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Chronicles of the Xandim #1
Heritage of the Xandim
The Lady of the Mists has seen a women, all born when the moon was concealed by the shadow of the sun, would hold the future of the world in their hands, determining whether it would be lost or saved. Three children of a red moon, a blood moon ... One a wizard, one Phaerie Born, and the other ...'Try as she would to see this woman - and she knew in her heart it was a woman - all that would come into her mind was the image of a grey horse, running, running ...Following the passing of Valir, Croisand has become the Windeye, the Shaman of the Xandim. Once shapeshifters, the Xandim were able to pass from human to equine form, until they were cursed by Hellorin, the Forest Lord of Phaerie, locked into horse form and mind, to act as steeds for his people, coursing across the night skies as they hunt down humans.But now Corisand has been gifted with Valir's unique knowledge, she alone knows that her race could be so much more. And she alone holds the key to stopping an act of epic folly from overturning the worlds of Phaerie, Magefolk and mortal alike.
480 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2009
11 people are currently reading
289 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Furey
32 books197 followersMaggie Furey was born in North East England and spent most of her adult life residing in County Wicklow, Ireland. She was a qualified teacher, but has also reviewed books on BBC Radio Newcastle, been an advisor in the Durham Reading Resources Centre and organized children's book fairs.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
dnf
February 1, 2017I was bored, then I saw it was a series, I just wont bother
January 22, 2023
It was one of those books that had been on my TBR for more than a year. I'm not a horse person, so was a little apprehensive in reading it. However... OMG MAY BE MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOK! It is everything I wanted from a fantasy. I also loved how you got to understand each character's thoughts behind each of their decisions. What made them that way. None was 100% evil. A level of true emotional understanding was placed into the writing of this book.
September 4, 2012
Gosh I wish part two came out!!! some websites tell me 2009 (we're now in 2012) and other site
don't know. Amazon doesn't have it. Just wrote an email to Mynx, the publisher here in Holland if
they have any idea :(
don't know. Amazon doesn't have it. Just wrote an email to Mynx, the publisher here in Holland if
they have any idea :(
September 8, 2020
Difficult to get though at times but overall very well crafted and beautifully worded
June 25, 2023
A very exciting book which will be concluded in the next one, Exodus of the Xandim. My only complaint is that the story is slowed down continually by too much descriptive writing.
August 13, 2011
c2009: A pleasant enough book but I did not realise that it was a prequel to Ms Furey's previous books - which are a personal no no. Now the cover does not mention any of this and nor does the blurb on the inside sleeve so by the time I realised this (ok so I am not that quick off the blocks) I was already a good couple of pages in to the book. Again,a personal failing is that I do not like to have a dreaded DNF next to a book title. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half but then the story just went on and on (is this the teaching background of the author coming into play?) and at times - I just wanted to skip huge swathes of the book to reach the end of the book which I know would not actually be the end of the story but still.... Eek - a couple of mentions of "living stone"......but I do concede that in one particular description a being that exists as a mountain in the "mundane world" is a Moldai in the Elsewhere - sounds daft just justifying it. The heroines/lead female characters are Tiolani of the dreaded Phaerie (who really are not nice!!! hunting "feral humans" indeed, Iriana- blind but can see by using the "eyes" of animals (although this is supposed to be my acceptance of the animal - quite a few times in the story - she was "forced" to do otherwise) and Corisand, the Xandim. There is also a bit about a very nasty half sister of Iriana's named Chiannala who pushes a girl off a cliff to get into the Wizard Academy. This character is explained but other than a brief mention towards the end of the book - is not developed much further so I can only imagine her appearing in the next book. All of the characters are actually quite nasty pieces of work even though some are worse than others - the male characters swing from really really horrible to being so sweet it would hurt your teeth. I don't think that these are particularly well developed characters and may be why the story starts to drag somewhat. Give it a whirl - it can be read without having touched the older books.
August 28, 2015
This series returns to the lands of Aurian, and is set in the distant past of the Magefolk, when even the land was a different shape, and the sea between the northlands and the south did not exist.
This was the time when the Artefacts of Power were created, and lives were torn apart by the Mage Wars.
In those days, the Magefolk were comprised of four disparate races: the human Wizards, masters of earth magic; the winged Skyfolk, who controlled the magic of air; the Leviathan, who ruled the powers of the watery realms; and the great Dragonfolk, whose province was the magic of fire.
But while the four races of the Magefolk strove and vied amongst themselves to master the powers of magic both good and evil, a new race was emerging, who would come to play a vital part in these phenomenal events.
As the story opens, the Xandim are little more than simple beasts. Enslaved by the fey and powerful Phaerie, masters of the Old Magic, they have been trapped in their horse forms for so long that they have forgotten they once held a human shape.
Only one of the tribe knows better: the Windeye, the shaman of the Xandim. This is the story of his epic quest to free his people.
I loved this book. It's the first fantasy book I've read in ages and I loved getting back into the genre. The worlds are so vividly described that everyday life dulls in comparison. I read the 'Artifacts of Power' series years ago and have difficulty remembering what they were all about but I may be tempted into a re-read because of this book. Luckily the sequel is available so I'm on to that soon!
This was the time when the Artefacts of Power were created, and lives were torn apart by the Mage Wars.
In those days, the Magefolk were comprised of four disparate races: the human Wizards, masters of earth magic; the winged Skyfolk, who controlled the magic of air; the Leviathan, who ruled the powers of the watery realms; and the great Dragonfolk, whose province was the magic of fire.
But while the four races of the Magefolk strove and vied amongst themselves to master the powers of magic both good and evil, a new race was emerging, who would come to play a vital part in these phenomenal events.
As the story opens, the Xandim are little more than simple beasts. Enslaved by the fey and powerful Phaerie, masters of the Old Magic, they have been trapped in their horse forms for so long that they have forgotten they once held a human shape.
Only one of the tribe knows better: the Windeye, the shaman of the Xandim. This is the story of his epic quest to free his people.
I loved this book. It's the first fantasy book I've read in ages and I loved getting back into the genre. The worlds are so vividly described that everyday life dulls in comparison. I read the 'Artifacts of Power' series years ago and have difficulty remembering what they were all about but I may be tempted into a re-read because of this book. Luckily the sequel is available so I'm on to that soon!
November 21, 2015
In terms of the storyline and mythology I loved it. It was rich and complex and I kind of liked the human-slave inequality theme.
However I thought the characters were flat and unbelievable. They would be competent, potentially interesting people for the most part, and then would suddenly have a fit of rage/angst/sadness/love that is only slightly explained, and then proceed to behave in a ridiculous manner different from how they usually are. (looking at you, Tiolani, Iriana, Chiannala)
I'm not sure whether I want to finish the series despite my interest in the world because of the ridiculous characters/writing. We shall see.
However I thought the characters were flat and unbelievable. They would be competent, potentially interesting people for the most part, and then would suddenly have a fit of rage/angst/sadness/love that is only slightly explained, and then proceed to behave in a ridiculous manner different from how they usually are. (looking at you, Tiolani, Iriana, Chiannala)
I'm not sure whether I want to finish the series despite my interest in the world because of the ridiculous characters/writing. We shall see.
February 1, 2014
Original main characters, an interesting storyline which dragged on a bit in places due to elaborate background descriptions, and an ending which was a bit too fast to my liking sums up this novel quite well. Would have been good to mention that this was only part one of two? Three? More books? And I have to say that I was put off regularly by Furey's habit of sprinkling unusual words into the text. My grasp of the English language is pretty good, but I regularly encountered words which made me go "er... what?"
February 25, 2014
Heritage is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and it is good getting the chance to explore the backstory behind the Artefacts of Power series. However, it does seem like a few plot points are rather contrived to better fit the lore already established in the later timeline.
I find it difficult to truly care for these characters as much as I do for Aurian, Anvar, and company, but would definitely recommend it to anyone who has read Artefacts of Power.
I find it difficult to truly care for these characters as much as I do for Aurian, Anvar, and company, but would definitely recommend it to anyone who has read Artefacts of Power.
January 16, 2015
This is one of my all time favorite books! It can be a little confusing at first(there are so many characters and sub plots) but once you really get into it, you won't be able to put it down. Filled with magic, mystery and a touch of romance, it leaves you constantly wanting more!
May 5, 2015
Meer van Maggie Furey gelezen, maar deze viel wat tegen, wellicht omdat ik niet al te veel sympathie had voor de hoofdpersonen.
Zeker het einde was wat teleurstellend, soort Lord of the Rings groepje dat op jacht ging naar een bijzondere steen.
Zeker het einde was wat teleurstellend, soort Lord of the Rings groepje dat op jacht ging naar een bijzondere steen.
October 30, 2013
A solid three and a half stars.
August 6, 2015
I loved it, thats enough :)
June 14, 2016
This author never lets me down.
Holds your interest from start to finish.
Loved it
Holds your interest from start to finish.
Loved it
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews