Customer Reviews

The Ladies of Mandrigyn

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, which I stumbled onto some years back in a used bookstore, has to be one of Hambley's best efforts, and that is saying something from such a talented and diverse author. This is a different kind of fantasy book, not about awe-inspiring heroes or mighty wizards, but one told from the viewpoint of an ordinary everyday soldier, who turns out to not be so ordinary. It details the life and philosophies of a mercenary, which is not common in fantasy literature. The characters are well-written and fully fleshed out, very believable. The main character, Capt. Sun Wolf, is one of the best "everyman" characters in print. His efforts to train a group of women how to fight to rescue their men are the central focus of most of the book, and it is wonderful to see how his attitudes change throughout the book. The main female characters are strongly written, and the central female character, Sheera, is one of the unforgettable characters in fanstasy literature. The tale of love between the capt and his second-in-comman Starhawk, both believing the other has no feelings for them, is heartwrenchingly beautiful and gripping. All in all, this story introduces the reader to a world that feels so real you almost expect to open a door and enter it. And the main plot twist of the secret of magical power is so shocking that it is doubtful the reader will know it's coming. This is a great story, and I highly recommend it to anyone lucky enough to find it in some old dusty bookstore.

This book has become one of my perennial favorites, along with its sequels, "The Witches of Wenshar" and "The Dark Hand of Magic." Hambly does an exquisite job of building believable characters in her believable fantasy world, and the realism of their inner and outward conflicts are almost always absolutely true to their own nature. My copies of Ladies as well as Witches and Dark Hand are so worn that I regret the books are out of print, as I would gladly replace my tattered copies. By all means anyone looking for a good read should hunt down the Ladies of Mandrigyn.

Why? Because there are so many fantastic female characters! Instead of being stuck choosing between the roles of damsel-in-distress, wicked stepmother, or femme fatale, Hambly's female characters are diverse, powerful, and human. Which is not to slight her men! They, too, are excellently fleshed out characters with a combination of endearing and repulsive traits. While the plot is somewhat predictable, there are enough twists to keep you turning the pages. It's a shame that Amazon reports this book being out-of-print because it's one of Hambly's best.

I only just recently "discovered" Barbara Hambly, when a friend loaned me "Dragonsbane". Where has Hambly been all my life??!! After reading "Dragonsbane" I went looking for more, and I am absolutely delighted to have found "The Ladies of Mandrigyn".

This is an absolutely riveting tale, with a striking couple at its center. As with "Dragonsbane", some ingredients of the mix cause it to masquerade as cheap fantasy thriller fiction (the central characters are named Sun Wolf and Star Hawk, for instance...) But the depth and realism of the characterisations, and the complexity of the story as it unfolds, soon set the book apart - far above - from the average.

Hambly starts the book in the center of a mercenary warrior band, with Sun Wolf as the chief. The mercenaries are a convincing welter of characters, and the absolute ascendancy of the chief is clear. But as the story unfolds, we gradually get snippets of his childhood with a bullying father, and his hidden artistic and mystical leanings. These are revealed without lessening his warrior status.

Likewise, his second in command slowly gains more depth and detail. From the original sketch of a woman who has built a reputation for deadliness and taciturnity, she develops into an internally vulnerable, highly intelligent woman, an ex-nun with a meditation habit, and the ability to put honesty before comfort.

Hambly's story of a group of women in an occupied city, sent to hire a mercenary band to liberate their people, and their interaction with the mercenaries soon turns into a twisty tale of human motivations and conflicts. Her delicate treatment of the clash of different cultures and beliefs reminds me of the work of Orson Scott Card (this is high praise). In particular, the ultimate surprise ending (and there is definitely more than one surprise at the ending), while it completely blind-sides the reader, rings absolutely true! The magic which winds through the story is almost an unnecessary frill, though a very nice one, and again, convincingly done.

While this is fun fiction rather than deathless prose, it is definitely a thought-provoking work. But it delivers those thoughts in a compulsive page-turner full of action and excitement. Just the way I like it.

This is a great book. Lots of plot twists and things. With a cute love story in it too. It's one of my favorites. You can connect with the charactors. there so cool. read this it is good.

This book was lent to me by the most unsuspecting person:My Tae Kwon Do teacher(Sabumnim).As soon as she found out that I loved fantasy ,she lent me this book.
I was enchanted by how thouroughly Hambly describes her world,and how realistic the training of the women is.The character was a bit dislikeable at first,but he developes.
Warning:The violence is exrtremely explicit.

This is Barbara Hambly's other series that I have read and reread. I wish she would write more featuring SunWolf and Starhawk. Please don't pass this series up. It is well worth the time spent reading!

This is the most gripping, vivid, richly colored book I have ever read. And this is only the first; the last (The Dark Hand of Magic) is easily on the same level. I've read the series six times and will read it again. Not because I am some kind of sick twisted individual, but because this novel seduces the die-hard fantasy reader, seizes one by the throat and drags one through "the dust and blood that hangs on everybody," as Adam Duritz says (albiet on a totally different subject). I love the weighty richness of Tad Williams, and I think TW's writing is of a higher order. But this book isn't trying to be a masterpiece; rather, it is what every good fantasy story should be--raw emotion barely contained. It's a roller coaster. You'll get choked up; you'll laugh with joy; you'll feel the rush. No, this story won't hold your hand as it slowly weaves another world. It drops you in this other world. And Hambly uses beautifully original description for a genre that has been as stale as crouttons for... well, since Tolkien I guess. There's simply nothing else like it.

After so many years of reading predictable fantasy characters in a predictable fantasy plot, this book was a welcome surprise.

The characters in this book are far and away the most well-developed and interesting I've read about in a fantasy novel. Both main characters in the book have changed profoundly by the end of the story, but in a wholly believable way.

And that's a good thing, because I had no small amount of antipathy for the main male character and his treatment of women in the beginning of the novel. It wasn't until the novel had progressed a bit that I realized that the story had a feminist bent.

The prose was sometimes a bit too descriptive for my taste, and the book is certainly not a quick read because of it. However, Hambly does an amazing job of integrating plot twists that bring the story together in unexpected ways.

Don't hesitate to grab a copy of this book if you are looking for a new favorite!


Cursing: None
Violence: Violent deaths abound in the book and are described in gory detail.
Sex: No scenes are described directly. However, the main male character has concubines and some sex scenes are intimated. A few women in the book are described as prostitutes, and there is a reference to being "passed around" by men in the mines. Twice in the book a female is forced into a sexual situation with a loathsome and corrupt governor (the second girl is 15). Although nothing is described except the rescue, such themes could be disturbing to younger female readers and thus I do not recommend the book to readers younger than 14.

I am in the SCA...Society of Creative Anachronism. We re-create the middle ages. The group I am in is a mercenary group, and I must say that this book brings out some of the most base thoughts a mercenary of that time would have. It brings to life the possible hardships and the raw toughness of them. It then also brings forth the vivid pictures of the land as only a persons mind could in their dreams. The colors and the grapic grittiness of it makes it a great story.