These are the fourth and fifth books in the Mageworlds series, and I’m
reviewing them as a pair because in an odd way they go together.

The initial three books in the series tell the story of the Second
Magewar from the viewpoint of Beka Rosselin-Metadi, star-pilot and
Domina-in-waiting of the lost planet of Entibor.
The Gathering Flame takes place a generation earlier, in
the opening days of the First Magewar. As the book begins, the known
galaxy is divided into two regions: the Civilized Worlds, and the
Mageworlds. The Mages have begun to raid the planets of the Civilized
Worlds, which remain woefully disunited in the face of the threat.
And so Perada Rosselin, the Domina of Entibor, travels to the frontier
world of Innish-Kyl to seek a leader with a proven capability to unite
disparate forces to take the war to the Mages–privateer captain Jos
Metadi.

The book goes on to relate Perada’s and Jos’s efforts to unite the
Civilized Worlds, and ends with the destruction of Entibor by the Mages.
(That’s not a spoiler, by the way…this is a prequel, after all, and
you’ll notice that Beka is the Domina-in-waiting of Lost
Entibor.) On the way, we also see a number of scenes from their
respective childhoods.

The Long Hunt, by contrast, takes place a generation
after the Second Magewar, and concerns a number of adventures
had by Beka’s son Jens and his cousin Faral. The events of this book
seem oddly detached from those of the earlier book–but in fact they
are not. And what ties them together is the ghostly presence of one
Errec Ransome, star-pilot, adept, hero of the First Magewar, the
Breaker of Circles.

Ransome worked as a star-pilot as a young man, until his talent
manifested and he became an Adept on the planet Ilarna. So great
were his powers that he was sent to the master guildhouse on
Galcen for training. And shortly after his return to Ilarna, the
planet was attacked by the Mages. The other Adepts in his guildhouse
were slain; young Errec was taken captive.

Both Mages and Adepts can sense the currents of power and probability
that flow through the universe, but they have entirely different
philosophies and goals. Adepts do not manipulate the currents of
power, but try to ride them instead. Mages regard power as a garden
to be tended and brought into pleasing order. Not surprisingly,
they don’t get along.

Errec manages to escape, at great cost to himself, and makes his way
back to the Civilized Worlds, where he falls in with Jos Metadi.
Metadi wants to hunt Mages; Errec is happy to help Jos find them.
And therein hangs a tale. One can argue, in fact, that although
he’s rarely on stage all of the Mageworlds books to date are mostly
about Errec Ransome.

I can’t say more without spoiling things; suffice it to say that I
enjoyed both of these books immensely.