The Dark Hand of Magic

Sun Wolf and Starhawk #3

by Barbara Hambly

Sun Wolf knew he had the power of magic, but he needed a master wizard to teach him to fully use his skills. But there was no one who could do the job. When he was called upon to help old friends against the ancient wizard, he did -- thus ensuring a curse that would be executed, unless Sun Wolf could harness his own powers and find a way out....

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Science Fiction, Ebooks, Epic Fantasy

309 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

aka Barbara Hamilton

Ranging from fantasy to historical fiction, Barbara Hambly has a masterful way of spinning a story. Her twisty plots involve memorable characters, lavish descriptions, scads of novel words, and interesting devices. Her work spans the Star Wars universe, antebellum New Orleans, and various fantasy worlds, sometimes linked with our own.


"I always wanted to be a writer but everyone kept telling me it was impossible to break into the field or make money. I've proven them wrong on both counts."
-Barbara Hambly

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Book I of this trilogy, The Ladies of Mandrigyn, it starts out with the action "over"-the mercenary troup is celebrating a victory. In Book 2 of this trilogy, The Witches of Wenshar, it begins with an argument between Sun Wolf and a witch.

So Barbara Hambly starts the concluding book of this trilogy with a bang--Sun Wolf gets shot in the back with an arrow on page one. And we are off into Hambly's usual skilled blend of adventure and characterization. There are lots of battles and escapes and pursuits and magic duels--all well written and satisfying.

The Dark Hand of Magic also explores further growth in the character of Sun-Wolf. His old mercenary troop has asked for his help to prevent them from being killed by an enemy wizard in a seige. There is an excellent scene where the Wolf must choose between saving his former warrior friends or Starhawk's life.

Also, for the first time in his life, Sun-Wolf sees the opposite of a seige---from inside the beseiged city--and suddenly realizes what had happened before to the losers in his previous battles. Intellectually he knew what happened, of course, now he has changed and matured and feels it emotionaly.

Besides Sun Wolf and Starhawk, there is excellent characterization of the members of his fomrmer mercenary troop, a fleshing out of characters only briefly met in book one.

Aslo, well written is the character of Moggin--an odd name but a well written character--and I won't spoil it by saying more.But the scenes in which MOggin appears are among my favorite in the book. Look for him.

This is a worthy end of the trilogy and well up to Hambly's usual standards.

( I did notice, however, that she left the door open to a possible Book 4 in the ending. Barbara, are you reading this? Hint, Hint.....

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This final book of the trilogy is my favorite, perhaps because it’s the first one where the relationship between Sun Wolf and Starhawk felt real. I was moved by the scene where Sun Wolf turns down a tryst with a beautiful woman - for the first time ever - because he knows that it will break what he has with Starhawk.

Plotwise: Sun Wolf’s old mercenary band comes to him for help because they’ve been cursed by a wizard. Although he’s not sure that his sympathies don’t lie with the town they’re trying to besiege, Sun Wolf is unable to refuse his old friends.

The book is pretty dark in places. There’s enough rape and throat-cutting for a Bernard Cornwell novel.

[Gaufre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty grim, with all the bad luck and the description of mercenary life (think killing, looting, and raping...). I did not enjoy it as much as #1 or #2.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dark Hand of Magic by Barbara Hambly is the third book in the "Sun Wolf and Starhawk' trilogy. This book is Epic/Dark fantasy and is a solid follow-up to the first two books in this trilogy.
In this one, Sun Wolf and Starhawk have left Wenshar to search for another wizard to learn the art of being a wizard from. Along the way, they are met by men from Sun Wolf's former mercenary command. It seems a hex has been put upon his former band and they need him and Starhawk to find out who has placed the hex upon them and rid them of it. One thing may stop them, however. The unknown wizard wishes to make Sun Wolf his very own slave! A great read in this awesome trilogy.

[Jeff Deck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn’t realize this was book 3 of a series (nothing on the cover indicated such). Marvelous detail and description throughout. Don’t let anyone tell you that GRRM invented grimdark, because boy howdy does this one fit the description. Trigger warning for lots of rape mentioned but not shown. I flinched from that part of it, but honestly sexual violence is a factor in warfare continuing to this day, so it’s not really out of place. Just know this isn’t like a D&D 5e fantasy world… things get brutal, doubtless informed by the author’s real-world medieval scholarship.

[Llona ❤️ "Così tanti libri, così poco tempo." · Rating 3 out of 5]

SunWolf and StarHawk Vol3

vabbè la pensione ma che fa la Hambly tutto il giorno?
non ci credo che in 30 anni non abbia pensato nuove avventure per i nostri eroi!
Sono una di quelle a cui viene la "nostalgia da fine libro" e quel finale aperto mi lascia sconsolata

Intendiamoci, questo non è Malazan e nemmeno niente di Buehlman o di Abercrombie ma è comunque un bel Grimdark anni80 scritto da una penna femminile che se pure svisiona con i nomi ( Lupo del Sole e Falco delle Stelle? davvero?? mcc!) almeno non ci risparmia un crudo realismo.
Ogni libro è uno stand-alone con avventure autoconclusive mai ovvie e se non sorprendono il lettore più navigato nemmeno annoiano, con protagonisti sfaccettati che pur non arrivando al pathos della Hobb danno l'impressione di poterli incontrare, puliti e rivestiti, al bar di quartiere

3 ⭐ per ogni libro
4 ⭐ complessive per la trilogia

(fustigazione sulla pubblica piazza per chi ha scelto le copertine italiane)

[Shaitarn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picks up directly after the end of the previous book The Witches of Wenshar and starts straight in the action, with Sun Wolf taking an arrow in the back and facing death by ant-hill. As if that wasn’t peril enough, Sun Wolf’s old mercenary troop need his help. Hired to besiege a city, they’ve been having bad luck – very bad luck, the sort of bad luck that only comes when a vengeful wizard is slinging curses around. Sun Wolf really doesn’t need any more magic in his life, but he and Starhawk can’t turn their back on their old friends now, so are forced to take a hand.

All three of the Sun Wolf and Starhawk books can be read as standalone novels, although this one is probably not the best to start off with. I would consider this the darkest of the three, and in some ways a bit of a slog as we’re forced to see all the ill luck the troop are going through as they struggle back to their winter quarters – I should perhaps point out that Hambly doesn’t hide the fact that the mercenaries have done some pretty terrible things in the past while sacking a city (rape, the murder of innocents), without trying to justify or excuse them, which some readers may find uncomfortable.

But there’s still plenty of action, great character building (especially Starhawk, one of the earlier kickass heroines!) and Hambly’s wonderful prose, which many people will either love or hate.

4.5 stars.

[Maša · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wolf and Hawk's old mercenary troop is in trouble - it seems they are cursed by a wizard.

A conclusion to this satisfying sword-and-sorcery trilogy brings our characters full circle. We see how they are changed, and the emotional toll some of the things they did in the past takes on them is considerable. Hawk is still the best, and there is a new character I grew quite fond of. This was also the grimmest of the books.

[Tor Gar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tercero de la serie. ¿Mejor que el anterior? No. Diferente. Tal vez ya me canse que los protagonistas no sean los que llevan la iniciativa, una vez más se ven abocados a los avatares del destino y no tienen tiempo para sí mismos. Siempre es una situación compleja en la que se ven envueltos y en ese aspecto cualquiera podría ser el protagonista y no hay una trama “más grande que la vida y que ponga en peligro el universo”. Y esta vez la situación es más opresiva, triste, cansina, extenuante… lo que no ayuda.

Le iba a dar tres estrellas pero escribo esto después de un par de días de asueto, reflexión y meditación (rascándome las gónadas) y he comprendido porque la autora no tiene más fama. Atención al siguiente extracto, sin spoilers, donde el protagonista se ha encontrado con la posibilidad de sexo con una mujer atractiva, caliente, sexy…

Se sintió atado, incapaz de decir una palabra, y vagamente irritado consigo mismo, con [Nombre de la actual pareja], y con el destino que le había hecho comprender lo que le podría costar el tomar a esa mujer y dejarla ahíta de sexo contra la tienda más cercana. Enojado porque conocía el coste y no podría pretextar ignorancia más tarde, cuando tuviera que enfrentarse a las consecuencias.

Esas reflexiones que hace descritas por la autora solo las puede entender un adulto (discúlpenme los jóvenes que lo comprenden, hablo en general) y toda la prosa está llena de este tipo de detalles que entienden los que se han visto “comprometidos”, los adultos que debido a su experiencia han vivido más cosas, los que se han visto frustrados por la vida y de ahí que un adolescente cualquiera no se vea reflejado por ningún lado del texto.

Y por eso al final le doy las cuatro estrellas, porque quiero que me recomienden cosas adultas (que no siempre tiene por qué ser violencia y casquería, ojo, que miel sobre hojuelas) que muchas veces los autores buscando un público amplio se olvidan de una parte. Curiosamente en la temática fantástica muchas veces se olvida al adulto.

[Piper Bug · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a powerful story about agency, power, and the brutality of economies built on war. I haven’t read the rest of the series, but it didn’t feel like I had to.

The story follows a mercenary group, so the majority of the characters are rapists, mass murderers, slave owners, or some combination of the three. This can be a tough read at times, but the protagonists manage to be at least a little likeable. Aside from the horrors, beautiful scene descriptions, incredible worldbuilding, and dry humor kept me reading.

The character names are all really fun, I’m a big fan of the “noun-animal” naming scheme no matter how silly it gets [shoutout firecat]. The worst name to take me out of the text was the slave girl named opium, but I was able to get used to it after a bit.

Great book, It should’ve ended after chapter 18 though

[Joel Flank · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book in Sun Wolf series ties everything together - now that Sun Wolf is a wizard, and at least comfortable with this, even though he's still looking for a wizard who can train him to use his powers, he still has some capability with magic. His former life as a mercenary leader is over, but when his old troop tracks him down to hire them with a problem only a wizard can handle, his past and present lives collide. His old troop's first job after he left started going bad almost immediately. Every little thing went from, from food rotting, to accidents, and more. After an entire season of not taking a city by siege the troop realized they were cursed, so they looked up their old leader, to see if he could uncurse them.

Once Sun Wolf takes the commission to help them, he learns there is a mage acting against them, one who's well trained, but not only crafty enough to elude detection, but one who wants to take over Sun Wolf and bend his magic to his will. Once they become aware of each other, a magical game of cat and mouse puts them at each other's throats in a twisting conflict that changes all expectations of how they though things would work out, and forces Sun Wolf to fully come into his own as a wizard.

An excellent conclusion to the series which doesn't wrap things up in a neat bow, but the messy reality of the story and consequences of character's actions play out in a satisfying conclusion.

[Edwin Priest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, just like book two, this book continues Sun Wolf and Starhawk’s story, and just like book two, it is seemingly another vignette that feels like another side story. The plot is interesting enough but ultimately dull, and Sun Wolf becomes less interesting as he grapples with his magic, first losing it, and then suddenly regaining it at the end of the book, all the while stewing about his past evils and sins. The overarching evil and magic never seemed to have any continuity or cohesion in this series and ultimately, it never really felt like a true fantasy trilogy. 3 stars.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh Barbara, you start series so well and then as time goes by you abuse your characters.

[A.J. Seiffertt · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This was painful to read. Just terrible thing after terrible thing with the worst of human nature winning out most of the time and exacerbating each problem. Hurting animals and children over and over. I kept thinking the end would be interesting enough to justify the awfulness (until about halfway and I decided just to finish out of stubbornness). And, no spoiler really, and she was absent for the first third of the book, but Starhawk always saves the day and calmly finds solutions to problems that scare others into complete ineffectuality- and no one seems to learn from her powers of observation and deduction, so she's really the only one ever paying attention and troubleshooting problems... So every character besides her just says "things are terrible!" and then goes on expecting things to improve and not looking for the cause or how to change it. Infuriating. Also disturbing is that Ms Hambly's idea of magic is 99% of the time about power and subjugation of others (and bringing out the worst in human nature), and only special snowflakes who either hide entirely or have Starhawk to save their sorry selves can overcome that tendency. Which, again, why, given endless possibilities of fiction writing, would you create a world that's mostly horrible and tends towards awfulness unless a bunch of children and animals die while the hero stumbles around and eventually works things out (and only because of his partner)? Teamwork is cool, and a strong female character is cool, but the rest was simply grim. Ugh.

[Rebecca Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is IMO the weakest of the three. I couldn't remember whether I had read it before, which is indicative. It has all of her usual gorgeous stylistic touches - I could read her describing things all day -- but there's something that feels off about this book.

Although I understand the desire to change it up from eldritch horrors, and economic motives are surely a realistic reason for extreme villainy, the main antagonist character seems to come out of nowhere and never manages to be very interesting. His supporting antagonist has the weakness that his actual conflict is with another supporting character, not our mains. On the whole there are rather a lot of characters in this one, and there's so much weather that it almost becomes one in its own right.

I found the overall tone of the book grim. The main characters survive with their fundamental optimism intact, but it almost feels unwarranted after everything that happens in the course of this novel; for everything they go through, there isn't much emotional payoff. A major theme of the series is that change come with a price (and is also inevitable), but the setting constricts the characters' scope for reaction. We get a whole lot of the horrors of war, and are well instructed that you can't go home again, but what you can do appears to be to struggle and suffer, even without hope.

It's been a long time since I revisited any of Hambly's work, but I recall that there was a time in her career when she got downright brutal to her characters, and I wonder if this was an early move in that direction.

[Igenlode Wordsmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

**review from 2020**

It takes a really good book to make you realise just how colourless all the others have been in comparison. This one starts with a bang and never really lets you go.

Sun Wolf's capture, as Sun Wolf himself reflected at his execution, was sheer, stupid ill luck, which Dogbreath of Mallinsore would have told him was only to be expected under the circumstances.
The arrow that brought him down took him high in the back from the shelter of a pile of stone he'd have bet his last silver bit—which happened to be in his pocket at the time—couldn't have hidden an emaciated corpse. He hit the sand of the dry arroyo bed in a second's whirling disorientation and sickening pain and the next instant got a gritty faceful of gravel, kicked up as his horse bolted. His first thought was, So much for the King of Wenshar's guarding our backs.
His second thought, through a descending curtain of gray weakness, was that, if he blacked out, he was a dead man.

It introduces more action, setting and backstory in the first ten pages —and without the slightest suggestion of info-dump— than many books manage in several introductory chapters, but it also evokes with grinding credibility the hopelessness of tedium and disaster. It's a sword and sorcery story that doesn't romanticise either aspect, a high fantasy that is keenly aware of the realities of mediæval campaigning, from the ruthless trade policies of merchant rulers to the vital importance of getting into winter quarters before the hard weather sets in.

I've a feeling I read the preceding book in this series, The Witches of Wenshar first and without realising that was a sequel to The Ladies of Mandrigyn, and was somewhat confused. This one seems clearer to me, although that may be because I have now read "The Ladies of Mandrigyn" (though I have very little remaining recollection of "The Witches of Wenshar", as I never owned it -- almost nothing beyond the handful of references in this book, although enough to make me sure I did read it, thirty years or so ago...)

But I still think this book stands reasonably well alone; all we need to know is that the protagonist, Sun Wolf (who has spent his life as a barbarian warrior straight out of central casting, apart from the fact that he's a credible human being) used to be the leader of a mercenary troop before discovering untutored magical talents, has spent the last year trying to find someone to teach him with little success, and in this book is summoned back by his old allies to help them with a suspected magical problem of their own. In many ways this in itself *is* the backstory to the two previous books, rather than requiring them in order to make sense.

This is a book about war, in all its ugliness; the very word 'mercenary' carries overtones of someone who does bad things for money, and Sun Wolf's men are the ruthless looters and rapists of legend who will attack anybody for pay — the sort of cast that normally feature as nameless sword-fodder for the heroes of fantasy literature. They are also his friends, colleagues and substitute family, and Barbara Hambly shows them vividly to us through the eyes of a man who has spent the past year living in the sort of cities he used to sack, and who knows he can never go back to the old life, and yet understands precisely what motivates them and the powerful bonds between men who risk their lives together. There's a breathtakingly daring scene on the author's part where one of his friends comes back from battle wearing a dead child's ribbon as a trophy, and we know exactly whom it belonged to and witnessed her as a sympathetic character only pages before... and yet Sun Wolf, who has taken part in such scenes himself, still perceives him as a friend, and we accept this.

The mercenaries aren't the real evil in this story. They're just professionals earning a living at a hideously dangerous job, and reacting accordingly. There are much more cold-blooded ways of dealing death and destruction than a handful of fighters who think with their swords first and are loyal above all to each other.

For high fantasy, this is grimly realistic; there's a high body-count, mostly through directly human agency rather than the mystical horrors of earlier books, and people who get hurt stay hurt rather than magically swigging down healing potions and fighting again the next day. But oddly enough, it's not that dark a book, perhaps because the bonds between Sun Wolf and his men are so strong — they're enduring dreadful conditions, but so far as he's concerned it's a known world and a friendly one, as opposed to the treacherous and lonely situations he's been through since discovering his magic. The world of wizardry is the alien one, but this time it's for their sake that he is fumbling to master what little of it he knows.

The story doesn't end where you think it will (and it's a testimony to the book's compulsive quality that it didn't even occur to me to look and see how many pages were left!), and while I remembered enough of the plot to be fairly sure the enemy wasn't who Sun Wolf assumed it was, the true identity of their opponent and the entire final section of the novel took me wholly by surprise. And above all it's a world that's very vividly imagined, from its practicalities to its politics and the people who fill its pages.

The final pages suggest that the author had another potential novel in mind, as yet another surviving wizard is revealed, but if so she doesn't ever seem to have written it. I really must try to get hold of "The Witches of Wenshar" again...

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note that this review really covers all three books in the trilogy as I read a 3 in 1 version. Sword and sorcery in the truest sense. Sun Wolfe is barbarian mercenary with his own army. After a successful season of campaigning Wolfe is kidnapped by a group of women who need his help going up against the last great wizard. Trying to escape, Wolfe accidentally undergoes the Great Trial which awakens the magic within. Meanwhile his second in command Starhawke, who secretly loves her chief, sets off on a rescue mission. This sets up the series. I wouldn't say these are the best books I've read,but it was a very entertaining series. The characters faced real problems with real consequences, and not everyone survived. Wolfe and Hawke grew as characters. My thought on finishing was that I wish there were more books in this series.

[Howard Gibbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dark hand…" Is the third book in the Sun Wolf trilogy, and complements the other two books very well. In this instalment Sun Wolf is still on this quest to find a teacher to help him with his magic, however the teacher he finds wants to enslave him rather than teach him. Sun Wolf therefore has to find this teacher, prevent him from enslaving him, and hopefully learn from him. Not an easy task.

To add to this, Sun Wolf's old mercenary troop contacts him as they are in the middle of a campaign, but seem to be hexed in such a way that nothing goes right for them.

Once again this is a very good addition to the trilogy, and while Miss Hambly didn't write any further stories in the series she does leave it open at the end so that it Sun Wolf and Starhawk could come back.

[Marianne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the third book in a series, but does a pretty good job filling in gaps, making it feel like you understand what happened before.

This book was just a lot of depressing, with a tiny ray of sunshine at the end. There's a curse, and there's a fair bit of interest in the beginning, but then maybe a third or so of the book is just a depressing cursey slog of sadness.

The wording is descriptive and nicely done, but much of the book portrays the depressing realities of war. Which, I suppose, is a nice change of pace from books idealizing horrifying experiences. I just didn't need it quite so minutely and descriptively provided, to go along with all the sad curse bits.

[Johannes Herrmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conclusion to the Sun Wolf and Starhawk trilogy. It feels quite different in a way. In the other two, there seemed to be a relatively clear path forward, even if it wasn't the correct one. In this book, the characters struggle with an unknown that causes extreme frustration for them, and a bit of a feeling of hopelessness in the reader. When things come together though, it all makes perfect sense and the clues were all there.

If anything, i'd rate this even higher than the other two. A solid ending to the trilogy, with a hint of an opening for more in the future.

[Elise Schiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series started off strong with The Ladies of Mandrigyn, but the second two books did not hold up to the first. I think if the plot had been reversed, it would have been a more compelling story. However, the writing vividly evoked emotion and I remained attached to the characters from the first book. Sun Wolf’s character progression in particular was compelling and continually convincing. All-in-all, this was a great fantasy series!

[TJ Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great conclusion to a great series. I wish to heaven that she'd add another book or two to this series. But this is a pretty satisfactory place to leave it. This book is a great balance of the action and tension of the first book, and the mystery of the second book. There are a couple places where the exposition is a bit stretched out, but overall, this series and this book are an incredible achievement.

[James]

Sun Wolf knew he had the power of magic, but he needed a master wizard to teach him to fully use his skills. But there was no one who could do the job. When he was called upon to help old friends against the ancient wizard, he did -- thus ensuring a curse that would be executed, unless Sun Wolf could harness his own powers and find a way out....

[Ember · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 3 with Sun Wolf and Starhawk. This one was fun because he gets back to his old mercenary company, but now he is a magic user. I enjoyed this story, good finish to the trilogy.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Suzyq · Rating 2 out of 5]

The arc of the Sun Wolf and Starhawk tales starts out great (The Ladies of Mandrigyn, 4 stars) but declines with each successive volume (The Witches of Wenshar, 3 stars) until we get to this one. So much violence, rape and mayhem. I've always hated the Grim/Dark subset of fantasy.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Virginia Adi · Rating 5 out of 5]

nail biter for the good ending!

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5

[Katharine Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great end to the trilogy, though I'd like to see Sun Wolf really getting to grips with his magic now! so it is a bit of a shame it's ended here.

I read this in Kelowna.