The Lon Tobyn Chronicle®, written by David B. Coe and published by TOR® Fantasy, is a trilogy that will definitely hold the readers attention. Full of magic and wonder, this is an easy, entertaining read for adults and a great entertaining read for adoloscents.
- Children of Amarid®, 1997
- The Outlanders®, 1998
- Eagle Sage®, 2000
A thousand years ago, Amarid and Theron (seperately) made a wonderous discovery. They had found crystals, called cerylls, which would allow them to bind with a Hawk and to master powers thought to be sorcerous. Exiled from their homes, the young men became friends. Seeking out the sick and injured they began to build a reputation as helpers, protectors and healers. In time they discovered others, who like themselves, had bound with a Hawk and mastered the mage powers. Thus the Order was founded.
Theron and Amarid disagreed on one point, however. Theron felt that the people should show their appreciation of the mages with riches and power. Amarid disagreed, feeling the powers to be a gift from the goddess. He felt the Order should help and ask nothing in return. As time went on and many of the mages settled into specific areas, taking responsiblities for the villages around them, Theron became embittered. Many of the mages were looking to Amarid as leader of the Order. Theron felt he should be the one shaping the Order and all it stood for.
During this time Theron's hawk died. He spent a time unbonded. When he next was seen, he had bound to an Owl to become the first known Owl-Mage. In a jealous rage, Theron used his power to compel a man to commit suicide. His crime was so unspeakable, the mages did not know how to deal with Theron. When it was pronounced that he would be executed at dawn, Theron raised his staff and proclaimed, "From this night on, those in this Order who perish unbound will never rest!" (quoted from page 59, Children of Amarid®). He then pointed his staff at his owl and killed her. An act which also destroyed his ceryll. In the morning the mages found Theron dead in his cell. From that day forward, any mage who died while unbound became Unsettled. Known as Theron's Curse, the spirits of the Unsettled would return to the place of their first binding.
The series chronicles the experiences of mages as they struggle to maintain the reputation they have held for almost a thousand years. The Order has always vowed to protect the land and it's people. Suddenly, there are rumors that mages are destroying villages and slaughtering the inhabitants. The Children of Amarid must find the rebel mages and stop the destruction before irrepairable damage is done to the people, the countryside, and thier reputation.
To compound the problem, there is rumor that the rogue mage, Theron, has managed to reach beyond the grave and is somehow responsible for the havoc. The Order must discover how this could be, and if so, how Theron could have aligned with Tobyn-Ser's sister land of Lon-Ser.