Customer Reviews

Icefalcon's Quest (Darwath)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Barbara Hambly newest Darwath novel, old heroes return to fight old enemies as Prince Altir is kidnapped, the Keep of Dare is threatened, and the Icefalcon embarks on a mission of rescue. It is seven years since the end of the Time of the Dark and the routed Alketch general Vair na-Chandros is trying to gain power. He thinks that Prince Altir's racial memories about the time around the Dark's first rising will provide the key to gaining this.

Unfortunately, none of the old excitement of Hambly's previous novels set in the Kingdom of Dar returns in this book. Icefalcon, an intriguing and enigmatic character in the Time of the Dark series, is presented so blandly that the reader does not share any sense of danger as he travels across the homelands from which he has been exiled, following the southern commander who has kidnapped Tir. The northern tribes, which seemed so frighteningly dangerous before, are reduced to a garbled mix of unrelated names that blithely talk about the wind and the weather.

All the characters seemed emotionally uninvolved in the conflict, except for Tir, who is swept along by events. The great secrets that he possesses both help and hinder the party, but never embroil the characters in any kind of internal struggle. There is great potential in the ideas presented in this novel but they are never fully exploited to bring us closer to the characters. In the end, I was extremely disappointed when Hambly resorted to a deux ex machina to bring help to the Icefalcon and his companions.

My advice is to read the Time of the Dark trilogy and then let the characters all live happily ever after (or not) in your own imagination.

I bought this book because I liked the blurb on the back, and thought that it would make for interesting reading...needless to say, it's a move I absolutely do not regret. I haven't read any other book in the Darwath series, so perhaps that's the reason for my enthusiasm and fascination, but I've read Icefalcon's quest many times, and it's been enjoyable with every read.

The description of Icefalcon's emotions and understanding appear at first glance to be quite droll, but in understanding the tribal feuds and lifestyle, the reader starts to understand that the portrayal of Icefalcon is true to nature. It's not to say that he doesn't experience emotion or pain or fear, but rather that within his tribal upbringing, it is death to lay claim to such feelings. Only the strongest survive, and fear and cowardice have no place in the tribal structure.

The tribulations that Tir had to undergo, and his character's development as a result were very real and moving for me....The dark magic and evil was a potent stimulus in the book - and I was unwittingly caught up in the brutal descriptions of war and evil.

On the whole, I would definitely recommend Icefalcon's Quest... whether you buy it or borrow it, read this book and decide for yourself!

When I first began the Darwath series, I was immediately intrigued by the Icefalcon, a captain of the Guards in the Keep of Dare. Hambly drew his character from the beginning as both charismatic and enigmatic, and I was hooked. I was happy to find that she had devoted an entire book to him, explaining more about his background as a White Raider and how he views the world. Strange at first to see his point of view, after so long only knowing him through the eyes of Gil and Rudy, but by the end of the book I only liked him more. While you could read this book by itself apart from the series, it is a lot more interesting if you already know the characters involved. I hope we see a sixth book. . .

I read and enjoyed the entire Darwath series some time ago. Icefalcon is a rather special and intriguing character through the series, and I jumped at this book as a chance to get to know more about this inscrutable and impressive savage, who always seemed to be barely integrated into the society of Dare he has joined.

This is an excellent tale, showing Icefalcon's own internal battles between the viewpoint of his old culture vs. the new. While his old, barbarian nature tells him that there really is nothing more important than the straight truth of the weather and local tracks, his new nature, acclimating to civilization, dearly loves to hear a good story. When a well-told story - a lie - fools not only the Icefalcon, but the entire Keep of Dare, and results in the kidnap of its young King, Altir (Tir for short), the Icefalcon feels that he must atone for his gullibility by rescuing and returning Tir to his mother and his people.

At base, this book is a great story about the value of a well-told story! It is also the story of the kidnap of a young child, and his courage in the face of horrible dangers and fear. And the story of Icefalcon returning to face the people he had left many years ago, and the issues that remain unresolved.

This is perhaps more of a page-turner than even most other Barbara Hambly books. The tension stays high throughout. As always, Hambly gives us another fascinating and satisfying read.

Every fantasy world, it seems, must have its barbarians, and in Hambly's world it's the White Raiders (so called because most of them have very pale hair), a society made up of a number of horse-riding tribes who inhabit the tundras and boreal forests north of the civilized lands and combine elements of the Mongols, Celts, Vikings, Bedouins, and American Indians, plus a few characteristics uniquely their own (like the people of Dare's Keep, they're sexually egalitarian, with women routinely riding on hunting and raiding parties and even leading them--or whole tribes--as well as being "mageborn" and shamans). The White Raider known best to the Keepfolk is the Icefalcon, who came out of the North 11 years ago (he's now 28), was befriended by King Eldor, and became a member of the Royal Guard. Though still considered a barbarian by many, he's proved his courage and loyalty repeatedly, and while civilization and its concerns still bewilder him, he's come to feel real friendship for some of its representatives, not least displaced Californian Gil Patterson (whom he calls "my sister") and wizard Ingold Inglorion. And while Eldor is long dead, the Icefalcon has stayed on, bound to his widow and young son by reasons even he doesn't fully understand.

When Prince Altir is kidnapped by a disguised wizard, two years after the defeat of the guardians of the Mother of Winter (Darwath), the Icefalcon is the only man who has any hope of getting him back: his familiarity with the northern wastes and their ferocious people gives him a chance that a large party wouldn't have. He soon discovers that the wizard was only a tool of the yellow-eyed, one-handed Vair na-Chandros, a former general of the Alketch Lands to the south, who years ago forced a marriage between himself and the old Emperor's daughter, but succeeded in so thoroughly alienating his wife that she has recently raised an army of her own and thrown him out. Now na-Chandros wants a base from which to launch a counterattack, and with the continuing increase of the cold--the Icefalcon is amazed to discover that the advancing glaciers have already covered the lands where his clan roamed when he was a boy, not yet a full generation ago--that means one of the Keeps that were originally built to withstand the ravening Dark. The one in Darwath Vale is the largest and best. And young Tir, who has the ability to access (somewhat randomly) the memories of "those other boys," his ancestors in the direct male line, back as far as history itself goes, is the key to it--not as such, but by way of a second Keep long since deserted and buried by the ice. Deep within its bowels there lies, according to ancient records, a device that functions as a transporter of matter, including human beings. If na-Chandros can find it, he can invade Darwath from within. Only the Icefalcon--unexpectedly joined by his older sister Cold Death, now a shaman, and Loses His Way, a war chief of an enemy tribe--can stop him from doing so.

Hambly concentrates here, not unexpectedly, on the Icefalcon's character and the beliefs and customs of his people. The White Raiders are warlike and given to ceremonious torture, but we see too that they have many positive qualities: besides being survivors by habit, they care deeply for their kin and are horrified and enraged by Vair's mistreatment of his young captive, and they're capable too of deep love--Blue Child, who was responsible for the Icefalcon's exile, was in fact seeking his death in revenge for that of her lesbian lover, Dove in the Sun, who died while on a party he led. We also see, courtesy of Cold Death, something of how magic is done among the tribes. And Ingold Inglorion makes an appearance that proves critical to the resolution of the situation. The climactic scenes, in which the Icefalcon (at first disembodied by a "shadow-walking" spell, later restored by Ingold), Loses His Way, and an unexpected ally race through the literally haunted hidden keep trying to find the transporter and stay ahead of na-Chandros and his troops, is thrilling and scary, with a sustained tension seldom equalled in anything I've read. And Hambly's descriptions of magic--from spells casually woven into whatever the wizard is doing, to fantastic technologies powered by the user's mind, including a cloning mechanism--are excellently done.

Hambly is the author of 35 other original novels, ranging from fantasy to the Benjamin January historical mysteries to a biographical novel of Mary Todd Lincoln, plus entries in the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Beauty & the Beast franchises. This is the fifth and so far the last in the stories of Darwath (published in 1998); I hope it won't retain that distinction forever.

3000 years ago, as the story goes, humanity enjoyed a period of prosperity. Mages worked with scientists to increase their knowledge of technology and its merging with magic to create incredible machines and powerfully advanced technology.

Then one day The Dark rose from their subterranean caverns and ravaged mankind, driving them nearly to extinction. The Keeps were built as a last refuge for mankind, and powerful mages sacrificed themselves so that their very essence could be imbued into the keeps. They became eternal prisoners, selflessly imbuing their energy to the keeps so that humanity would always have a refuge to go to in case The Dark ever returned.

What would it be like if you were one of those mages - you sacrificed yourself for the building of one of the Keeps, yet the refugees abandon you after a generation or so, leaving you alone for 3000 years?

In Icefalcon's Quest, just such a mage is encountered in a long-forgotton Keep on the road to rescue Prince Tir.

This book is riveting in its descriptions of arcane long-lost magic - newly discovered, its descriptions of the lost age of humanity and how they survived the first rising of The Dark, and how the Keeps were built and somehow survived 3000 years intact and still working. Although I always want more Darwath novels, this was a suitable resolution to a great saga.

Icefalcon is the enigmatic guard of guards from Darwath. Teasing hints of his history were sprinkled in the excellent beginning novels but here is the long awaited opportunity to know more. While less straightforward than previous novels, this is still an enjoyable read and gives balance to the landscape of Darwath. It fulfills the promise of the first trilogy and brings Icefalcon into the foreground where the Ice raiders become more visible.

Even though this story focuses on characters that were more of a supporting role in the previous three books, Hambly still writes a superb story in a world that I've grown to love and enjoy. If you enjoyed the first three books then there is no doubt you should enjoy this one too.

This has a very different feel from the trilogy and suits the main character's personality and methodology perfectly. There is no sweetness in Icefalcon, no earth memories, no humor, but he is a wonderfully, completely developed character with whom I enjoyed spending my time. Far more to my liking than the vampire books, but to each their own. For me, a great and welcome read.

If you liked any of Barbra Hambly's darwath series you'll love this one. All of her books have been good 'but this one was the best yet. A sequel please! In this book you are ofered the chance to better know the Icefalcon, an exiled White Raider who is one of the Guard. In previous books he has been one of the main characters, but you never seemed to know about his past. Prince Tir has been kiddnaped by Vair N'Chandros and the Ice falcon is the only one available to rescue him. Well worth the time to read.