Two masters of epic fantasy have combined in this brilliant collaboration to create a rousing tale. This is the story of Shana, a half-breed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father with a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, Shana was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or human kind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that the all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime.
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Editorial Reviews
©1991 Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey; (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The Elvenbane (1991) is the first novel in the Halfblood Chronicles. The Elves are aliens from elsewhere. They are long-lived and have great magics and, long ago, they conquered Earth. Now the humans wear slave collars and take orders from Elven overseers. The Elves and humans can interbreed; the resulting child usually has Elven magic and the mind powers of the humans. These halfblood Wizards are reluctant to obey the Elven Lords and eventually rebelled in the Wizard's War. Ever since, it has been a killing offense for a human to become pregnant by an Elf.
The Elves and humans unknowingly share the planet with the dragons, who came during the Wizard's War. Dragons are shapeshifters and their shamans have the power of mind speaking and reading the thoughts of others. They can also play with the lightning and create gates between worlds. The dragons despise the Elven Lords and cause confusion and anger whenever they can. One of their favorite ploys is to spread the prophecy of the Elvenbane, a halfblood who will free the human from Elven tyranny.
In this novel, Alamarana is a shaman and pregnant. She is traveling across the world, shifting her shape and becoming one with the planet. For a while, she impersonates an Elven maid and leads an Elven Lord into a marriage agreement just before she vanishes from his manor. Then, as she is meditating in a body of stone, a human slave, also pregnant, literally stumbles across her. Serina Daeth had been the chief concubine of Lord Dyran, but another concubine managed to make Serina fertile with the Elven Lord and so now she is fleeing for her life.
Alara almost abandons Serina in the desert, but decides to help deliver the child. When the mother bleeds to death, Alara takes the girl child home with her. Seeing the baby, all the dragons of her lair start to argue and complain. The infant is too noisy, she is too smelly, and she is ugly, but Alara is determined to keep the child. Moments later, she goes into contractions herself.
Alara's son, Keman, thinks the infant is kind of cute. He is the type of dragon child who brings pets home with him and the human baby looks to be another pet, yet so small and feeble. When his mother goes into labor, Keman takes the child home and puts her in the pen with Hoppy, his three-legged two-horn, who soon includes the human in her nursing brood.
Keman names the baby Lashana, which is "orphan" in Elvish, but since she is so little, he shortens the name to Shana. Since his mother is very busy with his baby sister, Keman takes over the care of this little human. He makes her a shift of his own shed skin to protect her tender skin. He starts teaching her to talk, refusing to just speak mind-to-mind. He soon learns how hard work there is in being a mother.
This novel is about family, fate, and freedom. As with most of both authors' stories, this tales features characters who persevere in their struggle against hardship and injustice. Moreover, it contains alien characters who defy there own kind to help win the struggle.
Recommended for Norton and Lackey fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of strange powers, friendly dragons and righteous conflict.
The Elves and humans unknowingly share the planet with the dragons, who came during the Wizard's War. Dragons are shapeshifters and their shamans have the power of mind speaking and reading the thoughts of others. They can also play with the lightning and create gates between worlds. The dragons despise the Elven Lords and cause confusion and anger whenever they can. One of their favorite ploys is to spread the prophecy of the Elvenbane, a halfblood who will free the human from Elven tyranny.
In this novel, Alamarana is a shaman and pregnant. She is traveling across the world, shifting her shape and becoming one with the planet. For a while, she impersonates an Elven maid and leads an Elven Lord into a marriage agreement just before she vanishes from his manor. Then, as she is meditating in a body of stone, a human slave, also pregnant, literally stumbles across her. Serina Daeth had been the chief concubine of Lord Dyran, but another concubine managed to make Serina fertile with the Elven Lord and so now she is fleeing for her life.
Alara almost abandons Serina in the desert, but decides to help deliver the child. When the mother bleeds to death, Alara takes the girl child home with her. Seeing the baby, all the dragons of her lair start to argue and complain. The infant is too noisy, she is too smelly, and she is ugly, but Alara is determined to keep the child. Moments later, she goes into contractions herself.
Alara's son, Keman, thinks the infant is kind of cute. He is the type of dragon child who brings pets home with him and the human baby looks to be another pet, yet so small and feeble. When his mother goes into labor, Keman takes the child home and puts her in the pen with Hoppy, his three-legged two-horn, who soon includes the human in her nursing brood.
Keman names the baby Lashana, which is "orphan" in Elvish, but since she is so little, he shortens the name to Shana. Since his mother is very busy with his baby sister, Keman takes over the care of this little human. He makes her a shift of his own shed skin to protect her tender skin. He starts teaching her to talk, refusing to just speak mind-to-mind. He soon learns how hard work there is in being a mother.
This novel is about family, fate, and freedom. As with most of both authors' stories, this tales features characters who persevere in their struggle against hardship and injustice. Moreover, it contains alien characters who defy there own kind to help win the struggle.
Recommended for Norton and Lackey fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of strange powers, friendly dragons and righteous conflict.
22 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Before reading this evew, please take into account the fact that I am slightly prejudiced; this is my favorite book of all time. The thing I love about this book is the way it destroys stereotypes. In this book, elves are evil beings, humans are stupid, and dragons are either lazy or terified of being discovered. There are no people fighting all that is bad in the world because they want to, instead they tend to run away as fast as possible. When you have been reading this book for sometime, and hen put it dow, prepare to take 10 to 15 minutes in order to readjust to reality. A few people I have lent this to have also experienced this, so It's not just MY overactive imagination. There are some minor problems. By about half-way through the book, the alliances of all the main characters are clear, so it's fairly obvious what will happen in the end (although the details are surprising). The book also leaves someting of a cliff-hanger, remedied by the sequel, Elvenblood (although this too has an ambigous ending). In all, if you like realistic, gritty, and above all well-written ficton, this is the book for you.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Nicolas
Format:Mass Market Paperback
In The Elven Bane, Shana (Lashana) is born to a human of an elf lord in a time when people are considered slaves and elves rule all. Shana's mother dies out on the desert and a wandering dragon who is about to have a baby finds her and helps her give birth in the guise of a nurse woman near a place of refuge. Alara (the dragon who helps to birth Shana) takes the newborn human child and raises her with her own son Keman. Shana is Keman's "pet" but instead of being treated as an animal a marvelous relation forms between them.
A great book for me and others I would highly recomend The Elven Bane to all readers whither they like fantasy or not (its a great opening book to those who don't know what to read next).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Did the rules get tossed out the window, or simply hit the wall and...
When I was in my teens, I read this book and thought it was one of the best books I had ever read. The first half of the book is a very good lead into the world created by Mercedes... Read more
Published 1 month ago by S
3.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome narration of the audiobook
This review is of the audiobook version that is available via audible, although the CD version appears to have the same narrator and may be the same edition. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lorena
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Elvenbane
This was the very first fantasy book that I read. My friend loaned it to me when I was a young kid and I have not read anything exactly like it since. Read more
Published on March 21, 2011 by B. Love
2.0 out of 5 stars
The plot is an absolute mess.
This book starts off with a very entertaining premise, and though I am far from a Mercedes Lackey fan, I was willing to give the Norton/Lackey team the benefit of the doubt and... Read more
Published on December 30, 2010 by Thomas Shaw
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dragon-made tall tale comes to life
The world that the writing team of Norton and Lackey crafts is quite fascinating in its detail and description. Read more
Published on September 26, 2010 by Jacob's Beloved
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not Worth Reading
I've read a few novels by Mercedes Lackey that I enjoyed, but this definitely isn't one of them. The pacing of the book is very slow for the first 90% of it (then the end comes in... Read more
Published on September 7, 2010 by Rogue
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly Constructed Tale
Interesting characters, poorly constructed plot. The story jumps all over the place and leaves many plot-threads. Read more
Published on July 21, 2010 by Jaybird
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dragons and Wizards and Elves Oh My!
I first read this book when I was fourteen and fell totally in love with it. The characters are rich, interesting and unpredictable. The story grips you from page 1. Read more
Published on July 13, 2010 by Jacquie Jackman
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Elvenbane By Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
The Elvenbane
By Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
In The Elvenbane, a young fiery halfblood (half elven, half human) girl named Shana, is raised by a Kin of... Read more
By Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
In The Elvenbane, a young fiery halfblood (half elven, half human) girl named Shana, is raised by a Kin of... Read more
Published on July 7, 2010 by W. Burke
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dragon speak
Awesome story for fantasy lovers!
Sadly I never got to read the last book in the series (an I don't think anyone will ever get to), so everything was spoilt for me. Read more
Sadly I never got to read the last book in the series (an I don't think anyone will ever get to), so everything was spoilt for me. Read more
Published on June 30, 2009 by L. Wicks
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