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Valdemar (Publication order) #9
By the Sword
Granddaughter of the sorceress Kethry, daughter of a noble house, Kerowyn had been forced to run the family keep since her mother's untimely death. Yet now at last her brother was preparing to wed, and when his bride became the lady of the keep, Kerowyn could return to her true enjoyments - training horses and hunting.
But all Kerowyn's hopes and plans were shattered when her ancestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped. Driven by desperation and the knowledge that a scorcerer had done this, led her to the journey which would prove but he first step on the road to the fulfillment of her destiny.
But all Kerowyn's hopes and plans were shattered when her ancestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped. Driven by desperation and the knowledge that a scorcerer had done this, led her to the journey which would prove but he first step on the road to the fulfillment of her destiny.
492 pages, Hardcover
First published February 5, 1991
About the author
Mercedes Lackey
631 books8,885 followersMercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
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June 3, 2016
http://bookslifewine.com/r-by-the-sword/
4.5 stars rounded down to 4 stars!
*Please Note: By the Sword is a stand alone book that can be read out of the Valdemar Universe publication order. By the Sword IS #9 in the Valdemar universe, however, so there is a great deal of history and definitions that are from previous works in series universe.
How do you analyze old friends? Honestly, I think it's impossible.
I first met Mercedes Lackey while browsing the stacks at the public library in my home town. I don't remember what grade I was in but I was somewhere in the area that covers both Middle and High school. Regardless, before Mercedes Lackey, I'd mostly read a lot of Science Fiction and SF anthologies. I'd just found MZB's Swords & Sorceress anthologies when a brightly colored cover caught my eye as I wandered the stacks.
That book happened to be Winds of Fate (Mage Winds #1) . And goodness! That cover was MADE for people like me! It felt like the book screamed my name. I mean, look at all that purple!!!! THAT horse! I grabbed a copy and continued on. I hadn't a clue as to how this one book would truly change my life.
That night (which also happened to be a school night), I started reading Winds of Fate. And I was entranced. I fell deeply in love: with the characters, with the series, with the author and with Fantasy. I stayed up all night reading that book. When my dad yelled at me to go to bed, I turned out the lights and immediately dived under the covers with a flashlight to read. I finished the book sometime in the early dawn hours. I was exhausted but oh, so emotionally satisfied. And I was "feining" like a crackhead - desperate for my next fix: Winds of Change.
Fast forward and I am a major Mercedes Lackey fan: owning more than 50+ of her books and 95% of the 40+ books in this series.
So. On to this book. By the Sword. Who knew that reading Winds of Fate would drop me into the middle of a new "world?" Kerowyn, the heroine, was a major character in Winds of Fate and I was excited to get to know her better! Kerowyn (and her teacher Tarma (from Vows & Honor )) still reign as two of the baddest badasses this side of Kate Daniels. Kerowyn and Tarma laid the groundwork for my undying love for the woman warrior.
By the Sword follows Kerowyn's life from the time she is about 16 years old until she arrives in Valdemar (early 30s?). Kerowyn has quite the pedigree and her life shows this: she is descended from Adept-Class mages, an ancient Noble line and pure intellectual genius on her mother's side. Her father's genes graced her with exceptional physical abilities. Kerowyn was then blessed to be trained by one of the top weapons masters in the world: Tarma.
By the Sword starts at a pivotal time for Kerowyn: her older brother is getting married which will bring great change to her home. Suddenly, in the midst of the celebrations Kerowyn's home is attacked. Her father is killed, her brother is severely injured and her brother's fiancee is kidnapped. Kerowyn realizes that the fiancee has to be saved but there is no one - besides her - uninjured enough to ride after them. So Kerowyn decides to ride to her Grandmother - the legendary Adept Sorceress Kethry (Vows & Honor) - to ask for help. This ride, later to become known widely in song as Kerowyn's Ride, will forever change Kerowyn's life. Readers of Lackey's Vows and Honor series will be excited to run into the magical sword Need again - this time passed from Kethry to her granddaughter Kerowyn.
Gosh, I LOVE By the Sword. Not quite sure how she did it but Mercedes Lackey managed to avoid turning Kerowyn into a special snowflake. Yes, Kerowyn is special but the achievements she has attained in her life are the results of hard work, sacrifice and discipline.
There's much to recommend in By the Sword but new readers should be aware that Mercedes Lackey refrains from getting too dark in her Valdemar series.
4.5 stars rounded down to 4 stars!
*Please Note: By the Sword is a stand alone book that can be read out of the Valdemar Universe publication order. By the Sword IS #9 in the Valdemar universe, however, so there is a great deal of history and definitions that are from previous works in series universe.
How do you analyze old friends? Honestly, I think it's impossible.
I first met Mercedes Lackey while browsing the stacks at the public library in my home town. I don't remember what grade I was in but I was somewhere in the area that covers both Middle and High school. Regardless, before Mercedes Lackey, I'd mostly read a lot of Science Fiction and SF anthologies. I'd just found MZB's Swords & Sorceress anthologies when a brightly colored cover caught my eye as I wandered the stacks.
That book happened to be Winds of Fate (Mage Winds #1) . And goodness! That cover was MADE for people like me! It felt like the book screamed my name. I mean, look at all that purple!!!! THAT horse! I grabbed a copy and continued on. I hadn't a clue as to how this one book would truly change my life.
That night (which also happened to be a school night), I started reading Winds of Fate. And I was entranced. I fell deeply in love: with the characters, with the series, with the author and with Fantasy. I stayed up all night reading that book. When my dad yelled at me to go to bed, I turned out the lights and immediately dived under the covers with a flashlight to read. I finished the book sometime in the early dawn hours. I was exhausted but oh, so emotionally satisfied. And I was "feining" like a crackhead - desperate for my next fix: Winds of Change.
Fast forward and I am a major Mercedes Lackey fan: owning more than 50+ of her books and 95% of the 40+ books in this series.
So. On to this book. By the Sword. Who knew that reading Winds of Fate would drop me into the middle of a new "world?" Kerowyn, the heroine, was a major character in Winds of Fate and I was excited to get to know her better! Kerowyn (and her teacher Tarma (from Vows & Honor )) still reign as two of the baddest badasses this side of Kate Daniels. Kerowyn and Tarma laid the groundwork for my undying love for the woman warrior.
By the Sword follows Kerowyn's life from the time she is about 16 years old until she arrives in Valdemar (early 30s?). Kerowyn has quite the pedigree and her life shows this: she is descended from Adept-Class mages, an ancient Noble line and pure intellectual genius on her mother's side. Her father's genes graced her with exceptional physical abilities. Kerowyn was then blessed to be trained by one of the top weapons masters in the world: Tarma.
By the Sword starts at a pivotal time for Kerowyn: her older brother is getting married which will bring great change to her home. Suddenly, in the midst of the celebrations Kerowyn's home is attacked. Her father is killed, her brother is severely injured and her brother's fiancee is kidnapped. Kerowyn realizes that the fiancee has to be saved but there is no one - besides her - uninjured enough to ride after them. So Kerowyn decides to ride to her Grandmother - the legendary Adept Sorceress Kethry (Vows & Honor) - to ask for help. This ride, later to become known widely in song as Kerowyn's Ride, will forever change Kerowyn's life. Readers of Lackey's Vows and Honor series will be excited to run into the magical sword Need again - this time passed from Kethry to her granddaughter Kerowyn.
Gosh, I LOVE By the Sword. Not quite sure how she did it but Mercedes Lackey managed to avoid turning Kerowyn into a special snowflake. Yes, Kerowyn is special but the achievements she has attained in her life are the results of hard work, sacrifice and discipline.
There's much to recommend in By the Sword but new readers should be aware that Mercedes Lackey refrains from getting too dark in her Valdemar series.
December 1, 2011
There's no question in my mind that this is the best Valdemar book by far. (It might partly be because Kerowyn is so very much the fantasy heroine I would want to be - tough, practical, supremely competent, and principled, although regrettably straight.) The three sections are very nearly complete stories in themselves, but flow nicely together, keeping the overall pace up by skipping the long boring stretches involved in getting from 15 years old to 35 without losing the feeling of steady character development. Previous Valdemar reading is not really required, but it fits in nicely to the
"modern" story arc and leads into the next trilogy in a number of ways without losing its feeling of completeness.
It's not perfect - the middle section drags a little, in my opinion, the logistics of the main romance feel implausible, and the recurring musing on why good people need to fight is terribly unsubtle and awfully repetitive - but they are relatively minor flaws (especially coming off the comparatively clumsy Arrows trilogy.) It's a very solid book, and probably the first one I would hand to someone interested in Valdemar.
"modern" story arc and leads into the next trilogy in a number of ways without losing its feeling of completeness.
It's not perfect - the middle section drags a little, in my opinion, the logistics of the main romance feel implausible, and the recurring musing on why good people need to fight is terribly unsubtle and awfully repetitive - but they are relatively minor flaws (especially coming off the comparatively clumsy Arrows trilogy.) It's a very solid book, and probably the first one I would hand to someone interested in Valdemar.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
June 14, 2020
Kerowyn is the great-granddaughter of the famed sorceress Kethry, although she knows little of her own heritage. When her father is murdered and her brother grievously injured at his wedding party, there is no one left to save the bride except for Kero. Her heroic actions set her on a journey to become a mercenary, and her life will never be the same again.
This was one of my absolute favorite books when I was in high school. I devoured every single book I could read about badass women wielding swords and being fighters that I could, and let's just say that in the early 2000s, there were not a whole lot of books out there (edit: there are and have always been women fantasy writers, but I'm talking specifically about the kind of books geared specifically for a young adult audience in the way the genre is structured now). Katniss Everdeen hadn't launched the YA strong female character, and Mercedes Lackey was, for me and many other teenage girls, a gateway into adult fantasy.
About five or six years ago, I had intended on picking this up again to see if I still liked it, and I ended up putting it down because it was a little bit too preachy on well...just about everything.
But this year I had been getting strong urges to read the books that had defined me as a teenager, that had kept me warm and whole and going on when everything was falling apart, and so I picked it up again.
It was still a little on the preachy side, but overall enjoyable.
My favorite parts were the training sequences, mainly because Tarma, Kethry and Warrl (okay, mostly Warrl) are my favorite characters in the Valdemar world (the Heralds are all a little much), and Warrl got to shine so much in this book with his sarcastic wit.
When Kerowyn goes off into the world, the narrative became a little choppy and bounced around, as if several novellas were tacked together to create this book (they probably were). And only a couple mentions were left of Tarma and Kethry as Kerowyn got older—she name-drops the Shin'a'in a whole hell of a lot (and girl gets a whole boost up with her nomadic cousins, who literally pull her ass up out of bankruptcy and make her famous) and she also mentions her brother and his family a bunch too when she goes back to visit—which made me super nervous because I wanted closure. I wanted to know if Tarma and Kethry and Warrl finally got their rest, or if they were still happily toddling about the Tower in their old age.
Anywho, because of the narrative choppiness—which goes from super detailed during Kero's training to jumping forward 5-6 years into her experience as a scout behind enemy lines to another 10 or so years as a very well established mercenary captain—a lot of my emotional connection was lost in the ultimate climax. The climax where before as a teen I was always choking up in tears because her people had me like, oh damn that could have been done a bit better.
And I wanted more nuance than what I got with the Shin'a'in and talks of barbarianism, savagery and other coded terms.
So as a jaded, cynical adult, much of this magic was lost on me, although I still enjoyed the book for what it was, and for what it was for me as a teenager. It was enjoyable, solid and fun, even if it had a few too many miracle coincidences for Kerowyn.
This was one of my absolute favorite books when I was in high school. I devoured every single book I could read about badass women wielding swords and being fighters that I could, and let's just say that in the early 2000s, there were not a whole lot of books out there (edit: there are and have always been women fantasy writers, but I'm talking specifically about the kind of books geared specifically for a young adult audience in the way the genre is structured now). Katniss Everdeen hadn't launched the YA strong female character, and Mercedes Lackey was, for me and many other teenage girls, a gateway into adult fantasy.
About five or six years ago, I had intended on picking this up again to see if I still liked it, and I ended up putting it down because it was a little bit too preachy on well...just about everything.
But this year I had been getting strong urges to read the books that had defined me as a teenager, that had kept me warm and whole and going on when everything was falling apart, and so I picked it up again.
It was still a little on the preachy side, but overall enjoyable.
My favorite parts were the training sequences, mainly because Tarma, Kethry and Warrl (okay, mostly Warrl) are my favorite characters in the Valdemar world (the Heralds are all a little much), and Warrl got to shine so much in this book with his sarcastic wit.
When Kerowyn goes off into the world, the narrative became a little choppy and bounced around, as if several novellas were tacked together to create this book (they probably were). And only a couple mentions were left of Tarma and Kethry as Kerowyn got older—she name-drops the Shin'a'in a whole hell of a lot (and girl gets a whole boost up with her nomadic cousins, who literally pull her ass up out of bankruptcy and make her famous) and she also mentions her brother and his family a bunch too when she goes back to visit—which made me super nervous because I wanted closure. I wanted to know if Tarma and Kethry and Warrl finally got their rest, or if they were still happily toddling about the Tower in their old age.
Anywho, because of the narrative choppiness—which goes from super detailed during Kero's training to jumping forward 5-6 years into her experience as a scout behind enemy lines to another 10 or so years as a very well established mercenary captain—a lot of my emotional connection was lost in the ultimate climax. The climax where before as a teen I was always choking up in tears because her people had me like, oh damn that could have been done a bit better.
And I wanted more nuance than what I got with the Shin'a'in and talks of barbarianism, savagery and other coded terms.
So as a jaded, cynical adult, much of this magic was lost on me, although I still enjoyed the book for what it was, and for what it was for me as a teenager. It was enjoyable, solid and fun, even if it had a few too many miracle coincidences for Kerowyn.
September 14, 2019
Well, I had to go back to this one because it carried on the plot from the first three Heralds of Valdemar books. Unfortunately, that plot didn't turn up until around 70%.
Book 1 - Pretty much covered that in my original review when I DNF'd this one. Thankfully, shortly after I picked this up again, the ladies went off to the tower and I didn't have to read anymore about their misogynistic tendencies.
Book 2 - The Skybolts! Who instantly start getting annihilated before I know or care about any of them, and then Kero takes a side trip through Karse where she runs in to the Herald Eldan, of all people. All the wandering through the wilderness was a bit too much tell vs show. When Kero finally gets back with the Bolts, they're again short changed to separate Kero from them. There was some interesting world-building in how the mercenaries in Rethwellan operate, but aside from that, this was pretty meh.
Book 3 - Finally, Kero gets Valdemar. Finally, they battle Hadron. Finally, we get some decent battles on page. This part made up for a lot but the ending was on the cheesy side and lost it some points.
Like I've said, I do like Kero. She's kind of a warrior princess type, and I like her "take no nonsense" attitude and that she insists on being her own person. I don't remember Eldan from the earlier books, but I get the feeling he was in there somewhere. He's a nice dude, though his method of communication is a little on the skevvy side. He didn't go full Edward Cullen, but it was a near thing.
Am I glad I read it? ... I guess. Could I have gone on without reading it? Absolutely. But it was good to get the full background on Kero, and knowing fully what that sword, Need, is helped make that part much less annoying.
Original review:
DNF @ 17%
Why do these women insist on treating other women like crap, when they're supposedly all about protecting women? But all women are hysterical biddies and useless. I mean, how dare they be upset about their peaceful feast getting interrupted by invaders who kill and maim everyone? And it's only the women who are described this way. I guess the men all have sense enough to be stoic and clear-headed. I know these were written in the 90s, but I've read books far older than this that treated women and womanhood 1000 times better.
Kero's better than her grandmother, but Kethry and Tarma haven't improved at all, despite 100+ years to learn some compassion.
Book 1 - Pretty much covered that in my original review when I DNF'd this one. Thankfully, shortly after I picked this up again, the ladies went off to the tower and I didn't have to read anymore about their misogynistic tendencies.
Book 2 - The Skybolts! Who instantly start getting annihilated before I know or care about any of them, and then Kero takes a side trip through Karse where she runs in to the Herald Eldan, of all people. All the wandering through the wilderness was a bit too much tell vs show. When Kero finally gets back with the Bolts, they're again short changed to separate Kero from them. There was some interesting world-building in how the mercenaries in Rethwellan operate, but aside from that, this was pretty meh.
Book 3 - Finally, Kero gets Valdemar. Finally, they battle Hadron. Finally, we get some decent battles on page. This part made up for a lot but the ending was on the cheesy side and lost it some points.
Like I've said, I do like Kero. She's kind of a warrior princess type, and I like her "take no nonsense" attitude and that she insists on being her own person. I don't remember Eldan from the earlier books, but I get the feeling he was in there somewhere. He's a nice dude, though his method of communication is a little on the skevvy side. He didn't go full Edward Cullen, but it was a near thing.
Am I glad I read it? ... I guess. Could I have gone on without reading it? Absolutely. But it was good to get the full background on Kero, and knowing fully what that sword, Need, is helped make that part much less annoying.
Original review:
DNF @ 17%
Why do these women insist on treating other women like crap, when they're supposedly all about protecting women? But all women are hysterical biddies and useless. I mean, how dare they be upset about their peaceful feast getting interrupted by invaders who kill and maim everyone? And it's only the women who are described this way. I guess the men all have sense enough to be stoic and clear-headed. I know these were written in the 90s, but I've read books far older than this that treated women and womanhood 1000 times better.
Kero's better than her grandmother, but Kethry and Tarma haven't improved at all, despite 100+ years to learn some compassion.
January 4, 2021
I've read this title so many time since it first became available. Personally I’ve always considered it more as a Vows and Honor subset. My copy is a mass market paperback that was purchased way before GR and ebooks. It's only now that its made it onto my list but this title is amongst my forever favorites.
January 20, 2022
‘What if they tell me to go back? What if they don’t want me? What if—’
“What kept you?”
3.5 stars. Cute, but formulaic. Great, if you like Lackey’s Valdemar series formula, like many of us. Kerowyn suffers many reverses, but the reader never feels her threatened. Good inner dialogue.
‘From there his tirade went into extreme sexual and scatological detail as to the habits and probable ancestry of his charges. Kero leaned … listening in astonished admiration. His language was colorful, original, and quite entertaining.’
Excellent handling of cursing and sex, which shouldn’t be notable but is because so many contemporary writers confuse graphic with realistic.
‘She led her mare into the copse, right up to the water-side, and tethered her in a tiny clearing right next to the creek.’
Rough. Reads like a first draft. Many grammatical, typographic, and proofreading errors. Some may be attributed to OCR conversion to digital text. ‘door was halfway ajar’, ‘You take to much on yourself, it doesn’t interfere. So far it hasn‘r.’
“Deciding that someone’s serious just because they’ve had a bloody song written about them is a pretty poor way to make judgment calls, if you ask me.”
“What kept you?”
3.5 stars. Cute, but formulaic. Great, if you like Lackey’s Valdemar series formula, like many of us. Kerowyn suffers many reverses, but the reader never feels her threatened. Good inner dialogue.
‘From there his tirade went into extreme sexual and scatological detail as to the habits and probable ancestry of his charges. Kero leaned … listening in astonished admiration. His language was colorful, original, and quite entertaining.’
Excellent handling of cursing and sex, which shouldn’t be notable but is because so many contemporary writers confuse graphic with realistic.
‘She led her mare into the copse, right up to the water-side, and tethered her in a tiny clearing right next to the creek.’
Rough. Reads like a first draft. Many grammatical, typographic, and proofreading errors. Some may be attributed to OCR conversion to digital text. ‘door was halfway ajar’, ‘You take to much on yourself, it doesn’t interfere. So far it hasn‘r.’
“Deciding that someone’s serious just because they’ve had a bloody song written about them is a pretty poor way to make judgment calls, if you ask me.”
June 9, 2021
I’ve read this book so many times I actually need to get a new copy because my copy is falling apart. I love Kerowyn and you see her in many of the other Valdemar books so if you have read those and wonder how she became who she is, this book tells her story. Readers see Kerowyn turn from this sheltered young girl into one of the top mercenary in the mercenary guild.
The book is basically broken up into two parts. The first part follows Kerowyn as she is taken in by her grandmother, Kethry, and retired mercenary, Tarma. Tarma basically takes Kerowyn under her wing and hones her into a deadly weapon and gives her the confidence to go out and make a living on her own and not depend on a man to take care of her.
The second half of the book is Kerowyn’s entry into a mercenary guild, her rise in the ranks and eventually the job that takes her into Valdemar to meet the Heralds and Companions. And just maybe will she find true love with a man who views her as an equal?
The book is basically broken up into two parts. The first part follows Kerowyn as she is taken in by her grandmother, Kethry, and retired mercenary, Tarma. Tarma basically takes Kerowyn under her wing and hones her into a deadly weapon and gives her the confidence to go out and make a living on her own and not depend on a man to take care of her.
The second half of the book is Kerowyn’s entry into a mercenary guild, her rise in the ranks and eventually the job that takes her into Valdemar to meet the Heralds and Companions. And just maybe will she find true love with a man who views her as an equal?
February 6, 2010
Kind of Tarma and Keth ride again, for fans of those series. More accurately, Tarma and Keth: The Next Generation.
Kerowyn, is the daughter of Keth, one of the two main characters in the "Vows and Honor" trilogy. Her mother was the odd one out in the family, uninterested in weapons or magic, and left as soon as she was able to have a more conventional life. She died when Kerowyn was young, and she grows up in her father's house, feeling out of place, unaware of her heritage or birthright.
Her father is attacked, and Kerowyn rides out, bringing the killers to justice and protecting the family's lands, which are now her brother's, in the process. Her heroism makes her feel more out of place; while grateful, her brother really doesn't know what to do.
So she leaves, and winds up meeting Tarm and Keth, her grandmother. She realizes her birthright and apprentices with them, learning what she can because she is determined to live a woman unbound and able to make her own choices, free of what society expects of her gender. She succeeds, and has a series of exciting adventures as she joins, and later leads, the Skybolts, the mercenary troop Tarma and Keth used to belong to.
She winds up accepting a contract to help Valdemar defend itself from attack, and the novel interesting combines the Vows and Honor story line with the Valdemar series. Good stuff.
Kerowyn, is the daughter of Keth, one of the two main characters in the "Vows and Honor" trilogy. Her mother was the odd one out in the family, uninterested in weapons or magic, and left as soon as she was able to have a more conventional life. She died when Kerowyn was young, and she grows up in her father's house, feeling out of place, unaware of her heritage or birthright.
Her father is attacked, and Kerowyn rides out, bringing the killers to justice and protecting the family's lands, which are now her brother's, in the process. Her heroism makes her feel more out of place; while grateful, her brother really doesn't know what to do.
So she leaves, and winds up meeting Tarm and Keth, her grandmother. She realizes her birthright and apprentices with them, learning what she can because she is determined to live a woman unbound and able to make her own choices, free of what society expects of her gender. She succeeds, and has a series of exciting adventures as she joins, and later leads, the Skybolts, the mercenary troop Tarma and Keth used to belong to.
She winds up accepting a contract to help Valdemar defend itself from attack, and the novel interesting combines the Vows and Honor story line with the Valdemar series. Good stuff.
July 28, 2020
And the Valdemar binge continues. After the disaster that was The Oathbound, I was a little bit wary of continuing that timeline. But I have been assured this book is a lot better and I wanted a standalone, so I decided to give it a try.
As far as reading order goes, it should preferably read at least after Arrows (it takes place shortly after), but it should work without reading anything else first, too.
The first third of the book was extremely annoying. Kero is a Strong Female Character™ and all feminine women are vapid and useless and talked about in a disparaging manner by pretty much everyone. There’s, briefly, a love interest, who’s more than a bit of a sexist dickwad, from “you can’t do this, you’re a girl” at the start (this stage was so very tiring) to “sure you’re badass and I love you for it and we have great sex, but after marriage you can’t go around breaking men’s fragile egos.” I was so glad when she finally decided he’s not worth it and left.
Luckily, it gets a lot better from there – and I don’t think I have ever encountered a book that legitimately got better before. Once Kero becomes a mercenary, the book is a lot more fun, especially when she gets involved with Valdemar, and the annoying aspects are gone entirely. I even started actually liking her – after she grows up a bit, she’s competent, decisive, and has plenty of agency. Besides, we don’t often see a protagonist put career first and everything else (including romance) second. It was oddly refreshing to see and I appreciated it.
If I have a complaint about the second half about the book, it’d be that the ending was a little too neat. Not everything needs to be wraped up with a bow on top. But overall, it was enjoyable enough, and like all Valdemar books, it reads fast, even though it was nearly twice as long as Arrows of the Queen.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: those who can push through a weak start, those looking for highly ambitious and competent protagonists, Valdemar fans – especially those who need additional closure after the Arrows trilogy
Not recommended to: if stereotypical Strong Female Characters™ that are of course Not Like Other Girls are a dealbreaker for you
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
As far as reading order goes, it should preferably read at least after Arrows (it takes place shortly after), but it should work without reading anything else first, too.
The first third of the book was extremely annoying. Kero is a Strong Female Character™ and all feminine women are vapid and useless and talked about in a disparaging manner by pretty much everyone. There’s, briefly, a love interest, who’s more than a bit of a sexist dickwad, from “you can’t do this, you’re a girl” at the start (this stage was so very tiring) to “sure you’re badass and I love you for it and we have great sex, but after marriage you can’t go around breaking men’s fragile egos.” I was so glad when she finally decided he’s not worth it and left.
Luckily, it gets a lot better from there – and I don’t think I have ever encountered a book that legitimately got better before. Once Kero becomes a mercenary, the book is a lot more fun, especially when she gets involved with Valdemar, and the annoying aspects are gone entirely. I even started actually liking her – after she grows up a bit, she’s competent, decisive, and has plenty of agency. Besides, we don’t often see a protagonist put career first and everything else (including romance) second. It was oddly refreshing to see and I appreciated it.
If I have a complaint about the second half about the book, it’d be that the ending was a little too neat. Not everything needs to be wraped up with a bow on top. But overall, it was enjoyable enough, and like all Valdemar books, it reads fast, even though it was nearly twice as long as Arrows of the Queen.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: those who can push through a weak start, those looking for highly ambitious and competent protagonists, Valdemar fans – especially those who need additional closure after the Arrows trilogy
Not recommended to: if stereotypical Strong Female Characters™ that are of course Not Like Other Girls are a dealbreaker for you
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
January 19, 2015
I loved the Heralds of Valdemar in middle school. I read everything by Mercedes Lackey I could get my hands on, which was a considerable lot.
Eventually I "outgrew" them, sort of. I had reread the old ones so much and the new ones didn't have the same allure. It was time for new favorites.
Still, eventually nostalgia called, and I looked up my old friends to find you really can't go "home" again. Books that had made me alternately joyous and heartbroken were distressingly flat and transparently cliché.
Well, it doesn't matter, I thought. I loved the novels once, and not loving them *now* doesn't change how profoundly wonderful they were for me back then.
Sometimes I notice a new Velgarth novel and wonder what is happening there, though. And I have learned that not all of my old standbys are unreadable.
I liked Tarma and Kethry, but Vows and Honor and its close relatives were never my favorites. It was with some surprise I found that, for me, they best stood the test of time.
Back in the day, I recall that By the Sword disappointed me a little. It was rather too prosaic; I had expected something a little different from what I got. Maybe that's why today it's one of only a few options open to me for revisiting Valdemar.
Yes, Kerowyn is a supercilious know it all (well-suited, therefore, to Lackey's narration) and Eldan is not the least bit interesting. Still, the book retains some interest in its musings about ethics, its glimpses into politics, its pace, and a pinch of realism in its approach to events.
No, it's no Paksenarrion in that respect, nor does it come anywhere near the "gritty realism" of succeeding decades. But add in the nostalgia factor and I am a happy reader.
Eventually I "outgrew" them, sort of. I had reread the old ones so much and the new ones didn't have the same allure. It was time for new favorites.
Still, eventually nostalgia called, and I looked up my old friends to find you really can't go "home" again. Books that had made me alternately joyous and heartbroken were distressingly flat and transparently cliché.
Well, it doesn't matter, I thought. I loved the novels once, and not loving them *now* doesn't change how profoundly wonderful they were for me back then.
Sometimes I notice a new Velgarth novel and wonder what is happening there, though. And I have learned that not all of my old standbys are unreadable.
I liked Tarma and Kethry, but Vows and Honor and its close relatives were never my favorites. It was with some surprise I found that, for me, they best stood the test of time.
Back in the day, I recall that By the Sword disappointed me a little. It was rather too prosaic; I had expected something a little different from what I got. Maybe that's why today it's one of only a few options open to me for revisiting Valdemar.
Yes, Kerowyn is a supercilious know it all (well-suited, therefore, to Lackey's narration) and Eldan is not the least bit interesting. Still, the book retains some interest in its musings about ethics, its glimpses into politics, its pace, and a pinch of realism in its approach to events.
No, it's no Paksenarrion in that respect, nor does it come anywhere near the "gritty realism" of succeeding decades. But add in the nostalgia factor and I am a happy reader.
October 15, 2020
This is the book that unites the Vows & Honor books with what I consider the "main arc" of the Valdemar universe. However, if you're reading this book because you want to read about a lot of Heralds and Companions, you're going to be disappointed.
Kero has a bit of "not like those other girls" but I think it's a bit different in that she doesn't know how she fits in at the beginning. The first section is a bit of a fun coming of age, but the story really kicks up with the last two-thirds of the novel, and the ending dovetails with where we left the Kingdom of Valdemar at the end of Arrow's Fall.
I liked how independent Kero was and how she eventually learned to see from another's perspective with experience.
Kero has a bit of "not like those other girls" but I think it's a bit different in that she doesn't know how she fits in at the beginning. The first section is a bit of a fun coming of age, but the story really kicks up with the last two-thirds of the novel, and the ending dovetails with where we left the Kingdom of Valdemar at the end of Arrow's Fall.
I liked how independent Kero was and how she eventually learned to see from another's perspective with experience.
April 7, 2017
This is one of my most favorite of the Valdemar books; it's really a stand-alone adventure, and yet it fits so smoothly into the other stories. Highly recommended.
August 11, 2018
I approached this wondering if I was going to enjoy it as I was rather put off the sagas of Valdemar by the Last Herald Mage trilogy which I remember as being rather maudlin and a bit sadomasochistic in places. Anyway, this is a completely different no nonsense sort of book and not a wallow in angst despite some sad things that happen along the way.
Kerowyn is the put upon sister of a young lord who is having his wedding feast as the story opens. Her mother died and her father has expected her to run the house for the past few years, which is a full time job and means that Kerowyn is slaving in the kitchen having had to organise the logistics of an enormous banquet. Lucky for her she is, because a massive home invasion occurs by bandits who slaughter a lot of those in the banqueting hall and would have attacked the kitchen staff too if not for Kerowyn and a couple of others putting up a spirited defence. Kerowyn has telepathic ability but she has learned to block it - here it saves her from making the mistake of going upstairs to see what all the screaming is about before the bandits actually appear. When they leave, Kerowyn helps patch up the wounded then discovers that her new sister in law has been kidnapped by the bandits.
Kerowyn goes to her grandmother's house nearby for help as her grandmother is a mage - and I gather, one of the main characters of a couple of previous novels. She has a run in with a strange old woman enroute - who turns out to be her grandmother's sworn sword partner from the earlier novels. Her grandmother hands her a sword which reacts - this is Need, a magic blade which only works for a woman - though has the awkward attribute of also not attacking women even if they are hostile - and has now chosen Kerowyn as the next woman to carry it. Just as well because it has the power of giving a trained warrior magical immunity - or taking over and fighting expertly for someone like Kerowyn who is untrained. And Kerowyn has to go after the bandits to rescue her sister in law or the same sister in law's relation, a rich baron with a bad reputation, will use it as an excuse to demand recompense from the devastated family.
The novel covers Kerowyn's entire military career from this beginning through her training by her grandmother's partner, after she realises she is looked on as an oddity at home, to her joining a company of 'ethicial' mercenaries, through to her eventual captaincy. It does not properly belong to the Heralds of Valdemar series because most of the action is not set there - but in the middle section, separated from her unit and forced to travel through hostile territory, she helps and then befriends a Herald and both fall in love, but she realises this is incompatible with her need for independence and to pursue her own chosen lifestyle. And in the last section, her company ends up fighting for Valdemar.
The main characterisation is around Kerowyn and her internal dialogue though there is the odd scene from another point of view such as her old friend Deryn. There is a lot about military tactics and organisation and the ethics of fighting and the idea that it is best that at least some of the people fighting have a code. None of the other characters, even Kerowyn's lover, are well developed but there are some good action sequences.
Lackey does have a tendency to fall into long info dumps at times where characters have conversations that tell the reader something rather than show it. One example of this style is that, although there is a scene where Kerowyn goes back home after she has started her training and she reflects on how the people around the table are strangers to her now and view her as embarrassing or alarming or whatever, she doesn't actually show any of this from character interaction. An actual scene where the other characters were behaving like this to her would be more effective rather than a statement of facts, but this does sometimes occur which has a distancing effect from the character.
Some things in the book are not explained, for example, why magic does not work in Valdemar - or at least, why magicians can't cross into it without feeling stared at etc until they can't sleep and start to become unhinged, because they seem to be able to do magic that affects Valdemar if they physically stay over the border. Similarly, in the central part of the story when Kerowyn crosses enemy territory in Karse, she senses hostile psychic eyes watching her at times. Neither of these things are ever explained.
I also found the final part of the book rather rushed and a bit of a wish fulfilment where almost everyone that the reader might care about has a happy ending, however implausible. Also, the vilain behind the war doesn't seem to be killed or captured after the battle - as Kerowyn is out of action, we don't get to see what happens - and no one seems bothered that he apparently got away to possibly do it all over again.
I was also confused by a reference to a certain key character in that section indicating that this character was male, followed by three references on the last page as 'lady' which rather took me out of the story and which I can only think was a typographical error. What I also found odd is that, although Kerowyn often thinks of or refers to her grandmother and her fighting teacher, they do not appear in this final section and it isn't clear whether they are still alive at this point. It is odd that such important characters who had their own series are allowed to fade away invisibly like this.
Overall I found it a good workmanlike read with some weaknesses and for that reason rate it at 3 stars.
Kerowyn is the put upon sister of a young lord who is having his wedding feast as the story opens. Her mother died and her father has expected her to run the house for the past few years, which is a full time job and means that Kerowyn is slaving in the kitchen having had to organise the logistics of an enormous banquet. Lucky for her she is, because a massive home invasion occurs by bandits who slaughter a lot of those in the banqueting hall and would have attacked the kitchen staff too if not for Kerowyn and a couple of others putting up a spirited defence. Kerowyn has telepathic ability but she has learned to block it - here it saves her from making the mistake of going upstairs to see what all the screaming is about before the bandits actually appear. When they leave, Kerowyn helps patch up the wounded then discovers that her new sister in law has been kidnapped by the bandits.
Kerowyn goes to her grandmother's house nearby for help as her grandmother is a mage - and I gather, one of the main characters of a couple of previous novels. She has a run in with a strange old woman enroute - who turns out to be her grandmother's sworn sword partner from the earlier novels. Her grandmother hands her a sword which reacts - this is Need, a magic blade which only works for a woman - though has the awkward attribute of also not attacking women even if they are hostile - and has now chosen Kerowyn as the next woman to carry it. Just as well because it has the power of giving a trained warrior magical immunity - or taking over and fighting expertly for someone like Kerowyn who is untrained. And Kerowyn has to go after the bandits to rescue her sister in law or the same sister in law's relation, a rich baron with a bad reputation, will use it as an excuse to demand recompense from the devastated family.
The novel covers Kerowyn's entire military career from this beginning through her training by her grandmother's partner, after she realises she is looked on as an oddity at home, to her joining a company of 'ethicial' mercenaries, through to her eventual captaincy. It does not properly belong to the Heralds of Valdemar series because most of the action is not set there - but in the middle section, separated from her unit and forced to travel through hostile territory, she helps and then befriends a Herald and both fall in love, but she realises this is incompatible with her need for independence and to pursue her own chosen lifestyle. And in the last section, her company ends up fighting for Valdemar.
The main characterisation is around Kerowyn and her internal dialogue though there is the odd scene from another point of view such as her old friend Deryn. There is a lot about military tactics and organisation and the ethics of fighting and the idea that it is best that at least some of the people fighting have a code. None of the other characters, even Kerowyn's lover, are well developed but there are some good action sequences.
Lackey does have a tendency to fall into long info dumps at times where characters have conversations that tell the reader something rather than show it. One example of this style is that, although there is a scene where Kerowyn goes back home after she has started her training and she reflects on how the people around the table are strangers to her now and view her as embarrassing or alarming or whatever, she doesn't actually show any of this from character interaction. An actual scene where the other characters were behaving like this to her would be more effective rather than a statement of facts, but this does sometimes occur which has a distancing effect from the character.
Some things in the book are not explained, for example, why magic does not work in Valdemar - or at least, why magicians can't cross into it without feeling stared at etc until they can't sleep and start to become unhinged, because they seem to be able to do magic that affects Valdemar if they physically stay over the border. Similarly, in the central part of the story when Kerowyn crosses enemy territory in Karse, she senses hostile psychic eyes watching her at times. Neither of these things are ever explained.
I also found the final part of the book rather rushed and a bit of a wish fulfilment where almost everyone that the reader might care about has a happy ending, however implausible. Also, the vilain behind the war doesn't seem to be killed or captured after the battle - as Kerowyn is out of action, we don't get to see what happens - and no one seems bothered that he apparently got away to possibly do it all over again.
I was also confused by a reference to a certain key character in that section indicating that this character was male, followed by three references on the last page as 'lady' which rather took me out of the story and which I can only think was a typographical error. What I also found odd is that, although Kerowyn often thinks of or refers to her grandmother and her fighting teacher, they do not appear in this final section and it isn't clear whether they are still alive at this point. It is odd that such important characters who had their own series are allowed to fade away invisibly like this.
Overall I found it a good workmanlike read with some weaknesses and for that reason rate it at 3 stars.
July 4, 2020
3.5 Will review at www.fantasyliterature.com.
April 15, 2019
Two things immediately struck me about By the Sword and hooked me. First, this book is not set in Valdemar. Set in Rethwellan, a country to the south, we finally get to experience how the rest of the world views Valdemar. To them, Valdemar is reclusive, quiet, and has silly ideals about honor and nobility. Their Heralds are constantly wearing stupid uniforms into battle which basically scream, "HIT ME!" And, for some reason no one in Valdemar uses magic? I really enjoyed hearing everyone talk about how queer they think Valdemar is.
The second thing which struck me about By the Sword is the format. This is the first time I've read a Lackey book which covers so much time in a single go. When the book opens, Kero is ~16. By the end of the book, she's almost 40. Kerowyn develops from a young, frustrated maiden into a mercenary captain in a believable way. With the three book division, it was easy for large time jumps to occur without it disrupting the story. This allowed the reader to really understand the transformation Kero is undertaking throughout her life without bogging the story down.
Can I just talk about the ending of this book for a second?! No spoilers. It's obvious to me that how much I loved the ending of this book shows me how deeply Lackey has her claws in me. I didn't predict the ending at all, even though it is 100% completely predictable. I loved every second, every word. I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I am completely smitten with this world and, in particular, these characters.
By the Sword would have been 4 stars for me with the exception of a few things. Pacing was inconsistent for me. I found at times I got too many details of mercenary life or Kero trying to travel from point A to point B. I also found Kero's lack of self-confidence frustrating. By 50% I was exhausted from listening to her whine about how bad she is at everything. I also felt like Kero's romantic interest was… boring? Unnecessary? He felt like a plot point, not a true character. And definitely not a real relationship.
But the biggest challenge for me? My ebook is VERY poorly edited. Words and text have the wrong formatting; sometimes bold, sometimes italic, when they should be one or another. At least a dozen typos. And a few incorrect references to the sex/gender of a character. It was distracting and pulled me out of the story.
The second thing which struck me about By the Sword is the format. This is the first time I've read a Lackey book which covers so much time in a single go. When the book opens, Kero is ~16. By the end of the book, she's almost 40. Kerowyn develops from a young, frustrated maiden into a mercenary captain in a believable way. With the three book division, it was easy for large time jumps to occur without it disrupting the story. This allowed the reader to really understand the transformation Kero is undertaking throughout her life without bogging the story down.
Can I just talk about the ending of this book for a second?! No spoilers. It's obvious to me that how much I loved the ending of this book shows me how deeply Lackey has her claws in me. I didn't predict the ending at all, even though it is 100% completely predictable. I loved every second, every word. I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I am completely smitten with this world and, in particular, these characters.
By the Sword would have been 4 stars for me with the exception of a few things. Pacing was inconsistent for me. I found at times I got too many details of mercenary life or Kero trying to travel from point A to point B. I also found Kero's lack of self-confidence frustrating. By 50% I was exhausted from listening to her whine about how bad she is at everything. I also felt like Kero's romantic interest was… boring? Unnecessary? He felt like a plot point, not a true character. And definitely not a real relationship.
But the biggest challenge for me? My ebook is VERY poorly edited. Words and text have the wrong formatting; sometimes bold, sometimes italic, when they should be one or another. At least a dozen typos. And a few incorrect references to the sex/gender of a character. It was distracting and pulled me out of the story.
August 2, 2012
Like most of Lackey's Valdemar novels, By the Sword draws rather heavily on traditional high fantasy tropes in order to advance its plot. Main character who is a fish out of water? Check. Murdered family? Check. Mysterious, ancient mentor? Check. Mercenary companies with uncommon morals? Check. Unlikely love interest? Check. I can't hold this against the book though since the use of traditional fantasy plot devices is one thing I love about this author's work. Kerowyn as a main character is solid and well fleshed out. Most of the side characters do not receive the same treatment, but that is the way Lackey rolls. Since side character successfully fulfill their roles, and rarely feel shoehorned in, I do not mind this. My only real complaint is that the second half of the book feels rather thin. There is plenty that happens in it, and plenty *good* that happens in it, but it almost feels as if all of Lackey's details were spent early on. The ending is something that most readers of the Valdemar books will probably see coming. In the end though, the closing events feel rushed. It was almost as if Lackey knew we were expecting certain events to occur, and thus she wrote them in to fulfill readers' expectations as opposed to writing them in because she truly believed in the final events. The end leaves me wanting to find out more. Were this part of a trilogy or even a two book set that would have been acceptable. When this is a stand alone novel though, it is terribly frustrating. By the Sword is by no means a bad book, and it certainly serves to effectively tie a number of past story threads together. I just wish that some of the events mentioned on the back of this book (in its summery) were more central to the overall story, instead of occasional side events whose importance/significance to the plot is only briefly touched on.
October 2, 2011
I have a friend who refused to read GRR Martin because it's "boy fantasy."
When I asked her for an example of non-boy fantasy, she pointed out, among others, this book.
I was expecting a strong female in distinctly female situations, perhaps with more intrigue or relationship focus, but this book out boys the boys. It is probably the most manly fantasy I've ever read--battles, camping, training, military life. The only thing that's really female about it is that the main character is a woman.
She's a woman who's good at everything manly: riding, hunting, killing. The story is so militantly feminist (women can and probably should do anything) that it was a little insulting.
One thing I can say, though. The sex scenes aren't trashy. But they're there.
When I asked her for an example of non-boy fantasy, she pointed out, among others, this book.
I was expecting a strong female in distinctly female situations, perhaps with more intrigue or relationship focus, but this book out boys the boys. It is probably the most manly fantasy I've ever read--battles, camping, training, military life. The only thing that's really female about it is that the main character is a woman.
She's a woman who's good at everything manly: riding, hunting, killing. The story is so militantly feminist (women can and probably should do anything) that it was a little insulting.
One thing I can say, though. The sex scenes aren't trashy. But they're there.
January 28, 2008
Lackey is one of my favorite authors ever and Kero is probably my all-time favorite chracter. I started reading her in 8th grade but I will still pull out her books to reread them. Her character building is really her main strength – you want to meet her characters – which is probably why I always reach for her books as a pick-me-up, it’s like talking to old friends.
January 17, 2014
Kerowyn never expected a betrothal feast to launch her on a lifelong adventure that would be plagued with annoying bards,demons, feminist magic swords, blood mages and a mercenary life but hey...at least it wasn't her betrothal...Another Valdemar hit!
December 5, 2021
Quite a satisfying story in the fantasy adventure category. Not a quest, but training, life, and adventure as a female mercenary—a really good one.
It's official: I'm hooked on Valdemar.
It's official: I'm hooked on Valdemar.
April 5, 2018
This is the first time I've read a Valdemar book, and it was a fairly easy read. It traces the arc of Kerowyn's life - she starts off managing the house as her brother has his wedding feast. When her family is attacked by bandits at the feast, she sets off on a rescue mission. On the way, she goes to her grandmother for help and discovers that there's a wider world out there. (This is all at the start of the book - the rest is her growing to experience the world.)
I like Mercedes Lackey's writing in general, and this was in line with her usual style. Kerowyn is the prototypical strong independent woman, and while there are romantic dalliances, Kerowyn doesn't let that distract her. I liked that her perspective also touched on strategy as well as the logistics and nitty-gritty of mercenaries or hunting. We don't really find out about other characters or their motivations (for instance, Shallan is a loyal friend, but we don't get many scenes between Kero and Shallan). This is a book focused solidly on the main character and her arc.
I like Mercedes Lackey's writing in general, and this was in line with her usual style. Kerowyn is the prototypical strong independent woman, and while there are romantic dalliances, Kerowyn doesn't let that distract her. I liked that her perspective also touched on strategy as well as the logistics and nitty-gritty of mercenaries or hunting. We don't really find out about other characters or their motivations (for instance, Shallan is a loyal friend, but we don't get many scenes between Kero and Shallan). This is a book focused solidly on the main character and her arc.
April 16, 2019
At the beginning, Kerowyn is a fifteen-year-old daughter of an unimportant nobleman in the country Rethewellan, caring for his keep after her mother died. At the wedding of her brother and his new bride, the keep is attacked and nearly everyone is killed, including her father. The bride is kidnapped, and there’s only one person left to rescue her: Kerowyn. The teen knows nothing about fighting, so she rides off to her reclusive granny’s house — reclusive because Kero’s father doesn’t want his mother-in-law the mage anywhere near his place. Grandma Kethry gives Kero a sword called Need that is designed to protect women and kill bad men. Yes, a man-hating sword.
Kero rescues the bride and leaves to visit her granny again. There, she learns her grandma has a lifelong bond with a mercenary named Tarma, who trains Kero and a prince of Rethwellan named Daren into warriors over several years. Daren returns home to be Lord Marshal, and Kero finds work as a mercenary — a solider for hire with no nation to claim her.
LOADS of stuff happens from there, all culminating in the battle between Valdemar, led by Queen Selenay, and Hardorn, led by Prince Ancar. I knew that was coming from the prologue in Winds of Fate. Lackey really gets into strategy, how mercenary companies work, leadership skills, battle horses, and introduces new Gifts (like commanding animals or seeing through their eyes). This is an epic, feminist, kick-ass tale of fighting.
My favorite part of By the Sword was getting so much perspective from a character born and raised in a different country — not Valdemar. In Valdemar, it’s common to see heralds and know about their Gifts. No one in Valdemar is a mage that we know of, as the last one was Vanyel, who died hundreds of years ago. Outside of Valdemar, there are definitely mages, like grandma Kethry. Kerowyn’s mercenary company has mages in its employ. Prince Ancar has mages. Everyone seems to have mages except Valdemar. And there is a reason: back when Vanyel realized the mage population in Valdemar was declining too fast, he cast a spell that would cause little spirits to *poke poke poke* the brain of any mage who set foot in Valdemar, driving them nearly mad.
People don’t have bad feelings about mages outside of Valdemar. They are, however, leery of Gifts. Kerowyn can speak and listen to others using her mind, but she tells almost no one about this Gift. In addition, characters’ attitudes suggest that people outside Valdemar don’t think heralds are that great. What a surprise! Because Lackey has always focused on Valdemar, she indoctrinated me to the wonders of heralds, but other countries fail to see them as better than mercs with honor, like Kero.
While that sword Need is a man-hater, Kerowyn’s story is quite feminist. Upon saving her new sister-in-law, Kero is reminded how dainty women are supposed to be and thinks: "Blessed Agnira, spare me from “womanly,” if this is what it is. . . .Just — spare me."
After Kero loses her virginity, she is disappointed that her lover achieved orgasm and she did not. There is a long history of women denied sexual pleasure for various reasons, but in By the Sword, Kero knows what she deserves:
The only negative I’ll say about By the Sword is the author’s lack of grace when writing a non-white character. Instead of referring to Kerowyn’s co-commander of the specialist company by his name, Geyr, like everyone else’s, he’s always “Geyr’s black face” or “Geyr��s black head.” It’s so clumsy as to seem a parody. His co-commander is Shallan. Not Shallan with the blonde hair, or Shallan the lesbian. Just Shallan.
Another pro is how funny Kerowyn is. She knows what she likes and doesn’t, and she makes her preferences clear. When she’s trapped in hiding with a herald, they start sharing information about themselves to pass the time:
I loved By the Sword, felt very at home with the women in the pages — Kerowyn, Tarma, Kethry, Shallan, Selenay, Talia — and wanted to be part of their kind.
This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.
Kero rescues the bride and leaves to visit her granny again. There, she learns her grandma has a lifelong bond with a mercenary named Tarma, who trains Kero and a prince of Rethwellan named Daren into warriors over several years. Daren returns home to be Lord Marshal, and Kero finds work as a mercenary — a solider for hire with no nation to claim her.
LOADS of stuff happens from there, all culminating in the battle between Valdemar, led by Queen Selenay, and Hardorn, led by Prince Ancar. I knew that was coming from the prologue in Winds of Fate. Lackey really gets into strategy, how mercenary companies work, leadership skills, battle horses, and introduces new Gifts (like commanding animals or seeing through their eyes). This is an epic, feminist, kick-ass tale of fighting.
My favorite part of By the Sword was getting so much perspective from a character born and raised in a different country — not Valdemar. In Valdemar, it’s common to see heralds and know about their Gifts. No one in Valdemar is a mage that we know of, as the last one was Vanyel, who died hundreds of years ago. Outside of Valdemar, there are definitely mages, like grandma Kethry. Kerowyn’s mercenary company has mages in its employ. Prince Ancar has mages. Everyone seems to have mages except Valdemar. And there is a reason: back when Vanyel realized the mage population in Valdemar was declining too fast, he cast a spell that would cause little spirits to *poke poke poke* the brain of any mage who set foot in Valdemar, driving them nearly mad.
People don’t have bad feelings about mages outside of Valdemar. They are, however, leery of Gifts. Kerowyn can speak and listen to others using her mind, but she tells almost no one about this Gift. In addition, characters’ attitudes suggest that people outside Valdemar don’t think heralds are that great. What a surprise! Because Lackey has always focused on Valdemar, she indoctrinated me to the wonders of heralds, but other countries fail to see them as better than mercs with honor, like Kero.
While that sword Need is a man-hater, Kerowyn’s story is quite feminist. Upon saving her new sister-in-law, Kero is reminded how dainty women are supposed to be and thinks: "Blessed Agnira, spare me from “womanly,” if this is what it is. . . .Just — spare me."
After Kero loses her virginity, she is disappointed that her lover achieved orgasm and she did not. There is a long history of women denied sexual pleasure for various reasons, but in By the Sword, Kero knows what she deserves:
Sated, he just rolled happily over into the tumbled blankets, and went right to sleep.Mercedes Lackey’s novel comments on equal pay, equal respect, equal choice in occupation and extra-curricular activities, equality in job promotions, and sexual equality. I love it! Nothing is forced; it all comes naturally, like you’re not being lectured.
She could have killed him.
Twice. . . .
And nothing ever quite made up for the letdown of that first night.
And he never understood, or even noticed.
The only negative I’ll say about By the Sword is the author’s lack of grace when writing a non-white character. Instead of referring to Kerowyn’s co-commander of the specialist company by his name, Geyr, like everyone else’s, he’s always “Geyr’s black face” or “Geyr��s black head.” It’s so clumsy as to seem a parody. His co-commander is Shallan. Not Shallan with the blonde hair, or Shallan the lesbian. Just Shallan.
Another pro is how funny Kerowyn is. She knows what she likes and doesn’t, and she makes her preferences clear. When she’s trapped in hiding with a herald, they start sharing information about themselves to pass the time:
“I collect rocks,” he offered.Another moment I found hilarious was when Kero reveals that she doesn’t much appreciate Bards, who wrote a song about her after she saved her sister-in-law. For twenty years, that song has haunted her:
“Great pastime for someone who spends his life on horseback.”
“I didn’t say it was easy,” he protested, laughingly.
Kero laughed with him. “I should confess, then. I make jewelry. Actually, I carve gemstones. Now that is a portable hobby.
“I used to write bad poetry.”
She glared at him.
“I stopped.”
And as soon as your villagers would find that out [that I was the Kerowyn of the famous song], I’d wind up having to listen to whatever unholy rendition of it someone had come up with in this village. . . . You should have had to sit through some of those performances. . . The Revenie Temple children’s choir, the oldest fart in Thornton accompanying himself on hurdy-gurdy, a pair of religious sopranos who seemed to think the thing was a dialogue between the Crone and Maiden — at least a dozen would-be Bards with out-of-tune harps. Minstrels. I’d like to strangle the entire breed.While there is a magical wonder surrounding tales of heralds, bards, and healers, Kerowyn wipes all that away with practicality and logic — and makes me laugh as she does so!
I loved By the Sword, felt very at home with the women in the pages — Kerowyn, Tarma, Kethry, Shallan, Selenay, Talia — and wanted to be part of their kind.
This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.
January 6, 2022
I love Mercedes Lackey. She has been writing of strong female characters in Fantasy settings for years. Her women are warriors, mages, queens and more. She includes the realities of being a woman in a tough world. She also includes nods to LGBTQ characters in her stories, as well as women who do not want families, or want families and a career.
She is one of a few female writers who broke through the stigma of writing in a genre that did not welcome women at the time.
This novel takes place in the world of Valedmar. I read it as a standalone book with no problems. She fills in the knowledge gaps with quick references making it unnecessary to read the other books in the series. (I will be going back to the other books since I loved this one.) The world is also well fleshed out in this book as well.
I recommend it to all level of readers who enjoy the fantasy genre. It is highly recommended to those who are looking for strong female leads who do not conform to the traditional roles.
She is one of a few female writers who broke through the stigma of writing in a genre that did not welcome women at the time.
This novel takes place in the world of Valedmar. I read it as a standalone book with no problems. She fills in the knowledge gaps with quick references making it unnecessary to read the other books in the series. (I will be going back to the other books since I loved this one.) The world is also well fleshed out in this book as well.
I recommend it to all level of readers who enjoy the fantasy genre. It is highly recommended to those who are looking for strong female leads who do not conform to the traditional roles.
August 26, 2022
Well that was some damn good storytelling! Karo is a principled, lovable badass. Relatable, too: Though she initially feels monstrous for not wanting marriage and children, she eventually concludes that she can only be herself. That alone was wonderful to read. But her conclusion is also what leads to possibly my favorite romance content of all time.
The friendships are glorious, too, starting with a sometimes-hilarious period of training with Daren (under two ass-kicking grandmothers). It’s actually really interesting to see how she learns to collaborate, to work with those she dislikes, to think strategically and tactically... Her growth is convincing, her later adventures harrowing. I made terrible decisions because I could not stop reading.
And then .. then we meet characters that I know and love from other books in this world, and that’s great good fun….all leading up to a heart-pounding ending that I couldn’t have loved more.
The friendships are glorious, too, starting with a sometimes-hilarious period of training with Daren (under two ass-kicking grandmothers). It’s actually really interesting to see how she learns to collaborate, to work with those she dislikes, to think strategically and tactically... Her growth is convincing, her later adventures harrowing. I made terrible decisions because I could not stop reading.
And then .. then we meet characters that I know and love from other books in this world, and that’s great good fun….all leading up to a heart-pounding ending that I couldn’t have loved more.
July 25, 2021
3 stars, a lighthearted and fun read
By the Sword is a standalone tale about the Kerowyn as she becomes a mercenary and works for Valdemar. It's pretty standards as far as Valdemar stories go and Kerowyn is an okay protagonist (she does start out with some early 90s "I'm not like other women" energy that thankfully gets toned down as she matures). The story does feel a bit like a placeholder to bridge the Vows and Honor with the main story of Valdemar but for what it is it's a quick and fun read especially after Kerowyn officially starts her mercenary training. It's a solid Valdemar book if you already like them.
By the Sword is a standalone tale about the Kerowyn as she becomes a mercenary and works for Valdemar. It's pretty standards as far as Valdemar stories go and Kerowyn is an okay protagonist (she does start out with some early 90s "I'm not like other women" energy that thankfully gets toned down as she matures). The story does feel a bit like a placeholder to bridge the Vows and Honor with the main story of Valdemar but for what it is it's a quick and fun read especially after Kerowyn officially starts her mercenary training. It's a solid Valdemar book if you already like them.
January 6, 2021
Just re-read the book because I really enjoy it. It should be read in order or there will be a lot that you don't understand, but it's a good book no matter how you do it.
The problem? There are inconsistencies in the overall story line. Nothing too drastic, and no worse than most story lines, but they niggle at me.
The problem? There are inconsistencies in the overall story line. Nothing too drastic, and no worse than most story lines, but they niggle at me.
October 1, 2021
And I say it again: I love this series. This time with Kerowyn, who is brave, strongwilled and has her own set of rules to live by. She is very honorable, but her honor is not the same as the honor of the heralds of Valdemar. Most of the story is not set in Valdemar and that gives a nice glimps of the lands outside of Valdemar and how they see Valdemar. On to the next book!
March 17, 2023
This is one of the books I’ve reread most in my life - it’s just such a satisfying, meaty story arc, with such a satisfying intermingling of characters from the Arrows books and the Oathbound books and new, charming characters unique to this book.
First time listening on audio, which was well done.
First time listening on audio, which was well done.
August 22, 2018
One of my favorite YA books of all time, and my absolute favorite in the Valdemar series. Kero is such a fantastic character, and her development throughout the novel is rich, well paced, and exciting. I've read this book at least a dozen times, both as an adult and adolescent, and I still had a hard time putting the book down reading it again! Everything is just so on point in this book! One of my all-time favorites :-)
December 16, 2020
Kolejna genialna podróż do mojego ukochanego świata Valdemaru :)
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