Customer Reviews

The White Gryphon (Mage Wars)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It has been ten years since the magical Cataclysm that destroyed Urtho's Tower and the evil Adept Ma'ar. The Kaled'a'in Clan k'Leshya spent nearly a year traversing magic-warped lands to finally reach the shores of the sea where they would make their home. For nine years, under the leadership and guidance of the kestra'chern Amberdrake and the white gryphon Skandranon, they built a new and shining city: White Gryphon, in honor of Skandranon.

Just as life seems to be finally settling down for the Kaled'a'in, a ship appears, sailing up the coast straight towards White Gryphon. Aboard it are envoys of the rigid Haighlei Empire, sent to inform the Kaled'a'in that their precious city is situated on Haighlei territory. To avoid a confrontation, Amberdrake, Winterhart, Skandranon, and Zhaneel are sent to the Haighlei capital of Khimbata as ambassadors. Trouble quickly ensues as Haighlei courtiers opposed to the Kaled'a'in are found murdered. Will Amberdrake and Skandranon be able to clear their names and save their home from war?

"The White Gryphon" is the second book in Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon's Mage Wars Trilogy. I absolutely loved it! As in "The Black Gryphon," Dixon's voice and presence will be apparent to devoted Valdemar fans. It was a page-turner through and through, and the alternating perspectives only increased my desire to read on. It was one of those stories where you know the other half of the mystery, but the main characters don't and you feel like shouting out the missing pieces to them. Very intense and involving.

As always, the characters and descriptions were fantastic. I swear Amberdrake is the sweetest guy ever, and I love Skandranon's self-assurance. The fully fleshed out Haighlei culture was particularly interesting. It makes one wonder if Lackey and Dixon based it on a culture in our world.

I honestly have no serious complaints about this book. The pacing was infinitely better than "The Black Gryphon." The climax was more drawn out and much slower, with sufficient lower points, so that it didn't feel rushed. The only thing I'm still curious about are Hadanelith's motivations, but that is a very small flaw in an otherwise thrilling book.

Bottom Line: A taut, thrilling continuation to the Mage Wars Trilogy that Valdemar fans will devour. Enjoy! :)

Well, I don't like it as much as The Black Gryphon. Since The Black Gryphon is my favourite book in the world, that isn't saying much.
Here is my (brief) summary of the book.
The former Black Gryphon, Skandranon Rashkae, is now a leader in the Kaled'a'in tribe of K'leshya's new home. Taking place ten years after The Black Gryphon, the war refugees have built a beautiful city that they named in Skandranon's honor.
Just as the city is taking its final form, a mysterious boat sails into the harbour. There are a group of people known as Haighlei who are the actual owners of the land White Gryphon (the city) is built on. They offer to make an alliance with the city.
Skandranon and his fellow leader and friend Amberdrake take their families to the city of Khimbata to meet the Emperor Shalaman. They are surprised by the intricate and unusual customs of the Haighlei people.
Shortly after they arrive at Khimbata, the White Gryphon delegation is accused of commiting a murder... You'll have to read it to find out what happens, but the plot involves multiple murders, romance, and action.
Happy gryphoning.

I don't know why I remembered this one being my least favorite of this trilogy... it was more exciting than I originally expected. I liked Kechara's role - the murder and intrigue was fun too! All in all, this is a fun series. I remember quite a bit about the next one, _The Silver Gryphon_. That's the one that revolves around Skan and Drake's children. I think I still like the first one the best, but this one is certainly just as good!

After finishing The Black Gryphon, I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, this book had very little of the intrigue and action of the last book. It was interesting to be introduced to another culture, and one so different from the rest of the world of Valdemar, but I finished it feeling a bit disappointed.

In this follow up of The Black Gryphon, the Kaled'a'in must convince the Haighlei that they are worthy allies. I thought this was a pretty good book althought I don't really enjoy murder stories. Although there is plenty of action, there are also alot more political issues and isites in to the characters views. Lackey uses a combination of the main characters to get different view points. This technique is also very effective in keeping the reader interested. Lackey also gives and interesting view on "change" and how humans react to it. The book wasn't quite as good as The Black Gryphon but it was still good.

a good effort in the continuing of the mage wars saga... as the other reviewers have already explained in great detail of the plot, suffice to say that this book generally deals with the settlement of white gryphon when they are negotiating a treaty with the haighlei people. most of the action takes place in the haighlei city, khimbata. i find that the story are rather, well, too slowly paced. there's hardly a sense of urgency to it and thy dwell much too long in the diplomatic stuff. it's good though, with the emphasis on how skan is faced with his approaching middle years.... quite funny. the plot is okay in sense that you can only second guess the perpetrator of all the mess, since you can't actually think of how he did it. but i do think that the ending during the eclipse ceromony (not the action part, but the end of it) are a little too contrived... too easy an ending. however, it is great to see that winterhart is no longer the idiot she was in the first book and there's also some hmm... jeasousy?... in the oh-so-cool amberdrake that's realistic portrayal in a relationship. overall, a good book, but not really her most astounding effort.

I just can't see how anyone can NOT like it. I mean, all right,maybe it doesn't have as much action as The Black Gryphon--SO WHAT? Are authors allowed to have a change of pace now and then anymore? Besides, I think it's got plenty of action--the murders, when Skan and Drake get kid- and gryphon-napped by Hadanelith (spelling?) and when Skan saves the Black King, Shalaman, as the Black Gryphon again. I think that's gotta be my favorite part of the whole book. Also, be sure to read Black Gryphon first. I read this book first, And I was totally confused abuot a lotta stuff. ~Dragonblade END

This book is a perfect blend of mystery and action, making it an instant classic. I think this would be a good book for any murder mystery fan or Mercedes Lackey fan. There are some people who would believe this book to be 'dull', but probably because they are expecting another 'Black Gryhpon', which this is not.

The White Gryphon was excellent in that it turned away a bit from the action of all of Lackey's previous novels. I liked the in-depth plot and the suspense, and how the action didn't predominate the story. I think this is one of her best novels yet.

I passed the series in my library a couple of days ago and remembered my friend had recommended it, so I got the :Black Gryphon:. I finished it in two days and had to get the White and Silver. I just finished the :White Gryphon: and if it's possible I loved it more then the first. Skandranon the post-black Gryphon, has been made a leader of The White Gryphon, the new city being created. When he begins to become bored with the job-kazzam- a little bit of trouble to stir things up. The Black Kings come on over to tell them their on their land. Skan and his family and Amberdrake and his family get to be ambassadors to try and negotiate a truce. Just when things seem to be going well people begin to get murdered and Skan and Drake are framed. Read to see what happens.-Eli@