The Oathbound (Vows and Honor, Book 1)

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-05-07

Mercedes Lackey at her best, love the adventure, strong, smart, and magic women.

The Oathbound.......2006-06-03

This is a nice twist of theme and character. While still holding true to the Valdamaran feel it brings you on a whole new avanew of intrigue and captivates you all over again. This is a very enjoyable story.

3 stars - it was okay.......2005-09-09

I find myself agreeing with a lot of the complaints that have been raised by other reviewers: episodic (a couple of the chapters can be found in "Oathblood", the short story collection, as short stories that were later incorporated into the book), lacking in unity, vague in important details etc.. But overall, the story was interesting, the characters very engaging and likeable, and it had moments that I really liked. Younger readers interested in this book and the one that follows it should know that the plots contain some disturbing situations, including a demon that sets up a religion to use and abuse women, and numerous murders and rapes. That is the main reason for my 3 star rating, but in general, I'm glad to have picked up this book. Don't miss the sequel, I think it's better than "Oathbound".

Characters You Can Love........2004-11-25

I love the main characters in this novel. They compliment each other yet they are so different. This was one of the easiest Valdemar novels to read. Potentionally one of the best novels in the series. This set is different than many of the other novels in the Valdemar series.

Four instead of five. . ........2004-08-13

because Misty does not make it clear that this is less a novel than a series of interconnected short stories. Hence, a reader expecting a novel would find it a bit choppy; there is much repeated exposition. I wish she could have included "Sword-Sworn", the story that tells how they got together, but I understand that there were legalities which prevented that. (It had been published in another anthology and the rights couldn't/wouldn't be released.)

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Love it!
Tries a bit too hard....
Actually, four and a half stars
"Oathblood" delivers what it promises
It was okay

Oathblood (Vows and Honor, Book 3)
Mercedes Lackey
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0886777739

Customer Reviews:

Love it!.......2007-05-07

Mercedes Lackey at her best, love the adventure, strong, smart, and magic women.

Tries a bit too hard...........2007-03-08

.... and I may be mixing up my Tarma/Kethry books, but isn't this the one that contains a story about a child training a horse, BLATANTLY (and rather poorly) ripping off Monty Roberts & similar famous trainers? That story annoyed me so much!! Gah. It was like she took a transcript of one of their clinics & changed the names.

Actually, four and a half stars.......2003-06-16

"Oathblood" is a very good short story collection.

Some previous reviewers have been rather upset that two of the short stories were put into the original "Oathbound" book. I'm not; I figured that Ms. Lackey needed to put all her short stories in one place, as they were originally published, for two reasons.

One, it helps fans get all the stories in one place.

Two, it helps to understand Tarma and Kethry chronologically if you're buying one of Ms. Lackey's books for the first time. Not everyone who picked this book up had read anything about Tarma or Kethry before; Ms. Lackey basically had to do this.

Although I have nothing wrong with the "commercial" instinct some folks seem to be decrying, I really don't think that's what this was about. (More than any other writer wanting to make a living, that is. And really, what's wrong with that?)

Tarma is a super warrior with a twist; she's a Swordsworn votary of the Shin'a'in goddess, and as such, is "as neutral (sexually) as the blade she bears." (Hope that isn't too bad a paraphrase.) She likes men personally, but has no interest or desire in them, and likes it that way due to a personal tragedy in her past. (Plus, the Shin'a'in goddess takes people as her votaries for various reasons; they're all turned effectively neuter -- the Swordsworn, that is, not others -- so it's just as well Tarma had no real intention to marry after all that anyway. She can't miss what she doesn't want.)

Kethry, on the other hand, is very beautiful, intelligent, spirited, and a strong magic user. As Tarma's partner, originally you'd think they'd never get on. But they do, and quite famously in every respect.

These stories show how their relationship started, how it developed, and the last two stories show Kethry's family (sworn to help Tarma rebuild her lost clan of Tale'sedrin) and how they interact.

I really enjoyed the last two stories. The one about Forst Reach and it's horses (and horsetalking) was very, very funny, and it featured the welcome return of Beaker and Jodi (now paired off) from "Oathbreakers." The very last story featured Jadrie, Kethry's firstborn daughter, and how she helped her mama and Tarma save her two best female friends.

Very uplifting story; very powerful in its own quiet way, and some of the best recent writing Ms. Lackey's done in the Valdemar and related seria since 1996. ("Exile's Honor" is also excellent. I'm really looking forward to "Exile's Valor.")

I'd give this book five stars except for two things: one, the other reviewer is correct that some of these stories were already available in "The Oathbound."

But it's the second that really gets to me, and it's not Ms. Lackey's fault. The second is this; why is the cover so odd? Kethry doesn't look old enough (even if magic does delay the onset of full maturity, she should look older than _this_, and actually, she looks quite the little ... on the cover, doesn't she?), and Tarma looks too beautiful for her characterization. And, more importantly, Tarma looks completely different than she did on the previous two books, "The Oathbound" and "Oathbreakers." (At least Kethry's face is the same. Tarma's isn't.)

What was up with _that_?

Oh, and who's brilliant idea was it to show Warrl not as a wolf-like creature, but as a Siberian husky?

That's the main reason this book doesn't get five stars, and like I said, it had nothing to do with Ms. Lackey. But, as it's a part of the book DAW put out, and I have no other way to complain about it, I'm doing so this way.

Anyway, if you come to this book cold (without reading any previous Tarma and Kethry books), you should be able to understand it. But if you've read the other Tarma and Kethry books, you'll enjoy it more, no question.

"Oathblood" delivers what it promises.......2003-04-21

When I picked up this book, I knew what it promised -- on the back cover it says that there is a new "short novel" and the collection of all of the Tarma and Kethry stories in one place. I was thrilled. I have been trying to read all of the Sword and Sorceress volumes, but I'm never sure if I've read them all, since most of them are out of print. I knew, as anyone who is familiar with this form of literature should be, that the "short novel" advertised would be a novella, or a long short story. Fine with me! I love short stories, and I frankly have preferred Tarma and Kethry in short story form to novel form. Even their novels read as a string of adventures, most of the time. And for those reviewers who said that some of the chapters were directly out of one of the previous novels? Well, I direct you to Sword and Sorceress, where they were originally published. This is a nice collection of short stories for those of us who are interested in the characters of Tarma and Kethry and would like to get all of their stories in one place.

It was okay.......2002-12-29

I was rather disappointed in this book. I bought it a couple of days after I had read the first book in the series, and thought it would be along the same lines, but I was disappointed to find out that it was just a collection of short stories.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-05-07

Mercedes Lackey at her best, love the adventure, strong, smart, and magic women.

Oathbreakers.......2006-06-03

If you enjoyed the Oathbound then you will be entranced by Oathbreakers. This was quite a wild ride lots of fun and a few new characters to get aquainted with. This is a real page turner and a great weekend read. When you open the book you are hooked from the start.

Great Book.......2005-07-21

This is a very good book and complements the whole story line. I was very impressed with the whole series about the mercs. It is a great addition to the whole Valdemar story line and gives a good look into where Kerowyn from the other books gets her moral code. I would recommend this book and The Oathbound to anyone, but the next book Oathblood was a disappointment due to it being a collection of short stories when I was expecting a continuation of this book. Over all you won't go wrong with any of the Valdemar series...

Mercedes Lackey.......2003-12-31

I have read Oath Bound, Oath Broken and By the Sword, I have one word to say for all three of these books FANTASTIC!! If you love Xena, Amazons, Warrior Women or just plain down right butt kicking you have got to own these books. I read my copies until the pages fell out.

Best of all her books.......2003-06-15

"Oathbreakers" is my favorite Mercedes Lackey book.

Here's why: in "Oathbreakers," Ms. Lackey put together a very appealing plotline with believable, complex characters, just enough humor to balance the action and violence, and a tiny bit of romance to leaven the mix.

Other reviewers have explained the plot; I don't want to do that again. I will say, however, that to me, the best parts of the book are the Tarma-Kethry friendship, the Warrl-Tarma friendship, the Warrl-Jadrek friendship, and the strong, romantic marriage of Stefansen of Rethwellan and his wife Mertis. (I hope I'm remembering her name right; I can picture the page where she's introduced -- something about a "frank, soft gaze" and brown eyes and a crisp, competent manner. But I'm really bad at remembering character names.)

In fact, although this book definitely is feminist (and well it should be, considering it's featuring a woman warrior and her fighting mage partner), I think the best part about it is how it shows real-life partnerships.

Marriage and family are valued commodities, here; not only do we have the Stefansen-Mertis pairing, there's the eventual Jadrek-Kethry pairing (which resurrects Tale'sedrin, as another reviewer so pithily said), the Sewan-Tresti union (Sewan is Lady Idra's second in command of the Sunhawks; Tresti is a Healing Priest of Shayana, because Shayana's devoteés make no difference between priest and priest_ess_), and Tarma's rapport with the children only adds to the "family values" theme.

Most people have missed this, because, once again, we're talking about a woman warrior, a _neuter_, a sworn votary of her goddess, and a woman fighting mage.

However, just because they are fighters, that doesn't mean they've forgotten what's important. Love matters; friendship matters; honor matters.

Those three things are what drives the very real people who populate "Oathbreakers," and it helps add a great deal of realism and depth.

Btw, some of what is shown here is very, very graphic; not so much the killing, but some of the aftermath of killing, along with a few other things. I definitely wouldn't recommend this book for someone under the age of 12 or so; even then, it'd have to be an awfully mature 12 year old to understand some of what's going on, and not just be repulsed by it.

To conclude: this is my favorite book of all of Mercedes Lackey's output, mainly because it has everything. It has a great plot, wonderful, believable characters (yet flawed and very human -- even if Warrl the neuter kyree would disagree with me), and a satisfying conclusion.

Book Description

This book is a comprehensive and unique guide on how to write ones own wedding vows. In the U.S. alone, there are over 2.4 million weddings every year- and no two will be exactly alike. Yet whatever the differences, the exchanging of vows is often the most anticipated and memorable moment in the ceremony. Personalizing ones wedding vows is a growing trend in North America, and Wedding Vows makes it easy!

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Love, Honor, and Obey: Broken Vows
Yolanda, Atkins Cotton
Manufacturer: Wheatmark
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1587366282

Book Description

Most people consider marriage to be sacred. When they speak their wedding vows, they believe those vows will never be broken. Then why are so many marriages falling apart?

Yolanda Atkins Cotton laid that question on God's altar when her own marriage was in trouble. The answer that came back to her was this: until we as one receive Jesus as our husbandman, as our sacred friend, and as our sacred lover, we will never be able to walk in unity with one another as a whole.

In Love, Honor, and Obey: Broken Vows, Yolanda speaks frankly about what she has learned from her marital difficulties and her conversations with God. Her messageâthat it is possible to forgive one another's transgressions if you remain faithful to the Lordâwill inspire any Christians who are committed to making their marriages work.

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The Oathbound: Vows and Honor, Book I

Manufacturer: Daw Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GTDXGI

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Vows and Honor Series: Oathbound; Oathbreakers; Oathblood

Manufacturer: DAW Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000I643P4

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Vows Series (Silhouette Special Edition Ser., No. 769, 775,781,855): Love, Honor, Cherish, A Daring Vow
Sherryl Woods
Manufacturer: Harlequin Enterprises, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VGLKNY

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"Vows to the Blackest Devil": Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England.(Critical Essay): An article from: Renaissance Quarterly
Reta A. Terry
Manufacturer: Renaissance Society of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B00099MNJS
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Renaissance Quarterly, published by Renaissance Society of America on December 22, 1999. The length of the article is 7791 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: "Vows to the Blackest Devil": Hamlet and the Evolving Code of Honor in Early Modern England.(Critical Essay)
Author: Reta A. Terry
Publication: Renaissance Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: December 22, 1999
Publisher: Renaissance Society of America
Volume: 52 Issue: 4 Page: 1070

Article Type: Critical Essay

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

A Nobel laureate's revolutionary vision of how the mind works.

Customer Reviews:

Consciousness as a biological Darwinist adaptation........2003-01-21

This is a very important book.
It proves convincingly that consciousness is a matter of ... matter (the biological matter of the brain) and that it is the outcome of a long history of biological adaptations.

It also proves that the mind is not a computer or a Turing machine, that human language is not a computer language and that physics is not sufficient to explain its working. The morphology of the brain goes deep, but not as deep as to attain the quantum level.
On the contrary, Edelman explains clearly that the mind is a process that operates in a 4 dimensional world; that it doesn't have a perfect memory or doesn't order events or objects logically. It is subject to mutation in order to select and to adapt and creates itself aspects of the reality by cultural and language interaction. Into the bargain, the biological structure of the brain is different for every individual.

Edelman's theory has also far reaching philosophical implications. It is the death of essentialism (there are no 'essences', only populations with different individuals) and of idealism (the world was there before the mind).

Is Edelman's TNGS (theory of neural group selection) the end of the story? Absolutely not. It is only the beginning. It forms the basis for further investigations. But it clearly indicates which way to follow and which ways not.

I have only one reservation: Edelman's nearly unconditional admiration for Freud.

This is an essential read.

a bit watered-down.......2001-07-26

I am a huge fan of Edelman, but I regretted having bought this book; I would say this is a kind of half-successful attempt at vulgarizing what he explained so well elsewhere: there is nothing to be found here that wasn`t already explained in more detail in "Neural Darwinism" and "The Remembered Present". So stay away from this one if you read the others. If you never read anything by him, go for his "Neural Darwinism". Reading his books was definitely a great intellectual experience of my life. Go for it!

PS: Da man is a genius.

The Light Ages.......2001-06-08

Wow. Obviously we've emerged from the dark ages into the light and....wait, Plato already made this analogy. Anyway, its always edifying to see people, anyone, confirm in print what we all already know but are afraid, for political reasons I guess, to utter. It's a material world. Edelman takes off on this theme and proceeds to deliver the underlying neural blueprints for ego, soul, cognition, and a host of other mystical magical metaphysics, minus the meta. Edelman makes some gratuitous forays into philosophy in this book, but by and large sticks to the point and discusses his work on axonal feedback/forward pathways and TNGS; the theory of neuronal group selection, an evolutionary take on neurobiology. It's always nice, in my view, when researchers deign to wtite these pop-sci books to share with us plebes what we could never encounter in our own pedestrian lives. I can't really evaluate if this is a "good" piece of literature, but anyone remotely interested in who and what they and the people they know are simply must devour evey morsel of this neurophysiology primer.

Want to know the truth? It IS out there--.......2000-10-12

The worst kind of reviewers are those who come when the play is half over. There is no "royal road" to the truth, either in mathematics, as the old tale has it, or in philosophy and science. Ethically, you can struggle through the basics and talk about your conclusions; or you should shut up. If you have no inkling about the Theory of Neuronal Group Selection, you have no inkling about consciousness. Go back and do your homework. So Edelman's books are tough going? Did you expect to understand calculus without taking algebra? I read "Neural Darwinism" right after it was published, and gagged. My biology background is thin; one college course. I looked up "natural selection" and found Dawkins; I read all of his books and knew something about genetics. I read "ND" again, understanding a bit more, especially the part about "ground-breaking" ... When "Topobiology" appeared, I read it. I had to reread "ND" to get through it, but I began to understand the vocabulary, the ideas, the logic, the structure. Same thing with "Remembered Present". At that point I was working in a university psychology department (strictly as a hardware specialist, never having had a single psychology course). I mentioned this exciting work to a few professors in developmental psych who might have been expected to look at it; none of them did. Not till 1999, when a visiting professor offered a course in "Consciousness" based on "The Remembered Present", was there any hint that Edelman had some relevance for those researching the development of the mind. Draw your own conclusions. If you're not afraid to know the facts, if you really want to know the answers to the hard questions (What is life? Why is the universe only 4-dimensional? Where does thought come from?), dig for them; they do exist. Start with Edelman.

Of great interest.......2000-02-09

More than a quarter of a century ago, Edelman was distinguished with a Nobel Price for his research on the immunity system. Later he switched to neurology. He sees a parallel between the way the immunity system is programmed and the way the brain is programmed. These procedures have much in common with Darwins process of evolution by way of natural selection. Edelman speaks of "neural Darwinism".

When you just think about it, after reading the arguments Edelman brings forward, you will see that evolution could hardly have produced something as complex as the human brain (or even more simple animal brains) by any other means. A lot has to be investigated yet, of course, but I think Edelman has shown the way to a deeper understanding of our brain.

It is a pity Edelman and Daniel Dennet get along so badly. Edelman never mentions Dennet, and Dennet is extremely critical in the few remarks he makes about Edelmans work. I think their approaches are complementary, not contradictory.

Yes, the human brain is a computer of sorts. Edelman has the clearest ideas about the structure of this computer, but he denies that the metaphor of the computer is valid. I think that, even taking Edelmans ideas about the deeper structure in account, the metaphor remains valid, up to a point at least. Really, Edelman has much more in common with Dennet (whom he seems to despise) than with the "mysterian" Searle, whom he praises.

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Bright Air, Brilliant Fire - On The Matter Of The Mind
Gerald M. Edelman
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0713990961

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Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind.
Gerald M. Edelman
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M3UD0W

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Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ICSEMG

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