Customer Reviews

By the Sword (Kerowyn's Tale)

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"By the Sword" is one of Mercedes Lackey's best books. It's an honest, unflinching look at the life of a mercenary woman -- and a parable of how difficult modern women find balancing love, sex, partnership, and job responsibilities, all at once.

"By the Sword" tells the story of Kerowyn. She's Kethry's granddaughter (Kethry, as you might recall from the "Oath" books, was the mage partner of Tarma the Shin'a'in), yet grows up mostly ignorant of her heritage. That's because her mother dies young, her father is an idiot, and Kerowyn's been left to rule the roost at the ripe old age of 15.

As her brother is being married off, also at a young age, bandits come in and disrupt the festivities. They carry her brother Lordan's new wife off, kill her father, and murder many others on the way out. This inflames Kerowyn, who vows revenge.

Going to put on her brother's cast-off armor and grabbing a dagger, she's stopped by a rather mysterious woman on the way to see her grandmother. (Yes, she's so ignorant that she doesn't recognize Tarma, nor her significance in her grandmother's life.) She's warned to go back; this inflames Kerowyn still further.

Kerowyn goes to Kethry and tells her what's happened; Kethry passes along her sword Need -- which basically is a sort of magical guardian spirit. If you're a mage, it gives you ultimate fighting prowess. If you're a fighter, it gives you immunity against magic.

Kerowyn rides, finds the bandits, kills them, and brings Lordan's bride home. However, after she gets there, she realizes she's not cut out for the life of a noblewoman (they are of the minor nobility); she goes back to her grandmother and asks for more help.

At this point, Tarma steps in, and trains Kerowyn to fight.

The rest of the book deals with Kerowyn's training, some of her campaigns, her growing strategic and tactical prowess -- and something more. Along the way, as she watches others pair off and feels hopelessly alone (she's gifted with Mindspeech, making it even worse, as none of her mercenary compatriots have this particular talent/affliction), she finds her soulmate, Eldan. Who just so happens to be a Herald of Valdemar.

A lesser writer would have dragged Kerowyn into Valdemar at that point; wisely, Lackey keeps Kerowyn out, instead giving her more adventures, then finally getting Kerowyn and Eldan together in the midst of a long, bloody war.

As they deal with their love and duty, much happens. (I don't want to give the rest of the plot away.) And Kerowyn finds a way to indeed have it all, after all.

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite Lackey books; Ms. Lackey did an outstanding job with this one, as it is accurate, unflinchingly candid, yet still realistic without sacrificing anything in the characterization department.

Thing is, with someone else, Kerowyn wouldn't be so engaging. She's a tough, smart woman who happens to like her job -- as a professional mercenary soldier and captain. Most writers would draw her as a caricature; instead, Ms. Lackey showed Kerowyn as learning tactics, and coming to believe that people who fought wars should have ethics -- as it's bad enough as it is.

Five stars plus. Highly recommended.

One of Lackey's few non-series books, this one nevertheless fits into the Valdemar chronology as a whole. It takes places somewhere after the "Vows and Honor" series and before "Queen's Own", and tells the story of the legendary Captain Kerowyn. Kero is Kethry's granddaughter, although she barely knows her mage grandmother. Her sexist father wants to keep her chained in the kitchen, but Kero wants adventure and excitement. When bandits crash her brother's wedding, killing most of the guests and taking the bride prisoner, Kero rides to the rescue, making her both a hero and a pariah to her brother and father. So she hikes off to Grandmother's, where Tarma takes her on as a student. Later, she joins a mercenary company, then captains said company, and finally ends up being Chosen by a Valdemaran Companion. (If she didn't, we wouldn't really care about her, would we?) Along the way she falls in love, has numerous adventures, setbacks, foreshadowy meetings with important people, etc etc.

Good book, especially for Mercedes Lackey. I liked Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarrion series better, but you can't ask for everything. Nice, basic sword-and-sorceress tale, ties up a few loose ends re: Kethry and Tarma, and sets up the "modern" Valdemar series at the same time. Although it's technically a stand-alone, don't bother if you don't have at least a basic grasp of Lackey's universe already. If you do, you'll probably like this one.

Kerowyn (or Kero for short) has always know that she was not meant to be a "lady." She despises everything about them, rather spending her time learning how to fight and using her own gifts and talents. And when her brother's bride is kidnapped one night her talents are put to the test. She visits her grandmother Kerthy, for help on her rescue, and her whole life is turned upside down. She is now bonded to a mysterious sword, a sword that is ment to help all women in danger and will never harm a woman, a sword that can heal and gives her mysterious battlepower. By the Sword chronicals Kero's life with the sword. From a young headstrong teenager of 15 to a seasoned warrior and mercenary. If you're interested in books of fantasy with strong female charecters this is for you! Keroywn is a likeable main charecter that works hard for breaking sterotypes and becoming independant. I was impressed with this book, it's very well written and fast paced. This is the first book by Mercedes Lackey that I've read but it will certainly not be the last.

After completing an English essay on this book <part of my semester project of analyzing the works of female fantasy authors>, I feel qualified to review this book. In a few words - it is excellent. At times, the plot is a little slow and bogged down in the political feuds <very very difficult to remember>, but it is truly memorable. I'm not going to recite how the characters are great, the story complex but fulfilling, and that whole bit. But I will say this - Kerowyn is typical of Lackey's heroines/heroes - the misfit and outcast who finds her place in society after years of searching - but her story still rings true for so many today. Lackey uses a fantastic setting in the world of Velgarth to merely have the reader suspend biases, and reassess views of homosexuals, racial relations, and women <also a very typical thing for all of her books>. I found this book, in all its excellency and fantasy plot, extremely relevant, and I'm sure other readers will feel the same.

Kerowyn is a prisoner in her own life. Since the death of her mother, she has been burdened with all of the housekeeping responsibilities of her rather large home. When the keep is raided and her future sister-in-law kidnapped, Kerowyn decides to try and rescue her... with a little aid from her grandmother, the sorceress Kethry.

Kethry and her Oath-sister, Tarma, a Shin'a'in Kalenedral, see that Kero longs to break free of the restraints typically placed on women. They are able to see Kerowyn's true dream: to become a mercenary.

With their help and training and the unexpected influences of a Herald of Valdemar, will Kerowyn be able to achieve her dream?

"By the Sword" is my twelfth Mercedes Lackey book and is loosely connected to the Vows and Honor series ("The Oathbound," "Oathbreakers," "Oathblood"). I absolutely loved it and couldn't put down as I read the last 200 pages. Kerowyn was a wonderful character that grew in many ways as the book went on. She is one of the most likeable Lackey characters I have encountered yet (right up there with Talia of the Arrows Trilogy and Tarma).

There are other quite remarkable characters in this book as well. I really enjoyed Daren's transformation from a prissy teenager to a true gentleman. Eldan was a strong character that deserved more page time.

One of the aspects of this book that I enjoyed the most were the reappearances of characters from previous books. Tarma and Kethry figure in quite a bit in the beginning, and I was very pleased to find out what had become of their school and family. I appreciated the links between Rethwellan and Valdemar as well.

Lackey also demonstrated a vast knowledge of the workings of weaponry and tactics. I felt like she really knew what she was talking about.

Bottom Line: "By the Sword" ties for my second favorite Lackey book with "Magic's Pawn" ("Arrow's Fall" tops the list). It is an intense journey of self-discovery that any reader can enjoy. However, I would highly recommend that the Vows and Honor books and the Arrows Trilogy be read first, and that mostly so that the references can be enjoyed.

The number of Misty's books I haven't read can be counted on one hand. I've been reading them for at least six years and "By the Sword" is the best of them all. This book is remarkable not only for Kero herself, the plot, and (somewhat shallow) political intrigue but because it is the joint between the "Oath" series (Tarma/Kethry) and the rest of the Valdemar books. I picked up this book for the first time since high school and was surprisingly enchanted. I've become disillusioned with Misty since the Owl and Storm book and as far as I'm concerned this is Misty at her best. No collaboration and no awful illustrations by her husband (barely decent in Gryphon series it degenerated from there.) Hmm, I've gone off tangent but seriously Misty is one of my favorite authors. Be sure to check out "Fiddler Fair," "Sword of Ice," and the "Oath Series." I look forward to checking out "Burning Brightly," hopefully her vacation from Velgarth (via "Black Swan") has kept her from the repititious burn out I've been noticing.

I am a huge fantasy fan, but I have never read Lackey before. So I was excited to read a novel in a world she had created that was already mature and had a history. I was however, disappointed early and often by this novel. There were three main reasons for my disappointment. 1) The author's writing did not have the depth to make me feel like I really knew the heroine or was really a part of the land. The characters felt one-dimensional. Even Kerowyn, the main character, though she had a lot of self doubt and strong conflicting emotions, everything worked out amazingly perfectly for her. 2) There was no major conflict to solve. This was the story of a ~15 year period of Kerowyn's life, one chapter at a time. While it was comforting to not have another book where the heroine had to save the world from the evil incarnate bad guy, this story didn't work for me: The first part of the book was about her gaining this wonderful magic sword; however, the sword played a very minor role after she got it and her first battle with it. The second part was about her military training, but that was really a backdrop to the emotional high of her first romantic fling. The third part about her life as a mercenary which felt so detached from the rest of the story that it seemed to be about someone other than the Kerowyn who garnered the sword in the first section. 3) The climax centered more on a side character, Daren, than it did on the main character Kerowyn. Daren suddenly discovered that he had an amazing power and happened to be in the right place at the right time to allow him to cause a third of the enemy's army to mutiny and attack the rest of their forces. Where did this come from?!

Overall "By the Sword" was an interesting read, and had its moments, but I wish I had spent my time on another story.

I re-bought this book for my Kindle, having read it many years ago in paperback, and continued to enjoy the storyline. This is not the best of Mercedes Lackey, but it's good. I'm glad I didn't read this first on the Kindle, because the editing is so poor it actually interferes with the story if you don't know it. "Merc" short for Mercenary is written as "mere" consistently through this book, along with hundreds (no exagerating here) of single character errors. So -- don't buy this for the kindle for a first time read. Otherwise, its a good book for those familiar with the universe.

This was one of my favorites of the Valdemar series. It offers readers a nice break from the traditional plot of her books--following a Herald through training etc. I'm not saying those weren't good books, they were! But this offered a refreshing diffrent perspective. Kero was a wonderful character to follow, and when I finished I found myself wishing she had more books. There were a few spots in the middle that were a touch slow, but in all it was great. I advise any fans to go and read it, some might like it less than others, but it's still worth the read. And if you've read it, and liked it, go and get the Oathbreakers series (based on Tarma and Kethry) It's just as good.

I've only recently started to read Mercedes Lackey books, and I'm still rather confused about whether to like them or not, due to several annoying quirks that constantly show up.

'By the Sword' follows Kero, a strong-willed fighter, throughout her life from "lady of the house" to an intelligent and skilled mercenary.

The characters are fairly well developed. Kero is an exceptionally strong female, and all of the supporting characters have a point and a purpose. (Although they are *all* a tad annoying after awhile).

The plot is fairly well strung as well. The military work done in the book, while basic, was very interesting to read. Also, unlike the other Lackey books that I've read, the pace of the book remained constant.

My biggest problem with 'By the Sword' was, however, the occasionally annoying plot twists. I found Darren's "newfound" magic power at the end to be a bit irritating, and what irritated me the most was when Kero and Darren acquired Companions at the end. *Why* exactly? To tie the end of the book together in a sudden and pointless plot point?

Nonetheless, this was a good read. I don't reccommend it if your looking for something terribly intriguing though.