Ard Magister

by Laura J. Underwood

A Mercenary with the Heart of a Bard… A True Healer torn between Duty and Vows… And a Child of Power who will one day stand against the Darkening…should he live so long… Rhoyd Smytheson had no idea what a terrible place the world could be when he ran away from home. Nearly killed by bandits, Rhoyd is rescued by the Keltoran mercenary, Conor Mac Manahan, and his healer wife Eithne. The bandits are under the control of the bloodmage Socorro Nathrach who wants to steal Rhoyd’s essence. But when Socorro sends the bandits to fetch Rhoyd, Eithne is kidnapped instead, and Rhoyd and Conor must join magic and might to save her. Rhoyd learns that his destiny lies in the hands of a dead ancestor whose spirit is determined to create the ARD MAGISTER.... But in order to live up to that destiny, Rhoyd must face the worst enemy he has known...his own father. “With exciting plot twists and sympathetic characters, Laura Underwood takes traditional materials and makes them into something wholly fresh and new.” – Teresa Edgerton “In this promising first novel, Laura Underwood creates a fully realized world full of mystic, heather-scented resonance, and populates it with characters who step vividly off the page.” – Lynn Flewelling, The Bone Doll’s Twin “A fun read. A debut novel by one of fantasy’s finest short story writers. Fast-paced adventure!” – Steven Piziks, In the Company of Mind “Laura Underwood’s Ard Magister is an entertaining story with vivid characters and a refreshing touch of wit.” – Elizabeth Moon, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, and The Speed of Dark

Genres: Fantasy

Paperback

First published May 12, 2011

About the author

Laura J. Underwood is the author of numerous short stories in the field of fantastic fiction which have appeared in such publications as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s FANTASY Magazine, SWORD AND SORCERESS, LOW PORT, TURN THE OTHER CHICK, Adventures of Sword & Sorcery, SUCH A PRETTY FACE, CATFANTASTIC, BUBBAS OF THE APOCALYPSE, FOUR BUBBAS OF THE APOCALYPSE, INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF BUBBAS and many others. She is a born and raised East Tennessee, and has found much inspiration while hiking her native mountains as well as from her travels through England and Scotland. By day, she is a librarian, and her fields of expertise range from Scottish folklore and fencing to playing harp. She is, in fact, the owner of the original Glynnanis who has appeared in a number of her tales that were collected together in MAGIC'S SONG: TALES OF THE HARPER MAGE (Wildside Press 2003). Her novels include ARD MAGISTER (Yard Dog Press 2002), CHRONICLES OF THE LAST WAR (Yard Dog Press 2004) and DRAGON'S TONGUE (Meisha Merlin 2006) THE HOUNDS OF ARDAGH (Five Star Press 2006) and THE LUNARI MASK (Yard Dog Press 2008)

In spite of rumors started by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, Laura does not have a multitude of children like Harriet Beecher Stowe, nor does she live in a house full of cats. There is, in fact, only one Gato Bobo (he of the few brain cells) whom she keeps around because cats truly are fun toys...

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Laura at MidSouthCon and we started talking about her books and I realized that we share a common heritage in the Celts (pronounced with a "K" for your Bostonians). This story is a lot of fun to read and while Laura takes a lot of license with the lore and ancient language, it all works very well. The story could be classified as young adult, since the story centers around a young mage who appears to be nine years old. He has run away from home, been captured by bandits, beaten up, robbed of his only prized possession and left for dead. Along come Conor Mac Manahan and Eithne (I haven't figured out how to pronounce that), his wife and a "true" healer. She gets him back to health, but he doesn't trust Conor, since his real father beat him regularly to get rid of the evil mage nature that he was born with. Add to the story a truly evil megalomaniac and it is the makings of a great adventure. This is very well written and although it is marred by less than a handful of typographic problems (text size), I give it a very strong 4 and a half stars -- enough to rate it as a five.

[L.j. Bonham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Ard Magister. The protagonist, Rhoyd Smytheson, is a very compelling character and Laura Underwood drew me into his story from the first sentence. Now I have to get all the other books in this series. Great read.