Winds of Change (Mage Winds Series #2)

by Mercedes Lackey

Overview

In The Mage Winds trilogy, which began with the best-selling novel, Winds of Fate, author Mercedes Lackey continues the epic that started with her first published book, Arrows of the Queen introduced readers to the remarkable land of Valdemar, the kingdom protected by its Heralds—men and women gifted with extraordinary mind powers—aided and served by their mysterious Companions—horselike beings who know the many secrets of Valdemar's magical heritage. None but the Companions remember the long-ago age when high magic was lost to Valdemar as the last Herald-Mage gave his life to protect his kingdom from destruction by dark sorceries.

But now the protective barrier set so long ago over Valdemar is crumbling, and with the realm imperiled by the dark magic of Ancar of Hardorn, Princess Elspeth, Herald and heir to the throne, has gone on a desperate quest in search of a mentor who can teach her to wield her fledgling mage-powers and help her to defend her threatened kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780886775636
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	08/01/1993
Series:	Valdemar: Mage Winds Series , #2
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	224,720
Product dimensions:	6.82(w) x 4.20(h) x 1.28(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the best-selling Heralds Of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots. She can be found at mercedeslackey.com.

Editorial Reviews

In this sequel to Winds of Fate, Elspeth, heir to the throne of Valdemar, develops into a strong practitioner of magic under the tutelage of Darkwind k'Sheyna. Accepted as a member of the k'Sheyna clan of the Tayledras, magicians who cleanse lands damaged in the long-ago Magic Wars, Elspeth takes her turn in patrols searching for the vanished Falconsbane, an evil Adept who almost destroyed the clan, its Heartstone, and Darkwind's father Starblade. While Elspeth and Darkwind slowly and contentiously come to love each other, her companion Skif seeks the Changechild Nyara, daughter of Falconsbane, who turned against him to save the Vale of the k'Sheyna and then fled into the wilderness with the enchanted sword Need. Aided by the powerful but mysterious mage Firesong k'Treva, the Vale fights off another attempt at destruction by Falconsbane, while still greater powers put in an appearance and set the stage for the Mage Wind trilogy's projected third title. This is a charming, colorful and romantic coming-of-age tale, deeply imbued with the concept of responsibility as well as the imagined pleasures of power. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Elsepth, herald and heir to the throne of Valdemar, seeks to learn the long-forgotten skills of magic by studying with the reclusive Hawkbrothers of the embattled Pelagir Hills. When a powerful mage known as Falconsbane attempts to destroy her adopted clan, Elspeth must use her new talents in a deadly battle to save the people she has come to love. Lackey's talent for world building comes to the fore in her vivid description of the Hawkbrothers' culture, while her strength of characterization remains constant. Fans of the popular Valdemar series will create a demand for this solid fantasy.

Library Journal

This sequel to "Winds of Fate" continues the adventures of Elspeth and Skif among the Hawkbrothers. For those who know Lackey's land of Valdemar, this says enough. For those who do not, this is the wrong place to start an acquaintance with Lackey's large-scale world (they should go all the way back to "Arrows of the Queen" [NAL/DAW, 1987], the first book in the first Valdemar trilogy). At the end of the previous book, Falconsbane the villain had escaped, so the main thrust of the follow-up is the joint effort by the whole series cast to bring him down. Lackey remains a superior writer whose large audience will certainly demand this book. She is, however, showing some of the signs of writing too many books too quickly, and it is not entirely the over-familiarity with its milieu that makes this book somewhat less fresh and exciting for the reader than the earlier Valdemar works.

Roland Green