| Mercedes Lackey |
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Mercedes Lackey (born June 24 , 1950 ) (also known as '''Misty Lackey''') is a prolific American author of Fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth , mostly in and around the country of Valdemar . Her Valdemar novels form a complex tapestry of interaction between human and non-human protagonists with many different cultures and social Mores . There is a prominent theme of tolerance throughout, notably in the relative prominence of Homosexual characters and the ethos of Valdemar: "There is no '''one, true''' way". The other main world in which she writes is one much like our own, but also populated by elves, mages, vampires, and other mythical beings. Some of the interlocking series in this world are the ''Diana Tregarde'' thrillers, the ''SERRAted Edge'' books about racecar-driving elves, and the ''Bedlam's Bard'' books, describing a young man with the power to work incredible magics through music. While the ''SERRAted Edge'' and ''Bedlam's Bard'' series are still in progress, she has declined to write further ''Diana Tregarde'' stories because of low sales. Lackey received harassment from a small but determined number of fans over the decision. She claims that the trouble escalated to the point where she and her husband received death threats and were temporarily forced to suspend their fandom activities. She resumed attending conventions by 2004. There is a Mercedes Lackey fan group on Usenet . The fanclub, the "Queen's Own", is named after Herald Talia's position in her books. Her earlier novels are all solo projects, but later volumes in the Valdemar saga are illustrated by her husband Larry Dixon , and in many of her latest works he is also credited as co-author. BIOGRAPHY Mercedes was born on June 24, 1950. Her birth prevented her father from being called to fight in the Korean War . She places her meeting with Science Fiction at age 10/11, when she happened to pick up her father's copy of James H. Schmitz's ''Agent of Vega''. She then read Andre Norton's ''Beast Master'' and ''Lord of Thunder'', and continued to read all of Norton's works. (Mercedes notes with chagrined amusement the difficulties of obtaining enough interesting books from the public library to sate her passion for reading.) She wrote for herself but without real direction or purpose, up until she went to college. She attended Purdue University and graduated in 1972. While there, she took a one-on-one class of English Literature Independent Studies with a professor who was a fellow sci-fi fan. He helped her analyze books she enjoyed and then use that knowledge. Mercedes then encountered fan fiction, which further encouraged her writing. She began publishing work in fanzines, and then discovered Filk and had some filk lyrics published by Off Centaur Publications. She submitted a story to ''Sword and Sorceress'', then sold the rewritten story to ''Fantasy Book Magazine''. Her first sale was to ''Friends of Darkover''. She met C.J. Cherryh through filk, who mentored her during the writing of her 'Arrows' series. During this time, Marion Zimmer Bradley included her short stories in an anthology and Cherryh helped Lackey through 17 rewrites of 'Arrows' During this time, Lackey claims to have been writing so much that she had no social life at all. She divorced Tony Lackey, and eventually remarried to Larry Dixon. Mercedes lives with her husband outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in an unusual house. Mercedes describes it as a "2 1/2 story concrete dome with an octagonal wooden shell over it to make it look more like a normal house...it's round with curved outer walls, which makes placement of furniture kind of awkward." (Valdemar Companion, 68) She and Larry Dixon have in the past worked in Raptor Rehabilitation . She often refers to her various Parrot s as her "feathered children". The afterwords to some of her books refer to rehabilitation and Falconry , and it is clear that this interest has influenced and informed her writing. She also enjoys beadwork, costuming, and needlework. She claims, however, to be a "wretched housekeeper, and by and large an indifferent cook" (Valdemar Companion, p 64) Besides this, she does radar-reading during tornado season. She helps support the Alex Foundation Lackey has been active in the Filk ing community. She was a major contributor to an early album of space filk, '' Minus Ten And Counting ''. Her favorite book that she has written is ''By the Sword'', and her easiest to write was anything about Tarma and Kethry. Lackey's 'dream cast' list for her books is as follows:
RELATED WRITERS Mercedes Lackey is a protegee of Marion Zimmer Bradley , and got her start writing short stories in Bradley's story collections. Other mentors include writers C.J. Cherryh and Andre Norton, along with her editor, Elizabeth (Betsy) Wollheim. In her use of female and homosexual protagonists, she is like Tanya Huff , although she lacks Huff's rather light tone. PUBLISHED WORKS Velgarth Some of the trilogies follow on chronologically from each other. Others are set a considerable number of years apart from the others. Overall the books span some 3000 years of history. There is a significant gap in the middle which might some day be filled. In October 2003 Lackey announced that she was taking a break from writing Velgarth books. ''Heralds of Valdemar'' This set consists of the original trilogy, the very first Valdemar books published, and a prequel trilogy, the most recent. =Prequels These centre on the Weaponsmaster Alberich (in the first two books) and the thief '''Skif''' (in the third book), telling the stories of their not-entirely-voluntary enrolments as Heralds. #'' Exile's Honor '' #'' Exile's Valor '' #'' Take A Thief '' =The original trilogy These centre on the character Talia, from her first encounter with the Heralds to becoming the ''Queen's Own Herald''. #'' Arrows Of The Queen '' #'' Arrow's Flight '' #'' Arrow's Fall '' ''The Mage Winds'' These follow on from the original ''Heralds of Valdemar'' trilogy, centering on Princess Elspeth completing her transformation from "the Brat" to a fully-fledged Herald. Secondary protagonists include Skif and a new character Darkwind. The latter part of '' Kerowyn's Tale '' fills in the events that happen after ''Arrow's Fall'' but before ''Winds of Fate''. #'' Winds Of Fate '' #'' Winds Of Change '' #'' Winds Of Fury '' ''The Mage Storms'' These follow on again, centering on the characters Karal and '''An'desha'''. #'' Storm Warning '' #'' Storm Rising '' #'' Storm Breaking '' ''Darian's Tale'' These take place some time later, centering on the character Darian. #'' Owlflight '' (ISBN 0-88677-754-2) #'' Owlsight '' (ISBN 0-88677-802-6) #'' Owlknight '' (ISBN 0-88677-851-4) ''The Last Herald Mage'' These occur some centuries before the ''Heralds of Valdemar'' books, telling the life story of Vanyel Ashkevron ; by the time of the "later" books he has become legend, thus explaining some of the small inconsistencies. #'' Magic's Pawn '' (ISBN 0-61363-053-X) #'' Magic's Promise '' (ISBN 0-61363-055-6) #'' Magic's Price '' (ISBN 0-61363-054-8) ''Vows and Honor'' #''The Oathbound'' (ISBN 0-88677-285-0), 1988 #''Oathbreakers'' (ISBN 0-88677-319-9), 1989 #''Oathblood'' (ISBN 0-88677-773-9), 1998 These precede the ''Heralds of Valdemar'' books, centering on the characters Tarma and '''Kethry''', These characters appeared first in Marion Zimmer Bradley 's Sword And Sorceress Series ) and were revisited in subsequent short stories. Two of these short stories are woven into the ''Vows and Honor'' books as part of a longer narrative. The third volume is made up entirely of short stories in place of a longer narrative; with its publication, all the Tarma and Kethry stories were available together. The original ''Vows and Honor'' pair of books were linked together with ''By the Sword'' (published long before ''Oathblood'') as a trilogy. In the books, Tarma is a sword-wielding Shin'a'in tribeswoman. Kethry is a magic-user who carries a sword with unusual properties. The nature of this sword, Need, is explored in later series set in Valdemar. At the time of the ''Vows and Honor'' books, all that is known is that it is magic, protects female bearers, and can pressure its owner into assisting other women. The overarching goal for the two women is to accumulate resources enough to regenerate Tarma's almost-destroyed tribe. As the titles of the books suggest, emphasis is laid on the importance and consequences of oaths in at least one story from each book. The setting of the books is generally in the lands south of Valdemar such as Rethwellan, although there is a brief sojourn in Valdemar in ''Oathbreakers''. Despite limited time in Valdemar, there were references in the first two ''Vows and Honor'' books to the Companions of Valdemar which laid early hints to their nature. The introduction of a four-fold deity (Tarma's Goddess) was something of a novel idea at the time of publication. ''Kerowyn's Tale'' This is a stand-alone novel which connects the ''Vows & Honor'' sub-series to the ''Heralds'' and other trilogies; it introduces the character Kerowyn who features therein. Kerowyn is the granddaughter of '''Kethry''' from the '''Vows and Honor''' sub-series.
''The Mage Wars'' These are set in pre-history, some 2000-3000 years earlier. They describe the events which set off ''The Mage Storms''. It involves gryphons, creatures created by the mage Urtho (Mage of Silence). Co-protagonists are Skandranon Rashkae, a princely but proud ebony gryphon, and Amberdrake, a Healer of spirit and mind called a kestra'chern. #'' The Black Gryphon '' #'' The White Gryphon '' #'' The Silver Gryphon '' Miscellaneous This is a stand-alone novel, set somewhere between ''The Last Herald Mage'' and the ''Heralds'' books; it describes another legendary character referred to in the latter, Lavan Firestorm .
Anthologies
Reference
''Elves on the Road'' universe Bedlam's Bard
''Bedlam Boyz'' is a prequel to ''Knight of Ghosts and Shadows'', detailing the origin of a secondary character in the series. Diana Tregarde
These books are set in the same real world as the ''SERRAted Edge'' books: that is, a real world with levinbolts and elves who drive racing cars. At least one character (Tannim) is seen in both sets of books. The main character, Diana Tregarde, is an ); nonetheless, she incorporated several elements of the Guardian mythos, including the apartment building where Diana lived, into later books in her ''Bedlam's Bard'' series. The character Diana Tregarde first appeared in two short stories, "Satanic, Versus..." and "Nightside", which were originally written for inclusion in the '''' Roleplaying Game and subsequently featured in the short story collection '' Werehunter '' (1999). "Satanic, Versus..." is a humorous cautionary tale that demonstrates just what can happen when people who don't quite understand magic meddle with it, whereas "Nightside" is a preliminary version of what later became the novel ''Children of the Night''. The game ''Bureau 13'' concerned a secret government agency tasked with investigating the supernatural. Presumably any original connection to the game's continuity has been rendered Apocryphal by the expansion to novel form. Nonetheless, perhaps it is not entirely coincidental that a similar agency appears as an antagonist in a later ''Bedlam's Bard'' book. The Serrated Edge
''Born to Run'' and ''Chrome Circle'' were incorporated into an Omnibus called '' The Chrome Borne ''. ''Wheels of Fire'' and ''When the Bough Breaks'' were incorporated into an omnibus called '' The Otherworld ''. The books were paired off by thematic content rather than order; thus readers wishing to read the series in chronological order would be advised to read the first half of ''The Chrome Borne'', all of ''The Otherworld'', and then the latter half of ''The Chrome Borne''. Mark Shepherd's solo books in this series are only thinly connected to the other books, and might more properly be considered a separate series of their own. ''This Scepter'd Isle'' and ''Ill Met by Moonlight'' are a prequel series set several hundred years prior to the other books in the series. The first printing of ''This Scepter'd Isle'''s first networks, as well as hosted on the world-wide web . The Halfblood Chronicles ''with Andre Norton '' #'' The Elvenbane '' (1991) #'' Elvenblood '' (1995) #'' Elvenborn '' (2002) #'' Elvenbred '' (?) The Elemental Masters Set in an Alternate Universe where magic is real, and Elemental Masters control the powers of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth—in parts of the world at least. These stories are based loosely—sometimes ''very'' loosely—upon various Fairy Tale s. # '' The Fire Rose '' (1995, ISBN 067187750X) ''based on Beauty And The Beast '' # '' The Serpent's Shadow '' (2001, ISBN 0756400619) ''based on Snow White '' # '' The Gates Of Sleep '' (2002, ISBN 0756401011) ''based on Sleeping Beauty '' # '' Phoenix And Ashes '' (2004, ISBN 0756402727) ''based on Cinderella '' # '' The Wizard Of London '' (October 2005, ISBN 0756401747) ''based on The Snow Queen '' Fairy Tale # '' The Black Swan '' # ''Firebird'' Five Hundred Kingdoms # ''Fairy Godmother'' (2004) # ''One Good Knight'' (2006) ''Free Bards'' universe Bardic Voices # '' The Lark and the Wren '' (1992) # '' The Robin And The Kestrel '' (1994) # '' The Eagle And The Nightingale '' (1996) # '' Four and Twenty Blackbirds '' (1997,ISBN 0-671-87853-0) The Free Bards had their genesis in the story "Fiddler Fair", originally written for an Andre Norton shared-world anthology entitled ''Magic in Ithkar''. The Ithkar series did not continue after its second volume, so Lackey rewrote, changed, and expanded the story into a setting of its own in ''The Lark and the Wren''. "Fiddler Fair" may be found in the Mercedes Lackey short-story collection that is also entitled '' Fiddler Fair ''. Bardic Choices # '' A Cast Of Corbies '' (1994) The Dragon Jousters The books primarily follow the story of Vetch (or Kiron, from the second book onward), and centers initially around a war between the neighboring countries of Alta and Tia, both of which use Dragon Jousters as their most powerful weapons. # '' Joust '' (2003) # '' Alta '' (2004) # '' Sanctuary '' (May 2005) # '' Aeyrie '' (?) Heirs of Alexandria # '' Shadow of the Lion '' with Dave Freer & Eric Flint # '' This Rough Magic '' with Dave Freer & Eric Flint # '' A Mankind Witch '' by Dave Freer solo work continuing the series. Obsidian Trilogy This series primarily follows the adventures of Kellen Tavadon, and centers on the war between the races of light, and the Endarkened. # '' The Outstretched Shadow '' with James Mallory # '' To Light A Candle '' with James Mallory # '' When Darkness Falls (July 2006) '' with James Mallory ''Bard's Tale universe'' # '' Castle Of Deception '' (1992) with Josepha Sherman # '' Fortress Of Frost And Fire '' (1993) with Ru Emerson # '' Prison Of Souls '' (1993) with Mark Shepherd EXTERNAL LINKS
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