A Working of Stars

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.

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

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.