EXILE'S HONOR
Mercedes Lackey
DAW, 2002
Pb 431 pages
This is a Novel of Valdemar, but I can
attest (since this is my first Mercedes Lackey read) that you do
not have to have read any other Valdemaran novel prior to this
in order to enjoy EXILE'S HONOR. I bought it because I'd seen
its sequel advertised so bought both at the same time (and
enjoyed this one more than the one that was advertised). For
those already acquainted with the Heralds of Valdemar Series,
EXILE'S HONOR and its sequel EXILE'S VALOR fit in the end of
King Sendar's reign, 1355 years after the founding of Valdemar,
and at the beginning of Queen Selenay's reign.
For those of you like myself who are
unfamiliar with the Heralds of Valdemar, here is a brief
synopsis: Heralds have a kind of magic and a shared magical
connection with familiars that look like horses but aren't. These "Companions" choose the human they will spend the rest of
their lives with. Heralds have different talents: FarSeeing,
ForeSeeing, Touch, Truth, etc.
Alberich is a Karsite and Captain in the
Sunlord's army. Valdemarans are his enemy, though he's never
been that far north. Most of his battles have been against
bandits. He's an excellent warrior. But he has a problem. He
occasionally gets bursts of prescience. One of the reasons he
is a captain and has been awarded this handsome horse is because
he was able to make a good accounting of himself in the last
battle (because he was in the right place at the right time).
Now he doesn't know that his "horse" is a Companion that has
sought him out for his ForeSight. Up until now, Alberich has
been able to keep his "witch-sight" secret, but today its
display is much too obvious. He is found out by a Sunpriest,
beaten, and set on fire. Alberich's "horse" saves him then
rushes across the border into Valdemar where traveling Heralds
take Alberich to a healer.
Exiled from a tyrannical society, Alberich
now has to come to terms with his magic, this new place, his own
religion, and Companion. When the Karsites decide to go to war
with Valdemar, they hire desperate mercenaries and Alberich is
the only one on this side of the border who has any knowledge of
what Valdemar is up against. The biggest problem, however, is
getting the Valdemarans to trust him.
This is a well balanced story: the
world-building, description, characterization, and plotting come
together well with enough action to keep it all moving. I
especially liked the outsider angle, where the main character
has to not only learn to accept this new voice in his mind that
is first perceived as enemy, but also to eventually come to
accept that voice of his Companion as his best friend.
Oh, and the style of this book offered a
special treat. From the text: "He must be in Valdemar. The language was as twisted about as the Demon-Riders and their Hellhorses, with the verbs coming in the middle instead of
properly at the end. How could you tell what a sentence was
truly about if you stuck the verb in the middle? The meaning
could be entirely reversed by what came afterward!" . . . So Alberich's dialogue is slanted to his language:
"'You would be
dead right now," Talamir repeated uncomfortably. 'You couldn't
have denied your Gift. With or without Kantor, sooner or later
it would have betrayed you, and you would still have gone to the
fires--'
'But my own death it was, and mine was the choice to
face, or to escape it,' Alberich pointed out, anger and
resentment coloring every word. 'That choice, from me was
taken. Perhaps the witch-sight I could have fought, taken from
me also was the option to try. And in the first place, had not
the witch-sight come upon me when and where it did, condemned I
should not have been.' . . .
'Would you have us undo what we
have done?' Talamir persisted.
Alberich snorted. 'And how?
Return, I cannot. Notorious, I am, doubtless. If ever a
time for remedy was, it now long past is.'"
[Don't worry, the
dialogue is only lightly spiced with this slant and does not
hinder the reading but enhances it instead.] I do recommend
this book for all Sword & Sorcery fans. It stands alone well
even without its boring sequel.