Customer Reviews

Oathblood

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Tarma is a Shin'a'in warrior of the Dhorisha Plains, sworn to serve her Goddess. Kethry, a former noble, is a White Winds sorceress working toward Adept status. The two are paired together by the oath that they have sworn.

"Oathblood," the third book in Mercedes Lackey's Vows and Honor series, is a collection of short stories chronicling some of the missing links in Tarma and Kethry's adventures, including their lives at their newly created school. I enjoyed reading it and went through it very quickly. The short stories were just the right length to keep the reader interested without getting bored, and the mini-novel was even more exciting. My favorites of the eleven total stories were "Sword-sworn" (which told of how Tarma and Kethry met), "Wings of Fire," "Spring Plowing at Forst Reach," and "Oathblood."

However, I was slightly disappointed that two of the stories were nearly identical to chapters from "The Oathbound."

Bottom Line: A quick, enjoyable read but only for readers who are familiar with Tarma and Kethry.

To clear up some misconceptions that seem to have arisen: this is a collection of short stories featuring Tarma and Kethry. It is NOT a novel, and I don't know why anyone mistook it for one. To judge its quality fairly, each story has to be weighed on its own merits (instead of expecting 'narrative continuity' which is only applicable to novels).

To get the individual earlier stories which have already been in print, you would have to own Sword & Sorceress 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, all of which are (where still in print) somewhat difficult to get, at least where I am. Getting a back issue of Fantasy Book Magazine I leave to the experts. Unless you've consistently collected Sword & Sorceress, the _Oathblood_ collection is the simplest way to get these stories. Only 2 out of the 11 were blended into _The Oathbound_.

"Sword-Sworn" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress III (they thought it was exceptionally good, accepting it despite their avoidance of rape-and-revenge stories). The tale of the massacre of clan Tale'sedrin, from which Tarma emerged as the last survivor, and its consequences, including Tarma's first meeting with Kethry. Tarma's fiance, her family, her voice, and her old life have all been destroyed - so she petitions Kal'enel to become one of Her Sword-Sworn, the only Shin'a'in who have the right to cry blood-feud. All she wants is to live long enough to avenge the dead - but she listens to her teachers' advice not to reject help along the way.

"Turnabout" - First appeared in Fantasy Book Magazine (Sword & Sorceress received it at the same time as Sword-Sworn and preferred the former). This is the tale of the song "Threes", which actually appeared first (in _Arrow's Fall_, for one). Lackey didn't have the original song with her when writing the story, so she later created Leslac (the bard who always gets things wrong) to explain why the song didn't quite match the story. The story was later written into _The Oathbound_ as chapter 8, because the Thalhkarsh story would have been incomplete without it. The *real* story is given here: Tarma, Kethry, and Warrl were *paid* to track down a bandit gang, by the families of some of the victims. Kethry's poetic justice, alas, comes back to haunt them (see _The Oathbound_).

"The Making of a Legend" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress VI. Leslac's debut, as he produces "The Leslac Version" (see the songs at the end of _Oathbreakers_). Leslac likes to portray the ladies as shining heroes of light - a nuisance to a pair of hard-working mercenaries trying to find paid work! (Until he began following their career, he couldn't make a decent living, so he won't give up and go away. Bardic immunity protects him from Tarma's knife.)

"Keys" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress V; a locked-room mystery, later written into _The Oathbound_ as part of chapter 6. Lady Myria has been framed for her husband's murder and now faces execution. Need brings Tarma and Kethry into it, so that Tarma acts as Lady Myria's champion in trial-by-combat, while Kethry works on solving the mystery. Time is the enemy, since Tarma doesn't face one challenger, but many; she may spare them, but they don't have the option of sparing *her*.

"A Woman's Weapon" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress IX. Actually, poison is a coward's weapon, and someone has been feeding it to a traditionalist Master Tanner. (A local rival makes cheaper goods more quickly, but the 'new methods' involve dumping waste products carelessly and making inferior goods). A locked-room mystery.

"The Talisman" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress VII. A former classmate of Kethry's wasted her schooling, looking for a magic talisman to boost her powers instead of learning how to stand on her own. Kethry and Tarma encounter her, now that she believes she's found such a talisman.

"A Tale of Heroes" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress IV. A monster-slaying hero passing through raped a chambermaid; the ladies help her out. This isn't a revenge story, just helping some people get their lives back together.

"Friendly Fire" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress X. The ladies accidentally get stuck with a bad-luck talisman (it just invokes Murphy's law, but that's bad enough).

"Wings of Fire" - First appeared in Sword & Sorceress VIII. Kethry and Tarma have settled down and are taking a break, visiting Liha'irden with the kids, when a Firefalcon Shaman stumbles into camp, looking for help.

"Spring Plowing at Forst Reach" - You always knew that "Shin'a'in" stud of Mikeal's was a dud, right? (See _Magic's Price_ if you don't know what I'm talking about.) A few generations down the line, the Ashkevrons seek Tarma's help with a little problem arising from some of the results. An interesting sidelight on the Shin'a'in and their horses.

"Oathblood" - Tarma and Kethry's students (including one of Kethry's daughters) take center-stage here, as the adventurers realize that the 'kids' really aren't children anymore.

I'm a big fan of Mercedes Lackey. I like the Diane Tregarde books. I like the Valdemar books. In fact, 'Oathbound,' 'Oathbreakers' and 'By the Sword' are three of my favourite books by her. So, when I saw 'Oathblood,' I knew I had to get it... it was about Kethry and Tarma, and, despite the fact only one of the stories was billed as new, I figured they were *all* ones I hadn't read before, as I don't read any of the magazines that had run the short stories.

Well, now I understand why 'Oathblood' had such an episodic feeling to it: Many of the 'chapters' are actually short stories that have undergone little or no revision.

The high points of this anthology were the first story (which details the events eluded to 'Oathbound'--the meeting of Tarma and Kethry) and the last story, the piece first published in this volume. The other stories are either slightly below par for Lackey, or were already presented in book form as part of 'Oathbound.'

All in all, I was dissapointed for the first time by a book bearing Lackey's name. Perhaps she has fallen victim to what I call the Stephen King Syndrome... where the author has seemingly become more concerned with cranking out product that producing good, solid reading material?

When I fist heard that this book was coming out I was very excited. Its been awhile since a new Lackey book came out. I was greatly disappointed to find out that this is not a new book. It is a compilation of the Tarma and Kethry stories that have previously been published in Marion Zimmer Bradley's SWORD AND SORCERESS anthology with only one new "short novel" added in. While most of these short stories are very good, I had read them before. For the devoted Lackey fan this is a good way to get all of the Tarma and Kethry stories together. For people who have not read Mercedes Lackey before you would probably be better off starting with the first of this series THE OATHBOUND and it's sequal THE OATHBREAKERS, both are excellent books. If you read OATHBLOOD first you will find out how Tarma and Kethry meet, but the rest of the stories will probably confuse you since they rely on a base knowledge of the other two books and the rest of the Valdemar series. Over all I gave this series a seven because these stories are not new. They are good, but I already had all but one of them. It also gets a seven because now I do have all of the Tarma and Kethry stories together. But please, please do not buy this or the other "new" Mercedes Lackey book THE BEDLAM'S BARD if you are expecting new material.

"Oathblood" is a very good short story collection.

Some previous reviewers have been rather upset that two of the short stories were put into the original "Oathbound" book. I'm not; I figured that Ms. Lackey needed to put all her short stories in one place, as they were originally published, for two reasons.

One, it helps fans get all the stories in one place.

Two, it helps to understand Tarma and Kethry chronologically if you're buying one of Ms. Lackey's books for the first time. Not everyone who picked this book up had read anything about Tarma or Kethry before; Ms. Lackey basically had to do this.

Although I have nothing wrong with the "commercial" instinct some folks seem to be decrying, I really don't think that's what this was about. (More than any other writer wanting to make a living, that is. And really, what's wrong with that?)

Tarma is a super warrior with a twist; she's a Swordsworn votary of the Shin'a'in goddess, and as such, is "as neutral (sexually) as the blade she bears." (Hope that isn't too bad a paraphrase.) She likes men personally, but has no interest or desire in them, and likes it that way due to a personal tragedy in her past. (Plus, the Shin'a'in goddess takes people as her votaries for various reasons; they're all turned effectively neuter -- the Swordsworn, that is, not others -- so it's just as well Tarma had no real intention to marry after all that anyway. She can't miss what she doesn't want.)

Kethry, on the other hand, is very beautiful, intelligent, spirited, and a strong magic user. As Tarma's partner, originally you'd think they'd never get on. But they do, and quite famously in every respect.

These stories show how their relationship started, how it developed, and the last two stories show Kethry's family (sworn to help Tarma rebuild her lost clan of Tale'sedrin) and how they interact.

I really enjoyed the last two stories. The one about Forst Reach and it's horses (and horsetalking) was very, very funny, and it featured the welcome return of Beaker and Jodi (now paired off) from "Oathbreakers." The very last story featured Jadrie, Kethry's firstborn daughter, and how she helped her mama and Tarma save her two best female friends.

Very uplifting story; very powerful in its own quiet way, and some of the best recent writing Ms. Lackey's done in the Valdemar and related seria since 1996. ("Exile's Honor" is also excellent. I'm really looking forward to "Exile's Valor.")

I'd give this book five stars except for two things: one, the other reviewer is correct that some of these stories were already available in "The Oathbound."

But it's the second that really gets to me, and it's not Ms. Lackey's fault. The second is this; why is the cover so odd? Kethry doesn't look old enough (even if magic does delay the onset of full maturity, she should look older than _this_, and actually, she looks quite the little ... on the cover, doesn't she?), and Tarma looks too beautiful for her characterization. And, more importantly, Tarma looks completely different than she did on the previous two books, "The Oathbound" and "Oathbreakers." (At least Kethry's face is the same. Tarma's isn't.)

What was up with _that_?

Oh, and who's brilliant idea was it to show Warrl not as a wolf-like creature, but as a Siberian husky?

That's the main reason this book doesn't get five stars, and like I said, it had nothing to do with Ms. Lackey. But, as it's a part of the book DAW put out, and I have no other way to complain about it, I'm doing so this way.

Anyway, if you come to this book cold (without reading any previous Tarma and Kethry books), you should be able to understand it. But if you've read the other Tarma and Kethry books, you'll enjoy it more, no question.

Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar (et al) stories have taken a turn for the worse, recently, as she struggles to write a dozen novels in as many months. But Oathblood, the newest DAW release, recaptures the joy and wryness of her older works, mainly because they _are_ her older works. For anyone who wanted to find out how Tarma and Kethry meet...who wanted to read about that dang poet...or any other short story that you _knew_ was out there...somewhere...in space...this is your book.

I was midly disappointed by the last few stories, especially the "after the duology" tale that had the feel of a foreign author attempting to spin-off of a good idea. Curiously, through the course of the anthology, one can see the arc and decline of Ms. Lackey's writing style.

In the end, though, Oathblood is more than worth buying, both for the stories and also for the hope that "Misty" may yet (in attention to skill and not contracts, at least) rise again.

due to the fact that the only thing Mercedes Lackey has written lately that is any good is stuff that she HAS already written, and has been repackaged as "new" books. Certainly this particular issue has one or two stories that were not in the original "vows and honor" duet, however for those of us who are religious readers of the Sword and Sorceress volumes, they are STILL old news. Pleasant to visit old friends yes, and to be certain Tarma and Kethry are some of her most well written and enjoyable characters- I definitely recommend the book to those who have not read Oathbound/Oathbreakers or the Sword and Sorceress short stories.

However, I am seriously disgusted. When I picked up this book, I was very excited- "WOW! A new Tarma and Kethry book!"

I flipped through the pages, feeling my enthusiasm drain out like old water from the fish tank.

She had done it to me again- packaging a "series" of books in one binding, with nothing on the cover or back description to inform a reader that this was, in fact, nothing new.

I had gotten suckered in with two of her earlier books being packaged together, paid my $7.50 for it (obscene isn't it?) and got home all ready to read. And bam.. fish water again. I already OWNED the two books this new(ly packaged and reformed old writing) contained.

So this "new" Tarma and Kethry book (for which, I was to be charged MORE than the ORIGINAL two together cost me) raised my ire. It will be a LONG time before I can be roused to even investigate any "new" books by Lackey. If ever.

I was surprised when I brought this book home after buying it. I had read The Oathbound and Oathbreakers (the first 2 books about Tarma and Kethry), and had expected this to be another novel. However, after reading a few of these shorter tales, I realized that they were almost as good as one long story. They were ingenious, funny at times, full of what I had come to expect from Mercedes Lackey. At the beginning you finally receive the story of Tarma and Kethry's first meeting and their oath to Tarma's goddess. At the end was a satisfying "mini-novel" regarding both Tarma and Kethry after they had settled into running their school. (if you have read the other 2 books, you will know where they got the land and buildings). This book stands alone or supplements the other novels. A great collection of stories overall.

I found this Collection of short stories intriguing. I had never read the Sword and the Sorceress Series by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley so I was Ecstatic that Misty had decided to put MOST of the stories of Tarma and Kethry into a book. I read her intro and found that this was full of stories: Ones she had published, Ones she had written for the heck of it, ones that she had written when she was having a bad day and wanted to place the blame on someone.

I am surprised at some of the previous reviews of this collection. According to Misty's Intro, some of the stories hadn't been published previously and the two books Oathbound and Oathbreaker were not even displayed in full inside the book.

Even if I HAD read all the stories previously (which I hadn't because I could not find any of them) I am grateful that Misty has decided to put them together into One Easy to find book.

I wish the best of luck and good wishes to Misty on her story writing.

When I picked up this book, I knew what it promised -- on the back cover it says that there is a new "short novel" and the collection of all of the Tarma and Kethry stories in one place. I was thrilled. I have been trying to read all of the Sword and Sorceress volumes, but I'm never sure if I've read them all, since most of them are out of print. I knew, as anyone who is familiar with this form of literature should be, that the "short novel" advertised would be a novella, or a long short story. Fine with me! I love short stories, and I frankly have preferred Tarma and Kethry in short story form to novel form. Even their novels read as a string of adventures, most of the time. And for those reviewers who said that some of the chapters were directly out of one of the previous novels? Well, I direct you to Sword and Sorceress, where they were originally published. This is a nice collection of short stories for those of us who are interested in the characters of Tarma and Kethry and would like to get all of their stories in one place.