Gandalara Cycle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cover sample of "The Gandalara Cycle: The Steel of Raithskar" Book 1 in the Series.

Map of Gandalara.

The Gandalara Cycle is a series of seven Fantasy/Science Fiction paperback books created and written by authors Randall Garrett and Vicki Ann Heydron beginning in 1981. The series is about an aging language professor named Ricardo Carillo who is on a Mediterranean cruise ship when it is hit by a meteor. He awakens in a blinding hot desert, sharing the body and some of the memories of a young man named Markasett, who not being quite human possesses supraorbital ridges around the eyes and large canine teeth. The first being he encounters is a sha'um, a feline bigger than a horse, named Keeshah, who recognizes Carillo as Markasett. Carillo discovers that the two of them are linked telepathically. They make their journey back to civilization, where Carillo is accused of murder and the theft of the Ra'ira, a precious Gem. With the help of another inhabitant of this world named Tarani he sets out on a quest to recover the jewel and clear his new name.

The series is full of vivid characters, sword play, great giant cats, and a desert world called Gandalara...a kind of alien Arabian Nights. The series was originally released as seven novels before they were repackaged into two volumes (The Gandalara Cycle I & The Gandalara Cycle II).

1 Books in the Series
2 Conclusion
3 Book Synopsis
4 Book Covers

[edit] Books in the Series

The Steel of Raithskar
The Glass of Dyskornis
The Bronze of Eddarta
The Well of Darkness
The Search for KÄ
Return to Eddarta
The River Wall

[edit] Conclusion

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The entire story actually takes place 50 million years in the Earth's past. At that time the Straits of Gibraltar were closed by a shift in the Tectonic Plates of Europe and Africa. Without replenishment from the Atlantic Ocean the Mediterranean Sea had evaporated. Gandalara exists on the dry and salty floor of what will become the Mediterranean Sea once the floodgates of Gibraltar open once more. Ricardo Carillo had been on the Mediterranean Sea when he had traveled through time to the past.

[edit] Book Synopsis

'The Steel of Raithskar' - When the fireball hit the cruise ship, Ricardo Carillo was already on his way out-a terminally ill language professor. He regained consciousness as a healthy young man in the desert, but it wasn't a desert on Earth. Further surprises awaited him in the exotic city of Raithskar where he was identified as Markasset, a master swordsman, son of a powerful leader, and a man on the run, accused of murder and the theft of a precious jewel. With the aid of Keeshah, a great war-cat with which he shared a telepathic link , he set out to clear his newfound name.

'The Glass of Dyskornis' - For Ricardo Carillo, taking over the life of the swordsman Markasset on the desert world of Gandalara had its compensations: a strong young body, a beautiful fiancee, and a mighty telepathic warcat named Keeshah, who obeyed his every command. It also had its problems. Markasset had many enemies, and one was out for blood. So Ricardo and Keeshah left Raithskar to join the Sharith (The warrior brotherhood of sha'um cat-riders). But trouble followed, and he soon found himself in the company of a jealous lieutenant and a lovely but treacherous illusionist, on the track of a murderer who had stolen Gandalara's most precious jewel.

'The Glass of Dyskornis' - Somewhere in Eddarta, stolen by a treacherous assassin, lay the Ra'ira, the most precious jewel of the burning desert world of Gandalara. Armed with the steel sword of Serkajon, Rikardon and his telepathic warcat Keeshah seek the sacred stone. With the aid of Tarani, a beautiful illusionist with a mysterious past, they make a daring raid on Eddarta's royal citadel to rescue the gem before its awesome powers can be used for destruction.

'The Well of Darkness' - Bearing the Ra'ira, Raithskar's most sacred gem, Rikardon and Tarani flee a ruthless enemy across the burning deserts of Gandalara. Protected by the swordsman's mighty warcat Keeshah and the mystic bird Lonna who obeys the illusionist's commands, the two discover the smoldering passion they have long denied. But when Keeshah leaves them to answer his mating instinct in the Valley of the Sha'um, Rikardon and Tarani must risk death in the Well of Darkness to fulfill their destiny.

'The Search for KÄ' - Rikardon and Tarani, with Keeshah and his mate Yayshah, set off on their quest for the lost city of Kä to find the twin to Serkajon's sword and prove Tarani's claim to the throne of Eddarta. To locate the legendary city, Rikardon must meld once again with the mystic All-Mind and travel back in time to share the memories of the fabled King Zarek himself. But in the forsaken wastes of burning Gandalaran desert, Tarani will also reach a reckoning with the fateful secret of her long denied past.

'Return to Eddarta' - Their mission to the lost city of Kä a resounding success, Rikardon and Tarani begin a long trek across Gandalara. Their journey leads them to a savage conflict with the ape-like vineh, a bittersweet reunion in Raithskar, and at last, to their goal: Eddarta, seat of government. There, Tarani must call upon more strength and determination than she has ever summoned in her life, facing off against the treachery of the wicked High Lord Indomel for her rightful place on Eddarta's throne.

'The River Wall' - In the Valley of the Mists, Rikardon and Tarani have discovered an ancient truth that will alter the destiny of Gandalara forever. But an evil lord has enslaved the land through the mystic force of the scared stone called the Ra'ira. Outlawed and hunted, Rikardon and Tarani stage a daring and desperate raid to shatter his death grip of fear. In this stunning epic, the sweeping saga of Gandalara reaches its unexpected, awe-inspiring conclusion as the secret of this strange desert world is revealed at last.