Liar's Oath

This book was the second part in a compilation of two books entitled The Legacy of Gird.

After Gird's death, his mageborn scribe Luap continued his work, but also sought a refuge for other mageborn like himself. He's overjoyed when he finds a remote mountain palace carved from sheer rock, only accessible by several ancient portals. The older races, the Elves and Dwarves, gruffly approve their residence in the palace, but warn their visitation will only last as long as the local ancient evil isn't awakened. That evil is left unnamed, but it watches, waiting for the time to strike.

This book just didn't feel right at all. It was interesting to see how certain things are explained that are important in the Paks books (as this book is a show more prequel), but in many ways that felt like that the only purpose of this book. Gird died at the end of Surrender None, so I was surprised that he was still alive for the first chunk of this volume. Luap himself was not a likeable character at all. He whines for the first 2/3, and doesn't really feel like an integral part in the last 1/3. The two young paladins were fascinating, yet at the same time they were too flawless.

The ending was rushed, too. The entire last half of the book left me waiting for the evil entities to attack, and it kept not-happening. Then suddenly at the end Seri and Aris solve everything all of a sudden, then evil attacks, then there's a time warp/something (I still don't get that bit) and the mageborn are evicted from ye old mountain palace.

I love Moon's writing and world-building, as always, but this book is made of too many pieces that just didn't fit together well or at the right time. These were no where near as good at the Paks books, but they were worth reading for the background information on Gird and Luap. I will not be keeping The Legacy of Gird. show less

I am disappointed with this as well as Legacy of Gird. The Deed of Paksenarrion was very good - solid, somewhat pedestrian, but good - but these two follow-ups read like the author's background notes expanded into novel form. The character of Luap is marginally less unsympathetic here than he was in Gird, but only marginally, and there's no mystery - we know how it ends. I would not recommend it, even if you liked Paks.

This is a sequel to Surrender None and continues the story of Gird. However, Gird appears only at the very beginning, after that it is the story of Luap. There's also a strange section at the end that ties back to Paks and Kieri. I found this book a bit uninteresting and slow, there's little here that really affects the rest of the story, as a prequel it doesn't really leave much to be further developed.
If you absolutely must read everything related to Pakenarrion then read this, however you won't be missing much if you don't.

I am a big fan of fantasy and science fiction novels especially if they are long and have several books in the series. I really enjoy a series of books that I can immerse myself in and I first picked up an Elizabeth Moon novel because it was long and part of a multi-novel series. I continue to read her books because I find them engrossing and highly enjoyable.

Luap awakens ancient evil trying to find home for mage born

Always enjoy Elizabeth Moon.

See the omnibus edition for my review.