The Steel of Raithskar

The Steel of Raithskar - Randall Garrett, Vicki Ann Heydron

Ricardo Emilio Carlillo wakes up in the desert thinking he must be in Hell. His last memory is that he was an older man, dying of cancer, standing on the deck of a ship, watching the swift approach of a meteor with a beautiful young woman.

But now he's in Gandalara, in the body of Markasset, a young 'man' (Gandalarans are not quite human), and psychically linked to a giant shu'ma named Keeshah. Taking the name Rikardon, he soon finds himself embroiled in the politics of his new home city, Raithskar, implicated in the theft of a mysterious jewel called the Ra'ira, and he must make sense of the memory of his previous life with the memories inherited from Markasset. He can't be sure about what kind of person Markasset was, or if he is even innocent at all.

This is a fun science fiction novel that reads more like Fantasy, the SF elements become more clear as the series progresses. I remember liking this a lot when I first read it and it still holds up ten years later. There are a few troubling elements, the strictly masculine attitudes in particular, but that was corrected as the series went on, if I remember right. Ricardo also has a pretty good grasp of the hard sciences for a linguist, but I'm probably just jealous.

Garrett was sick himself (and would die in 1987 after a long coma) while writing this series and for the last few books, so I understand, Heydron had little input from him other than outlines.

 

Gandalara Cycle

 

Next: 'The Glass of Dyskornis'

My Review of Gandalara Omnibus 1