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Gandalara Cycle #7
The River Wall
Mass Market 275 pages Spectra (May 1, 1986) English 0553255657 978-0553255652
275 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
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172 people want to read
About the author
Randall Garrett
440 books87 followersRandall Garrett's full name was Gordon Randall Phillip David Garrett. For more information about him see https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?239
He was married to Vicki Ann Heydron
His pseudonyms include: Gordon Randall Garrett, Gordon Aghill, Grandal Barretton, Alexander Blade, Ralph Burke, Gordon Garrett, David Gordon, Richard Greer, Ivar Jorgenson, Darrel T. Langart, Blake MacKenzie, Jonathan Blake MacKenzie, Seaton Mckettrig, Clyde (T.) Mitchell, Mark Phillips (with Laurence Janifer), Robert Randall, Leonard G. Spencer, S.M. Tenneshaw, Gerald Vance.
He was married to Vicki Ann Heydron
His pseudonyms include: Gordon Randall Garrett, Gordon Aghill, Grandal Barretton, Alexander Blade, Ralph Burke, Gordon Garrett, David Gordon, Richard Greer, Ivar Jorgenson, Darrel T. Langart, Blake MacKenzie, Jonathan Blake MacKenzie, Seaton Mckettrig, Clyde (T.) Mitchell, Mark Phillips (with Laurence Janifer), Robert Randall, Leonard G. Spencer, S.M. Tenneshaw, Gerald Vance.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 24, 2018
Perhaps one of the most poignant dedications I've ever seen in a book is the simply stated "For Randall - I hope I have done well" that comes right before we launch into the seventh and last book of this series.
For people who enjoy context, a little background. The entire series was conceived by SF writer Randall Garrett and his wife Vicki Ann Heydron. They had an outline and I'm guessing some detailed plots but a couple years before the first book was published Garrett became ill from encephalitis and spent the rest of his life (about eight more years) in a come that he never recovered from, leaving his wife to see it through.
By all reports (and by that, I mean the author bio in the back) the outline they had come up with for the series got sketchier toward the end and so by the time she reached this book she was mostly completely on her own. Would it have deviated too much from what the two of them working fully together throughout would have come up with? We'll never know.
That's fine, though. Having not been exposed to Garrett's fiction, its hard to say whether his full input would have markedly changed anything, let alone improving it. What we have though, is pretty good.
Having made it this far into the series, you know that Ricardo has merged with the memories of a young man from Gandalara. He's bonded to a giant telepathic cat and is in love with Tarani, an illusionist who has also merged with the memories of the last young woman Ricardo talked to before they were both apparently hit by a meteor and sent to this world. By a stroke of luck it turns out that she's eligible to be a High Lord of Eddarta, which is cool but not as cool as the fact that she also managed to gain a telepathic giant cat that is partnered with Ricardo's and given birth to his cubs. Its all cute. Unfortunately, a good number of people who are handy with swords want them dead, which isn't as cute.
When we last left our heroes they had discovered that the magic gem the Ra'ira (which has the benefit of elevating someone's mental powers) was not in their possession as they thought and instead was in the hands of someone who had pretended to be an ally earlier in the series and was now controlling the entire city of Raithskar for the purpose of bwhahahahchaos. Their mission is simple: stop him, preferably by separating parts of his body from the rest of him. But the actual accomplishing of that task is the hard part and even if they succeed, is that going to be end of their troubles?
One thing this series has done well is give us seven distinct novels that use the completion of one plot to springboard into another, mostly organically. As we've been going along our understanding of the world has been expanding, something that finally culminates as Ricardo realizes the nature of Gandalara and where they actually are and what that means for the future. Heydron takes us there step by step and its a credit to the series that she never tries to blindside us with "everything you know is wrong" revelations but forces us to adjust and adapt and reconsider what we were told earlier as Ricardo himself learns more about the world. Rarely is there is a spit-take "holy crap" left turn but more a thoughtful "aha" as pieces suddenly lock into place while the rest of the puzzle is unveiled.
Its a thoughtful approach for a series that has been thoughtful all the way through. For a man possessed of a body that would make Olympic coaches the world over drool (minus the tusks, maybe, which weirdly never seem to appear on the cover art) he continues his trend of attempting to have an actual plan before running in and hacking off limbs, even if that winds up being the actual result. It gives the action scenes a real sense of weight, as he's often evenly matched and/or outnumbered and can't simply blindly swing his way out of it. For the most part the series has been about adaptation, Ricardo to the world, to Tarani, Keeshah the cat and everyone else he comes into contact with but also the world adapting to him and seeing how both become changed in the process. Almost no one in this book who lives to the end is the same person as they first appeared, they've grown, been wrong, suffered, triumphed and if they're lucky come out with a better understanding of what it all means, whether its Ricardo and Tarani learning to how to be better than themselves for the sake of each other, or Ricardo and Keeshah altering how the other sees the world (one of the more interesting sequences in the series is Ricardo trying to explain to a giant feline who has no idea what concepts are exactly what a concept is).
That sense lends itself to the book's ultimate resolution, which true to its nature isn't killing the big bad guy but realizing that changes are coming (linked to the world's true nature alluded to earlier) and figuring out how to save not just themselves, but everyone. It means bringing everyone together in a final understanding and one last adaptation that stays true to the book's nature. Its an final stretch that takes the series to its graceful conclusion, having given us almost every frontier, on land, in the mind and in the past. It wraps up by doing what the best series do, explain all the biggest mysteries while leaving us with the vital question of what happens to these people now?
Its been an interesting mix of the epic and the personal throughout and the finale ties the two together, keying Ricardo and Tarani's survival to the survival of the world itself and bringing to an end a story that has felt not so much like a series of tasks that have to be accomplished before moving onto the next level but an actual journey taken by real people, who have to hope all along that they're doing the right thing. When the series started it was only Ricardo worrying about himself and Keeshah, but by the end he's got a lot more than that to consider, and also a lot more help to make it all turn out right. And for anyone going through life whose business card doesn't read "professional hermit" as you get older you find the first part comforting and with luck its balanced with the second. And if eventually have to stop, then let it be like these people, with a sense of accomplishment, the mystery of what lies ahead for everyone who goes forward and the abiding certainty that it will turn just fine.
A pleasant surprise to stumble across in my Internet searching all those years ago, this series is almost criminally obscure now and worth discovering again (Ms Heydron appears to be still with us, although these seem to be her last writing credits). And if Garrett was unfortunately never able to confirm to her that she did, indeed, do well, I'll just say here, for what it's worth . . . yeah, she did.
For people who enjoy context, a little background. The entire series was conceived by SF writer Randall Garrett and his wife Vicki Ann Heydron. They had an outline and I'm guessing some detailed plots but a couple years before the first book was published Garrett became ill from encephalitis and spent the rest of his life (about eight more years) in a come that he never recovered from, leaving his wife to see it through.
By all reports (and by that, I mean the author bio in the back) the outline they had come up with for the series got sketchier toward the end and so by the time she reached this book she was mostly completely on her own. Would it have deviated too much from what the two of them working fully together throughout would have come up with? We'll never know.
That's fine, though. Having not been exposed to Garrett's fiction, its hard to say whether his full input would have markedly changed anything, let alone improving it. What we have though, is pretty good.
Having made it this far into the series, you know that Ricardo has merged with the memories of a young man from Gandalara. He's bonded to a giant telepathic cat and is in love with Tarani, an illusionist who has also merged with the memories of the last young woman Ricardo talked to before they were both apparently hit by a meteor and sent to this world. By a stroke of luck it turns out that she's eligible to be a High Lord of Eddarta, which is cool but not as cool as the fact that she also managed to gain a telepathic giant cat that is partnered with Ricardo's and given birth to his cubs. Its all cute. Unfortunately, a good number of people who are handy with swords want them dead, which isn't as cute.
When we last left our heroes they had discovered that the magic gem the Ra'ira (which has the benefit of elevating someone's mental powers) was not in their possession as they thought and instead was in the hands of someone who had pretended to be an ally earlier in the series and was now controlling the entire city of Raithskar for the purpose of bwhahahahchaos. Their mission is simple: stop him, preferably by separating parts of his body from the rest of him. But the actual accomplishing of that task is the hard part and even if they succeed, is that going to be end of their troubles?
One thing this series has done well is give us seven distinct novels that use the completion of one plot to springboard into another, mostly organically. As we've been going along our understanding of the world has been expanding, something that finally culminates as Ricardo realizes the nature of Gandalara and where they actually are and what that means for the future. Heydron takes us there step by step and its a credit to the series that she never tries to blindside us with "everything you know is wrong" revelations but forces us to adjust and adapt and reconsider what we were told earlier as Ricardo himself learns more about the world. Rarely is there is a spit-take "holy crap" left turn but more a thoughtful "aha" as pieces suddenly lock into place while the rest of the puzzle is unveiled.
Its a thoughtful approach for a series that has been thoughtful all the way through. For a man possessed of a body that would make Olympic coaches the world over drool (minus the tusks, maybe, which weirdly never seem to appear on the cover art) he continues his trend of attempting to have an actual plan before running in and hacking off limbs, even if that winds up being the actual result. It gives the action scenes a real sense of weight, as he's often evenly matched and/or outnumbered and can't simply blindly swing his way out of it. For the most part the series has been about adaptation, Ricardo to the world, to Tarani, Keeshah the cat and everyone else he comes into contact with but also the world adapting to him and seeing how both become changed in the process. Almost no one in this book who lives to the end is the same person as they first appeared, they've grown, been wrong, suffered, triumphed and if they're lucky come out with a better understanding of what it all means, whether its Ricardo and Tarani learning to how to be better than themselves for the sake of each other, or Ricardo and Keeshah altering how the other sees the world (one of the more interesting sequences in the series is Ricardo trying to explain to a giant feline who has no idea what concepts are exactly what a concept is).
That sense lends itself to the book's ultimate resolution, which true to its nature isn't killing the big bad guy but realizing that changes are coming (linked to the world's true nature alluded to earlier) and figuring out how to save not just themselves, but everyone. It means bringing everyone together in a final understanding and one last adaptation that stays true to the book's nature. Its an final stretch that takes the series to its graceful conclusion, having given us almost every frontier, on land, in the mind and in the past. It wraps up by doing what the best series do, explain all the biggest mysteries while leaving us with the vital question of what happens to these people now?
Its been an interesting mix of the epic and the personal throughout and the finale ties the two together, keying Ricardo and Tarani's survival to the survival of the world itself and bringing to an end a story that has felt not so much like a series of tasks that have to be accomplished before moving onto the next level but an actual journey taken by real people, who have to hope all along that they're doing the right thing. When the series started it was only Ricardo worrying about himself and Keeshah, but by the end he's got a lot more than that to consider, and also a lot more help to make it all turn out right. And for anyone going through life whose business card doesn't read "professional hermit" as you get older you find the first part comforting and with luck its balanced with the second. And if eventually have to stop, then let it be like these people, with a sense of accomplishment, the mystery of what lies ahead for everyone who goes forward and the abiding certainty that it will turn just fine.
A pleasant surprise to stumble across in my Internet searching all those years ago, this series is almost criminally obscure now and worth discovering again (Ms Heydron appears to be still with us, although these seem to be her last writing credits). And if Garrett was unfortunately never able to confirm to her that she did, indeed, do well, I'll just say here, for what it's worth . . . yeah, she did.
March 4, 2024
This seventh book finally wraps up everything, mysteries are revealed, the earth moves, the real Ra’ira is found, the last known baddies are defeated, and there’s at least a chance that all will live happily ever after.
It’s a more exciting book than its predecessors. Up to now we’ve been stepping through the long and complicated plot, not slowly but at a measured pace, and now things really start to happen.
This has to be the best of the series since the first one, which was good in a different way: it had the novelty of Ricardo’s arrival in a new and surprising world, and I suppose that Randall Garrett made a more substantial contribution to it before he was incapacitated. Whereas I guess that books 2 to 7 were largely written by Vicki Ann Heydron, with Randall Garrett contributing mainly to the initial outline.
The weakness of this book is that, all along, people (and even sha’um) are too easily persuaded by Rikardon and Tarani. It’s pleasant, in a way, that goodness prevails in this world, but it seems too easy: it’s unconvincing.
The baddies are not usually persuaded; they have to be defeated. However, in the real world, well-meaning goodies have to struggle with the great mass of people who are not particularly bad nor particularly good, but uncommitted, unpersuaded, and uncooperative. And it’s these in-between people who aren’t properly represented in this book.
The series as a whole is well conceived. The scenario was a good idea and the details of the environment feel right. The plot was carefully planned. It could have been a classic series, but some magic ingredient in the writing is missing, and so Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories remain more enjoyable and therefore better known than this very different exercise in fiction.
I find the central character of Ricardo/Rikardon rather annoying. He’s mostly presented as wise, good, and able. His tendency to self-doubt should be endearing. But it’s coupled with intermittent attacks of bad behaviour, stupidity, and foot-in-mouth disease. Perhaps Randall Garrett had this kind of dual personality himself, but it’s not easy to live with, even in fiction.
Although some explanation and justification is attempted, it remains hard to believe that some sha’um (great cats) of this world are willing to place themselves in the service of men for very intangible rewards, and to tolerate considerable hardships, when they could easily live free (as most of them continue to do).
It’s a more exciting book than its predecessors. Up to now we’ve been stepping through the long and complicated plot, not slowly but at a measured pace, and now things really start to happen.
This has to be the best of the series since the first one, which was good in a different way: it had the novelty of Ricardo’s arrival in a new and surprising world, and I suppose that Randall Garrett made a more substantial contribution to it before he was incapacitated. Whereas I guess that books 2 to 7 were largely written by Vicki Ann Heydron, with Randall Garrett contributing mainly to the initial outline.
The weakness of this book is that, all along, people (and even sha’um) are too easily persuaded by Rikardon and Tarani. It’s pleasant, in a way, that goodness prevails in this world, but it seems too easy: it’s unconvincing.
The baddies are not usually persuaded; they have to be defeated. However, in the real world, well-meaning goodies have to struggle with the great mass of people who are not particularly bad nor particularly good, but uncommitted, unpersuaded, and uncooperative. And it’s these in-between people who aren’t properly represented in this book.
The series as a whole is well conceived. The scenario was a good idea and the details of the environment feel right. The plot was carefully planned. It could have been a classic series, but some magic ingredient in the writing is missing, and so Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories remain more enjoyable and therefore better known than this very different exercise in fiction.
I find the central character of Ricardo/Rikardon rather annoying. He’s mostly presented as wise, good, and able. His tendency to self-doubt should be endearing. But it’s coupled with intermittent attacks of bad behaviour, stupidity, and foot-in-mouth disease. Perhaps Randall Garrett had this kind of dual personality himself, but it’s not easy to live with, even in fiction.
Although some explanation and justification is attempted, it remains hard to believe that some sha’um (great cats) of this world are willing to place themselves in the service of men for very intangible rewards, and to tolerate considerable hardships, when they could easily live free (as most of them continue to do).
August 23, 2021
For me, a satisfying conclusion to this series. I've just finished them again for possibly the 5th or maybe even the 8th time. I enjoy the premise behind these stories and of course it's easy to put ourselves in the zone by imagining if it had happened to us .
May 28, 2015
While I enjoyed the wrap-up of the series - a cracking good adventure overall - I find this somewhat lacking in a number of ways, largely because the story dragged out for the last three books and then everything necessary was CRAMMED into this one. There were at least four major climaxes shoved into this book, and it left the huge overall arc dangling at the end.
Every dangling plot line is hastily wrapped up as new dangers are introduced, with Rikardon running once again back and forth across the face of Gandalara as the land starts to fall apart around them. If it's not one thing, it's another, as we finally learn WHERE they are, and why they were sent; but between earthquakes and volcanoes and trips into the All-Mind, plus getting back to Raithskar to finish off the main storyline from book one, which is glossed over in the excitement over the impending disaster...
It's all too much. Most of this should have been wrapped up sooner, and told with more grace instead of shoved into a few chapters at the end.
I would also have loved to have seen a final frame, with some of the descendants accessing the life memories that we've seen being recorded -- to see if the Gandalarans made it to the top, and that this all worked. That would have been nice.
I liked the series a lot... but I was disappointed in the end.
Every dangling plot line is hastily wrapped up as new dangers are introduced, with Rikardon running once again back and forth across the face of Gandalara as the land starts to fall apart around them. If it's not one thing, it's another, as we finally learn WHERE they are, and why they were sent; but between earthquakes and volcanoes and trips into the All-Mind, plus getting back to Raithskar to finish off the main storyline from book one, which is glossed over in the excitement over the impending disaster...
It's all too much. Most of this should have been wrapped up sooner, and told with more grace instead of shoved into a few chapters at the end.
I would also have loved to have seen a final frame, with some of the descendants accessing the life memories that we've seen being recorded -- to see if the Gandalarans made it to the top, and that this all worked. That would have been nice.
I liked the series a lot... but I was disappointed in the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 22, 2012
The conclusion to the Gandalara Cycle, written mostly by Randall Garrett's wife. This book does very well in wrapping this series up. Sad to end it, but happy that a long-term solution was implemented, thus changing the evolution and history of the human race. So a satifsfying conlusion.
January 5, 2016
Nice wrap up book to end the series. all the story lines get resolved in a nice way and not in a predictable manner. Above average SiFi/Fantasy read. Very recommended
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October 23, 2025In the Valley of the Mists, Rikardon and Tarani have discovered an ancient truth that will alter the destiny of Gandalara forever. But, an evil lord has enslaved the land through the mystic force of the sacred stoned called the Ra'ira. Outlawed and hunted, Rikardon and Tarani stage a daring and desperate raid to shatter his death-grip of fear. In this stunning epic, this sweeping saga of Grandalara reaches its unexpected, awe-inspiring conclusion as the secret of this strange desert world is revealed at last.
April 4, 2022
Well, the conclusion to this saga was quite unexpected, no spoilers, but it's only the second of a long-term favourite book series to have a historical geological event at its centre (the other being Julian May's astonishing 'Saga Of Pleistocene Exile').
A worthy and satisfying tying up of loose ends, and I can't help but hope that Vicki Ann takes up the reins once more at some point in the future....
A worthy and satisfying tying up of loose ends, and I can't help but hope that Vicki Ann takes up the reins once more at some point in the future....
August 16, 2023
The final book in the Gandalara series, ‘The River Wall’ is a satisfying conclusion to the saga of Rikardon and Tarani. The plot surrounding the theft of the Ra’ira and the misuse of its power is finally wrapped up, and we at last find out where Gandalara really is. An enjoyable read.
March 23, 2014
Great ending that I didn't immediately see. A worthy finale. Gandalara Cycle 4,& 6 were definitely the weakest of the series so I was pleased the last book improved. The set is still worth the read; very creative.
May 11, 2013
Reread in May 2013. The last book may be my favorite of the series. The surprise time travel element of the plot still seems questionable to me, but it's a pretty awesome concept.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2009
The exciting end to the Gandalara Cycle. Truths are uncovered, people we think we know turn out to not be what they seem, and disaster is somehow averted. Check it out.
September 30, 2016
Amazing Series!
This is one of the best series I've ever read. Even after having read it several times I still find something new each time I read it.
This is one of the best series I've ever read. Even after having read it several times I still find something new each time I read it.
October 3, 2019
Conclusion of the series, where many mysteries are revealed. Great book, still a favorite.
May 12, 2008
This desert world lives!
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April 7, 2012Ne abbiamo parlato sul blog nell'articolo sul planetary romance:
http://wp.me/p29Hyy-2w
http://wp.me/p29Hyy-2w
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews