From Publishers Weekly
Aimed at a YA audience, Rabe’s fun, galloping romp of a story launches a new fantasy series. In the magical land of Paard-Peran, the horse-like members of the Finest Court, the favorites of the gods of creation, look after the "Fallen Favorites," those few humans deemed worthy of their attention. Kalantha and her brother, Meven, are wards of Bishop DeNogaret, a high-ranking priest who’s been caring for them since their parents’ death. The teenage pair are of royal blood, though they’ve been brought up as commoners who have no contact with their uncle the king. Now that their cousin, the heir, is marrying, they are invited to the wedding. Traveling with them on their first-ever long journey is a Finest Court shepherd, who helps the two very green youths through some harrowing trials and teaches them to follow their instincts to survive. While the plot at times stumbles into improbability, Rabe (Redemption and other titles in the Dragonlance series) deftly puts some beguiling twists on the guardian-angel theme. The rearing steed on the jacket will signal young horse lovers that this is a book for them.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Ages earlier, the Creators had discovered that humanity wasn't perfect. So they established the Finest Court, a race of moral, sentient horses that names shepherds to secretly guide and guard the Fallen Favorites. Young Gallant-Stallion has just been appointed a shepherd, but before he learns who his charge is to be, his mentor dies in the violent massacre of the prince's wedding party. Gallant-Stallion manages to escape, carrying 13-year-old Meven and Meven's younger sister, Kalantha. The death of the prince means that Meven, whom Gallant-Stallion now believes is his charge, is the new prince, and the fate of the land lies with Meven because the king is mortally ill. Since Gallant-Stallion and his sudden charges know that the assassins, directed by an evil avian mastermind, are tracking them, the three youngsters hide out in the mountains for more than a year. Rabe's unusual, multilayered story is a fantasy thriller filled with twists, surprises, and truly evil, Machiavellian characters and also a richly depicted coming-of-age tale as the two young, well-characterized humans and the young stallion struggle to stay alive. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
They were the Finest Creations - mystically forged creatures of perfection sent by the creators to aid the Fallen (mankind) during their mortal existence.
Though they resemble ordinary horses they are highly intelligent, capable of communicating telepathically and completely moral. They are assigned to bond with individuals of great potential and then protect them from harm while guiding them along a path of virtue.
This is as it has been for years unto creation ... but when a young Finest is separated from its mentor before it has been invested with its assignment, the result of an ambush by evil forces bent on corrupting men, the young equine accepts the charge of two orphans to its care not realizing that man's potential may rest in their future.... And that the path forward is already being diverted by an evil mastermind whose manipulation of court politics and affairs of state might instigate a new dark age upon the light of civilization.
The Finest Series combines elements of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series with C.S.Lewis's Narnia for an inspiring tale of mystical intrigue and the crucible of morality for mankind.
About the Author
Jean Rabe lives in Kenosha, WI. A former journalist, she has written numerous bestselling novels for TSR/WOTC in their Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and Dungeons & Dragons worlds. She has also sold stories to numerous anthologies. This is her first non TSR/WOTC novel.
Finest Creation, Vol. 1 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"They were the finest creations - mystically forged creatures of perfection sent by the creators to aid the Fallen (mankind) during their mortal existence." "Though they resemble ordinary horses, they are highly intelligent, capable of communicating telepathically, and completely moral. They are assigned to bond with individuals of great potential and then protect them from harm while guiding them along a path of virtue." This is as it has been for years unto creation...but when a young Finest is separated from its mentor before it has been invested with its assignment, the result of an ambush by evil forces bent on corrupting men, the young equine accepts the charge of two orphans into its care, not realizing that man's potential may rest in their future....And that the path forward is already being diverted by an evil mastermind whose manipulation of court politics and affairs of state might instigate a new dark age upon the light of civilization.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Aimed at a YA audience, Rabe's fun, galloping romp of a story launches a new fantasy series. In the magical land of Paard-Peran, the horse-like members of the Finest Court, the favorites of the gods of creation, look after the "Fallen Favorites," those few humans deemed worthy of their attention. Kalantha and her brother, Meven, are wards of Bishop DeNogaret, a high-ranking priest who's been caring for them since their parents' death. The teenage pair are of royal blood, though they've been brought up as commoners who have no contact with their uncle the king. Now that their cousin, the heir, is marrying, they are invited to the wedding. Traveling with them on their first-ever long journey is a Finest Court shepherd, who helps the two very green youths through some harrowing trials and teaches them to follow their instincts to survive. While the plot at times stumbles into improbability, Rabe (Redemption and other titles in the Dragonlance series) deftly puts some beguiling twists on the guardian-angel theme. The rearing steed on the jacket will signal young horse lovers that this is a book for them. Agent, Frank Weimann at the Literary Group International. (Nov. 1) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
The gods of Paard-Peran created "the Finest," beings that resemble horses but are gifted with intelligence and magic, to shepherd select humans whose destinies were tied to the fate of the world. When a young Finest, named Gallant Stallion, loses his teacher before he learns the identity of his chosen human, he decides to protect a pair of royal children in their perilous flight from inhuman assassins. The author of several novels set in Wizards of the Coast's "Forgotten Realms" setting has created her own world and populated it with vibrant characters both human and animal. This coming-of-age tale, the first of a series, should appeal to adult and YA fantasy fans. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Art & Photography
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