This stand-alone novel in the best-selling Valdemar series tells the story of Alberich...When Alberich took a stand for what he believed in-and defected-he was chosen by one of the magical Companion horses...to serve the queen of Valdemar.

This is the story of Shana, a halfbreed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father and a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, she was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or humankind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that the all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime.

A dozen years of peace have passed in the city of White Gryphon - providing well deserved and much needed security for the people who had lost their homes in the magical Cataclysm which killed the Mage Urtho, creator of the gryphons. But the inhabitants of White Gryphon have not forgotten their long struggles, and have trained an elite guard force, the Silver Gryphons, to protect their city, and if necessary, to join with the army of the Black Kings for mutual defense.

A new short story collection by Mercedes Lackey, Fiddler Fair demonstrates her wide range as a writer, running the gamut from her beloved Bardic fantasies to urban fantasy set in the modern world, from science fiction adventure to chilling horror. Learn what happens when animal rights fanatics try to "liberate" genetically reconstructed dinosaurs. Follow Lawrence of Arabia into the desert to meet a power beyond human comprehension, and be with King Arthur, reborn into the present day, when he again gains possession of the enchanted sword Excalibur. And, in a very weird encounter of the most bizarre kind, learn why an alien from a UFO took an unusual interest in a battered Chevy pickup truck. Stories include: How I Spent my Summer Vacation Aliens Ate My Pickup Small Print Last Rights Dumb Feast Dance Track Jihad Balance Dragon's Teeth The Cup and the Cauldron Once and Future Fiddler Fair The Enemy of My Enemy

Family Spies #1 begins a new Valdemar series by the bestselling Mercedes Lackey, and continues the story of the now-married Mags and Amily, protagonists in the previous two Valdemar series.Mags, Herald Spy of Valdemar, and his wife Amily are happily married with three kids. The oldest, Justyn, has the Gift of animal Mindspeech—he can talk to animals and persuade them to act as he wishes. Justyn's dream is to follow in his father's footsteps as a Herald Spy, but has yet to be Chosen by his horse companion.Mags is more than happy to teach Justyn all he knows. He regularly trains his children, including Justyn, with tests and exercises, preparing them for the complicated and dangerous lives they will likely lead. Justyn has already held positions in the Royal Palace as a runner and in the kitchen, useful places from which he can learn to listen. As the next stage of Justyn's training, Mags proposes that Justyn joins a group of traveling players and...

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 anscestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped. Drive by desperation and the knowledge that a scorcerer had led the journey which would prove but he first step on the road to the fulfillment of her destiny.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mercedes Lackey presents Trio of Sorcery, three exciting short urban fantasy novels featuring three resourceful heroines and three different takes on the modern world and on magics both modern and ancient.Arcanum 101: Diana Tregarde, practicing witch, romance novelist, Guardian of the Earth. Studying at Harvard, Diana is approached by Joe O'Brian, a young cop who has already seen more than one unusual thing during his budding career. The distraught mother of a kidnap victim is taking advice from a "psychic" and interfering in the police investigation. Will Diana prove that the psychic is a fake? Unfortunately, the psychic is not a fake, but a very wicked witch—and the child's kidnapper. Drums: Jennifer Talldeer, shaman, private investigator, member of the Osage tribe. Most of Jennie's work is regular PI stuff, but Nathan Begay brings her a problem she's never seen before. His...

In To Light a Candle, the Demon Queen sends her forces against her human and elven enemies, sowing distraction and death. In the human City, the Queen's agents work to divide the Council and foment rebellion among the City's citizens. In the countryside, they target the most vulnerable and valuable---the young Elf Prince and the Wild Mages who might be the Demons' most dangerous enemies. To his own surprise, young Kellen, once the disappointing son of the great Mage who leads the City's Mage Council, has become a powerful Knight-Mage. Valued for his bravery and his skills as both wizard and warrior, Kellen joins the Elves' war councils. Yet he cannot convince the City of his birth that it is in terrible danger. Kellen's sister Idalia, a Wild Mage with great healing ability, has pledged her heart to Jermayan, a proud Elven warrior. Someday Idalia will pay a tragic Price for a world-saving work of Wild Magic, but until then, she will claim any joy life can offer her. Jermayan, who has learned much while fighting at Kellen's side and loving the human Idalia, finds that everything changes when he Bonds with a dragon while rescuing the Elf Prince and becomes the first Elven Mage in a thousand years. Furious at her enemies' success with the dragon, the Demon Queen attacks in force. Light struggles against Dark, like flickering candleflames buried deep in the shadow of Obsidian Mountain.

Godmother and Snow Queen, Aleksia's main job is to support the Tradition by abducting young men about to turn bad, and putting them through a trial to show them the error of their ways. She sometimes worries that she is becoming as cold as her own Ice Palace. But then come the rumours of a wicked Snow Witch, freezing whole villages to death, and claiming to be the Snow Queen. Aleksia has to set off on her own adventure to sort things out.

Adult/High School-Fanciful and winsome, Sleep is a fantastical version of "Sleeping Beauty" set in England at the turn of the 20th century. Taken care of by family friends since infancy and surrounded by mages, Marina lives a charmed life. Befriended by water sprites, nymphs, and the like, she slowly comes to know why her loving parents sent her away. Tragically, just before her 18th birthday, they die in an "accident," and Marina is ripped from her idyllic country home by her coldly beautiful Aunt Arachne. The woman is controlling and harsh, yet even to the magically gifted she doesn't appear evil. Despite the lack of evidence, Marina's instincts gnaw at her, and fortunately she listens. A visit to one of her aunt's pottery factories provides unpleasant revelations both physical and metaphysical. Old-fashioned manners, dress, and speech set the tone in this pleasantly escapist novel. Mixed in are light touches of modern issues such as feminism and eco-awareness. YAs who liked fairy tales as kids will enjoy Lackey's spin on an old favorite.

Spirit White and her friends Burke, Loch, and Addie have escaped from Oakhurst Academy. But their freedom has come at a terrible cost—a dear friend sacrificed her own life to save theirs. In the wake of Muirin’s death, they are also forced to deal with the terrifying truth behind the facade of Oakhurst Academy: all of the legends are true.Queen Guinevere, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table really had existed. With the magic of Merlin, they were able to imprison their greatest foe, Mordred, before he could plunge the world back into the Dark Ages. But Mordred is now free, in charge of Oakhurst Academy, and determined to finish what he started so long ago. Pursued by Shadow Knights, the reincarnated remnants of Mordred’s original army, Spirit’s small band undertakes a quest to recover the Four Hallows, objects of immeasurable power. Memories of a past life have begun to surface, one in which Spirit wields a legendary sword. She comes to realize that these memories are the true key to Mordred’s defeat. Can Spirit and her friends manage to recapture the magic of Camelot in time to save their fellow students and prevent the end of the world? Shadow Grail #4: Victories is he fourth and final book in the Shadow Grail series by the New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill**Review“Lackey and Edghill know how to spin a yarn… Fast-paced action… There’s also a touch of romance, and readers who appreciate everything from X-Men to Harry Potter will be begging for the sequel.”  —Booklist on Shadow Grail #1: Legacies“The authors expertly balance a heady mixture of mystery and teenage romance."—RT Book Reviews on Shadow Grail #1: LegaciesAbout the AuthorMERCEDES LACKEY is the author of the Valdemar novels. She has collaborated with Andre Norton on the Elvenbane series and with James Mallory on the bestselling Obsidian Trilogy. The Shadow Grail series, co-authored with Rosemary Edghill, is her first urban fantasy series for the young adult audience. She lives with her husband in Oklahoma.ROSEMARY EDGHILL is a prolific writer in several genres, under her own name and various pseudonyms. The Shadow Grail series, co-authored with Mercedes Lackey, is her first urban fantasy series for the young adult audience. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with several cats and several Cavalier King Charles spaniels, which she shows in obedience competitions. 

Lackey, Flint and Freer whip up a luscious bouillabaisse of politics, intrigue, love and black magic set in an "Other-worldly, New-Age Venice." Like the actual 16th-century city-state, the authors' Venice of the 1530s is a dangerous place, filled with as many illicit love affairs as murders. Garbage and occasional dead bodies float in the stinking canals. The city is also a target for would-be foreign conquerors: the Vatican, the Holy Roman Empire, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland, and the small city-state of Ferrara, ruled by Enrico Dell'este, who surreptitiously watches his grandsons, Marco and Benito, the story's water-rat heroes. Around Benito, a thief, and Marco, a canal doctor, swirl a host of characters, major and minor: the men and women who ply the gondolas and rafts; the spy Caesare Aldanto, the boys' supporter; plus courtesans, whores, monks, priests, knights, shamans, undines and the demon Chernobog. Meanwhile, the winged lion of St. Mark's, symbol of Venice, is stirring, and its shadow falls on Marco as the city's future ruler.