Skif is a moron and it’s cute, but also annoying.

I also enjoy the scene where the mage Quenten is in utter awe of the Companions but can’t explain that to Elspeth or Skif. I appreciate that Elspeth wants to take charge of her destiny and does so. The scene where Elspeth stands on Gwena’s saddle and then falls back down into it, making Skif wince, always makes me laugh. It’s interesting that Gwena is basically an archangel in horse form, but she’s capable of lying and manipulating to get her way… she has to learn the courtesy to treat Elspeth like an equal. I love the way she calls her Companion Gwena out for being a manipulative liar. An accident with the Heartstone killed Darkwind’s mother-after which he changed his name from Songwind to Darkwind-and seems to have had a terrible effect on his father, Starblade, who has become cruel.Įlspeth is a fun character throughout. K’Sheyna has problems though: it’s got a corrupted Heartstone. We get a new viewpoint character in Darkwind, a Tayledras scout from k’Sheyna Vale. However, when all the Companions support her, she starts to suspect something’s up… and that she’s being manipulated from one destiny into another. In fact, she hates it so much that she convinces her mother Queen Selenay to let her ride out in search of mages to protect Valdemar from the evil Ancar whom we met in the Arrows trilogy. In which Elspeth, ‘the Brat’, grows up into a very likeable young woman who doesn’t enjoy being the royal heir. I can’t praise it much because… it’s just so silly. I can’t rip it to shreds because I can’t take it seriously enough:tThe main antagonist is an anthropomorphic cat. This trilogy is sheer high fantasy silliness. (Oct.Ok, I’ve been putting this off long enough. This is a charming, colorful and romantic coming-of-age tale, deeply imbued with the concept of responsibility as well as the imagined pleasures of power. Aided by the powerful but mysterious mage Firesong k'Treva, the Vale fights off another attempt at destruction by Falconsbane, while still greater powers put in an appearance and set the stage for the Mage Wind trilogy's projected third title. While Elspeth and Darkwind slowly and contentiously come to love each other, her companion Skif seeks the Changechild Nyara, daughter of Falconsbane, who turned against him to save the Vale of the k'Sheyna and then fled into the wilderness with the enchanted sword Need.

Accepted as a member of the k'Sheyna clan of the Tayledras, magicians who cleanse lands damaged in the long-ago Magic Wars, Elspeth takes her turn in patrols searching for the vanished Falconsbane, an evil Adept who almost destroyed the clan, its Heartstone, and Darkwind's father Starblade.

In this sequel to Winds of Fate, Elspeth, heir to the throne of Valdemar, develops into a strong practitioner of magic under the tutelage of Darkwind k'Sheyna.

Winds of fate mercedes lackey