You are simply introduced to action in progress just like you would be if this book stood alone. While that isn't a problem, the fact that this book also ends with more questions than answers about what exactly is going on could be irritating. In fact, I think that tendency is more pronounced in this book than in the first one. Still, the characters are all just as interesting and well-drawn as in The Price of the Stars, so once again I'd recommend it if you want to read for character but not if you want to have a clear idea of how everything fits together and might resolve in the end.

By Honor Betray'd ties up most of the loose ends, thankfully. In this book the Second Magewar is truly fought, as the Mages try to consolidate their hold on the Republic they defeated and track down the resistance, most of which seems to be controlled by members of Beka's family and the people they've drawn into their personal spheres. It's a good chaotic jumble of everyone trying to fix things their way as the currents of the universe unravel into what each side hopes will be a lasting victory. Although I was somewhat irritated by the first books' tendency to leave mysteries rather than solve them, this one doesn't suffer from that problem, and ties up the trilogy nicely, making it better than the first two with the same interesting characters.

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Last Updated: October 24, 1999

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