"Not up to his usual standard"
Though badly outnumbered hradani horse stealer Bahzell
Bahnakson persuaded Sothoii leader Baron Tellian to
surrender to him rather than lose to him, as Bahzell is
the War God's champion (see THE WAR GOD'S OWN). As part
of the agreement reached by Bahzell and Tellian, he
allowed the Sothoii to go home in peace in one piece. Named by his father the hradani chief as ambassador to the
Sothoii, Bahzell travels to the Wind Plain. Being
extremely tall, he sees this as an opportunity to obtain a
large steed, something the Sothoii are noted for and why
they detest the hradani for stealing and eating their
horses. Surprisingly several Sothoii accept Bahzell as a windrider—
the first hradani to achieve such acclaim. However,
between the surrender when they outnumbered the enemy by
30 to 1 even if he is the War God's favorite and the honor
of windrider bestowed upon a hradani, many Sothoii purists
are outraged; this outsider has battered their pride in
their heritage. An insurgency surfaces further stirred by
the Goddess Queen of Hell and those who recently lost
power plotting assassination to bring down the current
rulers including Bahzell. WIND RIDER'S OATH is not up to the level of excellence
normally achieved by David Weber especially with this
sword and sorcery fantasy series. The story line contains
too many subplots that lack action and seem more like
gates to future sequels. The prime tale centers on the
heroic Bahzell who learns how hard it is to be a God's
champion as challengers come from everywhere. Fans of the
series and Mr. Weber will be a bit disappointed, but need
to consider that hradani threads go through WIND RIDER'S
OATH. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 6, 2004
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