Owlknight (Mercedes Lackey)

From fantasy legends Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon comes the third and final volume in a powerful saga charged with war and magic, life and love...

Six years have passed since Darian's fateful flight into the forest (Owlflight). The once-troubled youth has grown into a mature, responsible adult. Now a Master Healing Mage, he is the head of a new community—the Vale of k'Valdemar, located near Darian's home village of Errold's Grove—which houses a diplomatic council comprised of Hawkbrothers, Valdemarans, and representatives of the more peaceful barbarian clans of the north.

Darian is haunted by the pain of not knowing what happened to his parents—not even knowing if they are alive or dead. As a Master Mage, his skill is finally sufficient to try to resolve this mystery. And when clues lead Darian to hope that his parents may indeed be alive, he mounts a small search party to try to locate them. But the trail leads deep into little-known territory, rife with hostile barbarian tribes. And though Darian is desperate to know what became of his parents, he can't be certain that they are alive or totally confident that he can find them. Is it worth risking his life and the lives of his companions to chase what could be a dream?

New lands and familiar characters

The third and final book in the Owl Mage trilogy takes us into uncharted territory—literally—as Darian, Keisha, and several of their friends head into the lands north of Valdemar to search for Darian’s parents. First, though, there are a number of tests and ceremonies for Darian to undergo.

Gone are the pacing problems of Owlsight. Even before the search party leaves, there is plenty going on, from Darian’s Mastery trial to the arrival of a permanently-assigned Herald and the festivities surrounding his appointment to the region. These take up at least the first half of the book. Following that, Darian’s search for traces of his parents turns up evidence that they may not have died, and the pace picks up even more.

Lackey doesn’t neglect character development in this book. Darian and Keisha both grow and mature, and we also see development in Shandi (Keisha’s sister, now a full Herald) and even Hywel, a young warrior from Ghost Cat who accompanies them as guide. ETA (7/30/2024): Kelvren, Darian’s gryphon friend, also plays a substantial role in Darian’s quest to find his parents, though his character arc in this novel is less one of growth and more along the lines of refining who he already is. 

But it’s the lands and people to the north that fascinate me the most. Lackey bases them on the Pacific Northwest and its indigenous peoples, from their social structures to their art. (This has been evident since Owlsight, the middle book in the trilogy, given what we learn of Ghost Cat tribe in that book.) “Borrowing” elements from other cultures is hardly new for Lackey; I think the Tayledras or Hawkbrothers are based at least in part on Algonquian peoples, while their Shin’a’in cousins to the south are loosely based on nomadic horse-loving tribes of the Eurasian steppes, particularly Mongolia. But Lackey’s borrowing (or appropriation?) of Pacific Northwest indigenous art and cultural traditions is a bit more blatant. Nonetheless, it works here, and Lackey manages to avoid characterizing her fictitious northern tribes as either “noble savages” or “ignorant barbarians” (although not all the characters in the book do the same, which adds realism.) Nor does she idealize the northern tribes, portraying both the strengths and drawbacks of their cultures, and giving us glimpses of tribal differences—and more than a glimpse of intertribal conflicts.

Exploring other cultures is one of the aspects I really love about SF/F, so I always enjoy this chance to visit a part of Velgarth that we haven’t experienced before. On the other hand, every time I re-read Owlknight, I’m sorry to reach the end of Darian’s story. I’ve become rather fond of him and of Keisha, but they have both fully come into their own by the end of this book, and that’s where Lackey usually leaves her characters. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see Darian and Keisha appear as minor characters in a future book someday, I’m not holding my breath. Lackey has spent the last six years delving into Valdemar’s past, and I don’t think she’s ready to return to Valdemar’s future until she finishes the Herald Spy series.

Edited to add (7/30/2024): Following the Herald Spy books, including the trio of books about Mag’s children, Ms. Lackey and Mr. Dixon, her partner and frequent cowriter, went even further into Valdemar’s past with the Founding of Valdemar trilogy, but they also returned to the post-Owlknight “present” with 2023’s Gryphon in Light, the first in a proposed trilogy featuring Kelvren, the gryphon who figures heavily in all three Owl Mage books.

Reread in July 2024 for the COYER Unwind (2024) Chapter 3 reading challenge. I made a few tweaks to this review, and added a sentence or two, but I’m generally happy with what I originally wrote, and see little need to change it.  

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• COYER Unwind (2024) – Chapter 3

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