Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Nice Addition to the Vows and Honor Books, July 28, 2002
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.
|
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Actually, four and a half stars, June 15, 2003
"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.
|
|
|
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good short story collection, February 3, 2002
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.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
by Mercedes Lackey
