A young slave who dreams of becoming a jouster-one of the few warriors who can actually ride a flying dragon. And so, in secret, he begins to raise his own dragon...
This story is about Kerowyn, granddaughter to the sorceress Kethry. Kerowyn wanted to raise and train horses but that dream was shattered when her brother was injured and his fiancee was kidnapped. She was forced to find her grandmother and the SwordSworn Tarma and train in the ways of the Sword. After facing her foes, Kerowyn becomes an outsider in her own land. She then becomes bound by the magical sword Need and goes on to become to legendary captian of the mercenary company, the SkyBolts. She also becomes Chosen which transforms her title to Herald-Captian Kerowyn. Queen Selenay also find love in this book because of Kerowyn.
In Lammas Night a young weaver of spells is persuaded to bide a while in a small village, to make their village spells and keep the Dark at bay. As part of their persuasion, the villagers have given her the house of her predecessor. Not knowing that his spirit lingers there, she unwittingly breaks the spell that laid him. Now, a half-seen phantom courts her. He is either her lover for all time, the only she will ever know- or a wicked spirits' seeming, the aim of which is to entrap her in a fate unspeakable.Will she ...
In this book, the main character is Vaynel Ashkevron, the most powerful Herald-Mage to ever live. Vanyel, when he was younger, had a very powerful, untrained, mage gift. He didn't want anything to do with it, he'd much rather be a Bard, but something that strong in nature is very dangerous if left untrained. Savil, the most powerful Herald-Mage of Valdemar at the time & Vanyel's aunt took him from his family's estate and brought him back to Haven to be trained in his Gift. At Haven, Vanyel fell in love with a young man, a Herald-trainee named Tylendel. But ...
In this book, Valdemar is in trouble. Karse, the religious/evil country to the South is waging a ruthless attack against Valdemar's borders. But more importantly, a dark Mage of unknown strength is preparing a final massing strike into Valdemar. Vanyel meets a young Bard named Stefen and falls in love with him. He finds out that not only is he in love, he is lifebonded, just as he and Tylendel were. Is this Tylendel's reincarnated soul? King Randale is near death from illness, so Vanyel has temporarily taken on most of the King's duties. As if this is not enough, all of the Herald-Mages are mysteriously being murdered off, one by one, until finally there is only Vanyel left. The dark master challenges Vanyel. He receives a vision in his dreams that reveals to his just what would happen if he and his companion Yfandes were to accept that challenge. If they should fail this fight, they will both be asked to pay the ultimate price. But if they flee, Valdemar will fall.
In this book, Vanyel is 28 years old and is now the head of all the Herald-Mages in Valdemar. Vanyel has just returned to Haven from more conflicts on the Valdemar, Karsite border and deserves a rest. But, as it goes for most Heralds, the greater the Herald you are, the more you are needed. He needs to go visit his family, which is unfortunate since he and his family barely get along. While there, Yfandes receives a cry for help from a neighboring kingdom. Urged by this cry they go to investigate. They find a place that is in the middle of a Magical Holocaust. There they find Prince Tashir, a newly chosen Herald. This boy has a powerful Gift that he cannot control; Is he responsible for this Magic-made destruction? Find out.
In an isolated land wher the lure of the "Moontide" leads to shipwrecks, a woman is torn between obeying her father or her king. When she chooses to follow a Fool, she discovers magic she'd never expected... at a price that might be too high....
This book is not exactly a part of the other two. Only the last story "OathBlood" follows up where the last two lead off. This is a collection of stories written by different authors. It is very good. One of my favorites is the first one entitled, "Sword-sworn." This tells the story of how Tarma became Sworn to the Goddess and how she met up with Kethry the Adept-trained sorceress. I recommend reading this book, it is very good. It is interesting to see how other authors try and write about Mercedes Lackey's world
~This wold be too long if I were to put my descriptions up. I would also give away parts of the book which I don't want to because this book is very good. So I will put the actual descriptions up- The one's on the back cover of the book~The SwordsWoman- She was Tarma. Born to the Clan of the Hawk of the nomadic Shin'a'in people, she saw her entire clan slain by brigands. Vowing blood revenge upon the murderers, she became one of the Sword-Sworn, the most elite of all warriors. And trained in all forms ...
Tarma and Kethry's long-term goals are to settle back at Tale'sedrin and build mage schools. Tarma, being Goddess-Sworn, cannot have children. But Kethry, who is Tarma's Sworn Oath-Sister is now part of the Tale'sedrin clan; through her, the clan with live on. Anyways--- They are now with a mercenary company known as the SunHawks. The leader of this company captain Idra. Idra, who was a princess of Rethwellan, went home in search of a magical sword. Her two brothers were trying to decide who should become the new King; This legendary magical sword would reveal who it should be. But something's wrong and Idra doesn't return. Being Sisters of Sword and Spell, Tarma and Kethry had long-ago made a Goddess-Sworn oath to fight against evil. They cannot forget this bond and so they set forth towards Rethwellan to fight the evil that is possessing that land.
Darian's parents had been hunters who worked in the Pelagris forest, trapping the bizarre change-creatures which had been created by the Mage-storms, and selling their fantastic hides. But Darian had not accompanied them on their last expedition into the Pelagris- a hunt from which they never returned.Now Darian is apprenticed to Wizard Justyn, a kindly old man who insists that Darian has "Talent." But Darian, grieving over his parents, has no interest in magic, and instead of studying, finds solace in the forest, where he can hide among the huge trees and mourn in privacy.And ...
It has been six years since the orphan boy Darian escaped the sacking and burning of his villge by barbarians, and found sanctuary with the mysterious Tayledras Hawkbrothers. This once troubled youth has now grown into a mature and responsible adult who has acheived more than he ever dreamed possible. Not only is he a Master Mage, but he is the titular head of a new community-the Vale of k'Valdemar-which houses a diplomatic council comprised of Hawkbrothers, Valdemarans, and representatives of the mor peaceful barbarian clans of the north.But despite Darian's glowing success, life is not completely ...
It has been four years since the orphan boy Darian sought sanctuary with the mysterious Tayledras Hawkbrothers when his village was sacked and burned by barbarians.Born a Valdemarian, but now steeped in the mystical ways of the Tayledras, it has become Darian's dream to be their emissary-forgind an alliance and providing a diplomatic link with his own people.Back in Errold's Grove, a young woman, Keisha Alder, has taken over the job formerly held by Darian's old teacher, Wizard Justyn. With no formal education, working with only the natural instincts of her inborn Healing Gift, she ...
Elanor Robinson's life had shattered when Father volunteered for the Great War, leaving her alone with a woman he had just married. Then the letter had come that told of her father's death in the trenches and though Eleanor thought things couldn't get any worse, her life took an even more bizarre turn.Dragged to the hearth by her stepmother Alison, Eleanor was forced to endure a painful and frightening ritual during which the smallest finger of her left had was severed and buried beneath a hearthstone. For her stepmother was an Elemental Master of Earth who practiced ...
Based loosely on the tale of Puss in Boots, Reserved for the Cat takes place in 1910 in an alternate London. A young dancer, penniless and desperate, is sure she is going mad when a cat begins talking to her mind-to-mind. But her feline guide, actually an Elemental Earth Spirit, helps her to impersonate a famous Russian ballerina and achieve the success she’s been dreaming of. Unfortunately she also attracts the attention of another Elemental Spirit— a far more threatening one— and the young dancer must once again turn to her mysteriously powerful four-legged furry friend.
Jennifer Talldeer, is a private investigator. She is also Kestral-Hunts-Alone, an apprentice shaman learning modified tribal magic from her grandfather. She is called in to investigate possible sabotage at a local construction site where Indian artifacts have been found. Initially a run-of-the-mill investigation, it quickly spirals into a mess involving an old flame, Medicine and Native spirits running amok and an ancient evil once defeated by Jennifer's ancestor that has come back seeking revenge.
The Altan serf Vetch has escaped the enemy kingdom of Tia, only to find his homeland, Alta, enslaved by the evil Priest-Kings. With a small band of followers, Vetch must gather a secret army of dragon riders to rid their world of war and magical domination once and for all.
Lackey, Flint and Freer whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice." Like the actual 16th-century city-state, the authors' Venice of the 1530s is a dangerous place, filled with as many illicit love affairs as murders. Garbage and occasional dead bodies float in the stinking canals. The city is also a target for would-be foreign conquerors: the Vatican, the Holy Roman Empire, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland, and the small city-state of Ferrara, ruled by Enrico Dell'este, who surreptitiously watches his grandsons, Marco and Benito, the story's ...
