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Dark of the Moon (1985)

by P. C. Hodgell

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4041362,075 (3.98)44
Fiction. Science Fiction. Historical Fiction. "Tai-tastigon is burning. The whole city is in an uproar. And the cause, Jame, and her friend Marc have fled. They are making their way through mountain passes, far too late in the season, hoping to find Jame's brother Tori somewhere on the other side. Nothing ever goes easily for Jame, least of all this journey. As hints of the past she has forgotten-of dark and horrid years in the house of Gerridon, betrayer of her people, the Kencyrath, and her god-come to the surface, she encounters changers from the house of Gerridon, wanting to bring her back into that dark place. Arrin-ken, catlike creatures who are nevertheless a part of her own people, find and judge her. Bandits, brigands and strange remnants from the past of her people-which suggest a dim future for them, their god and their hope of defeating the great enemy, Perimal Darkling-arise to haunt her. But her determination to find her brother and to avoid falling into eternal darkness only grows stronger. Meanwhile Tori, who is Highlord of the Kencyrath, leads the wayward lords of the Kencyrath with uneasy grace. He is a compromise for them, a way of avoiding endless battle between them. But he can bind them together only so long as he can tread a narrow way between their varied needs and desires. When a vast and unexpected danger threatens, he must call up the host-the troops that each lord must muster-but in so doing he threatens his own position and his sanity, for he cannot avoid the attention this calls to him, attention that seems to bring changers who want to kill him, and odd nightmares that seem to suggest a future he does not want and the reappearance of a sister he both loves and fears. Jame and Marc appeared first in God Stalk, where Jame discovered that she had odd powers and that she did not need a past to change forever the future of those around her. In this second book, she is just as hard on her friends, and her enemies, as she was in the first. But knowing her past, knowing how near she is always to the brink of a personal disaster she cannot accept, she must now consider each step she takes more carefully. This does not mean that either she, or for that matter, Tori, will ever be less than wild and unexpected. It only means that both must count and accept the cost of their actions. It is a way of living neither is prepared for.".… (more)
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» See also 44 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)
sequel to Godstalk, dream and reality overlap for Jamie and her brother
  ritaer | Apr 7, 2020 |
This is the second in the Chronicles of Kencyrath, a fantasy series which a fellow bibliophile here on LT has highly recommended.

Dark of the Moon continues the story of Jame, her friend Marc and her ounce, a kitten of a variety of large wild cat and with whom she is telepathicically linked.

She is searching for her brother Torisen,who although he is her twin, is older than she; the two having spent time in areas where time moves at different speeds. Torisen is trying to establish himself as high king and major battles are looming, not just with the more mortal elements of the land.

It seems like anything I may say might contain spoilers so I will just say that I enjoyed this much more than [God Stalk], the first of the series, which I found a bit confusing.

It all ends with a bit of a cliffhanger – no, wait there must be more! So I'll definitely go on with the series. But I think I may skip months in between. Or maybe not. ( )
  streamsong | Apr 2, 2018 |
Much easier to read and follow than [God Stalk] it was less interesting and fairly similar to the other fantasy of its time. I don't like nasty dudes being political as a form of entertainment, and though some of the landscape and characters have the potential to interest there were too much of the former and too many of the latter to get any real feel for them. And a couple times just to show how clever she is Hodgell put words in the mouths of her characters that didn't really suit them. ( )
  quondame | Mar 24, 2018 |
Very much enjoyed this second installment of the Kencyrath chronicles. Jame has left the city of Tai-Tastigon where she had found refuge and friends with Marc, her Kendar ally, and the ounce, (think big smart cat) to seek out her brother to give their father's sword and ring which she recovered. Naturally things won't go according to plan. Lots to like here -- complex world, where the dead, unless burned, are likely to transform into something in-between and where the living, if they aren't careful are also in danger of losing themselves in the darkness that surrounds. We get two protagonists this time. Jame and her brother Torisen (and brief moments in the minds of some lesser but interesting characters). Torisen balances well with Jame. He is naturally open and kind and relatively uncomplicated and it is entirely convincing that he "binds" people to be loyal to him. Some fun baddies too here, along with the scary ones. More humor as well, a sign that Hodgell is feeling more confident as she moves us deeper into the story. I've got the next two ordered and will plunge back in when they arrive. Much less confused this time. My only complaint would be that there are moments when characters drone on with explanations about why something is the way it is, exposition. Hodgell is hard pressed because the world, characters, and plot is complex and things have to be explained somehow, but. **** ( )
3 vote sibylline | Feb 7, 2018 |
In this sequel of "God Stalk," Hodgell follows her main character from that book, Jame, but the tone of the story changes drastically. "Dark of the Moon" is a much more 'epic'-feeling fantasy, as Jame returns to her mission to find her brother, whom she suspects is now High Lord of the Kencyr . So she sets forth with the 'giant' man, Marc, and her mind-bonded blind hunting cat, Jorin, and much questing and adventure ensues...
Meanwhile, her brother, Torisen, is indeed High Lord, and as such is dealing with much political maneuvering, as Kencyr society is bound by all kinds of strict traditions and rigid ideas about honor... which can get in the way of dealing with issues that come up, such as shape-changing impostors, assassins, power-hungry rivals, not to mention the rumors of a three-million-strong, half-human cannibal horde about to overrrun civilized lands...
Well-done fantasy but I have to admit that I missed the more intimate tone of the first book, as well as the intriguing setting of the city of Tai-Tastigon. ( )
  AltheaAnn | Feb 9, 2016 |
Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)
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For my Parents,
with love
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(Prologue: The Story So Far)

Some thirty millennia ago, the entity known as Perimal Darkling first breeched the barrier between the outer void and the series of parallel universes called the Chain of Creation.
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Fiction. Science Fiction. Historical Fiction. "Tai-tastigon is burning. The whole city is in an uproar. And the cause, Jame, and her friend Marc have fled. They are making their way through mountain passes, far too late in the season, hoping to find Jame's brother Tori somewhere on the other side. Nothing ever goes easily for Jame, least of all this journey. As hints of the past she has forgotten-of dark and horrid years in the house of Gerridon, betrayer of her people, the Kencyrath, and her god-come to the surface, she encounters changers from the house of Gerridon, wanting to bring her back into that dark place. Arrin-ken, catlike creatures who are nevertheless a part of her own people, find and judge her. Bandits, brigands and strange remnants from the past of her people-which suggest a dim future for them, their god and their hope of defeating the great enemy, Perimal Darkling-arise to haunt her. But her determination to find her brother and to avoid falling into eternal darkness only grows stronger. Meanwhile Tori, who is Highlord of the Kencyrath, leads the wayward lords of the Kencyrath with uneasy grace. He is a compromise for them, a way of avoiding endless battle between them. But he can bind them together only so long as he can tread a narrow way between their varied needs and desires. When a vast and unexpected danger threatens, he must call up the host-the troops that each lord must muster-but in so doing he threatens his own position and his sanity, for he cannot avoid the attention this calls to him, attention that seems to bring changers who want to kill him, and odd nightmares that seem to suggest a future he does not want and the reappearance of a sister he both loves and fears. Jame and Marc appeared first in God Stalk, where Jame discovered that she had odd powers and that she did not need a past to change forever the future of those around her. In this second book, she is just as hard on her friends, and her enemies, as she was in the first. But knowing her past, knowing how near she is always to the brink of a personal disaster she cannot accept, she must now consider each step she takes more carefully. This does not mean that either she, or for that matter, Tori, will ever be less than wild and unexpected. It only means that both must count and accept the cost of their actions. It is a way of living neither is prepared for.".

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