Tarma and Kethry

Valdemar: Vows and Honor #1-3

by Mercedes Lackey

This omnibus of the acclaimed Vows and Honor trilogy, set in the New York Times bestselling world of Valdemar, follows Tarma and Kethry, swordswoman and sorceress, as they seek justice for past wrongs.The Introduces Tarma--swordswoman trained by elite warriors in all forms of deadly combat--and Kethry, former noblewoman whose magical skills were shaped by a powerful school of sorcery. United by the Goddess and armed with a magical sword drawing them to those in need, Tarma and Kethry swore a blood oath to fight against When Idra, leader of the Sunhawk mercenaries, failed to return from a journey to her home kingdom of Rethwellan, Tarma and Kethry set out in search of her. Instead they find a land shadowed by a dark enchantment, the claim to the throne in question, and the people of Rethwellan in terrible The sisters of sword and spell have pledged to train others to fight for their cause, starting a school for fledgling warriors and mages. But training turns out to be far more perilous than expected--and when two of their students are kidnapped, Tarma and Kethry must draw upon their combined skills to answer the call of destiny in ways they never imagined.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Amazon, Fiction

719 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 5, 2017

About the author

Mercedes 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

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection includes Oathbound, Oathbreakers, and Oathblood. They feature Tarma, an asexual swordswoman extraordinaire who is tutored by the best fighters of her people (even though they are now dead), and Kethry, a mage who has been bound to a sword that makes her an excellent fighter, although the payment is she must help women in need of her services.

Oathbound: This is truly one of the best sword-and-sorcery novels I've read. The heart of sword-and-sorcery is the old-fashioned "buddy novel." This book has the twist that the buddies are women, competent in their fields of expertise. Add to it the sorceress has a magical sword takes over the fighting for her and that negates most of the bad side of being a mage (an actual physical attack will distract or disable most mages in a lot of fiction) so the warrior doesn't have to spend all her time making sure her sworn sister is safe and the stories become more believable. This novel feels episodic as there really isn't an overarching theme.

Oathbreakers: Many times a sequel isn't as strong as the original. Oathbreakers, if anything, is stronger. Less episodic, there's a missing person who ties the whole novel together. Kethry and Tarma are tasked to find her, or to discover her fate. For fans of Valdemar, a herald and his companion do make an entrance. The background to one of Valdemar's alliances is also revealed.

Oathblood: This is a collection of short stories featuring Kethry and Tarma. Some I had read in anthologies. but others were totally new to me. Two had been subsumed into Oathbound. Those I skimmed as I had just read that book and they were nearly the same. Both the characters and the author matured and the stories steadily improved. In the end, I could tell that Tarma and Kethry knew they were good at what they did, but also didn't consider themselves "real" heroes. This quotation sums it up: "There’s your real heroes—the people who keep coping, keep trying, no matter how many blows Fate takes at them. Nobody’ ll make a song about them, but they’re heroes all the same."

People may not realize that there are two CDs created to accompany Oathbound and Oathbreakers. They bear the same title, but are/were put out by Firebird Arts and Music. They include the filk songs (science fiction/fantasy folk songs) that Lackey published about these books. Both are excellent listening. The lyrics are included at the end of this collection.

If you enjoy well-written fantasy, you should certainly have these books in your collection. Highly recommended.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurrah for this volume which pulls together all the stories.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This trilogy is part of Mercedes Lackey's series that mostly take place in Valdemar. These books are tangentially related and develop the story of Tarma and Kethry, the trainer and grandmother of Kerowyn, who later becomes weaponsmaster of Valdemar.

The trilogy begins with Tarma's entire clan being murdered by bandits after a horse fair. Tarma is raped, has her throat slit, and is left for dead. When she recovers consciousness, she makes her way to another clan, and after healing, calls blood feud on the bandits who decimated her clan. Though urged not to, she swears herself to her Goddess. After leaving the clan, she wanders in a daze, receiving supernatural training at night and tracking the bandits by day. She meets Kethry along the way, a journeyman sorceress carrying a magic blade, Need. Kethry is on a geis-fueled mission to save women in danger while improving her sorcery skills so that she can become a Master and found her own White Winds school. When their targets align, they join forces, eventually becoming blood-sisters, swearing a blood oath.

The series follows them hunting down all of the bandits, becoming freelance mercenaries, and then joining a mercenary company once they have an established reputation. By the third book, they have the reputation to form their school, but need an appropriate place. When their merc captain Idra disappears while visiting her royal family after her father's death, Tarma and Kethry leave the merc company to find her. They are embroiled in palace intrigue and nearly killed numerous times, but earn their place by restoring the true ruler to the throne.

[Kristy Halseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the omnibus of these stories, to bad it doesn't have a photo. I ordered it because I realized I couldn't remember if I had read it, if I remembered the stories from parts repeated in other books, if I lost the books, or if I might have read library books. So I figured the easiest thing was to purchase the omnibus of it. I remembered parts of book one and had forgotten other parts. By the end I came to the conclusion I had read it but so long ago that I was having trouble remembering it all. Book two I completely remembered. But it had been long enough that my memory was mixing up parts of it with By The Sword. Book three I had never read. I hadn't know the story of how they met and to be honest, all the short stories in it started to annoy me. So I'm knocking of a star because it something about the third book annoyed me enough that I didn't finish it. Honestly, I think it was the author's introductions to easy short story that got to me. It interrupted the flow and kept throwing me out of the immersion in the world.

[Scott Shjefte]

Tales of swords, magic, and loyalties are the basis for the filk song I have heard one hundred plus times... 'Threes" this version from you tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qxSp...

Tales of women abused are a center point in most of these tales.

The origin story of how these two met is not included in [The Oathbound|176797] and I bought that on Amazon so I could read it first before reading Oathbound. 'Sword Sworn Mercedes Lackey Copyright © 1986 by Mercedes Lackey - Sword Sworn (Vows & Honor Book 1) . Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Works Trust. Kindle Edition.' Later I found 'Sword Sworn' near the end of the composite trilogy [Tarma and Kethry|37284508]. This trilogy includes Oathbound, Oathbreakers and Oathblood, and various other tidbits and author comments ...

[greeneyes9999 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

No matter how many times I read these books they always amaze me how quickly I get wrapped up in them and fall into the story! I love e-reader Omnibus books the best like this one! You get to enjoy all of them in one sitting! No trying to track down what book is next! These female characters are the best! They show you that women can be strong, caring and honest. I love the respect they get from fellow mercenaries, and leaders! I highly recommend all these books from Mercedes Lackey. It’s been over 20 years and they are still the go to books when I want to be immersed in a series of books that bring me pure joy!

[Rachel Oberlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pleasant Memories

I first read the first two books in the early minutes and a good bit of the short stories in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress. Again the paperbacks are buried in the back of my bookshelf with the rest q my False mar collection, but I figure that I can still switch between the book and the Kindle if I read them again.
Now, I should say something nice about the book. It shows women as a force to be reckoned with, but it's not "men are idiots" type of things. The two women in these books were human and had good and bad relationships with men. Overall, I like the writing of my childhood.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a favorite author of mine and Kethry and Tarma's stories especially. out of the 3 books in one here the first 2 are traditional novels. an adventure story for those who didn't want swinging from branches, larger than life swords, a bit of magic and more realistic relationships. the 3rd story is more of a collection of stories. finding out what happened during the labs in the other two books or after the 2nd book ended. their ending so to speak. it was a good wrap up but not something I would recommend. the first 2 foe the duo alone. blood sisters. pure gold.

[Groucho42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection including "The Oathbound" & "Oathbreakers" novels, a group of short stories and a novella. The novels are good, the short stories are a mixed bag, and the novella, "Oathblood" is an ok wrap-up. The title characters are two women in the world of Valdemar but who are wandering different nations. They are a team of fighter and magician who work as mercenaries, then have a school, then have to admit the next generation are growing up. A good way to spend some reading time.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teams and Kethry ( Vows and Honor)

Such wonderful stories. I'd first read these in paperback when first published. So happy to have the e version as my kindle is so much easier to pack than 900 physical books. Especially given U have macular degeneration and can adjust the print accordingly.

[Miranda Resnikoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was mostly a re-read, tempted by the claim of a third book about the same characters- which turned out to be an assembly of the short stories about them, many of which I'd read at various other times, and a few of them were worked into the fabric of the two novels. Still, fun and nostalgic, so there's something. And some new-to-me material, too.

[Gabrielle George · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of this book was really enjoyable. It was standard fare, D&D, super basic fantasy with two likeable female characters with a strong bond.

The second half got really weird and problematic, and that almost ruined it for me, but the characters were just so fun I ended up finishing it anyway. This book was good for light, fun reading.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to see strong female characters! I really wanted to love these books. The trouble was, the solution to every problem in the stories is revenge. this is horrible advice to give to the next generation of strong women. More revenge is not what we need to solve the world's ills.

[Arwen Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing

I didn’t realize the third volume was mostly a rehash of what I’d just read. While it was interesting to read about the beginnings of the books from stories, I wanted more new. I am still hoping for a Hawkbrother Herald or a Shi’a’nin Herald. :)

[Puddytatpurr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of what is in the last book is in the first two books.

The story of how they met is the first story of book 3 and should be read first. Then read the first two books.

I enjoyed these very much. It was awesome to read about shin’a’in

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The collection

I think this contains all the Tarma and Kethry stories in one volume. I really like these main characters and the side characters are good too. Read this before the Karowyn story as these are her trainers.

[Diana Murillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dynamic duo

I love the adventures of Tarma and Kethry. Mercedes Lackey is a wonderful writer with a fascinating world. There are many books in this world but these are one of my favorites. A must read!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of fun adventures strung together, like following a feminist D&D campaign. I had a good time with this, but ended up skipping some of the poems at the end because they just felt like lyrics with no music and not poetry. Someone write them into songs so I can enjoy them?

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-purchase in digital omnibus format of three previously owned paperbacks that have been read so much that they are falling apart. So yes, I really like these books.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this compilation of three Tarma and Kethry books!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This team is one of my favorites.

[Melde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story and a fun read, but very Mary Sue main characters.

[Wynee Igel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trilogy of an unlikely pair of heroines bound in multiple ways - to their chosen gifts, to their gods/goddesses, and to each other. One is a warrior and the other a mage, both working at their craft. One is bound to a sword and its goddess that makes her come to the rescue of any woman. A very interesting take on the fantasy action and adventure story with many twists. the author does a good job of weaving in realistic aspects of the travel and people/creatures they encounter. The last book is a series of stories filling in "what happened after that" or "what is the story behind that reference?" An enjoyable read.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains three novels with the same central characters and set in the world of her other Valdemar stories but with no direct contact with the other books.

—Oathbound
There are hints that parts of this novel were initially released as freestanding novelettes.

[Cath Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying

Tarma and Kethry, sword lady and mage, in 3 stories. The first two are full books, the third is a series of short stories which belong in the same world and with the same characters. Some of these I had read before but some were new. Any Valdemar book makes my day, and though Companions and Heralds only have a passing and minor role here, this book is one I will read and read again with pleasure.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some wonderful new stories

I didn’t realize that there were new stories in this compilation, it was a lovely surprise. Tarma and Kethry continue to be a source of lessons and laughter, I highly recommend all their tales

[Rowan Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books were my first introduction to Mercedes Lackey. I love the world that she's created in these and the Valdemar books, and they make for some great escapism when this world gets me down too much. Bonus points for having women as the two main characters, and providing a refreshing take on Sword & Sorcery fiction.

[Judith Blaauw-Klaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the stories about Tarma and Kethry. It was good that I was warned that the third book in this omnibus contained also stories that were in the first two books, but the other stories were well worth the read. This is one collection of stories I will certainly reread.

[Ley Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Mercedes Lackey, these stories didn't disappoint. Lots of action but plenty of character stuff too and horse whispering to boot.

[ReadKnitHoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Great female friendship. Competent heroines. Adventure, adversity, endurance, triumph. So satisfying it makes me giddy. *happy sigh*