Mercedes Lackey

In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can't carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale....
Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella—until fate took that future away from her, and she set out to make a new life for herself. But breaking with "The Tradition" that guides the kingdoms comes with a cost—one that could leave her powerless and destitute. Until, that is, her fairy godmother intervenes...

The sequel to Storm Warning follows the efforts of the kingdoms of Valdemar and Karse--ancient enemies held together in an uneasy alliance--to find the source of the mysterious mage-storms before they destroy the world. In Storm Rising, mysterious mage-storms are wreaking havoc on Valdemar, Karse, and all the kingdoms of the West, plaguing these lands not only with disastrous earthquakes, monsoons, and ice storms, but also with venomous magical constructs...

In the conclusion to the Mage Storms trilogy, the sequel to the Mage Winds trilogy, the desperate allies of the besieged kingdom of Valdemar sort through the ruins of the ancient stronghold of the legendary wizard, Urtho. As Storm Breaking opens, the western allies, led by Karal, Karsite Sunpriest and delegate to the Valdemaran Court, and the Adepts Firesong and An'desha, have traveled deep into the Dorisha Plains to locate the ancient ruins of the...

In The Outstretched Shadow, which was named by VOYA as Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror book for 2003, Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory introduced readers to a complex new fantasy world populated by humans, centaurs, elves, talking unicorns, and demons. The Golden City of the Bells, where only humans live, is ruled by the Mage Council, practitioners of High Magic---a powerful magic that is stable and reliable, though rigidly controlled and...

In an alternate 1910 London, a struggling dancer takes the advice of a telepathic cat and achieves success after stealing a Russian ballerina's identity, unaware that an evil troll has taken over the real ballerina's body, drinking the life essences of her patrons, and will target the young impersonator next.

High Magic had been lost to Valdemar centuries ago when the last Herald-Mage gave his life to save the kingdom from destruction by dark sorceries. Yet now the realm is at risk again. And Elsperth, Herald and heir to the throne, must take up the challenge, abandoning her home to find a mentor who can awaken her untrained mage ablities.

A fantastic odyssey into the magical prehistory of the world of Valdemar--when Valdemar is as yet unformed--follows the perilous quest of the gryphon Skandranon Rashkae as he braves the dark spells and evil forces of Ma'ar.