Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 11:42 pm
Oh, yeah! It was originally an English fantasy release that was only recently translated and released as light novels in Japan. I believe Bantam is the publisher of the North American releases. They came out in.... gosh, late 90s? She's written the 3 Nightrunner books (Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness, Traitor's Moon) followed by the Tamir Triad (Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior, Oracle's Queen) and just last Spring released book 4 of the Nightrunner series, Shadow's Return. White Road, her newest book, is due out this fall.
SYNOPSIS!
[spoiler]
The Nightrunner series is about young Alec of Kerry, who is rescued from a dungeon by the mysterious Seregil. Seregil trains the boy in the art of being a Nightrunner -- doing odd bits of espionage, thievery and the like for the Skalan nobility. Alec and Seregil also assist the great wizard Nysander and serve the crown as Watchers -- loyal to Skala and the Oreska (the wizard's enclave).
Skala is a country friendly to magic -- the great Oreska serves as a house for wizard's and a school for learning. Skala is ruled by Queens as determined by a prophecy... the crown inheritance is strictly matrilinear. Women serve proudly in the army, as well, and the Queen and her heir are both grand generals. Skala is a society friendly to both women and homosexuality -- Seregil is openly gay. (>_> Told you there was canon slashy fun!) Flewelling puts a lot of energy into creating the people, culture and government of her world. Her writing is top-notch, too.
The real crux of action, however, is Skala's ongoing war with Plenimar, a fearsome country filled with necromancers and slavery. I won't give much of the plot away, but it's a grand "save the world" adventure with a gut-wrenching twist.
<3
[/spoiler]
The first 3 Nightrunner books are being re-issued with new covers, actually, I believe later this year. You can still find the old covers in bookstores, however. Or, quite cheap on