9.4.2024 | Wednesday

Gryphon in Light

Item: Gryphon in Light
Rating: 5
Author: Kim

category: Book Reviews
tag(s): adult
0 Comments

title: Gryphon in Light
author: Mercedes Lackey, Larry Dixon
series: Kelvren's Saga #1
published: 7.25.2023 | Tuesday
publisher: DAW
genre(s): fantasy
pages: 410
source: bought
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | BookHype | StoryGraph | Goodreads

rating:

| series rating:

the blurb

Set in the beloved and New York Times world of Valdemar, this first book in a new trilogy returns to the tales of the majestic gryphons.
On the border between Valdemar and the deadly Pelagirs Forest, the gryphon hero Kelvren returns from a near-fatal self-sacrifice that won him the approval of Valdemar's ground troops, but caused a diplomatic crisis. Frustrated by his lack of a hero's welcome, Kelvren is talked into helping with an expedition by his old friend, Firesong.
Firesong struggles with his own age and mortality, and he intends to solve a vast mystery at the center of legendary Lake Evendim as his crowning achievement. Just getting the multicultural fleet underway is a challenge, but what awaits them is a situation none of them could expect.
Set in the beloved fantasy realm of Valdemar, Gryphon in Light is adventurous epic fantasy at its best.

a few notes
review

POV: 3rd person
keywords/phrases: sacrifice, honor, mortality
tropes: hero’s journey, medieval adjacent, magical creatures, high stakes
spice: 0🔥
language: 0🤬

read this if… high fantasy with complex world-building and intricate storylines.

Gryphon in Light is the perfect beginning to another trilogy set in within beloved Valdemar saga. The cast of characters include many favorites from other books/series within the saga. Even with these familiar faces, there was a lot of character development, giving rise to new facets.

The book centers on Kelvren, a gryphon who makes a huge sacrifice for those he cares about. When he finally returns to his home, after having been presumed gone, his welcome is far from what he’d expected. As time goes on, he realizes just how much in his world has changed, and that his life will never be the same again. Worse, there is no one who truly knows how to help him. While often bittersweet, the story is also deeply beautiful in its emotion.

A note… this is not the series to use as entry into the Valdemar saga. There are characters from at least two other trilogies, and storylines that stretch back to the very beginning of the world’s chronology.

About Mercedes Lackey

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.

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