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Icefalcon's Quest

by Barbara Hambly

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Darwath (5)

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581441,373 (3.67)8
While chaos reigned in the Eastern Lands, the Keep of Dare stood as a bastion against war and bandits and the spawn of unnatural sorceries. Then twin blows rocked the citadel: the fearsome Alketch army mounted siege, even as young Prince Tir was snatched from the heart of the Keep. Behind the terror was the depraved, hook-handed general Vair na-Chandros. He had learned that the royal child possessed forbidden wisdom: a secret with which the bloodthirsty Vair intended to conquer the world. One single man posed a threat to Vair's vaunting ambition: the legendary warrior known as the Icefalcon. Banished by his own people and scorned as a barbarian by others, only he could hope to free the boy from Vair's clutches. With his sister Cold Death--a sorcerer whose magic was as sharp as her tongue--the Icefalcon embarked on a dangerous mission of rescue and redemption. Braving nightmare demons and the endless hordes of Vair's inhuman soldiers, he shadowed Vair and his small captive beyond the reaches of the known world. And when the boy led Vair to the forgotten Keep of the Shadow at the End of Time, the Icefalcon would face his greatest battle . . . for his prince, for his honor, and for all eternity.… (more)
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» See also 8 mentions

Showing 4 of 4
I liked this quite a bit. It was interesting to see more about Icefalcon’s people. The way their culture and language reflect back on each other was neat.

The descriptions of people in the duplication box is utterly horrific. It was well done though and I think necessary. It would be too easy to side step the awfulness since the victim ‘survives’. It was still terribly vivid.

I read this when a song with lyrics about “In the real world” was on a lot. It was a little surreal :) ( )
  eleanorg | Feb 15, 2023 |
Set about 2 years after Mother of Winter, the 7-year old King Tir is kidnapped by Bektis the Mage and a group of renegade Alketchians. The banished White Raider, Icefalcon, sets out to rescue him, a journey which takes him back to his roots among the White Raiders, and ends up in a forgotten Keep buried in the ice of the North.

The usual well-written story by Hambly, this concludes the main Darwath series, although there are 3 self-published novellas available from the usual sources (unfortunately expensive for 50+ pages).

I enjoyed the story, although I thought it the weakest of the sequels to the original trilogy. The trouble with revisiting earlier worlds is the law of dimishing returns - once you’ve defeated the big bad, the only thing left is to defeat a bigger bad - which is what Mother of Winter involved. Here, the focus was on search and rescue - and although there was a big bad to defeat, it was human in scale and not world-spanning.

Recommended.
  Maddz | Oct 22, 2017 |
Substance: Hardships of the heroic quest to save a king, who is still just a little boy. Interwoven with the more traditional quest of finding one's true self.
Style: Omniscient narrator, but localized often to the POV of the Icefalcon, in order to explicate his personal quest.
Goes as a pair with "Mother of Winter", which are a follow-on to the Darwath Trilogy.
Not a bad read, but I have to start letting some books go. ( )
  librisissimo | Nov 28, 2014 |
While this wasn't a bad book, it just felt unnecessary. After the Darwath series concluded, Hambly must have felt a need to return to a favorite character. This book is set in the same world, with the same situation and characters, but the focus shifts to the Icefalcon. Previously he was a dangerous and somewhat mysterious member of the Guards, a former White Raider barbarian. A return to Darwath is always welcome, but this book just seemed a little out of place compared to the others.
Hambly is an excellent fantasy writer, and for that alone this is worth reading, though this is good, but not exceptional. There's certainly much worse out there. ( )
  Karlstar | Apr 18, 2010 |
Showing 4 of 4
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» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Barbara Hamblyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Giancola, DonatoCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jenkins, KevinCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Had the Icefalcon still been living among the Talking Stars People, the penalty for not recognizing the old man he encountered in the clearing by the four elm trees would have been the removal of his eyes, tongue, liver, heart, and brain, in that order.
Quotations
She sat down cross-legged between them and picked the woodchuck's heart out of the coals, devouring it with an expression of ecstasy. "Was it he who slew five of the Empty Lakes People and put their bodies in the coulee, or was that you, little brother?"

"It was Bektis," the Icefalcon said a little grumpily because he loved woodchuck hearts with a great, strong love.

Chapter 6, pp. 72-73
Cold Death tousled the dog's ruff. ... The dog sniffed at her and licked her hand.

"T'cha!" scolded Loses His Way amiably. "You kiss your people's enemies, o my brother?"

"He tastes her that he may devour her later," explained the Icefalcon, and the warchief nodded.

"Very well, then."



Chapter 6, p.73
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While chaos reigned in the Eastern Lands, the Keep of Dare stood as a bastion against war and bandits and the spawn of unnatural sorceries. Then twin blows rocked the citadel: the fearsome Alketch army mounted siege, even as young Prince Tir was snatched from the heart of the Keep. Behind the terror was the depraved, hook-handed general Vair na-Chandros. He had learned that the royal child possessed forbidden wisdom: a secret with which the bloodthirsty Vair intended to conquer the world. One single man posed a threat to Vair's vaunting ambition: the legendary warrior known as the Icefalcon. Banished by his own people and scorned as a barbarian by others, only he could hope to free the boy from Vair's clutches. With his sister Cold Death--a sorcerer whose magic was as sharp as her tongue--the Icefalcon embarked on a dangerous mission of rescue and redemption. Braving nightmare demons and the endless hordes of Vair's inhuman soldiers, he shadowed Vair and his small captive beyond the reaches of the known world. And when the boy led Vair to the forgotten Keep of the Shadow at the End of Time, the Icefalcon would face his greatest battle . . . for his prince, for his honor, and for all eternity.

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