Bibliography
Hooray! Some of R. A. MacAvoy's wonderful books are now back in print with the publisher "E-Rights/E-Reads Ltd," and available through Amazon.com. I have set up direct links to Tea, Twisting the Rope, and The Grey Horse.
Tea with the black dragon (1983) (2000)
Nominated for Hugo "Best Novel" in 1984, Phillip K. Dick Award (PKD) 1984,
Her first novel and a real classic, set in the 1980s in San Fransisco. While not hardcore fantasy, this story is set around a Mayland Long (who was once a Chinese dragon named Oolong) and a zen master (who is also a middle-aged violinist named Martha). Martha's daughter goes missing, followed closely by Martha herself. If you like mysteries in your fantasy, you'll love this. (Also, if you're a computer history buff, you'll be interested.)The Blurb: "R. A. MacAvoy's Tea with the Black Dragon is the tale of a woman named Martha MacNamara - brought west to San Francisco by her daughter's disappearance - and of the man who changed her life: a mysterious Asian gentleman named Mayland Long who risked his ancient magic powers for her in a battle against modern-day computer wizardry. It is an elegantly crafted contemporary fantasy by a remarkable new writer."
Tea with the Black Dragon is back in print!!!!
Order
a copy from Amazon:
Twisting
the rope : Casadh an T'Sugain (1986)
(sequel to Tea with the Black Dragon)
Mayland and Martha return, with Oolong acting as manager to her touring Irish band. Another mystery story, this time a murder has occured. (This is a character-driven story, with not that much action, so people tend to either love it or hate it depending on their reading preferences.)The Blurb:"The peace that Mayland Long has
sought for centuries has once again been shattered. His beloved Martha's
only grandaughter has disappeared. A wild psychic force is loose on the
wind. And one of Martha's motley band of Celtic musicians has just been
found dead, hanged with a rope of twisted grass.
Now it is up to the Black Dragon to find the killer among them. Even
if it turns out to be himself...."
Note: I found this one in a second hand bookshop one day in fascinating circumstances. I was wandering by when I decided to go in with the express purpose of finding and buying it. If you consider that I've never seen another copy of it, and that I hadn't ever found anything good in that shop before, it's rather interesting.
Twisting the Rope is back in print!!!!
Order
a copy from Amazon:
Also released in E-Book
Format
Damiano series
(also published as "Trio for Lute" in 1985)
Set in Italy around the Renaissance, at the start of this series Damiano Delstrego is a witch in a crisis of belief on a pilgrimage to save his village from destruction. He is accompanied by his dog Macchiata ("Spot") and the Archangel Raphael. And no, it isn't a Tolkien-esk intermidable trilogy.Damiano (1983)
This book works OK as a standalone.The Blurb: "He was called Damiano Delstrego: wizard's son, alchemist, heir to dark magics. Yet he was also an innocent, a young scholar and musician befrended by the Archangel Rafael, who instructed him in the lute.
"To save his beloved city from war, Damiano left his cloistered life and set out on a pilgrimage, seeking the aid of the powerful sorceress Saara. But his road was filled with betrayal, disillusionment and death, and Damiano was forced to confront his dark heritage, unleashing the hellish force of his awesome powers to protect those he loved."
Damiano's Lute (1984)
Nominated for The Australian Science Fiction Awards (Ditmars) for Best International Fiction 1985.
Spoiler: I was horrified by what she did with the main character in this book, although she managed to carry it off with the third.The Blurb: "Shattered by the demonic fury of his dark powers, Damiano Destrego has forsaken his magical heritage to live as a mortal man. Accompanied only by the guidance of the Archangel Rafael, the chidings of a brash young rogue, and the memory of a beautiful pagan witch, Damiano journeys across a plague-ridden French countryside in search of piece.
"But the Father of Lies reaches out once again to grasp him. And to avert the hellish destiny awaiting, Damiano must challenge the greatest forces of darkness, armed only with the power of his love and the music of his lute."
Raphael (1984)
Turn about is fair play - Raphael and Damiano basically change places in this story. This one has a cameo appearance by the Black Dragon (a real treat)!The Blurb: "Weakened by his contact
with mortals, the Archangel Rafael falls prey to his brother Lucifer, who
strips him of his divinity. Sold in the Moorish slave markets, confused
and humbled by his sudden humanity, Rafael finds his only solace in the
friendship of the dark-skinned Bedouin woman Djoura, and the spiritual
guardianship of his former pupil Damiano Destrego.
Accompanied by the rakish Gaspare and an ancient black dragon, Damiano's
beloved Saara ambarks on a quest to rescue Rafael. Their odyssey leads
them to a shattering confrontation with the Father of Lies and a transcendent
reckoning with destiny."
The
Grey Horse (1987)(2000)
A light but enjoyable romance set in Carraroe, Connemara, Ireland, about
an irish horse-fairy named Rauiri MacEibhir (Rori, son of Granite). Unusual
romance, interesting history, and a lack of those heaving bosoms that tend
to appear in historical romance.
"There are other lasses, and some much nicer in behaviour"... "But none with a punch like the kick of a horse,"
The Blurb: "From a time when Ireland strained against the reins of English rule, comes a saga lush with enchantment. It begins of an afternoon when the wind blows wet from Galway Bay and a magnificent grey stallion appears in the Irish town of Carraroe. With the horse comes magic, for in its noble shape stands Rauri MacEibhir, who has come in a time of great peril to win the heart of the woman he loves."
The Grey Horse is back in print!!!!
Order
a copy from Amazon:
Also available in E-Book
format.
The Book of Kells (1985)
This story is a time travel tale set in modern Ireland and the Ireland of the late 900s AD. Basically an artist discovers a time portal accidentally and saves a girl from Viking Reavers by bringing her forward in time. He and his (soon to be ex) lover try to return her to her own time, and become trapped. What I enjoyed most in this story is the attention to detail - I was still getting things from it on the 5th read.The Blurb: "John Thornburn was a quiet man, drawn to Ireland by its mystery and majesty, and by the solitude it gave him for his art.
"But then one day, as Celtic pipes played, John opened a portal through time to an Ireland a thousand years earlier, an age of magic, turmoil and bloodshed. There he lost his heart to Ailesh, a lovely young woman who had seen her family and village ravished in a viking raid.
"Accompanied by Derval, a friend and sometime lover from the present,
and Labres MacCullen, a roguish but gifted poet from Ailesh's time, John
embarked on a quest for justice that would take him from a miraculous encounter
with an ancient goddess, to the barbaric splendour of the court of the
King of Dublin, to a holy place where he would discover an awesome destiny."
The Third Eagle : lessons along a minor string (1989)
A first venture into Science Fiction, with some very interesting characters and ideas. More Please!The Blurb: "When the warrior Wanbli came of age, he cast his lot among the stars and left the world where he'd been born. Left it, he thought, forever. His odyssey led him to one ship, then another, and to another still. It brought him face to face with the far-flung members of the universe's Seven Sentient peoples.
"And finally, it brought him to the colony ship Commitment. There, Wanbli learned the true purpose of his life - a mission so vital that it required risking the lives of everyone on the ship and the future of his home world. His mission meant returning to that world... but only if he could stop the deadly machinations of those who sought to stop him."
Lens of the World Series
This is a wonderful fantasy series with a Science Fiction edge. The main character, Nazuret, is a true scientist at heart, but is surrounded by inexplicable things that he mistrusts. The series is set in a pre-industrial world, and narrated by Nazaret in letters written after the fact. This trilogy allows the reader to follow Nazuret through his life - the first is set in his childhood and early twenties, the second in his late twenties, and the third in his mature years.Unfortunately, this series is very hard to find second hand. I can only assume that people treasure it (or that it didn't get the distribution it deserved).
Lens of the World (1990)
The Blurb: "In a memoir to his king, Nazuret tells the tale of his remarkable coming of age - of his rise from the pitiable status of outcast and orphan to that of renowned warrior, philosopher and confidant of the mighty."The story is hardly begun when Nazuret is by chance rather than design - or so it appears to the bewildered boy - abducted from the Royal Sordaling School by a dapper madman. In the lunatic's lair he is confronted by strange ocular and astronomical machines, and subjected to arcane tortures and tests of strength, intelligence and wit for which not even the rigours of millitary schooling have prepared him. But this bizarre apprenticeship is to prove invaluable to the unsuspecting and still rather naive young man.
"For Nazuret's future is bound up with the future of his country and his time with the enigmatic Poul vital preparation for an exceptional destiny..."
King of the Dead (1991)
'I have lost many things I grieve to do without: friends, peace, faith in the coming seasons... All I have gained is an understanding of my name, and it is a name I never wanted.'The Blurb: "Nazuret of Sordaling's life is much changed by the acknowledgement of an unsuspected aristocratic heritage. Charged with a prestigious peace mission to the warring Minsanaur Reingish of Bologhini, he is confronted by more dishonesty, suspicion and outright hatred than he ever encountered as a beggar.
"In the aftermath of an earthquake, from which Nazhuret saves the elderly Sanaur, he and Reingish are proved cousins - a fact that explains the eerie similarity of their features. But rather than promoting peace the relationship brings matters to a head. For Reingish fears that the King of the Dead - for so Nazhuret's name translates - will be acclaimed the present Sanaur's rightful heir and usurp his position..."
The Winter of the Wolf (1993)
(also pub. as The Belly of the Wolf)
The Blurb: "Nazhuret's old friend King Rudolf is dead, reportedly poisoned at the behest of his queen, and civil war threatens. Based in Canton, the traditional foe of the queen's Lowcanton homeland, Nazhuret knows that he must return to Velonya. For her own safety he takes his daughter Navvie along for company."The ship they board also carries one Count Dinaos - the nefarious Lowcanton aristocrat and painter promises that his only interest is to have Nazhuret sit for a portrait, but his reputation of killing for both pleasure and political profit makes him a hard man to trust. The ship's captain urges Nazhuret to believe that Dinaos' only aim is assassination but Dinaos claims it is the captain who has been charged with removing Nazhuret from the international power game. In the time it takes to snatch a breath Navvie and Nazhuret must decide whom to believe..."
