English language
Published May 5, 2012 by Baen Books, Distributed by Simon & Schuster.
War maid's choice
by David Weber
4 stars
(1 review)
The Dark Gods' conquest of the continent of Norfressa will give them control of an entire universe.
The wizard lords of Kontovar have spent 1,200 years preparing to give them that conquest, and the odds are heavily in their favor. There are still a few problems standing in the way of an orderly occupation, though. Problems like the Order of Tomanāk, led by Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer Hradani and the other champions of the war god. Problems like Prince Bahnak Karathson's unification of the barbarian hradani into Norfressa's newest kingdom. Problems like the fact that the hradani's traditionally bitter and genocidal enemies, the horse-breeding Sothōii, are actually feeling their way towards an alliance with Prince Bahnak. Or like the newly emerged phenomena of the psionically gifted magi and the uppity, independent-minded war maids of the Sothōii.
It's all very frustrating for Phrobus, ruler of the Dark Gods, and …
The Dark Gods' conquest of the continent of Norfressa will give them control of an entire universe.
The wizard lords of Kontovar have spent 1,200 years preparing to give them that conquest, and the odds are heavily in their favor. There are still a few problems standing in the way of an orderly occupation, though. Problems like the Order of Tomanāk, led by Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer Hradani and the other champions of the war god. Problems like Prince Bahnak Karathson's unification of the barbarian hradani into Norfressa's newest kingdom. Problems like the fact that the hradani's traditionally bitter and genocidal enemies, the horse-breeding Sothōii, are actually feeling their way towards an alliance with Prince Bahnak. Or like the newly emerged phenomena of the psionically gifted magi and the uppity, independent-minded war maids of the Sothōii.
It's all very frustrating for Phrobus, ruler of the Dark Gods, and his children. They've tried - and failed - three times now to eliminate Bahzell and those around him, for they recognize that in all the manifold possible destinies of Norfressa, those are the opponents most likely to defeat them. Now it's time for them to try again... And succeed.
This time they've brought in champions of their own, more powerful than any champion of Tomanāk, to crush Bahzell, and Carnadosa's wizards have suborned one of the most powerful nobles of the Sothōii to prevent any hradani alliance by reducing the entire Sothōii kingdom to interminable civil war and bloodshed. Even the reboubtable Bahzell Bahnakson will find himself unable to deal with this threat without lots of help. But fortunately for him, even deities can overlook the odd detail or two.
In this case, the details are a young war maid named Leeana Hanathafressa and a one-eyed courser mare named Gayrfressa. They may be the only two individuals in all of Norfressa who are even less concerned with conventional behavior - and even more stubborn - than Bahzell Bahnakson, and they're squarely in the Dark's way.
They may not be able to stop it, either, but they've chosen to try... and they're perfectly willing to die trying if that's what it takes.
