Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Heartlight
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Class/Genre: Science Fiction
Tor, Sep 1998, $25.95, 416 pp.
During World War II, Colin MacLaren fought for the Americans against the Nazis. Specifically, his battles raged on a more esoteric plane as the soldier of the light fights his Black magick counterparts. When the war successfully ended on all the fronts, Colin continues to battle against evil doers. His chief adversaryis Toller Hasloch, trying to form a fourth Reich using the powers of the arcane.
Over the next four decades, Colin teaches the safe use of magic to adepts in order to keep them from going to the wrong side even as he heads towards a final confrontation with his malevolent counterpart. At the same, Colin continues to seek his own replacement because the war between good and evil is eternal.
HEARTLIGHT should have been called deja vu as Marion Zimmer Bradley has taken the background and a secondary player from the three previous "Light" tales and propelled the scenery and the individual into the forefront. Fans of the four books will love this brilliant maneuver, which the author effortlessly turns into a well-written story line. However, the outcome (at least for those who have read GHOSTLIGHT, WITCHLIGHT, and GRAVELIGHT) is pre-ordained, leaving some readers knowing whether the light can triumph over the dark. Additionally, Colin is so heavenly angelic, he loses reader support. Still, this novel and Ms. Bradley's previous three books are divinely scribed occult tales that will please fans of the sub-genre.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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