By the Sword

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

Granddaughter of the sorceress Kethry, daughter of a noble house, Kerowyn had been forced to run the family keep since her mother's untimely death. Yet now at last her brother was preparing to wed, and when his bride became the lady of the keep, Kerowyn could return to her true enjoyments - training horses and hunting.  

But all Kerowyn's hopes and plans were shattered when her anscestral home was attacked, her father slain, her brother wounded, and his fiancee kidnapped.

©1991 Mercedes R. Lackey (P)2020 Tantor

Book was good...

All -in -all, I found the book to be pretty good. This is Kerowyn's back story. Several things are explained, such as when Kerowyn and the Queen's husband were chosen, for two. There are several plot lines, skillfully woven together in this book. The narrator was not good. Her pronunciation of Shin'a'in, for instance, was stilted, various, and all of them WRONG! Except for Kerowyn, her grandmother and her sword sworn, and a couple of Scottish accents, one nice and heavy, all accents were the same to me. HAVE mercy 😱 But, in all fairness, she has a lovely speaking voice I think you'll enjoy the book despite the narration. Oh, there is sex in this book, huggy body, kissy face, off with clothes, fade to dark. There's not much sex, though, and it's tastefully written. Now, 🙋

One of my favorites

I loved this book and was excited when it came out on audible. My only disappointment was the narrator. The odd British accents when speaking a characters, like Kerowyn, was very disconcerting. They neither fit the dirty or were well done. Had she stuck to her normal voice I would have had no complaints.

My absolute favorite!

Of all her ‘Valdemar’ books, this one was my absolute favorite! Although I will admit that her, “Deed of Paksenarion Dorthansdaughter,” is my favorite of ALL of her books.

Great Story Train Wreck for a Narrator!

This narrator is honest terrible. I bought this book when it first came out, and I love the story. This narrator sounds like a robot, and there's no feeling in her voice. Such a disappointment

Finally!

This is one of my favorite books from the Valedmar world. I was ecstatic when I saw it was available for pre-order and counted the days before it showed up in my library. This audiobook did not disappoint. The narrator was great and the story was what I remembered. I will listen to this one again.

Great story, ok performance

A classic by Mercedes Lackey. This was written towards the middle of her Valdemar series, following on the heels of the Magic and Arrow's trilogies as well as the Tarma & Kethry duology. As such, it builds on the world Lackey created and makes way for Elspeth's story in the Winds trilogy. The performer was ok, and though there were some odd choices made for accents of certain characters - especially Warrl, she gave a satisfactory performance otherwise.

Finally on Audible!

My favorite Valdemar story. I adore Kerowyn. By The Sword is three books in one, about Kerowyn. She starts as a house keeper, to a mercenary, and finally to Herald. The time line is during the same time as in Arrows of the Queen Trilogy (Arrow's Fall) and The Mage Winds Trilogy. Speed x1.60

one of my favorite books

I've been hoping and waiting for this volume of the Valdemar books too be available as an audiobook! I've always considered it a keystone in one of the arcs of narrative, bridging Tarma & Kethry to the Haralds.

Great story.

I've been in love with Valdemar since there was a a Valdemar. I just wish the producers had developed a consistent pronunciation guide for the entire series. Too many names are pronounced differently by different readers. And someone needs to look up the correct pronunciation of collegium.

I've been waiting for this one

I've been waiting for this back story. I read the book and loved listening to most of the Audible versions, so I thought this one would be just as great. But the narrator falls flat with accents and mispronounced key words. I still listened to the entire book, but it would have been much better with Nick Podell. Sorry, but true.