The Golden Hills of Westria [Mass Market Paperback]

Diana L. Paxson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 6, 2007

A new story and a new generation grows as Diana Paxson returns to Westria, her classic fantasy realm, in the first new novel in that land in more than a decade. Prince Phoenix has always been a bit restless, never quite measuring up to the expectations of his father King Julian. Sombra, Phoenix's childhood friend, believes in him, but she has her own duties as a student of the College of the Wise. Their relationship surpasses friendship, but their responsibilities take precedence over their feelings. Then Phoenix is abducted in a raid and sold to slavers. Eduring pain and humiliation, Phoenix must find a way to survive, even if that means losing his sense of self, and becoming a danger to the people that he loves.
While King Julian searches for his lost son, a growing army of fanatics led by the charismatic Mother Mahalial is conquering land after land, and its final destination is the golden land of Westria. The only person that can sense Phoenix's plight is Sombra, and her attempt to rescue him may decide the fate of the kingdom.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set about 25 years after the action in The Jewel of Fire (1992), bestseller Paxson's previous Westria novel, this eighth volume will please series fans curious to meet a new generation as it comes of age: Prince Phoenix, who takes the name Johan and worries that he's unworthy to inherit the Westrian throne; and Phoenix's lifelong female friend, Sombra, who assumes the name Luz. Just when their feelings for each other turn romantic, fate separates the pair. Luz goes to the College of the Wise, where she hones her skills as an adept and wrestles with school discipline. Kidnapped by slavers, Johan becomes a gladiator in a traveling circus where he must kill or be killed. The Red Dragon, an incarnation of his rage, possesses him and powers his murderous skills. Meanwhile, an army of fanatic cultists led by charismatic Mother Mahaliel is conquering all in its path. The outcome may be obvious, but as ever the author provides an entertaining ride. Newcomers will find this an easy entry point. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

After a decade's hiatus, prolific and accomplished fantasist Paxson returns us to Westria, a postapocalyptic southwestern U.S. King Julian and his heir, Prince Phoenix, are on uneasy terms, exacerbated by the prince's friendship for Sombra, his childhood companion, which is threatening his dynastic duties. Phoenix is yet more threatened when he is kidnapped and enslaved, and King Julian has to search for him while fending off threats from hordes of religious fanatics (and growing more sympathetic in the process). This yarn has the Celtic and neopagan elements Paxson's readers have come to expect, and that draws some of them very strongly. Other readers may at least enjoy a well-built world and engaging characters, whose adventures are clearly going to extend into at least one more volume. Straightforward in narrative style but occasionally uncertain at pacing, Paxson remains a hardy perennial on the fantasy scene, whose every book librarians do well to add to fantasy collections. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765347849
• ISBN-13: 978-0765347848
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,664,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was brought up in southern California, but came north to attend Mills College and never left. I got my M.A. in (medieval) Comparative Literature from the University of California in 1966, the same year I put on the first tournament of what was to become the Society for Creative Anachronism. Since 1971 I've lived at Greyhaven, a hundred-year old house in Berkeley, with successive generations of family, friends, cats and dogs.

It's a literary family, including my husband, Jon DeCles, and the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, who was my mentor as a writer as well as colleague in founding Darkmoon Circle. My first published novel was Mistress of the Jewels, which began the chronicles of Westria. After I had written several historical fantasies, Marion, whose health deteriorated after she wrote Mists of Avalon, asked me to help her with The Forest House, which is how I ended up writing the Avalon series.

Much of the spiritual experience in my novels comes out of my work in the pagan community. I have now begun to publish that material in a series of non-fiction books, the most recent being Trance-Portation. My most recent novel is Sword of Avalon, set at the end of the Bronze Age, which gave me an opportunity to explore the end of the Homeric Age and the techniques of bronze- and iron-forging.

For more about my work, see:

www.westria.org
www.avalonbooks.net
www.seidh.org

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Westria Returns, September 29, 2007

By 

S. M Stirling "Steve" (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Golden Hills of Westria (Mass Market Paperback)

Diana Paxson's "Westria" stories are classic postapocalyptic fantasies. In a world transformed by the Cataclysm that ended our global civilization centuries before, Westria -- our California -- is a feudal kingdom which has embraced an earth-centered pagan religion to restore harmony with the land and its spirits.

The original series was always among my favorites. Paxson has a gift for describing landscape in a way that makes it a living presence in the story, rather than merely a backdrop, and her love of the country and its plants and animals shines through. You can feel the dust of a summer, smell the sweat of the horses, see the lights of a lonely farmhouse at night or the chill mist coming off the sea.

Her characters are also well-done; not just stuffed surcoats or jerkins, but people -- people whose beliefs and backgrounds are very different from ours, but human beings nonetheless. Their actions have consequences with which they have to live, and both villains and heroes have real motivations and real lives that you can -feel- extend before and after the story, and in the parts where they're not on stage.

The action sequences are crisp as well, and the plot is lively; not just bash-and-smash, but with the texture of real politics and lives.

THE GOLDEN HILLS OF WESTRIA is a worthy successor to the original stories; Paxson's technique has if anything improved, and it started out at a high level. The story deals mainly with the children of the original protagonists, but with them on-stage as well. And how rare and excellent it is to have that sense of generations coming and passing away in fantasy! Far too often fantasy heroes stride across a world that seems to begin and end with them; Paxson's people have families.

In THE GOLDEN HILLS we see for the first time a good deal of the world outside Westria, and a varied and colorful one it is, from the decadent city of Arena to the tribes of Aztlan and the Grass Sea. A new cult has arisen there -- and its prophetess sees Westria as her people's promised land.

I heartily recommend this book. The Westria series were among my original inspirations as a writer, and I hope this addition to the canon is just the beginning.

S.M. Stirling"

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great epic fantasy, next generation, February 8, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Golden Hills of Westria (Hardcover)

In Westria Prince Phoenix has doubts that he is a worthy successor to his father especially since King Julian never praises him only criticizes his efforts to be regal. On the other hand his best friend Sombra thinks Phoenix is more than worthy as she feels he will run the country with compassion and strength. However, his misgivings rise when she informs him that she will attend the College of the Wise to improve her adept abilities.

Slavers abduct Phoenix, who uses the name Johan. While his father desperately searches for him, to survive Johan becomes a gladiator fighting to the death in a traveling circus. As the Red Dragon he enables his berserker rage to turn him into a lethal killing machine. At the same time Mother Mahaliel and an army of fanatics are conquering everyone in their path as they head for Westria. The only hope for the kingdom resides in Phoenix to rise from the ashes to lead the counterattack, but he is nowhere in sight. Sombra senses where he is and begins a quest to rescue the man she loves.

One generation has past since the epic fantasy THE JEWEL OF FIRE, but the action and deep characterizations, a trademark of Diana L. Paxson remains solid. The story line is a coming of age thriller as Johan must adapt to circumstances in a mature manner or suffer the consequences, perhaps even die. Readers will wonder whether Sombra will be able to rescue him in time so that he can in turn save his people from the invaders. The return to Westria is purely golden. Every book Diana L. Paxson writes is a winner.

Harriet Klausner