The Talon and the Flame

De: Terry Mancour

Narrado por: Marian Hussey

Time is running out!

Dara of Westwood, known as the Hawkmaiden, has always been caught between two worlds. Born to a humble clan of woodsmen, her unexpected magical talents had seen her apprenticed to Minalan the Spellmonger, the greatest wizard in the world, to fight for years against the goblin invasion that threatened all of humanity. She had been a war hero before her first kiss, riding giant hawks into battle in defense of her people.

But the war is over, now, and Dara finds herself ennobled, wealthy, respected, admired... and completely alone. Her comrades, friends, and fellow apprentices are settling down to enjoy their hard-won peace, but Dara has few prospects for happiness now that the war is done. Her command over the other Sky Riders is in jeopardy as missions dry up, and she discovers she lacks much purpose in this new world. The sacred Flame her family adores beckons her, promising simple homelife and domestic happiness... but she knows no life without her sword Talon in her hand. While her friends dream of love and marriage, Dara's nights are filled with horrific nightmares about her violent past.

Then the Goddess of Fire, Briga, takes an interest in her love life, and everything changes. Charged by the goddess to rediscover her youthful passions after a lifetime of military service, Dara embarks on a quest to fill the lonely place in her heart... only to be distracted by a new danger lurking in the hills near her home. Some insidious force is kidnapping the poor peasant children and inflicting them with a horrible curse, while raising an army of undead, and no one but Dara seems to care to stop it.

Supported by her friends Laretha and Alurra, Dara considers the few motley suitors who may have an interest in her—her childhood friend Sir Festaran, her former suitor Gareth, the roguish mage Daro—and she even flirts with the handsome young baron of Taravanal. But it's hard to take romance seriously when some dark, necromantic force is rising and preying on the innocent so close to home, a power so terrifying it's even scaring the hill bandits away.

Dara has to make a decision: does she put aside her sword and her vocation as a magical guardian and embrace her passion, or does she eschew the Flame her people hold sacred and devote her life to defending the innocent against powers only she can confront? While peacetime brings hope and prosperity to others, Dara is torn between the allure of the Talon... or the Flame!

©2025 Terry Mancour (P)2025 Podium Audio

Worth a listen

Overall I enjoyed it especially since the last two Spellmonger books were hard for me to even finish. The best part is that it was not polluted with the science fiction story angle (which I couldn’t hate more) the Spellmonger series has many secondary characters that could shine in their own stories. I would love to see more of them get some prime time as long as the terrible sci-fi angle isn’t included

Good Listen

This Author does a fantastic job of keeping you engaged and thinking. It is always a pleasure to listen to a great story and a marvelous series!

Had a little bit of everything

It had adventure, action, romance, mystery, you think you know something will happen then find out how wrong it was but it ends up making more sense than your original idea. first romance book and only one unless Terry does another one and when I relisten to this one multiple more times.

Worth the time

Missing accustom depth and not as smooth or rich as others, but it was good and worth the time

Awesome Story

Dara has always been one of my faves and this story was very entertaining. As always, awaiting to see what comes next for the Hawk maiden

Great side story!

Being a fanboy of Terry Mancours Spellmonger series, this is yet another great story in his very personal style of storytelling!

Well played and overjoyed.

One of the strongest entries in the series. Still processing. I got red herringed as heck. Well played, and overjoyed.

A great story marred by the gareth subplot

I love Dara, she is a wonderful character and it has been a joy seeing the conclusion to this part of her story. However, having to endure the gareth subplot in all the books up to and including this one was tedious and frustrating. It didn’t add any value her story I feel. It felt like a massive and artificial overreaction to a youthful incident and it was a chore to get through, feeling out of place in an otherwise wonderful series. However the rest of the plot lines were a delight, and I hope we get to see more of Dara’s perspective in the future, especially what with all that’s changed for her.

Dara is still Dara

Dara is who she has always been slightly frustrating. She has never been my favorite character in the series. Honestly I agree with Ishi's opinion about Dara's love life.

The hawk maiden grew up.

I like how Darah dealt with mistakes of her youth and inexperience. She is a rose among the thorns of male wizards.