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Sun-Cross #1
The Rainbow Abyss
Determined to reach the lost world that he has glimpsed in the Abyss between two universes, the blind Jaldis, guided only by the voice of the wizard Rhion, tempts fate and enters the Abyss
295 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
53 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Hambly
204 books1,580 followersaka Barbara Hamilton
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.
"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
September 2, 2013
It's been about 20 years since I read Barbara Hambly, and all I can say is I don't know why it's taken me so long to get back to her books. She's a joy to read, with a good grasp of the human condition which shows in her characters. In this book, it focuses on an apprentice wizard, Rhion, and his crippled master, Jaldis. They live in a world with scholarly wizards, struggling to learn new bits of magical lore, while keeping secrets from wizards of other traditions. On top of this, the rest of the population hates and distrusts wizards, to the point where killing a wizard isn't even considered a crime.
Things get complicated when Jaldis discovers another world across a magical void that seems to have lost magic, and he's desperate to discover how, to make sure the same doesn't happen on his world. Rhion must try to keep his master safe during his attempts to contact the world again and find out more. Overall the book focuses more on the mundane life of being a working wizard.
Things get complicated when Jaldis discovers another world across a magical void that seems to have lost magic, and he's desperate to discover how, to make sure the same doesn't happen on his world. Rhion must try to keep his master safe during his attempts to contact the world again and find out more. Overall the book focuses more on the mundane life of being a working wizard.
July 9, 2018
Hambly can always write a good story, and she doesn't disappoint. Though this story is rather less gripping than others she has written - huge chunks in the middle is the basic forbidden love romance - the overarching plot is still intriguing. World-building is great too - wizards trying to survive in a world that hates them, and the hatred seems to be getting more vicious. They literally live under a shadow of death, their very existence a sufferance. Even so, among wizards themselves there is no unity. They have their own "orders", similar to a class-based system, and this disunity will likely be their undoing.
Characterization is rather static. Jaldris appears to be an expy of Ingold, the wizard character from the Darwath series. He receives far less development than Ingold, though he has a backstory that justifies it. Rhion, his sidekick, has no such excuse, and in fact some of his worst, most egregious mistakes are covered up and enabled by those who care for him. I hope he grows up sometime soon. The other characters are also intriguing, especially the Bragenmeres, who are mostly kind and interesting people. I like the Duke best among all - hope he gets a happy ending.
I'd have given this three stars and not gone on to the sequel, except for the brilliant twist and cliffhanger at the end, which deserves a whole star. I did not expect that. I was gripped with a chill dread at the new development, and it is definitely now worth exploring the sequel.
Characterization is rather static. Jaldris appears to be an expy of Ingold, the wizard character from the Darwath series. He receives far less development than Ingold, though he has a backstory that justifies it. Rhion, his sidekick, has no such excuse, and in fact some of his worst, most egregious mistakes are covered up and enabled by those who care for him. I hope he grows up sometime soon. The other characters are also intriguing, especially the Bragenmeres, who are mostly kind and interesting people. I like the Duke best among all - hope he gets a happy ending.
I'd have given this three stars and not gone on to the sequel, except for the brilliant twist and cliffhanger at the end, which deserves a whole star. I did not expect that. I was gripped with a chill dread at the new development, and it is definitely now worth exploring the sequel.
June 15, 2019
An interesting book, though not Hambly's strongest by far. The entire love-philtre business looks decidedly skeezier in this modern day of date-rape drugs, and the book as a whole feels like an extremely extended prologue to the second book -- which is when things look to get *really* interesting.
December 10, 2012
Not a super exciting book but it kept my interest with the characters and their development.
May 12, 2024
I can't really explain why I liked this but I bought it for the cover alone and it somehow managed to keep me interested with its wacky wild weed wizards the whole time. great book
August 17, 2023
Another Barbara Hambly homerun. Her worldbuilding is peerless. She manages to create an entire setting, complete with societies, factions, civic rules, individual cities, monsters, realistic characters, and vibrant plots without bogging her readers down in the faux biblical/foundational myth nonsense of other fantasy authors who follow Tolkien's methods too slavishly--not realizing that Tolkien's worldbuilding is actually (to me, anyway) one of his lesser skills as an author.
On the contrary, Hambly leads her readers gently into her world, revealing its secrets and wonders in small doses, which has the dual effect of both allowing the reader to grasp the world's details more fully, and also causing the reader to want to learn more, thus enriching the mystery of the book's central plot.
But Hambly does this in every one of her fantasy novels. So what makes this one special? Here, she's developed a world in which wizards are not all-powerful men and women who hold the fate of their realms in their hands, but are rather shunned by the general populace and, indeed, even at constant risk of death, for killing a wizard here is not considered a crime. Wizards cannot marry, they cannot run a business, or really do anything a "normal" person could do because society believes that wizards might use their powers to unnaturally influence their spouses, business partners, customers, and so on. Wizards are, essentially, the lowest rung on civilization's ladder.
So our protagonist, Rhion, is not some Gandalfian superhero but a veritable pauper who makes his living selling love potions to people who sneak carefully to his apartment so that no one who knows them might see that they are consorting with a sorcerer. But selling one of these potions to the wrong person causes Rhion and his mentor, Jaldis (whose eyes and tongue were cut out when his royal patron was put on trial), to go on the run.
Hambly takes us on a tour of the Forty Civilized Realms, from the city of Felsplex to the Drowned Lands of Sligo (home to the Marshmen and the Gray Lady, leader of the Witches of the Moon, a rival order of wizards) before settling in Bragenmere, ruled by Dinar Prinagos, the Duke of Mere--who also happens to be the father of Tally, whom Rhion and Jaldis rescued from demonic grims in the Imber Hills. The Duke is kind to wizards, and provides Jaldis and his pupil with rooms and free access to his library. But all is not well, because Tally's brother-in-law, Esrex, is in league with the priests of the Veiled God, and somehow they have learned that Rhion has entered into an inappropriate relationship with the Duke's daughter.
There's also the rainbow abyss of the title, but this is more of a background plot point until the book's final chapters. We'll learn more about that in the second and final novel in the Sun-Cross series.
As usual, Hambly's books inspire me to take what she has built and turn it into a Dungeons & Dragons setting. Perhaps moreso than her other books, The Rainbow Abyss provides a unique setting opportunity, not just in the way that wizards are treated by the intensely religious Forty Civilized Realms, but also with her conception of a wizard's magical practice. I could easily write an entire RPG supplement based on this book alone. I think it's fair to say that Barbara Hambly is my favorite fantasy author of all time. What a talent!
On the contrary, Hambly leads her readers gently into her world, revealing its secrets and wonders in small doses, which has the dual effect of both allowing the reader to grasp the world's details more fully, and also causing the reader to want to learn more, thus enriching the mystery of the book's central plot.
But Hambly does this in every one of her fantasy novels. So what makes this one special? Here, she's developed a world in which wizards are not all-powerful men and women who hold the fate of their realms in their hands, but are rather shunned by the general populace and, indeed, even at constant risk of death, for killing a wizard here is not considered a crime. Wizards cannot marry, they cannot run a business, or really do anything a "normal" person could do because society believes that wizards might use their powers to unnaturally influence their spouses, business partners, customers, and so on. Wizards are, essentially, the lowest rung on civilization's ladder.
So our protagonist, Rhion, is not some Gandalfian superhero but a veritable pauper who makes his living selling love potions to people who sneak carefully to his apartment so that no one who knows them might see that they are consorting with a sorcerer. But selling one of these potions to the wrong person causes Rhion and his mentor, Jaldis (whose eyes and tongue were cut out when his royal patron was put on trial), to go on the run.
Hambly takes us on a tour of the Forty Civilized Realms, from the city of Felsplex to the Drowned Lands of Sligo (home to the Marshmen and the Gray Lady, leader of the Witches of the Moon, a rival order of wizards) before settling in Bragenmere, ruled by Dinar Prinagos, the Duke of Mere--who also happens to be the father of Tally, whom Rhion and Jaldis rescued from demonic grims in the Imber Hills. The Duke is kind to wizards, and provides Jaldis and his pupil with rooms and free access to his library. But all is not well, because Tally's brother-in-law, Esrex, is in league with the priests of the Veiled God, and somehow they have learned that Rhion has entered into an inappropriate relationship with the Duke's daughter.
There's also the rainbow abyss of the title, but this is more of a background plot point until the book's final chapters. We'll learn more about that in the second and final novel in the Sun-Cross series.
As usual, Hambly's books inspire me to take what she has built and turn it into a Dungeons & Dragons setting. Perhaps moreso than her other books, The Rainbow Abyss provides a unique setting opportunity, not just in the way that wizards are treated by the intensely religious Forty Civilized Realms, but also with her conception of a wizard's magical practice. I could easily write an entire RPG supplement based on this book alone. I think it's fair to say that Barbara Hambly is my favorite fantasy author of all time. What a talent!
June 8, 2017
I fantasy world where the protagonist and his closest associate are wizards. The best thing about this book was the world-building from the way magic was a seedy thing on a par with prostitution, to the way in the city slaves join secret cults which make them dangerous (in fact danger pervaded this book and did it well) to the feminine power of the weaving, baking, wise-women in the swamp (who the more patriarchal order that Jaldis is part of feel scorn and mistrust for) to the ridiculously overdressed courtiers with pearl encrusted corsets and flowers braided through both male and female long hair. At times (especially early on) I felt there was too much description and occasionally it even felt over-written with too much metaphor and needlessly complicated ways of expressing things- but as the author seemed to feel secure within the world and I as a reader acclimatised to it, I began to appreciate the dangerous beauty and even sensuousness of the setting.
Less exciting was the plot. In a nutshell- a nerdy, short, dumpy, beardo outcast somehow inexplicably wins the love of a rich and beautiful 17 year old virging (and boy did the author labour the point that she was a virgin and that Rhion was not). This is clearly going to lead to all sorts of complications for the wizard duo who already have to flee from place to place dispensing illegal love-potions (there are many rules around what is ethical in love potion making, but the rules are somewhat incoherent when you examine the picture. Rhion is above average intelligent and Jaldis is brilliant but they allow this unlikely and ill-advised love to unravel things. Then there are other tropes like the caring father who has to put leadership first, the dead mother, the jealousies within the family....you know. Bits of it were complicated enough to be an interesting read but I don;t like romances and the gender roles in most of it made me yawn (even though early in the book the author seemed to be flirting with the idea of making the world more equal).
Then the people that the two males Rhion and Jaldis contact in the other world are also male wizards so I guess the next book will also be heavily androcentric. Sure Tally was important to the plot but all her desires in the book were centred on Rhion or on nurturing children (sigh). She is an intelligent, brave and capable character and really could be a lot more than just a mother-and-wife (maybe in the sequel).
The three stars are because I really did find the world-building exceptional.
Less exciting was the plot. In a nutshell- a nerdy, short, dumpy, beardo outcast somehow inexplicably wins the love of a rich and beautiful 17 year old virging (and boy did the author labour the point that she was a virgin and that Rhion was not). This is clearly going to lead to all sorts of complications for the wizard duo who already have to flee from place to place dispensing illegal love-potions (there are many rules around what is ethical in love potion making, but the rules are somewhat incoherent when you examine the picture. Rhion is above average intelligent and Jaldis is brilliant but they allow this unlikely and ill-advised love to unravel things. Then there are other tropes like the caring father who has to put leadership first, the dead mother, the jealousies within the family....you know. Bits of it were complicated enough to be an interesting read but I don;t like romances and the gender roles in most of it made me yawn (even though early in the book the author seemed to be flirting with the idea of making the world more equal).
Then the people that the two males Rhion and Jaldis contact in the other world are also male wizards so I guess the next book will also be heavily androcentric. Sure Tally was important to the plot but all her desires in the book were centred on Rhion or on nurturing children (sigh). She is an intelligent, brave and capable character and really could be a lot more than just a mother-and-wife (maybe in the sequel).
The three stars are because I really did find the world-building exceptional.
December 25, 2020
This is one of those "I enjoyed this but..." situations. Taken as a thing on its own, I liked it. As a book written by Barbara Hambly, having read a lot of her other books, I had more problems with it.
I like a lot of the things about Rhion and Tally's romantic relationship. If it were just this, I'd love it. They're great characters and I enjoy watching them figure out how they feel about one another and the way they deal with the threat their relationship poses. I don't disagree with much this book has to say about the relationships between men, women, and power.
I just can't let go of the combination where Tally needs a beard for her relationship with Rhion and so far as I've read, the gay men in Hambly's writing who get more than a paragraph are pretty psychopaths. I'm not saying that to be ableist, several of them are linked in-text with clinical symptoms associated with pathological antisocial behavior. Symptoms like migraines, sadism, inappropriate/unempathetic responses to others' suffering, a disregard for others' well-being, and so forth. I get that I'm the one making the connection here, not the author and there are a lot of potential reasons why love between two people might be outlawed. I just... wtf?
I like a lot of the things about Rhion and Tally's romantic relationship. If it were just this, I'd love it. They're great characters and I enjoy watching them figure out how they feel about one another and the way they deal with the threat their relationship poses. I don't disagree with much this book has to say about the relationships between men, women, and power.
I just can't let go of the combination where Tally needs a beard for her relationship with Rhion and so far as I've read, the gay men in Hambly's writing who get more than a paragraph are pretty psychopaths. I'm not saying that to be ableist, several of them are linked in-text with clinical symptoms associated with pathological antisocial behavior. Symptoms like migraines, sadism, inappropriate/unempathetic responses to others' suffering, a disregard for others' well-being, and so forth. I get that I'm the one making the connection here, not the author and there are a lot of potential reasons why love between two people might be outlawed. I just... wtf?
January 29, 2025
The whole time I was reading The Rainbow Abyss I was wondering what the point was, what was Hambly building towards? Now that I've started The Magicians of Night the point is very clear, but I'm not sure that justified an entire book of setup!
The world here is rather like that of the Windrose Chronicles and Stranger at the Wedding, but even worse: while Kira was disowned by her father for her magical ability yet still able to see her family, Rhion's parents formally declared him dead and people in the Forty Realms actively harass, heckle, and even kill wizards.
Rhion was a bit of a frustrating protagonist as well, because he makes such stupid decisions. Oh well, onto book #2, which is much more engaging thus far.
The world here is rather like that of the Windrose Chronicles and Stranger at the Wedding, but even worse: while Kira was disowned by her father for her magical ability yet still able to see her family, Rhion's parents formally declared him dead and people in the Forty Realms actively harass, heckle, and even kill wizards.
Rhion was a bit of a frustrating protagonist as well, because he makes such stupid decisions. Oh well, onto book #2, which is much more engaging thus far.
September 16, 2017
I did not like this book and I blame everyone who had a hand in the production of the blurb on the back of the book. It set up my expectations of an enjoyable story arch that I, eventually with greater and greater impatience, pursued and never happened. The bulk of my feelings for this story was impatience at getting to the point already. The 'point' was in book two, which I am thoroughly enjoying. If I had not been led astray by what to expect in book one I probably would have enjoyed it more.
June 19, 2018
I wanted to enjoy this book, but unfortunately it just didn't grab me. I've been making an effort to read more classic sci fi and fantasy, as I really enjoy the writing and the philosophical themes that modern writers tend to ignore. However, Hambly just couldn't hold my awe with this very scattered piece. A major plot point is addressed early and then ignored for most of the book...I was wishing that this would be remedied as I was moving through the book, but she chose to ignore it and focus on other less important topics. I won't be finishing the series.
November 3, 2017
I enjoyed this, but didn't latch onto it as hard as the January series or Sun Wolf and Starhawk. I don't think I really connected to Rhion as a character and felt like I was waiting for the actual story to start. Hambly set up stakes for the sequel, which was necessary, but I think this and the sequel would have worked better as one (very long) book. YMMV.
August 19, 2019
Slow and sweet, with Hambly's trademark depth of nature and weather description. Laying aside the medieval-ish setting and the invariably foul weather, her style reminds me of nothing so much as Susanna Kearsley.
November 13, 2020
A book in which the author introduces the main conflict and then simply walks away from it.
The worldbuilding is interesting if bleak.
The writing style, if it can be called that, seems to revolve around starting a conversation and then inserting two pages of description between every line (not a joke).
And the ending has no end.
One can review the book in a single word: frustrating.
The worldbuilding is interesting if bleak.
The writing style, if it can be called that, seems to revolve around starting a conversation and then inserting two pages of description between every line (not a joke).
And the ending has no end.
One can review the book in a single word: frustrating.
August 16, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The romance plot was only okay (I don't generally like those, I admit), but the world was realized in a way that makes me want to keep reading. I don't like where I think Book 2 is going, but I will read it just to see what it does. Never heard of Hambly before, but I like her style. Easy to read, yet erudite.
April 25, 2024
still an amazing read after all these years
I bought the kindle copy to supplement my paper copy that I bought years ago and very much enjoyed revisiting old friends. Love the way Ms. Hambly writes her characters and makes you feel like you have entered their world. Can’t wait to start the sequel!
I bought the kindle copy to supplement my paper copy that I bought years ago and very much enjoyed revisiting old friends. Love the way Ms. Hambly writes her characters and makes you feel like you have entered their world. Can’t wait to start the sequel!
September 23, 2017
Felt like a very long intro to the second book.
I'm interested in the 'world without magic' we discover in the first book, so off to the second to find out what realm is on the other side of the Dark Well.
I'm interested in the 'world without magic' we discover in the first book, so off to the second to find out what realm is on the other side of the Dark Well.
April 26, 2024
Wizards are feared and often beaten. MC retreats leaving books behind, he needs to reach out to a non-magical parallel world. Gets pretty repetative first 6 chapters. Libby library book. Read Kindle book using Alexa audio asset.
February 24, 2018
Beware as of 2018 February: the author has abandoned this series, leaving characters, plot, and readers hanging on the wrong side of the void.
January 18, 2019
The computer aspects are a bit dated, but a very enjoyable read of dark betrayal and conspiracy.
March 9, 2022
Loved getting a peek into the main character's head, and his relationship with his mentor, but I have to admit some of the drama left me feeling cold.
April 21, 2022
Marvelous, but very dark! Not that I mind, but it can be heavy.
August 29, 2022
This one did not grab me. I don't really know why, I think it is just very slow, I couldn't find the plot and there are other books for me to read. The first three or four chapters are cool, though.
Read
August 31, 2023DNF
December 23, 2023
DNF 6%
I was expecting much more from such a well-known author. The plot felt silly and not enough to warrant what the MC planned to do.
I was expecting much more from such a well-known author. The plot felt silly and not enough to warrant what the MC planned to do.
July 24, 2025
the story was good but it took me forever to get through
May 25, 2022
An interesting idea, but it did really feel like a too-long prologue to a much more interesting story. The love philter stuff was all very predictable given the universe and even harder to read because of that. The state of magic in the world was also very on-the-nose given what I know of the book's sequel.
But man, I got really sick of the Rhion/Tally romance plot and how it played out. So dumb.
But man, I got really sick of the Rhion/Tally romance plot and how it played out. So dumb.
December 20, 2021
Didn't seem to really have a point.
March 3, 2015
This is a very meandering book. It doesn't seem to have quite decided what it wants; occasionally it has plot and a sense of urgency, but most of the time it sidles along slowly, with numerous pauses and tangents. (We have met the heroine and saved her from death! ...And now we will go live with these water witches for half a year and be all quiet and secluded and sleepy.)
Ultimately I think it succeeds best as a "coming of age" story about Rhion, the apprentice. But just as you've accepted that and thought you'd come to the ending, there's another slow time ebb of eight years, and then suddenly BACK TO THE SCARY THING from the beginning of the novel umpteen years ago. Whirlwind, ending in one of those HUGE TWISTS that are so popular. It did feel quite tacked on, really.
It's not a bad book, and if you like Hambly's writing style and have a good deal of patience, you'll probably enjoy it. It does take more patience than many of her books, however, and it doesn't really have any of the really fascinating characters she's so good at creating. The Duke is pretty good, but on the borders.
Ultimately I think it succeeds best as a "coming of age" story about Rhion, the apprentice. But just as you've accepted that and thought you'd come to the ending, there's another slow time ebb of eight years, and then suddenly BACK TO THE SCARY THING from the beginning of the novel umpteen years ago. Whirlwind, ending in one of those HUGE TWISTS that are so popular. It did feel quite tacked on, really.
It's not a bad book, and if you like Hambly's writing style and have a good deal of patience, you'll probably enjoy it. It does take more patience than many of her books, however, and it doesn't really have any of the really fascinating characters she's so good at creating. The Duke is pretty good, but on the borders.
April 25, 2008
A great twist of wizard as reviled/distrusted member of society. Its got great character developement and the lead up into the next book is great. I wish she would continue this series so I could see what happens after Rhion gets back!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews