Tides of Darkness

This interesting novel is quite a blend. It mixes "swords and sorcery" with "romance novels." Several of the male protagonists are "hunks," the women set their sights on them, and some hot romances ensue -- resulting in several pregnancies and births. At the same time, the battle against the evil forces is intense and rather frightening. As for Sword and Sorcery as a recipe, definitely the emphasis is on "sorcery." The Tides of Darkness are launched by powerful and almost diabolically evil mages, with only two powerful mages to stop them -- one, an ancient who has lived for perhaps thousands of years, and the other, a likeable young person with a phenomenal natural gift for sorcery. One small aspect of the book I so much liked, the cats of the city turn out to be mystical or occult cats. At any rate, once their spiritual powers are identified, they are set to guarding the city, setting rather effective wards against the influx of the evil mages. Quite a marvelous book. I MUST read more by Judith Tarr. This is my first book by her.

If you are an avaryan fan then this book will not disappoint. Its not perfect but the character of Daros makes this a fresh and interesting read. He adds an element of unpredictablity to the story that is a nice change from the torqed, god-bound characters that we have met since Mirain. The book has a nice paced plot, lots of high majic, decent characterization. As I said, it isn't perfect...the women in the story are pretty typical of the women that have gone before in the series but that didn't detract much from the book. If you are a Tarr fan, I don't think this book will dissappoint you.

A hedonist of the worst order, Indaros Karelios seeks a good time whether he is wenching of drinking. Nothing else really matters to the member of the aristocratic house of Han-Gilen. Daros actually has talent, but chooses to hide his abilities so he could avoid having to attend Mage School. He fears that would cramp his style.When Daros gets in deep trouble and has to appear before the current Lady of the Gates, the Golden Emperor Merian sees inside to the very soul of Daros. She concludes that the wastrel is a strong but untrained mage. She decides he will be allowed to live but he must be punished. Lady Merian exiles Daros by sending him to her grandfather to receive the training he needs to control his power. Now a student disciple of the mighty Emperor Estarion, Daros soon is alone battling against the growing darkness of demons destroying his world one land at a time. His mentor has been dispatched by the evil one to a more mundane orb called earth.TIDES OF DARKNESS, the latest Avaryan Chronicles, is a tremendous epic fantasy that will send genre readers in search of the previous novels, all wonderful entries. The story line makes the fantastic seem authentic as if Judith Tarr has visited this magical plane in her real life. The growing terror adds to the belief that this realm exists outside of the fertile imagination of the author. Daros, Merian, and Estarion are strong characters inside a powerful plot and that leads to another terrific Tarr tale.Harriet Klausner