The Search for Kä

Gandalara Cycle #5

by Randall Garrett, Vicki Ann Heydron

Rikardon and Tarani, along with Keeshah and Yayshah, search for the lost city of Ka to find an enchanted sword and to prove Tarani's claim to the throne of Eddarta

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Randall 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.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice 5th book in the series. The story builds upon the first 4 books well. Nice read. Recommended

[Emelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair bit better than book 4 to be sure. It is another book where not a lot happens, and instead just revisits some of the character interactions from previous books with barely any evolution. Reading them back to back has shown that a lot of each book is recapping/reacting to the end of book 4.

[AmbushPredator · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leaving Yayshah behind to have her cubs, Rikardon and Tarani go in search of the lost city to retrieve the King's Sword, which Rikardon believes will resolve the dual nature of Tarani/Antonia in the way Serkajon's Sword did for him. But will it, since the circumstances are so different?

The answer will only be found in the past.

[James]

Rikardon and Tarani, with Keeshah and his mate Yayshah, set off on their quest for the lost city of Ka to find the twin to Serkajon's sword and prove Tarani's claim to the throne of Eddarta.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book comes as a relief after the previous one: it makes relatively pleasant reading, and also moves with reasonable pace and includes a number of significant plot events.

Rikardon and Tarani still struggle with moments of disagreement and lack of trust, but the problems between them are not as bad now.

I still don’t find here the compelling scenes that motivate me to reread a book. I’ve read it this time only because I last read it so long ago that I’d forgotten the story. So I think this is a straight two-star novel: “It was OK.”

Heydron (who actually wrote these books, planned by her and Garrett) is capable of writing fiction competently, but seems to lack the knack of writing compelling scenes.

Incidentally, the letter ä is normally pronounced rather like the letter e, so Kä should sound similar to qué in Spanish, which means ‘what?’. The title of this book could thus be understood as “The search for What?”

[Angela Randall]

We own the omnibus of books 4-6: Gandalara Cycle Omnibus #2: Books 4-6

[Il Futuro è tornato]

Ne abbiamo parlato sul blog nell'articolo sul planetary romance:

http://wp.me/p29Hyy-2w

[Steve Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the whole series I would give it more stars. The interaction between cat and rider made for a great imagination trip!!!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure now I read this far -- but I still don't remember more than a vague overview of the whole.

It's keeping me riveted this time, that's for sure.

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and even the silverfish enjoyed it as the edge of the cover has been eaten by them, when book was stored away. Bastards.