Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon: Owlknight

Daw (Paperback), ISBN 0-88677-916-2

Picture my fingers tiptoeing across the keyboard trying to find enough ambiguous words to review this, the third book in the Owl Trilogy, without destroying books one and two (Owlflight and Owlsight) for fantasy lovers not yet acquainted with the series. And quite honestly, prospective readers need to read the first two before grabbing Owlknight. The third installment’s plot and many of the characters rely on the reader’s understanding of the Tayledras Hawkbrothers, the Heralds, Change-Circles, Ghost Cats, and the history of Valdemar.

Owlknight opens some six years after the Master Mage Darian escaped from barbarians and found sanctuary with the Hawkbrothers. Although he can tap the ley lines and nodes for power and serves as the titular head of the new Vale of ‘Valdemar, Darian suffers from prophetic dreams that fuel an increasing sense of unease. His fears can only be laid to rest by a search for his missing parents.

Darian must determine whether his parents still live or truly died years before. Darian’s parents vanished without a trace on one of their hunting expeditions (to capture Change Beasts), leaving Darian, a young orphan, dependent on the kindness of some very unkind villagers. The search takes Darian and his companions into the under-explored northern mountains. There the searchers face treacherous terrain, murderous barbarian tribes, and illnesses that challenge even the vast knowledge and wisdom of the party’s healer, Keisha (Darian’s love interest).

Lackey exhibits her usual skill in writing rousing action scenes, passages drenched in pathos and completely sympathetic characters. Her many fans (and, yes, I’m one) will be pleased to see a new work, especially one like Owlknight, which deals with the far flung reaches of the Kingdom of Valdemar — and introduces another of the extremely rare Herald-Mages and his Companion.

Patricia Lucas White

Patricia Lucas White’s latest historical novel, To Last a Lifetime, was an Eppie finalist for 2003. To Last a Lifetime and two of her fantasy romances, the Sapphire Award-winning A Wizard Scorned and The Godmother Sanction, can be ordered through Hard Shell Word Factory. Her recent contemporary, PS, I’ve Taken a Lover, is available from Lionhearted Books.