Song of Unmaking

by Caitlin Brennan

Overview

In this second entry of a romantic fantasy trilogy, a mage and her lover must heal themselves of dark magic before they can protect their world from evil.

Striving to save the Aurelian Empire, Valeria reached for too much power too quickly and a darkness has rooted inside her. Unable to confess the truth, Valeria turns to Kerrec, her former mentor, one of the elite Riders from the Mountain, home of the gods. But Kerrec, too, is deeply wounded and his darkness may be even deeper than hers—and he is refusing to face it. Until his weakness nearly destroys the Riders and their immortal white stallions . . .

As Kerrec is sent from the Mountain on a desperate quest for healing, Valeria is forbidden to follow. But compelled by a power she cannot understand and encouraged by her own stallion, she shadows Kerrec on a perilous mission.

The patterns of deception and secrets have been woven, the threats of war and unrest spread throughout the land, the barbarian hordes return and once more it is Valeria—and Kerrec—who must gather their strength and their wounded magic to protect all that they believe in. . . .

But who will believe in them?

Praise for Song of Unmaking

“The battle scenes are magnificent, the characters are realistic, and the storyline is pure magic; readers will eagerly await the next book in this tantalizing series.” —Harriet Klausner

“A world easy to immerse myself in. . . . [The story] was well-written, had a well-rounded and thought out world, well-characterized, and emotional.” —Laurie Ryan, author of the Willow Bay novels and the Earth Legacy series

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426848971
Publisher:	Harlequin
Publication date:	09/20/2023
Series:	White Magic , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	483
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

I was born and raised in Maine--Stephen King country, no less; my aunt was one of his high school English teachers. I first sat on a horse, courtesy of my grandfather, at age six months. At age seven years, I started taking riding lessons. When I went to the library--which was as often as I could--I raided the horse books, especially the Marguerite Henry books. They scarred me for life.

My grandfather bought me my first horse when I was a freshman in high school. I chose my undergraduate college, Mount Holyoke, because it had a stable on campus and a riding program that fulfilled the phys ed requirement. When I went on to live in England for two years and then came back to alternate between graduate school in Connecticut and teaching high school in Maine, I kept on with the horses, and started pursuing something called classical dressage--which is basically the thing the Lipizzaners do at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

I always had a dream that someday, just once before I died, I would ride a Lipizzaner. I first met these dancing white horses in Marguerite Henry's book, White Stallion of Lipizza, and I saw the Disney movie, Miracle of the White Stallions, and later I read Mary Stewart's wonderful Airs Above the Ground. And, of course, I read all the Alois Podhajsky books I could get my hands on, especially My Horses, My Teachers. In 1983 I had a ringside seat at Madison Square Garden where I saw the Spanish Riding School on tour--and it was pure magic.

What I never knew was that private citizens could own these magical animals. Or that I could own one--until a riding instructor who had ridden and trained them said I should buy one, because "you'll get along with them." That was in 1992, just as I was moving from Connecticut to Arizona. A month after I arrived in Tucson, I bought my first Lipizzan. My trainer had been right on--we did get along. Now I ride Lipizzaners every day, and I have a stallion whom I ride and train (and at the moment five mares and fillies and a wonderfully evil half Arabian, half Lipizzan gelding), and best of all, I get to write books about magical white horses who are almost exactly like the ones in my backyard.