Winds of Fate (The Mage Winds, Book 1) (Hardcover)

by Mercedes Lackey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This first volume of a new trilogy is again set in the imperiled land of Valdemar, encountered earlier in Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series. The heir to the throne, Herald Elspeth, sets out with Gwena, her Companion (a Guardian Spirit embodied as a horse), to find an Adept who can teach her people both to use and to deflect the power of magic. On learning that she has great potential as a mage, Elspeth goes for training to the k'Sheyna clan of the Tayledras, sorcerers who specialize in cleansing lands damaged in the long-ago Magic Wars. K'Sheyna leader Darkwind, attempting to rally his people as they are assaulted by unknown forces, saves Nyara, a Changechild, and discovers that the evil Adept Mornelithe Falconsbane is the source of the clan's troubles: under Tayledras land lie miraculous artifacts the Adept desires. After Darkwind saves Elspeth, the two join forces to save his people. Lackey's delightful world of magic is inhabited by strong and believable men, women and creatures, the most enchanting being the griffins Treyvan and Hydona.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-- Elspeth, future queen of Valdemar, and her long-term friend, teacher, and fellow Herald, Skif, set out to locate a mage who will either train her or return with them to protect their home. Strong female characterization, vivid description, and fast-paced adventure entertain readers as good battles against evil in this first book in a fantasy trilogy.
- Barbara Hawkins, West Potomac High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: DAW Hardcover; First. edition (October 3, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886774896
• ISBN-13: 978-0886774899
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #801,895 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 1 in The Mage Winds Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I think that the book speaks for itself., June 24, 2000

By	Melissa (Midwestern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Winds of Fate (The Mage Winds, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

In this book Elspeth, heir to the throne of Valdemar, goes in search of someone to teach her to use her magic in the defense of her kingdom. Unknowingly, she steps right into the middle of someone elses war also- the Taledras (sp?) vs. Falconsbane. This is my favorite series of all time, but "Winds of Change" and "Winds of Fury" were far better than this book, in my own opinion. This book is a little slow, with some great kicks here and there, but it doesn't really get doing until Elspeth and Darkwind meet. The ending (and the rest of the series) make it well worth the read! If you have read this book and are discouraged by how slow you thought it went through most of it, I encourage you to go ahead and try the next two in the series. They are much faster paced and well worth the read. The book has a good plot and good characters, and all and all, is a worthwhile read, and a good book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit distracting, August 30, 2004

By	Vy T. Nguyen "cestlavy" (Hayward, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Winds of Fate (The Mage Winds, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a huge Lackey fan and have read almost everything she's written. I know she had just published a romance novel (The Fairy Godmother via Harlequinn Publishing Co, I believe), I guess this was one of the pre-cursors that made her want to try the Romance genre. As a huge fan of epic style romances, I thought I'd give this one a try, but at the moment, I find myself a bit distracted. The main character is really getting on my nerves with how self-involved she is. Supposedly, the Companions are the epitome of wisdom and kindness and all other goodly virtues (except perhaps, modesty and inhibition) but Elsbeth is rude to her Companion, without an obvious reason why. Skif, the great character from _Take a Thief_, goes from being possibly dangerous in the eyes of a friendly mage, to a jealous idiot in the eyes of Elsbeth because he disapproves and supposedly is in love with her, but it is only described in her point of view and could, if logically thought out, could be following her because he is dispatching his duty--being her bodyguard. Then throughout the questionably interesting storyline, every other chapter is devoted to Darkwind's story, which, hey, is great because I love the Tayledras characters. It's very obvious that Darkwind is the answer and romantic/magic ideal that Elsbeth is searching for, but the way in which the story is told somewhat fractures the effect, as she waits a while to get them together. That's bad in the sense that you can't tell why Darkwind's story is relevant and becomes distracting, almost something you rush through to get to the point of Elsbeth's story. Unfortunately, his story happens to be a bit more exciting and interesting, relevant and makes more sense. This is a okay to good read for a first-time Lackey reader perhaps, but a little blah for a reader like me.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ordinary and Very Average, July 2, 2003

By	Phillip B. Spotts "cintibookworm" (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Winds of Fate (The Mage Winds, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Mage Winds trilogy is the sequel to her Heralds of Valdemar series. It follows the next generation in the bodies of Princess Elspeth and Skif. Magic is returning to Valdemar and Elspeth is one of the few remaining Heralds that has the ability to use it, if she can learn how before being consumed by the dark forces. To do so she defies even her own Companion as seeks a teacher in the part mythical Hawkbrothers.

For those who love the worlds of Valdemar this series will have everything you want; magic, the Companions, romance, evil wizards and of course a happy ending.

Now for those of you who, like me, enjoy a good story here are the problems. This three volum set should have been condensed into one single book. Far too much just plain fluff to tell the truth, and not particularly interesting fluff at that. I found myself skimming and flipping pages just trying to find and interesting part of the story. Another problem is predictability. I felt I could guess the major plots and twists for the entire trilogy within the first hundred pages, turns out I was correct. You know who is going to end up with whom, who's going to die and how everything is going to turn out. Although I will say even I wasn't expecting how anticlimactic the end would be for the arch villain so I guess I lose my Seer's union card over that.

Too little story for three volumes, too predictable, very little new as far as plots. Do I recommend them, not really, but then there are a lot worst out there. I gave it a two mainly due to the fluff factor it's average enough to be up near the threes.