From Publishers Weekly
In the captivating world conjured by veteran Lackey (Exile's Honor) and classical scholar Mallory (Merlin: The Old Magic) in this first of a high fantasy trilogy, there are three types of magic, each of which has its own rules, limits and variables. But it is the Wild Magic-anathema to Armethalieh, "the Golden City of the Bells," and considered by its residents to be heresy and truly evil-that has the most unusual aspects, for its practitioners must bargain for what they need and pay an often high price for power. Kellen Tavadon, son of Arch-Mage Lycaelon of Armethalieh, has been raised (indoctrinated, actually) to believe that High Magick is the only true magic and that his father and the Council of Mages have the final word. But Kellen isn't so sure. He's always been a bit suspicious of the council's tight control over the city. One day, while playing hooky from his lessons in magery, Kellen finds a set of books about Wild Magic. He knows he shouldn't touch them. To open the books and read them is to court a death sentence, no matter if your father is the Arch-Mage. But Kellen can't resist. And thus, after a bit of a slow start, Kellen sets down a road he never expected to take, on a journey of dire importance to both humans and nonhumans (the latter including elves, unicorns and other enchanting creatures). The narrative speeds to the end, avoiding a jarring halt while leaving the reader satisfied and wanting to know more. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Bored to tears with the predictability of his life, Kellen has only more of the same to look forward to. As the son of the City's ruling archmage, he is high born and mage trained, intended one day to take his place in the City's governing body of magicians, who protect and shepherd its citizens by means of the very structured, closely held secrets of High Magick. Things change drastically for Kellen, though, when he discovers three volumes of forbidden magic in a used-book stall. Forbidden equals old, equals wild, magic, you see, and once Kellen realizes there is a world full of wonders, diversity, and people who think and live differently, he cannot return to the oppressive sameness of City life. When he refuses to give up the books, his father banishes him forever from the City and to a horrific death prearranged by the mages. The Wild Magic has another agenda for him, however, involving an acerbic unicorn and a woman--heavens!--to learn the Wild (but not sex) Magic from. Delightful. Paula Luedtke
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training-all men, for women were unfit to practice magic-memorized the intricate details of High Magic and aspired to seats on the council.

Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic-or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City's isolating walls. Their Magic was not dead, strangled by rules and regulations. It felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it.

Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City's dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic-and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side.

Kellen's life changes almost faster than he can understand or accept. Rescued by a unicorn, healed by a female Wild Mage who knows more about Kellen than anyone outside the City should, meeting Elven royalty and Elven warriors, and plunged into a world where the magical beings he has learned about as abstract concepts are flesh and blood creatures-Kellen both revels in and fears his new freedom.

Especially once he learns about Demons. He'd always thought they were another abstract concept-a stand-in for ultimate evil. But if centaurs and dryads are real, then Demons surely are as well. And the one thing all the Mages of the City agreed on was that practicing Wild Magic corrupted a Mage. Turned him into a Demon. Would that be Kellen's fate?

Deep in Obsidian Mountain, the Demons are waiting. Since their defeat in the last great War, they've been biding their time, sowing the seeds of distrust and discontent between their human and Elven enemies. Very soon now, when the Demons rise to make war, there will be no alliance between High and Wild Magic to stand against them. And all the world will belong to the Endarkened.



From the Inside Flap
The Books of Wild Magic

There were three of them, at the bottom of a pile of ledgers, very slender volumes bound in some fine-grained, dark leather, with just a touch of gilt on the spine. Kellen found himself turning them over in his hands with some puzzlement. There was nothing on the spine of each but a single image-a sun, a crescent moon, and a star. Nothing on the cover, not even a bit of tooling, and the covers themselves were in pristine condition.

Odd. Definitely out of keeping with the rest of the used bookseller's wares.

He opened the front covers. The title pages were handwritten, not printed. The Book of Sun. The Book of Moon. The Book of Stars. He leafed through the pages, trying to puzzle out the tiny writing. The contents were handwritten as well . . . and seemingly dealt with magic.

They shouldn't be here at all! Kellen thought with a sudden surge of glee. Books on magic were very closely kept, with Students returning their workbooks to their Tutors as they outgrew them. And these weren't any of the recognized Student books, or anything like them, as far as Kellen could tell.

Without bothering to look through them further, he put them on the top of his pile and caught the stallholder's eye.

"Got younger sibs at home, do you?" the man asked as he wrote up a bill of sale with the merest stub of a graphite rod.

"No," said Kellen, startled. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, children's stories.... The man gestured at the three books. He handed Kellen his receipt.
Kellen studied it in confusion. There were his Histories, but what was this? Tales of the Weald, Fables of Farm and Field, and Hearth-side Stories?

There was something very odd about those books.
--from The Outstretched Shadow



About the Author
James Mallory is the co-author, with Mercedes Lackey, of the Obsidian Trilogy, which begins with The Outstretched Shadow. Mallory's other novels include Merlin: The Old Magic, Merlin: The King's Wizard, and Merlin: The End of Magic. A classical scholar, he lives in upstate New York.

Mercedes Lackey began writing fiction while working for American Airlines. In addition to her many novels, she has written lyrics for and recorded several albums of fiction folk songs, which have been distributed through Firebird Arts & Music. Lackey's longest-running series, beginning with Arrows of the Queen, details the adventures of the Heralds of Valdemar. Lackey's other series include Bardic Voices; the Elementals; the Halfblood Chronicles (first volume: The Elvenbane); Elves on the Road, which includes Tor's Burning Water and its sequels; and the Obsidian Trilogy, also published by Tor, which begins with The Outstretched Shadow.

Lackey often teams up with both her fellow masters of fantasy, such as Andre Norton and Anne McCaffrey, and talented newer writers Rosemary Edghill. Married to artist and sometime co-author Larry Dixon, Lackey, who was born in Chicago, lives near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The Outstretched Shadow, the first installment in a high-fantasy trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, takes place in a magic-powered realm where humanity is centered in and around the Golden City of Armethalieh, a sprawling metropolis ruled by an omnipotent -- and self-absorbed -- council of Mages.

Kellen is the 17-year-old son of the Arch-Mage of the council. All throughout his life, he has been taught that High Magic (magic created by the Mages) is the only true magic. Wild Magic -- a more natural, unpredictable form -- is evil, according to the council. But when Kellen stumbles across some highly illegal books about Wild Magic, his curiosity gets the better of him and he begins reading. When his father finds the books, he does more than ground young Kellen -- he banishes him from the city and sends stone golems out to hunt him down and kill him!

Fans of Lackey's Valdemar novels (Take a Thief, Exile's Honor, etc.) will undoubtedly enjoy this new, darker world where magic comes in many forms and can be used by virtually anyone -- if they're willing to pay the price. The Outstretched Shadow is first-class quest fantasy, and although the novel is a shelf-bending 600-plus pages, the story is surprisingly fast-paced. It's one of those books that, once opened, is nearly impossible to put down. A word of warning, though: Being the first book in a trilogy, this is just the beginning of a much larger story; and although the conclusion is satisfying, many questions are left unanswered. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training - all men, for women were unfit to practice magic - memorized the intricate details of High Magick and aspired to seats on the council." "Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic - or did they find him? The three slim volumes woke Kellen to the wide world outside the City's isolating walls. This Magic was not dead, strangled by rules and regulations. It felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it." "Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City's dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic - and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side." "Kellen's life changes almost faster than he can understand or accept. Rescued by a unicorn, healed by a female Wild Mage who knows more about Kellen than anyone outside the City should, meeting Elven royalty and Elven warriors, and plunged into a world where the magical beings he has learned about as abstract concepts are flesh-and-blood creatures...Kellen both revels in and fears his new freedom." "Especially once he learns about Demons. He'd always thought they were another abstract concept - a stand-in for ultimate evil. But if centaurs and dryads are real, then Demons surely are as well. And the one thing all the Mages of the City agreed on was that practicing Wild Magic corrupted a Mage. Turned him into a Demon. Would that be Kellen's fate?" Deep in Obsidian Mountain, the Demons are waiting. Since their defeat in the last great war, they've been biding their time, sowing the seeds of distrust and discontent between their human and Elven enemies. Very soon now, when the Demons rise to make war, there will be no alliance between

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In the captivating world conjured by veteran Lackey (Exile's Honor) and classical scholar Mallory (Merlin: The Old Magic) in this first of a high fantasy trilogy, there are three types of magic, each of which has its own rules, limits and variables. But it is the Wild Magic-anathema to Armethalieh, "the Golden City of the Bells," and considered by its residents to be heresy and truly evil-that has the most unusual aspects, for its practitioners must bargain for what they need and pay an often high price for power. Kellen Tavadon, son of Arch-Mage Lycaelon of Armethalieh, has been raised (indoctrinated, actually) to believe that High Magick is the only true magic and that his father and the Council of Mages have the final word. But Kellen isn't so sure. He's always been a bit suspicious of the council's tight control over the city. One day, while playing hooky from his lessons in magery, Kellen finds a set of books about Wild Magic. He knows he shouldn't touch them. To open the books and read them is to court a death sentence, no matter if your father is the Arch-Mage. But Kellen can't resist. And thus, after a bit of a slow start, Kellen sets down a road he never expected to take, on a journey of dire importance to both humans and nonhumans (the latter including elves, unicorns and other enchanting creatures). The narrative speeds to the end, avoiding a jarring halt while leaving the reader satisfied and wanting to know more. (Oct. 22) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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