Customer Reviews

Mantle of Kendis-Dai Hb (Starshield)

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

 

 

I am a rather new fan of M.W and T.H, seeing as I viewed the Dragonlance as an extreme dissapointment, however, I was rather impressed by the skill and infinite emotion they placed in this book.

This book is an inviting mixture of fantasy and science fiction, somethign that is terrible underrated these days, and involves spaceships and synthetic minds, temples and legends come true. It is a mind-boggling exeperience that really sets the wheels of thought into motion.

I would recommend this book to any fan of science fiction and fantasy, and, to any fan of M.W and T.H, this is by far the best I have read by them.

This book opens up a new universe in the fantasy/sci-fi genre. It begins a series that seeks to combine the best tenets of science and technology with the absolute power of sorcery and magic. It paints a picture of a dynamic universe, a universe that is not filled with the same "stuff" as we would like to believe. The story begins with one of the main protagonists of the story, a strong woman character of the Omnet.

This book tells of her life as she sought to correct mistakes told in the first chapters of the book. In enters the second of the two protagonists, Jeremy Griffiths. A replacement astronaut for the first FTL space voyage that humanity has sent to the stars. They were hopeful to just collect "bacterial samples". Obviously they took a bigger bite than they intended since plutonium isn't radioactive in one of the areas they passed through. You will have a grand time as Griffiths is faced with the command of the mission and his ascendance to something more than he bargained for. Because at the end, their voyage will lead to the Mantel of Kendis-dai, a long ago legendary artifact of the greatest Empire in the galaxy, an empire headed by a human Emperor with 3 absolutely powerful artifacts. The Mantle to give wisdom and knowledge, the Nightsword to shape the universe to the user's will, and the Starshield to create peace throughout the galaxy. These sound like mere artifacts, but this is the new galaxy we are talking about. And in the new galaxy, where magic and technology exist side by side and layer on layer, legends are real.

It took me a quarter of the book before I got into it. The body of the book was average, but the ending more than made up for it. A Margaret Weis book with a happy ending? Out of the 18 books of hers I've read, this book probably has the happiest ending. Actually it may have been too happy. It doesn't leave you hanging for the next book of the series like most of her books do.

For anyone who has ever been completely enchanted by their first fantasy novel, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman can bring that feeling back over and over again. I've read all of their works out so far and this ranks among the most original I've ever read. The characters are well rounded, the plot is involved and the writing is fast paced. A fantastic read.

This book was pretty good. I say pretty good because I think they could've made the plot a trilogy, which would've made it better. When I got to the end I was like, "Gee, that was short." Still, the physics are believable, the characters well developed, and the universe superb. Readers can sympathize with Griffiths and his crew easily. I did. I also liked the (brief) reapearance of Fizban or Zifnab or whoever he is. A nice touch, which you'll understand if you're a devoted fan of Weis/Hickman. I reccomend it, but not as avidly as others by the same authors.

Truthfully, I loved the whole thing. This books is great, showing all the things you would expect from the great team of Weis/Hickman. The only drawback is that they only go into the magic part of it for about a page ebfore jumping right back to technolidgy. otherwise the characotrs are great, the plot thick and the readinf fun.

Weis and Hickman are masters at creating unique universes...and they are sharing that experience with us in the Starshield series. Tucked into the author's notes of this first book of the series is a invitation to join them as they explore their universe online, encouraging fans to post stories and other creative ventures that will become part of the canon. The opportunities for expansion into role-playing and other games, be it online, live-action, or table-top gaming, are wonderful and a fantastic new take on the genre.

Weis and Hickman...Where have I heard those names before? This book has good character development and a well-supported storyline. I rather enjoyed how the authors propose that magic and science coexist in the universe.

The Omnet organization's purpose it to deliver correct and truthful information through the galaxy. Every planetary civilization depends on accuracy of its news channel, the Intra Galactic News Matrix (IGNM c.f. CNN) Weather Report: "The quantum weather for today in the wild realms bordering the diskward reaches of the Thailis Dynasties includes the motion of a class IV quantum frontal shift through the Choralis systems altering the industrial-technological standard radically toward mystic tendencies in the Q-dex". Somebody has been forging the information sources. Merinda Neskat, high in rank, is sent to investigate the source. But The Darkness is too powerful and she barely escapes only to find out her love didn't make it. The Omnet and Nine Oracles conclude that the only way to stop the Darkness, which is infiltrating all Synth Minds that are the core of all galactic civilization, is to find out a mantle of 3000-year-old myth of Kendis-Dai. The solemn device for truth that would regain the confidence towards the Omnet and expose lies of the Darkness. Will the Order of the Future Faith, The Sentinels behind the Darkness, change the order or the galaxy forever?

The story enters into fantasy and science fiction realms. The physics are a localized phenomenon pocketed in quantum fronts, like an ocean that moves according to tidal forces. The adjacent spiritual and natural laws shift. Science may rule in one region, whereas magic or telepathy may be the rule in another. There are spells, dragon's pulling the ships in shape shifting quantums and in other areas standard plasma drives and wormholes. The story revolves around question of whether synthetic minds have souls, Earth's first contact with greater galactic civilizations, and a religious conspiracy of interstellar proportions. The next in series is Nightsword. The planned 3rd book in the trilogy was never published.

Four (4) stars. Written in 1996 the book is a good showcase of how magic and science fiction can be combined. After 50 pages of wizardly-sounding names and titles the reader is on track of events and the pace of execution to solve this galaxy wide mystery keeps flowing. There is love, hate, twists at every 20th page turn, sense on grandeur and epicness. Best of all the strong female lead Merinda Neskat (Vestis Inquisitor of the Omnet) and the supporting character Jeremy Griffiths (Earth), are very well fleshed out. Merinda is haunted in all her actions by her past: she believes herself responsible for the death of her lover years ago. Her journey toward redemption and forgiveness comes to a shattering twist. If there is a wrinkle that would be the too obvious story arc of using Earth crew as the key to dissolve the mythic lock. Nevertheless, enjoy the galactic ride.

this book had good characters, but I dont like the whole "lets restore our once great universe to what it once was, and use magic flagrantly when we just can't supply the hard science" motif