A Working of Stars (Mageworlds) [Paperback]

Debra Doyle (Author), James D. Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2003 | Series: Mageworlds

The new novel in the sweeping Mageworlds series.

On the planet Entibor, Arekhon sus-Khalgath sus Peledaen has found shelter and domestic tranquility with his old love, Elaeli Inadi, at the price of what he had left behind: a dispersed and shattered Mage-Circle, an estranged brother who had tried to kill him, and a homeworld on the cusp of massive cultural upheaval.

Arekhon finds himself impelled homeward by strange dreams and prophetic visions. The Great Working—the effort to do the unthinkable and reunite a galaxy long sundered by the Gap Between—remains incomplete, left unfinished in the aftermath of the dissolution of Arehkon’s Mage-Circle. But too much energy and too many lives have been poured into the Working already; and it cannot end so long as any of the Circle members remain alive and bound into it.

Home, unfortunately, isn’t a safe place for Arehkon to be at the moment. For Eraasi has changed—and the great fleet families at the center of the Eraasian culture are girding for war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hold on to your phasers and space helmets, Trekkies and Star Wars fans all: here comes the latest Mageworld installment from Doyle and Macdonald about a rousing attempt to reunite an entire galaxy that's been magically sundered by the Gap Between. For the uninitiated, though, arriving in the middle of this complicated series can be daunting. Scattered across planetary systems 100 light years apart, remnants of great Magelord Garrod syn-Aigal sus-Demaizen's wizardly Mage-Circle, shattered by the treachery of Kief Diasul, are beginning to stir. Their leader, Arekhon sus-Khalgath sus-Peledaen, beset by prophetic dreams of reactivating the Great Working, is now on the planet Entibor, serving his lover, Elaeli, as her security chief. He traces the exiled members of Garrod's Mage-Circle and, abetted by a mysterious woman Void-Walker, they launch a dizzying expedition bent on returning to his home world, Eraasi, to defeat the vast power of Arekhon's estranged brother, Natelth, and his conniving scientist sister, Isayana. Besides the jaw-breaking character names and the violent bloodletting of the "workings" needed to move a chase-oriented plot along, keeping the planetary locales straight can be as taxing as untangling the various shifting relationships among the star-lord, agricultural and merchant families. Nonetheless, the authors occasionally manage a bright note of genuine human warmth in the chilly reaches of outer space, as well as offering plenty of action in this rapid-fire blend of sorcery and SF.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-In this seventh "Mageworld" volume, Arekhon sus-Khalgath sus-Peledaen must deal with some unfinished business concerning the Great Working, crossing the Gap to return to a life he'd rather have left behind. Building on story lines introduced in previous novels, this entry in the series is must reading for those who have been following this well-written, complex fantasy-science-fiction saga, but it would not be a good place for new readers to jump in.
Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; 1st edition (July 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812571932
• ISBN-13: 978-0812571936
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #753,165 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The End of the Beginning, January 1, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Working of Stars (Mageworlds) (Hardcover)

A Working of Stars (2002) is the seventh novel written in the Mageworlds series. At this time, however, it is the second in internal chronological sequence, following The Stars Asunder. In the previous book, the Damaizen Circle has begun the Great Working to bridge the eiran across The Gap Between. The Circle has sent Garrod through the Void to Entibor and other places Beyond the Edge, but he returns both old and mad. The Circle has guided a ship to the far side, left Elaeli Inadi at Entibor in a position prepared for her by Garrod, captured a foreign pilot, Karil, and brought back a foreign ship, the Diamond. They find that Demaizen Hall has been attacked while they were away and only Kiefen Diasul survived. Returning to Demaizen Hall, they are betrayed by Kiefen, but rescued by Iulan Vai, who provides a ship in which Arekhon, Narin, Ty and Karil flee Beyond the Edge.

Ten years later, the Great Working is still evolving and effecting all the Demaizen Circle survivors. Arekhon is having dreams of the Great Working and of Vai and another woman, Maraganha, who later Void walks to Entibor. She helps Arekhon to find Narin, Ty, and Karil and to continue the working.

Kiefen is partially mad from his inability to separate himself from the working. He starts his own circle at the Hanilat Institute to render the connection, but realizes that he can only be free if all the other mages from the Demaizen Circle are dead. Vai has remained on Eraasi and is still working in the shadows. Arekhon's older brother, Natelth, is building ships with technology taken from the Diamond and planning the absorption of the other fleet-families. Arekhon's sister, Isayana, is developing new types of aiketen. A crisis is building in the Mageworlds.

With authors named Doyle and MacDonald, I wonder how much the concept of eiran comes from the celtic magic weavers of Eiru. The philosophical conflict between Adepts and Mages seems to reflect the differences between Norn worship and Brigit worship; the Adepts seem to accept the Norse approach of following their wyrd whereas the Mages weave their own life and luck.

I have to agree with another reviewer that the Mageworlds series needs a Dramatis Personae. Recommended for all Mageworlds fans and anyone who enjoys interstellar adventures of great scope and complexity with an admixture of magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Working, April 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Working of Stars (Mageworlds) (Hardcover)

Mageworlds fans ought to rejoice when they see this on the shelves. Once again, Doyle and Macdonald have proven that you cannot predict what is going to happen--even if you think you know one of the events at the end of the timeline of this particular story.

General observations: space adventure that is exciting and well written is rare, but these authors manage. The reader viscerally experiences the mysteries of the eiran and its manipulation, and for a time can perceive how the boundaries of time and space can distort, or even blend. The prose is stylish, vivid, the action sequences tight, as readers have come to expect from Mageworlds stories.

Specific observations: this story brings 'Rekhe back up to the point at which we meet him, or very close. (More than that one must not say, for a reader could begin with this book, and read them in a different order, looping back to THE PRICE OF THE STARS; the way time flows, it works. One might get a different perspective on all matters, but isn't that what Jos Metadi tells us in the middle book?) His motivations become clearer, his choices tougher. Woven in are the stories of other characters who become equally vivid: there are funny scenes, tense scenes, scary scenes (Kief is seriously scary), scenes of joy, and of pathos.

Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mageworlds Story Continues - Good but a little lacking, August 10, 2006

By 

Brad (Leesburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Working of Stars (Mageworlds) (Paperback)

This book was a good one. I think it flowed better than its predecessor. The story of the Great Working is worthwhile, and it was interesting to see some of the events fit into what we already know happened.

I've been a big fan of this series, and the first trilogy is one I pick up and reread from time to time, just because it's fun. For this book, I found that it was not quite up to the level of those first three books. But it was still worth the time to read.