The dragonrider Vetch escapes to Alta, the subjugated land of his birth. There, he hopes to teach his people to raise and train dragons-and build an army that will liberate his homeland.
Table of Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
Raves for
“As in its predecessor
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“Rife with intrigue and dangerous counterintrigue, the story continues a classic quest-for-good-against-evil plot development while beautifully maintaining the world, society, and characterizations established in
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“It’s fun to see a different spin on dragons and the ususal abused-child-makes-good story, and as usual Lackey makes it all compelling.”
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“As always, the imcomparable Mercedes Lackey offers readers memorable characters, both human and animal, in exotic settings. She’s created a new fantasy world that begs to be explored and savored.”
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“I like her (Lackey) more with every book I read. This new book—and it needs to become a series, because even though the story ends, people will be clamoring to find out what happens next—has a dynamic setting, lush with possibility. An interesting, well conceived concept and a nice set of characters makes
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NOVELS BY MERCEDES LACKEY
available from DAW Books:
ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW’S FLIGHT
ARROW’S FALL
MAGIC’S PAWN
MAGIC’S PROMISE
MAGIC’S PRICE
WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY
STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING
BY THE SWORD
THE OATHBOUND
OATHBREAKERS
OATHBLOOD
BRIGHTLY BURNING
TAKE A THIEF
EXILE’S HONOR
EXILE’S VALOR
SWORD OF ICE
SUN IN GLORY
Written with LARRY DIXON:
THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON
OWLFLIGHT
OWLSIGHT
OWLKNIGHT
OTHER NOVELS:
JOUST
ALTA
SANCTUARY
THE BLACK SWAN
THE SERPENT’S SHADOW
THE GATES OF SLEEP
PHOENIX AND ASHES
REDISCOVERY
And don’t miss: The VALDEMAR COMPANION
Copyright © 2004 by Mercedes R. Lackey.
All rights reserved.
DAW Books Collectors No. 1286
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eISBN : 978-1-101-11837-5
First paperback printing, March 2005
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To Jemima Parry-Jones and Mozart
ONE
OVERHEAD, the stars that filled the night sky, the ornaments upon the robe of the Goddess of the Night, seemed close enough to touch. The
He had come to learn that the desert was not all one sort of landscape; he had escaped over stony hills into the pure sand of the desert dune country; now he was in yet another sort of desert, a place of marginal life. The sand beneath Vetch was not as comfortable to sit in as one might suppose; since this wasn’t dune country, the ground was hard beneath a surface mix of dust, sand, and pebbles. He was glad of his bedroll now since it provided a layer of softness between himself and the ground. Strange. When he had been Khefti-the-Fat’s serf, he wouldn’t have noticed how hard it was; in so short a time he had gotten used to certain comforts.
