Owlsight by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

Owlsight is the second in the Darian’s Tale trilogy by Mercedes Lackey, part of her ongoing series about the land of Valdemar.  In this sequel to Owlflight, Darian returned to the land of his birth after a period of intense training in magecraft while traveling with the Hawkbrothers.    He wanted to create an embassy, a place where Hawkbrother, Valdemaran, and any other peoples can come and find peaceful solutions to problems.

Meanwhile, a young woman named Keisha was now in charge of healing in the village where Darian grew up.  In fact, she worked from the same house where Darian had grown up and been apprenticed to the now deceased healer Justyn.  The villagers had been in desperate need of a healer, so when it became apparent that Keisha had the Gift they had fixed up the house for her.

Everything changed, however, the day the Companion, a magical creature in horse guise, came to town and Chose Keisha’s sister Shandi to leave her home and become a Herald. This sent Shandi’s and Keisha’s mother into hysterics and left Keisha to bear the brunt of the housework while her brothers do nothing.  Keisha was forced to take a stand and move out on her own. 

However, before she has a chance to settle into her new life, barbarians from the north moved on Valdemar.  Strangely, they did not seem ready to attack; they brought their children, their elderly, and their ill with them.  Darian and the Hawkbrothers wondered what their purpose was and prepared for war, but then Shandi, who was now a Herald trainee with the Gift of foresight, returned to tell them that the barbarians brought something worse than an attack—a highly contagious, fatal disease.

How would the alliance of the Hawkbrothers and Valdemarans handle this new threat?  They could easily wipe out the sickly barbarians, but who knew if the disease could still spread among their armies?  And they couldn’t in good conscience kill an entire people just because they were ill.  Shandi’s vision said the barbarians had only come for help.  But how could they trust the foresight of one so young and still untrained?  And if that was indeed the barbarians’ purpose, then how could anyone help without putting themselves also at risk?

Find out by reading Owlsight, by Mercedes Lackey.  Anyone who loves fantasy and good vs. evil stories will really enjoy her writing.  I really enjoyed this and am looking forward to doing my next review on the third book in the trilogy, Owlknight.

Note:  Holly will take a break and return with her Owlknight review on Friday, February 6, 2015