"The Limbreth Gate" is the culmination of the Windsinger Series. It rises beyond adventure in challenging the reader to confront destiny, good vs. evil, freedom, and divinity. Ki's enemies entice her to the domain of the Limbreth, a bored and arrogant local god. He reveals to Ki the secrets of her past, and forces her to view her brief life from his own timeless perspective, thereby manipulating her to do his will. From this spell, Ki's lover Vandien, assisted by a savage Brurjan, attempt to rescue her. But what is the difference between "rescue" and "kidnapping" - snatching her away from her chance for enlightenment and creative fulfillment? And who is to say what one's purpose in life should be? This is a book you will think about a long time.

There isn't much I could say about the third part of this trilogy which I haven't already said in my reviews of "Harpy's Flight" and "The Windsingers." Ki, our favorite Romni, who so much cherishes her independence and free will has to find out how easily that can be robbed from her. Only Vandien, who loves Ki and to whom a commitment would also mean losing some independence can help her to regain it.

If you read the other parts of the trilogy, you will probably be surprised how it all turns out and perhaps not comfortable, but still be satisfied. That is because things stay believable and Lindholm made the wise choice not to kitsch it up. Especially Ki's statement at the end makes her more human than ever and you will feel along with the change Vandien has to cope with. This is again what I already said makes Lindholm's characters so believable, because she gives them comfortable and uncomfortable feelings in themselves and toward each other, something we all know and can relate to.

Tillu lost her parents... in a raid and is left behind pregnant when she was a young girl. Kerlew, her son, is a strange, difficult child, humilated by most people for his strangeness, but loved by Tillu, who became a healer in the meanwhile. Carp, the vicious shaman, discovers that Kerlew has the gift of becoming a great shaman himself. He wants Kerlew, to use him to increase his own power and he wants Tillu for his bed. Tillu flees with the boy and finds the reindeer people, where she believes she is save from Carp. She struggles with her emotions for Heckram, gets threatened by cruel Joboam, who hates Kerlew...well, I don't want to spoil the book for you and so I stop here...It is a book you will love to read again and again. Also recommended is "Wolf Brother", which continues the story of Tillu and Kerlew.

Tillu lost her parents and got raped in a raid and is left behind pregnant when she was a young girl. Kerlew, her son, is a strange, difficult child, humilated by most people for his strangeness, but loved by Tillu, who became a healer in the meanwhile. Carp, the vicious shaman, discovers that Kerlew has the gift of becoming a great shaman himself. He wants Kerlew, to use him to increase his own power and he wants Tillu for his bed. Tillu flees with the boy and finds the reindeer people, where she believes she is save from Carp. She struggles with her emotions for Heckram, gets threatened by cruel Joboam, who hates Kerlew...well, I don't want to spoil the book for you and so I stop here...It is a book you will love to read again and again. Also recommended is "Wolf Brother", which continues the story of Tillu and Kerlew.

In the first book of the Windsinger series, Harpy's Flight, Lindholm describes a struggle to cease from mourning, to accept the worthwhileness of life despite the fact of death and loss. In this second book of the series, Lindholm goes on to ask whether, after all, there is nobility in common humanity, or whether we should aspire to graduate, to transform into creatures with longevity and power. The Windsingers are mistresses of the weather and political intrigue. They are as fascinating and scary a women's club as the Bene Gerit or the Aes Sedai in other fantasy worlds. In this book, Ki's lover Vandien attempts to retrieve a sacred relic of the Windsingers. As a reward, his painful and humiliating facial scar will supposedly be healed. Meanwhile Ki unwittingly becomes the agent of the Windsingers' most powerful enemy, the Wizard Dresh. But who can really be trusted? What is the real reward, and what the actual cost of success? This is a great story, with plenty humor, suspense, and good sense. These books should never have gone out of print and I trust a new edition will be published soon. In the meantime, it is well worth its cost on the used book exchange.

I was fifteen when I found this book and the third part of theWindsinger trilogy on the leftover table of a local bookstore. By aninner impulse I bought them and never regretted it. If I had known beforehand how well written and deeply involving these books were, I probably would have been willing to pay much more than I had...the fate of these books tells us how easily very good novels can be overlooked in the neverending line of average fantasy books they are published along with.

As I said in the review to "Harpy's Flight," Lindholm created one of the most vivid worlds in fantasy writing you'll encounter. She walks on the grate of being able to tell the reader how this world and all its powers work and still leaving it enough of it secrets to keep it out of a sterile light, which would reveal it all. She highly succeeded in that. For example, you will find out that the "Windsingers," girls and women who form some sort of cult, are able to steer the weather by their singing and can bring misery or wealth to whoever displeases or pleases them. Some is revealed of how they formed and what powers might lie beyond them, but Ki, one of the main characters in the book, won't find out and you aren't either. Ki can only imagine as far as she cares and so can only you.

Where character development was still, well, "developing" in Harpy's Flight, it is in very good condition here. Ki is a very strong female lead and equal to Vandien, her partner who travels along with her from time to time. What makes them so deep is that they are not perfect. They encounter sides to themselves and each other they might not like but have to get along with. This development is especially true for Ki in this trilogy, but Vandien gets his share in "Luck of the Wheels." They are imperfect, sometimes moody, have a couple of bad habits but are good at heart. In other words, they are human and have a personality and you'll hate to part with them.

If you manage to get a hold of one of these books you are in for some very enjoyable time. END

You must read this book. You will feel like you are there in the book, and it is one of thoose books that leaves you feeling good. If you like books by Tamora Pierce or Elizabeth Moon you will love Harpy's Flight. I think it's orignal thought and not so long that you tire of reading story. Even though it is out of print you should do anything to get your hands on this book.

I first read this book (and the other books of the Windsinger series) about 15 years ago. I know I enjoyed it then. I have enjoyed many fantasy novels over the years, and occasionally I have enjoyed rereading them. But I have never felt compelled, after so many years, to seek out a book which was out of print. When I finally got a hold of Harpy's Flight, I found I remembered the central characters vividly, but the plot seemed new and fresh. Ki has lost her family in a brutal attack by harpies, sentient flying creatures. Her first thought is vengeance, and then survival. Along the way, she meets a down and out adventurer, Vandien, when he makes an unsuccessful attempt to rob her. The central characters, Ki and Vandien, are tough, strong, and very human. Their relationship, as they confront dangers, grows in a measured, realistic way. They do not solve each other's problems, but they do help each other survive. As I continued reading, I found some insight as to why I felt so drawn to this particular book at this time of my life. It is about letting go of the past and making a positive decision to live in the face of loss. In the midst of a rich, brightly colored, and strange world, Lindholm somehow draws you in to experience the most intense and sensual grief, anger, love, and compassion, and to make it your own. (Is this a kind of surrealism?) This book is a classic of fantasy literature, and should never have gone out of print.

Harpy's Flight is the beginning of Megan Lindholm's Windersinger trilogy, which, although overlooked by many and often regarded as just another couple of fantasy novels, stands far out of the crowd. Lindholm created a vivid world and tells us enough of it to understand the deeper mechanisms that keep it working but still leaves enough to the reader to let him fill in the rest with his own imagination. In Harpy's Flight character development seems a little shaky compared to the following novels, but Ki and Vandien, the two main protagonists, are highly enjoyable to be acquainted with. There are some quite surprising twists in the story and the book will keep you glued to it to find out what it all comes down to. You probably won't regret buying this book.

I borrowed Alien Earth from the "young adult" rack of the local library. ( There were, unfortunately, only two and a half Megan Lindholm books on the shelves of the whole library system - Harpy's Flight, Alien Earth, and Gypsy.) Science fiction fans may find that the story of Alien Earth does not cover new ground : Humans return on an alien ship after being rescued from an ecologically devastated Earth generations earlier. Sophisticated readers may not be surprized by the turns of the plot. On the other hand, the story is told with passion and style. An offhand remark by one character to the sentient "beastship" in the middle of the book changes everything. The biology and ecology of alien species and planets is well worked out, and one can imagine a good movie derived from this book. Fans of Megan Lindholm will recognize her themes and creative strengths from her earlier Windsinger series, and lately as Robin Hobb, in the Farseer and Liveship trilogies. She brings to the reader intimate knowledge of the experience of exotic creatures. She challenges readers to ask themselves what it means to be "human" and whether that is in itself worthwhile or sufficient. So, if you're a young adult (or older adult, or wise child) and you can find a copy Alien Earth, check it out. If you find it appealing you will want to make the investment in the other out-of-print Megan Lindholm books, or the currently available Robin Hobbs trilogies.

John is a mariner, the captain of a beastship. He has reached the pinnacle of his career, sacrificed and worked his whole lift to attain his goal. Yet he is still unhappy. For, despite his nominal title of captain, he is really only a passenger on a great beastship. The real control belongs to Tug, an Arthroplana, and John will never have a chance of even communicating with the beastship Evangeline, much less controlling her.

He sails the stars, asleep in a womb onboard the ship, awake only a fraction of the time. He takes long, exotic trips, and each time he returns to port, years have passed. The fashions change, the people cycle through peroids of austerity and "freedom." Each time, the succeeding generations are tinier, changed to make less impact on the environment, and more despairing.

Humanity strives to learn from its mistakes which destroyed Earth. It has made itself smaller to make less impact and attempts to live in total harmony with the environment, neither taking nor leaving nothing from it: everything is completely biodegradable, totally temporary. Their numbers dwindle, and as the years pass, the old knowlege from Earth is lost, censored, and destroyed. Though their livespans extended up to two hundred years, their puberty is delayed as long as possible, so by the time it comes, they are no longer fertile. They live dominated by the Arthroplana, mere visitors on the planets the live on, dissenters "readjusted" or sent as workers to isolated mining stations, because only the Arthroplana have interstellar travel. And as the years pass, it seems the Arthroplana's tolerance grows shorter.

John has just lost his contract, and the only institution willing to hire him is the Human Conservatory. They want him to survey Earth, to find out the condition of the planet. The Arthroplana say that it is long dead, poisoned and toxic. They think that the Arthroplana are lying...

---- I think the major difference between the author's Megan Lindholm writing and Robin Hobb writing is that it's grittier. Her only science fiction novel takes some standard SF themes and makes them fresh and different. Her chracters, as always, are exquistely portrayed. The plot was somewhat predictable but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I especially enjoyed John and Connie's reactions to Earth. Their reactions felt very natural, and Lindholm made me feel their feelings of total alieness on this planet. The name sums it all up: Alien Earth.

I found this book reminded me of The Madness Season, by C. S. Friedman. Alien Earth superficially covers some of the same themes and ideas, but despite the common elements, The Madness Season is a totally different and enjoyable book. Friedman shares the ability to draw well-rounded, intriguing characters. If you liked this book, you should check out The Madness Season.

------ From the back cover of Alien Earth:

Far from home, the Human race tries to atone for killing Terra thousands of years ago. Rescued by the enigmatic Arthroplana in their mysterious Beastships, they have been inserted into the fragile ecologies of alien twin worlds where they must make no impact, where every drop of water must be returned. Humanity has adjusted--or tried to.

Despite the constant watch of the Arthroplana and the Human Conservancay, John Gen-93-Beta has agreed to captain the Beastship Evangeline on an unthinkable journey to a dead planet...Earth.

And so begins an engrossing voyage of discovery for five travelers: John, his first mate Connie, stowaway Raef, Tug the Arthroplana, and the Beastship Evangeline herself. On a planet none quite expected, each learns the power of being human. ---

Other readers have already told what the book is about, so I won't go into that. I've read "Alien Earth" several times, and I actually enjoy it more each time that I read it.
The story was a little "different" from what I'm used to - but it began to grow on me as I read it. It's a shame that it's out of print and not so easily obtained, because many people who like science-fiction would adore this book.
I do have to say that I totally agree with another reviewer when they said that "Evangeline" the beastship, was their favorite character. I think the only "beast" in the book was the manipulative "Tug". Who would have thought that a ship (and a so-called, "Beastship") would be such an awesome character. I would definetly read a second book based on "Alien Earth".

SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-), Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F)

DIALOGUE: B- STRUCTURE: C+ HISTORY SETTING: n/a CHARACTERS: B EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: C EMOTIONAL IMPACT: C+ SURPRISES: B- MONSTERS: n/a PACING: C- OVERALL STYLE: B- FLOW OF WORDS: B CHOICE OF FOCUS: B- TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: B- COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: B- OVERALL GRADE: C+

QUICK REVIEW: I really enjoyed the opening. It started out like a fairy tale (similar to Tolkien) and we had this intriguing idea; what if all the homeless people were tapped into special magical powers and used it to accomplish mundane tasks (i.e., get people to give them things; find food and a place to sleep). Wizard, the main character, always attracted trouble people when he rode the bus. This was a really great idea and humanized him. Then, he was able to show a verbally abusive father how he was handling his son incorrectly. But after Wizard went off to meet the other homeless people it started to lose steam. The story spent too much time on actual homelessness and Wizard had a not so spectacular meeting with his gaseous nemesis. All he did was turn into a turtle and go into his shell until the enemy left. Then, we hit the flashback of his past when he was chopping off chicken heads. After that part and the overall slow movement, I lost interest.

When I finished Wizard of the Pigeons, I immediately went looking for more by Megan Lindholm. I was sad to find that most of what she's written is out of print. She has the same skill at finding the magic, that sense of Other, in unexpected places as Charles De Lint does. Who'd think there'd be magic in a flock of city pigeons and an almost empty bag of popcorn?

Wizard of the Pigeons is an exquistely written book. It's well crafted, perfectly carried out. Also read her other books under the name Robin Hobb.

Summary on the back cover:

The other street people called him Wizard. He just wanted to be left alone.

He came back from Vietnam thinking he'd left its evils behind forever; he never wanted to feel the intoxicating rush of battle again.

But something wicked was drifting through the streets, a black magic that threatened the entire city--and only Wizard had the power to stop it.

Soon he would have to make a choice: To stand and fight, or turn and run. To be a wizard, or just a man.

The time had come to choose...

While the two story elements blend together in a satisfactory way, the pacing and balance of the story are unsatisfactory. I agree with other reviewers that the first third is confusing. I wish that the story had been structured differently, so that the revelations emerged in a more straightforward manner. While I will continue to list this book as one of the most imaginative and haunting police procedurals, It is marred by the undisciplined story line.

I love the coachman.

Its......beautiful. While so many people say that it's too bogged down with the mystic undertones, I believe that's what makes the book. Anytime you lack comprehension, it only brings a sense of joy when you finally do understand what's going on. That joyful tingle with run up and down your spine. Trying to understand it is like trying to understand your dreams. This book is like reading a dream.

Brust and Lindholm blend elements of Hungarian fantasy and fable with a detective story that trudges through the noir underbelly of the big city, and soars in the mythical dark woods of fairy tales. THE GYPSY is pure magic!

All right, all romances don't have to have happy endings. But 'Cloven Hooves' goes beyond 'not happy' into 'downright miserable'. Everything goes wrong with the main character: she doesn't fit in as a child; when she finally grows up and has a family of her own, her inlaws despise her, and her son is killed in a farm accident. And despite what looks like a happy occurrence -- her childhood friend, a faun/satyr, comes back into her life -- that's doomed to misery as well.

I simply can't recommend this book, unless a reader likes to see a character always unhappy.

Megan Lindholm taps the root of teen angst and the pain of being different while struggling against societal norms for a young woman. Her prose and timing are brilliant and the enlightenment almost heart breaking. Her characters shine with life. She employs a technique of jumping back and forth between young woman/mother and child teen from chapter to chapter. I've rarely seen this used successfully, but Lindholm makes it seem ideal.

Even as a man, I felt and perhaps began to understand the agony a teenage girl/young woman can feel when she refuses to or can't "fit in". The character of Pan just feels right and adds to the magic of childhood, motherhood, and the struggle for independent thought. The story would have worked well even without the mythic side turning out to be "real", but throughout is original and uncontrived.

Only someone who refuses to read literature that asks us to grow and insists on only cheery stories could fail to see the brilliance of Cloven Hooves. From beginning to end it is unique, balanced, and extraordinary. I recommend it at the highest level.

I would recommend this book; I have never forgetten it, but I will never read it again, it is so sad. It is well written, like all of her books: I would say it is about reality and fantasy, and reality loses. My favorite book of Lindholm's is Wizard of the Pigeons. Thank you Amazon: I didn't know she was Robin Hobb and learned it from a review. The reviews on Amazon are a delight. Love.

After fleeing the enmity of the Windsingers, Ki and Vandien agree to transport a despised and feared adolescent boy to live with a relative. Along the way, they become enmeshed in a conspiracy against a local tyrant. Luck of the Wheels is a very good adventure story. As in all of Lindholms' books which I've read, the reader is drawn into the characters' experience intensely, and we can't turn away from terror, anger, or even hate. Ki and Vandien continue to grow in their loving and tempestuous relationship.Readers of the Windsinger trilogy will definitely want to read this book as well. I was a bit disappointed that Ki and Vandien did not go on to challenge the Windsingers. I was also disappointed somewhat by the emphasis of the book. Lindholm paints a fascinating world, full of strange beings. For example, this book introduces us to the telepathic Jore. I wanted to know more about them. I wasn't all that interested in the fencing and swordplay, which there is plenty of in fantasy. Nevertheless, I am glad that this book is due to be re released in 2002, and I hope Lindholm someday will return to write more about Ki and Vandien.

Book four of this series finds Ki and Vandien far to the South, trying to make a living as teamsters in unknown territory. Breaking their own rules, they take on passengers and find out more about this region than they wanted. If you liked the first tales of this egalitarian couple that started in the outstanding Harpy's Flight, you should enjoy this adventure. Characters are complex, alien races abound, conspiracies and oddities are everywhere, and Ki and Vaiden's relationship continues to change and grow. I only hope that the author, now writing as Robin Hobb, will one day return to the world of Ki and Vandien.

The fourth of the books about Ki and Vandien - previously met in the Windsinger's Trilogy (Harpy's Flight, The Windsingers, The Limbreth Gate), which is now obviously a quartet.
If you have never read any of them and you like lots of fighting, plenty of blood, minimal plot, unbeatable musclebound heroes, and a story about as deep as a puddle, then don't bother with these. However - if you enjoy fantasy which is fresh and well-drawn, is packed full of interesting characters, creates a world that you will want to visit and explore, and has an outstanding and complex pair of heroes in Ki and Vandien - you will love Lindholm's work. Vandien is a fun-loving and surpisingly honorable rogue with an eye for a pretty girl and a penchant for getting himself into and out of trouble. He meets and ends up travelling with Ki, who appears to have no discernible sense of humour, doesn't trust anyone, can hold her own in any fight, and carries a secret even she isn't aware of.
If you love the books as much as I do you will be greatly disappointed that there are no further Ki & Vandien adventures. Lindholm now writes as Robin Hobb and her books under this name are so popular I doubt we'll end up with a Windsinger's Quintet.
For those who have shared the couple's previous adventures, this is a worthy addition to them - and we learn a great deal more about Vandien's fighting skills, sense of honour, and love for Ki. There is also a certain amount of softening in Ki's character - not only does she actually show that she cares for Vandien, but she has also developed a sense of humour! This addition to the series is, as in the other books, packed with plenty of humour, lots of action, and great characters - many of whom could star in their own trilogy or quartet. I loved it and found it a worthy addition to the others - but I would still like to know what happened to the Windsingers!

Wolf's Brother is the second in a two-part series - the first is titled "Reindeer People" - and both books need to be read together. The two are really one continuous story, and neither stands on its own. I was fortunate to find both in a single paperback volume.

Having said that, I found the book(s) very well done and extremely enjoyable. Before reading it, I had just finished the latest in Jean Auel's series on paleolithic society. Megan Lindholm deals with a somewhat later paleolithic society, one in the far north of Europe that was still in the stone age, though it is clear from the tale that some of the characters are at least aware that other, distant lands have entered the copper and bronze age.

Unlike Ms. Auel's utopian vision of prehistoric life, Lindholm paints a much grittier and, in my opinion, more realistic view of prehistoric life. Life was a constant battle against starvation, disease, and one's fellows, and the heroes struggle to survive in this environment. An interesting twist is Lindholm's characterization of an autistic boy as having special links to the spirit world - he eventually emerges as a powerful shaman for the tribe in the conclusion.

The one thing I find fascinating with so many authors writing about ancient human society, whether Jean Auel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, or Megan Lindholm, is their common tendency to give full credence to ancient religion and magic as real. Undoubtedly, it is one of the things which makes such literature appealing as "escapist" - it yearns for a time when magic really was loose in the world.

At any rate, I highly recommend the Reindeer People/Wolf's Brother series and I hope other's soon discover Megan Lindholm.