Beyond is book one in The Founding of Valdemar series.
From the Publisher: The long-awaited founding of Valdemar comes to life in this new series from a New York Times bestselling author and beloved fantasist.
Publisher's description: Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Kordas' father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.
Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic, the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and "milking" of Elemental creatures.
But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from the Empire that it is unlikely the Emperor can find or follow them as they evacuate everyone that is willing to leave.
But time is running out, and Kordas has been summoned to the Emperor's Court.
Can his reputation as a country bumpkin and his acting skills buy him and his people the time they need to flee? Or will the Emperor lose patience, invade to strip Valdemar of everything of worth, and send its conscripted people into the front lines of the Imperial wars?
Characters[]
Major Characters[]
- Kordas Valdemar - mage, Baron (former Duke) of the Duchy of Valdemar in the Eastern Empire
- Isla - mage, Mindspeaker, Kordas' wife
- Fidelia (Delia) - Isla's younger sister, Fetching Gift
- Hakkon Indal - Kordas' cousin and right-hand man
- Jonaton - Kordas' research mage
- Beltran - Kordas' herald, in the traditional sense
- Lord Merrin - the Emperor's spy in the Duchy of Valdemar
- Star (doll) - enslaved vrondi at the Imperial Court
- The Emperor - destructive ruler of the Eastern Empire
- Record Keeper (Doll) - the first vrondi ever trapped in Doll body, head of the Hall of Records, tacit leader of all the Dolls
Minor characters[]
- Cestin - Healer
- Stafngrimr (Grim) - Kordas' stablemaster
- Count Gerther Endicrag - one of Valdemar's trusted lords, with a large family
- Ivar Endicrag - Explorer[1]
- Alberdina - an Endicrag cousin; Healer, explorer
- Sydney-You-Asshole - Jonaton's cat
- Squire Lesley - master pig farmer, Landwise
- Restil - Kordas' oldest son, raised as an anonymous page to prevent being used as a hostage
- Pelias - youngest mage in the manor, formerly Jonaton's apprentice.[2][3]
- Siman - an older mage[2][4]
- Ponu, Dole, Wis, Koto, and twins Ceri and Sai - the Mage Circle of the Duchy of Valdemar
- Tomen - Chief steward[1]
- Clover (Doll) - servant/slave at the Imperial Court
- Rose (Doll) - enslave vrondi at the Imperial Court
- Duke Elnore - noble at the Imperial Court
- Count Declaine - noble at the Imperial Court
- Baron Pierson - noble at the Imperial Court, formerly a child hostage alongside Kordas
- Duke Holiger - recipient of the Emperor's Fleetfoot horses from Kordas Valdemar
- Kristoff - fisherman from the Duchy
- Scullen - dissident prisoner of the Empire[5]
- Scont - dissident prisoner of the Empire[5]
- Aylar - farmer of Brandywine village near Crescent Lake
- Feather (Doll) - enslaved vrondi from the Imperial Court, sent to Crescent Lake
Referenced characters[]
- Lerren - first Duke of Valdemar[6]
- High King Sonat the First - made Lerren the first Duke[6]
- Werther, Duke of Valdemar - Kordas' grandfather[6]
- Erik, Duke of Valdemar - Kordas' father
- Lady Lyantha - Kordas' mother
- Idor - Isla's deceased brother, died of illness while a hostage to the Emperor
- Baron Sterngal - father of Idor, Isla and Delia
- Renfeld - steward[7]
- Weapons-Master Klemath[7]
- Macalay - child hostage alongside Kordas
- Prince Morthas of Halengard- a noble at the Imperial Court
Places[]
- Eastern Empire
- Duchy of Valdemar, Eastern Empire
- Imperial Palace
- Imperial City
- unnamed Capital of Eastern Empire
- Crescent Lake, Valdemar, located south of Three Rivers, which is south of Haven, off the Terilee River
- Brandywine settlement, on "the Brandywine" (stream) - upriver from Crescent Lake[8], thirty houses in a palisade
Referenced places[]
- Barony of Lepodal, Eastern Empire - where a changecircle brought part of a tree
- Oakton settlement - another small village at Crescent Lake, pleased to welcome some new people, farmers, herds, and defenders
- The Pelagirs
Terminology[]
- Barges
- Changecircle
- Doll
- Elemental
- Fetching
- Gate
- Mindspeaker
- The Plan
- Vrondi
- Spitter
- Poomer
- Mage-created creatures:
Synopsis (Warning! SPOILERS!)[]
Young Delia uses her Fetching Gift to assist her brother-in-law Kordas, the Duke of Valdemar, as he helps a mare through a difficult birth. They know the activity will be reported by the Emperor's spy, Lord Merrin.
Mage Jonaton discovers a way to escape the empire. He has a splinter of wood from part of a tree brought by a Changecircle. It still has an affinity for its' home tree elsewhere. The Duchy's mages gather in the secret work room in the Manor basement, and make a small window to the site. Delia Fetches a pebble through it, which the Mages use to begin a Gate to the site.
High on that triumph, Kordas is stunned to receive a summons to the Emperor's Court. Everyone is aghast, but Kordas reminds them The Plan is about everyone, not just him, and it must proceed.
Squire Lesley is granted many barges to move his herd of pigs. He disguises the barges in his fields as shelters until he is ready to move. Ivar Endicrag is recruited to explore the area around the Gate site. An advance party follows, setting up a foothold camp. The Mages create a water Gate for the barges to come through. People whose absence will not be noticed begin to quietly evacuate.
Livestock arriving at the site is slowly herded overland along the river, so that they can continue to graze without crowding out the thousands of settlers coming in. Controlling manure is another issue, but is helped by inviting the locals to take as much as they want. Human sanitation was also strictly established and enforced.[9]
When Kordas gains the confidence of the Dolls at the Imperial Palace, they help him over many sticking points.
One is the need for Gate talismans to use the Gates, the equivalent of a "ticket" that permits someone to use a Gate and direct it to their destination. They need thousands. The Dolls resolve this problem, and even send them to the Duchy by courier.[10]
Kordas makes a commitment to free the Dolls at the Imperial Palace from servitude. And then decides to free the child hostages.[11] And the dissidents.[5] And then to release the juvenile Earth Elemental imprisoned and tortured below the palace.[12]
In order to figure out how to ultimately free the vrondi from their imprisonment in the Doll bodies, Kordas asks them to take all of the mage books and equipment concerning it and ship them to Valdemar.[12]
Kordas gleefully uses official seals to order the plunder of the Empire's stores of weapons and ammunition.[12] The Dolls also decide to take all of the horses from the Royal Stables.[12]
The evacuations in Valdemar continue to the last minute: the day of the Emperor's annual boat parade. On orders, people take not only their own goods and herds, but strip nearby farms and manors, including Baron Merrin's cattle.
One of Kordas' many ongoing concerns was the fate of those who chose not to emigrate. The Emperor would question and probably torture them about the missing people and goods. At one point, Kordas decided the best option was for him to stay behind in the Capital, so that nothing would point to the Duchy until people were long away. Separately, Mage Ponu suggested wiping the memories of those who stayed, which Isla forbade.
In his usual sadistic manner, the Emperor strips Kordas of his title,reducing him to a Baron, and gives the Duchy and title to Merrin. Privately, Merrin explains that he has not been spying for the Emperor - he has been covering up and concealing the good things in Valdemar so that the Emperor would leave it untouched.
In the end, Kordas realizes there is another option, and does what has to be done - he, Merrin and Beltran team up and kill the Emperor.
They already knew that the release of the juvenile Earth Elemental will trigger an apocalyptic attack on the city by its' parent. The Dolls help everyone escape via Gates. Kordas watches as the city is destroyed by lava.
With the Emperor's death and the chaos at the capital, it becomes possible that there will be no reprisals toward the people who did not leave the Duchy. Kordas made sure that any people who had come along reluctantly were offered that choice, and commends them to the care of Duke Merrin.
Gallery of cover images[]
See also[]
- Books by chronological order
- Chronological order of books: expanded edition
- Books by publication order
- Books by series
Note[]
The Founding-era story "For Want of a Nail" by Rosemary Edghill and Denise McCune was published in Passages in 2009, years before this novel was written. The novel overrides the story and is official canon.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Beyond, Chapter 6
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Beyond, Chapter 3
- ↑ "The lad did not copy his mentor’s sartorial splendor; long gray half-robes, gray tunic, and gray hose." Lives in rooms in the Tower below Jonaton.
- ↑ Also lives in the Tower below Jonaton. He gives Kordas the good news.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Beyond, Chapter 15
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Beyond, Chapter 9
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Beyond, Chapter 7
- ↑ Beyond, Chapter 17
- ↑ Into the West
- ↑ Beyond, Chapter 16
- ↑ Beyond, Chapter 11
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Beyond, Chapter 17