I actually came to Mercedes Lackey’s books through the Tarma and Kethry books (I remember liking the covers), which are actually not so great a gateway. The first book (The Oathbound) isn’t really their first story – it’s a short story that appears in one of the Sword and Sorceress anthologies. I found these when I was in middle school, way back in the World Before the Internet, when finding random books like that was not as easy as hoping on Amazon. That book also suffers from being a few short stories tied together. Still, the premise is good, so I moved on.
The second book of the series (this one) is my favorite. Tarma and Kethry have joined a mercenary guild, one that happens to be headed by a princess of Rethwellan, albeit one that has renounced her claim to the throne. Still, when Idra’s father dies, she heads back to Rethwellan, as she’ll still be an important show of support to whichever one of her brothers becomes king. And then, she doesn’t come back.
So Tarma and Kethry go to investigate – and find a kingdom shadowed in a fear, with Idra and her younger brother missing, and their oldest brother king. Knowing something isn’t right, they stay to investigate.
I think what I liked about this book is that it is a fully contained story for the whole book, and both Tarma and Kethry are able to use their unique abilities to the fullest. It also ties in the Heralds of Valdemar, so I had to investigate those books as well, and they’re now among my favorite books.