The Ladies of Mandrigyn by Barbara Hambly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed The Ladies of Mandrigyn way more than I expected to. It's kind of an old school sword and sorcery type fantasy, written in the 80s, but I didn't think it felt too dated.
There are two main POVs. One is Sun Wolf, the captain of a band of mercenaries. His story is interesting because he is the only man in it for most of the book. There is a strong cast of women of all personalities and motivations, since all the men of Mandrigyn have been enslaved by an evil wizard. The women hire Sun Wolf to rescue their men, and what they learn from him challenges everyone's views of what women can and can't do or should and shouldn't do. There's definitely a feminist message in this.
The other main POV is Starhawk, a female mercenary and Sun Wolf's second in command. She is as tough a heroine as you could want, a true warrior. We actually get to see her kicking some butt instead of just being told that she's capable of taking care of herself. I really liked her.
They are both noble warriors without a lot of flaws or gray areas, and without much of the moral complexity that you find in fantasy characters these days, but they both learn important truths about themselves and their 'neutral' positions as mercenaries, so they grow in that sense. The evil wizard and his zombie-like creatures are completely evil, however. There's no doubt they need to be killed.
This is a trilogy, but I found that the first book can really stand on its own. The main conflict is completely resolved here, so it's on to new adventures in the next one.
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