Once a Hero

Once a Hero Michael Stackpole Date: 01 April, 1994   —   $27.00   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

This is my husband's favorite book, and it's not hard to see why. When Neal was born with portents forseeing he was to be a great war leader and hero, his tribe shrugged and provided him with the best military education money would buy. (How many fantasies bother to think things through like that?) Neal, with his love for learning and a healthy dose of audacity, manages to more than fulfill those prophecies by doing what he feels necessary, prophecies which lead to his "tragic" life and end, mostly tales for tragedy among humans because Neal, friend to the elves, seems a betrayer of a humanity still scarred by the slaughter of the Eldsaga so long ago.

But that was long ago, and now events are falling out that require the knowledge of Neal's life, knowledge that only the elves truly possess, because with their long lives they are only two generations removed from the time of Neal, five centuries before. Genevera is willing to help, as her great-aunt has told her stories of Neal since she was small— but she will have to deal with a humanity that she knows little of, and with secrets she has never been told. The stories from the past and the present intermesh tightly, leading to a crystal-clear narrative that nevertheless hints at tales and stories that we never learn. It is a pity it is only available in paperback, and that rare; our galley-bound copy is beginning to fall to pieces.