The Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
4 stars.
This is a hard book to find in print at a reasonable price. I couldn't find it in Kindle. But to me it was worth the effort. My old copy was falling apart so I went a hunting.
Mars comes alive for me when I read this book.
The first part of the book is set in an old, dying Mars. Matt Carse is an archeologist and thief. He is approached by another thief because of his connections but what he is offered he knows is only the tip of the iceberg. The other thief had found the Tomb of Rhiannon, the Cursed-One and Matt forces him to show him the Tomb.
Within the Tomb Rhiannon awaits one who will help him get his revenge.
Matt is thrust into Mars' past at its height with Rhiannon as a mental passenger. Dangers are all around him, but his passenger is the most dangerous of them all. He has to navigate an alien yet also familiar world while keeping Rhiannon from taking him over to get his revenge on the ones who betrayed him.
There is a bit of romance but it is mainly an action, adventure story.
Leigh Brackett has several other action, adventure sci-fi books. They are guilty pleasures like my Mack Bolan books by Pendleton. I read them for pure mindless entertainment.
