THE BARD'S TALE. VOLUMES 1-5 & 8. 1. CASTLE OF DECEPTION. 2. FORTRESS OF FROST AND FIRE. 3. PRISON OF SOULS. 4. THE CHAOS GATE. 5. THUNDER OF THE CAPTAINS. 8. CURSE OF THE BLACK HERON. 6 BOOKS IN TOTAL. by Lackey, Mercedes; Sherman, Josepha; Emerson, Ru; Shepherd, Jack; Lisle, Holly; Allston, Aaron

Riverdale, NY: Baen Six volumes of The Bard's Tale - volumes 1-5 & 8. 6 3/4" H. **Please Note: Escape from Roksamur & Wrath of the Princes are not included in this grouping.** 1. Castle of Deception, by Mercedes Lackey & Josepha Sherman, 266 pp + preview, 1992 1st printing, ISBN 0671721259. "When young Kevin became a bard's apprentice, he thought that his new life would be filled with excitement and adventure; so when his first task is a perfectly ordinary manuscript copying errand to the castle of Count Volmar his disappointment knew no bounds. Why the Count was not even involved in Court politics! But when the Count's niece is kidnapped by elves and the Count asks for his help in recovering her, Kevin is convinced that the adventure he craves is at hand." 2. Fortress of Frost and Fire, by Mercedes Lackey & Ru Emerson, 297 pp, 1993 1st printing, ISBN 0671721623. "Once a necromancer always a necromancer. At least that's what all the other elves are telling the young human Gawaine about his master, the Dark Elf Naitachal. Of course he doesn't believe them; Naitachal has always treated him well and honorably, explaining that though he once was a necromancing Dark Elf, and still has the ebon skin of the breed, he long ago forsook all things black in order to become the first elven bard. But though Naitachal means every word he says, and though Gawaine has known all along that things might get a little uncomfortable for a human with a Dark Elf master, neither has guessed what temptations the future might hold: for Gawaine to forsake his master, and for Naitachal to go back to his old necromancing ways." 3. Prison of Souls, by Mercedes Lackey & Mark Shepherd, 340 pp, 1993 1st printing, ISBN 0671721933. "The hero of the first Bard's Tale novel is now a very old man, but his mentor, the Dark Elf Naitachal, is still going strong and training new apprentices. His latest: the King's own son, Alaire. Alaire is an apt pupil, but before he has had a chance to master the secrets of Bardic power, he and Naitachal are sent by the King on a dangerous diplomatic mission. The kingdom on his northern border, Suinomen, has banned magic for years, and now is making preparations for war. Their job: find out why their previously peaceful neighbor is making war noises, discover what's behind it, and stop it. The catch: they cannot use their Bardic magic. Unlicensed use of magic in Suinomen earns the wielder a sentence in the Prison of Souls, a punishment which not only takes the magic user off the streets, but which eats away at a magic user's very life force." 4. Chaos Gate, by Josepha Sherman, 311 pp, 1994 1st printing, ISBN 0671875973. "Naitachal, once a Necromancer who gained power by depriving others of their life forces, is now happy in the more peaceful role of Bard. But shadows from his past linger. His clan sees him as the worst of traitors for daring to turn towards the Light. They mean to take revenge. They create a trap, the Chaos Gate, a sorcerous portal that is meant to draw him into their lands and into their power. Only Kevin, once his apprentice, now a full Bard and Count in his own castle, stands between the Dark Elf and certain doom." 5. Thunder of the Captains, by Holly Lisle & Aaron Allston, 274 pp & preview, 1996 1st printing, ISBN 0671877313. "A peace treaty leads to shipwreck and disaster - and the survivors, including the leaders of two mighty nations, find that the slippery footing of international diplomacy is nothing compared to the struggle for survival. King and queen, advisor and ambassador, sailor and scribe alike are stranded in a land where danger lies everywhere, and hope is an ocean away. As they conspire to destroy each other, mysterious forces that control the elements conspire to destroy them all. Their only chance of survival: the honor of an awkward valet and the uncertain magic of two half-trained female Bards." 8. Curse of the Black Heron, by Holly Lisle, 233 pp, 1998 1st printing, ISBN 0671878689. "Isabetta had happy memories of when she was very young and her father had been one of the greatest Bards in the land. But that was before she was given over to a foster mother who raised her in poverty, apprenticing her to a weaver. Now, Izzy was looking forward to being free of both her apprenticeship and her foster mother, just a few days away, and making her own living as a weaver. Then a new ruler seized the throne of her country by force, and she and her friend Giraud, only surviving heir of an out-of-favor Lord, were running for their lives. They would be pursued by assassins, captured by a monster who demanded that they free it from a curse, make friends with a dwarf, and be entrusted with a spell that was supposed to remake the world entire - a spell with a fatal flaw." Interiors- very light to light browning to pages, light to moderate browning to inside of some covers, otherwise clean and tight with no previous ownership marks. Exteriors - very light edge wear, very light browning to some edges of some text blocks, two vols. with a slight lean to the spine, two vols. with faint creases on the spines and one vol. with some light wrinkling on the spine, two books with a tiny number stamped on the bottom of the text blocks.. First printings.. Mass Market Paperbacks. Very Good. Illus. by Larry Elmore (1-4), Ken Tunnell (5), Tom Kidd (8), cover art..