The Phoenix Unchained (Enduring Flame, Book 1)

I loved the first series (The Obsidian Trilogy) and this looks to carry on it's legacy of high fantasy, readability and excitement. I highly recommend it if you liked the Obsidian Trilogy, it carries on it's tradition but is definitely a new series with new adventures and excitement.

Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory have produced another winning book with The Phoenix Unchained. This new trilogy picks up in the same world as the Obsidian Trilogy that was written by the same pair, only now it's 1008 years later in that world. A lot has changed, myths have grown old, and the Endarkened (demons) are coming back into the world. This is the first book in this second trilogy set in this pair of writers fantasy world and what a great job they've done!

Great book, can't wait for the next book in the series to come out. It really leaves you hanging. Follows the original series, but can be read standing alone.

Their fates seem clear. Tiercel (Tyr) Rolfort will become a clerk and noble for the city of Armethalia. Harrier Gillain, Tyr's best friend will become harbor-master for the city. Oddly, neither particularly desires those ordained futures. Still, when Tyr experiments with long-forgotten High-Mage magic--and it works--they aren't especially happy that they don't get to pursue their set future. Because High-Magic, Warrior-Magic means that the Dark, long believed eliminated forever, is back. And if Tyr doesn't find training in High-Magic quickly, he'll die. A thousand years before, the Dark had been defeated and the endarkened eradicated. But now a Wild Mage senses a problem in the balance--a problem that can only be rectified by bringing back darkness. That dark is never satisfied with balance doesn't seem to bother him--and his dragon gives him the power to do what no one had thought possible. Tyr and Harrier set out from Armethalia in search of a wild mage who can help Tyr learn what has happened to him and begin his training. As they travel, they learn that all is not well in the world. Bandits are willing to attack closer to the city than they have in generations. Dark creatures, long thought exterminated, are spreading, attacking small towns and individual travelers. Wolves are attacking armed men. Tyr is also attacked by magic--and manages to set an inn on fire avoiding the attack. What they don't find is an easy answer. Nobody, not Tyr's parents, not the priests of the Light, not the Wild Mages, not even the Elves can tell Tyr how to solve his problems. He's got to learn himself. Except, learning isn't easy when a small mistake could set a city on fire. Authors Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory move forward a thousand years from the story they told in The Obsidian Trilogy novels. But the key elements remain--the sense of magic, that prices must be paid, that balance is essential, and that even the young and inexperienced may become important. THE PHOENIX UNCHAINED is the opening book in a series and leaves the characters at the beginning of the real conflict. I'm intrigued enough to be looking forward to the next volume. I didn't have the problem I had with the books in The Obsidian Trilogy (the genocidal attacks on the shadowed elves), although I thought that the resolution to Harrier's personal issues might have been set up a bit more. THE PHOENIX UNCHAINED may not change the world, but it's enjoyable fantasy. Good stuff.

When the Flowering War ended, the Darkness was defeated and the land has known a millennium of peace. The elves and the rest of the other folk isolated themselves in the Northern lands. The humans multiplied along with the brownie, fauns, and centaurs, who stayed with them. Tiercel Rolfort reads a book of magic and suddenly can light fires using High Magic that he can learn unlike Wild Magic which people are blessed with instinctively knowing how to use. There is nobody to teach Tiercel magic as Wild Magic is found only in times of need. Tiercel needs a wild mage because he is kept up nights dreaming about a demonic woman, fire and another entity. They are something evil and Tiercel finally realizes that he is seeing the future and he must journey to where this woman is. First though, he and his friend Harrier journey to find a Wild Mage hoping that one knows how to stop the visions from returning. The journey takes them into the land of the elves where both learn what fate has in store for them. Set in the same world as the Obsidian trilogy, THE PHOENIX UNCHAINED is book one of the Enduring Flame saga and is a fantastic spellbinding epic fantasy. The heroes Tiercel and Harrier need each other as close friends will during a crisis; the latter especially watches out for the former who gets them in trouble. Their repartee and quips add a touch of humor to a very enchanting quest tale. Harriet Klausner