Alice Borchardt
British Pbk Original - Bantam (2004) |
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The Raven Warrior
The Second Tale of Guinevere
Born of the Highlands, along shores washed by northern seas, Guinevere has accepted the power offered to her by the Dragon Throne and been crowned queen.
Her first task is to protect her people from the reviled Saxon raiders. And she must strike quickly or surrender control of the seas. But her warlords refuse to accept that this young queen can know anything of the art of war and offer her an army of misfits and outcasts.. Guinevere knows she cannot - must not fail. Sailing to confront the hated enemy, she summons the spirits of the dead knowing there is a terrible price to pay for their help.
As Guinevere faces her first great challenge as queen, so Black Leg, her childhood companion, begins’ his own quest to become a man and warrior. He will endure trials both mental’ and physical, discover inner strengths and primal passions, each experience more perilous than the last, but these will be as nothing compared to the anguish and desire unleashed when he and Guinevere are reunited. For he is the Raven Warrior, the one who will be called Lancelot ...
Set in that dark age when history and myth collide, The Raven Warrior continues Alice Borchardt’s bold re-imagining of the story of a king called Arthur and, of course, his mercurial queen, Guinevere.
| British Pbk Original - Bantam (2002) |
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The Dragon Queen
You must understand, my name was not written down. Those who say and sometimes write it use what form they care to. So the spellings sometimes differ greatly. So much so that it might seem as though I had many different names, but in reality I still have only one. And, like all true names, it was a word of power . . .
It is that time known as the Dark Ages. The Romans have abandoned Britain’s shores, leaving behind a country riven by terrible strife, warfare, superstition and wild magic. Born into this cruel world, Guinevere, daughter of a mighty pagan queen, is both a threat to her people and a prize to the dread, power-crazed sorcerer Merlin.
Sent into hiding, Guinevere grows up under the protection of a shapeshifting man-wolf and a cantankerous druid, watched over by dragons. Yet through his dark arts, the malign, all-seeing Merlin tracks her down. For he knows her extraordinary destiny and will stop at nothing to prevent what has been foretold. He knows that should Guinevere become queen and Arthur king, they will bring a peace to this ravaged land that will leave him powerless, a shrivelled husk of a man in a weary cloak.
But Guinevere is no mere mortal. She has inherited dazzling powers of her own - powers she must learn to control, yet strong enough to rival Merlin’s own. With Arthur trapped in a netherworld from which the only escape is seemingly death, Guinevere must face the sorcerer’s wrath alone. Summoning a magic she barely understands and ancient spirits who walked upon this earth when it was still young, she, who will one day sit upon the dragon throne, confronts her destiny...
Interlacing a keenly felt sense of history with soul-stirring fantasy, The Dragon Queen - the first book in a magnificent trilogy - is an exciting, richly told and wonderfully subversive reworking of a legendary tale.
`A fully fledged work of the fantastic that is wildly imaginative and astonishingly exhilarating’ Interzone
‘Wildly imaginative and astonishingly exhilarating... filled with fresh and unanticipated marvels’ Interzone
| British Pbk Original - Voyager (2001) |
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The Wolf King
Charlemagne has massed his army in Geneva, poised to add Italy to his growing list of conquests. Meanwhile, the mercenary forces of King Desiderus are perched on the other side of the Alps, ready to attack anyone moving through the mountain passes. In between live the shapeshifters, protected by their leader, Maeniel, and his bride, Regeane.
The ensuing war destroys everything that Regeane and Maeniel have struggled to
Accomplish, and soon they are separated, as Maeniel – pledged to Charlemagne as man, loyal to none as wolf - is captured by Desiderus’ men. Now Regeane must save him. But to do so, she enlists the aid of another – Saxon whose love for her will prove devastatingly fatal.
'A daring and vibrant new voice on the female literary frontier - a writer with the vision and scope to conjure up her own thrilling, mythos and the craftsmanship to render it in breathtaking, shimmering prose...
The Silver Wolf is a stunning initiation into a dark and dazzling realm' Anne Rice
'Borchardt reaches descriptive and dramatic peaks with Regeane's vulpine supersenses as she noses about Rome by night, reading the dead city's skin and air. Top-flight fantasy' Kirkus Reviews
'By turns a thriller, tragedy, horror and eventually a fairy-tale love story' The Telegraph
'Vivid and enjoyable, Borchardt is in control at all times' Starburst
| Paperback - Voyager (2000) |
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Night of the Wolf
The fearsome legions of Julius Caesar have crushed all resistance to Roman rule. The power of the druids is broken, the Gallic tribes are in retreat. Watching all this is Maeniel, a grey wolf... who is also a man.
It is Maeniel the man who learns of love in the arms of the beautiful Imona, and when she is taken to be offered for ritual sacrifice he finds himself drawn into the schemes and cruelties of humans.
Following Imona's trail, Maeniel is himself pursued by Dryas, a warrior woman sworn to kill him. But the two adversaries will prove to have much in common. And the hunt upon which they embark will lead them to the most powerful - and dangerous - man in the world...
By turns lyrical, sensuous and violent, this is a masterful weaving of adventure, history and magic which delves deeper into the shapeshifter legend, and brings an earlier, more savage time brilliantly to life.
'Borchardt's wolves have a sensuous intensity that matches the best suspense fantasy being written today' Kirkus Reviews
| British Pbk Original - Voyager (1999) |
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The Silver Wolf
"I was born of darkness. My father's eyes closed before mine opened, l am not of this world or the other, and l have the right to be what lam ... "
Rome is mired in crumbling grandeur. Into the Eternal City comes Regeane, a young woman distantly related to Charlemagne, and as such an unwilling pawn in the struggle for political power. But unknown to all, she is a shapeshifter: woman and wolf.
Betrothed to a barbarian lord she has never seen, she is surrounded by enemies, the most notorious of whom is her depraved uncle and guardian, who will betray her to the Church unless she aids him in his sinister schemes. If they discover her secret she will burn at the stake.
Outside the gates of the city roams a mysterious dark wolf who seems to offer Regeane a wildly seductive new life, yet as her marriage looms, plots and deadly counterplots tighten like a noose around her neck.
Fast-paced, sensual and rich with historical detail, The Silver Wolf places Alice Borchardt squarely in the front rank of contemporary women writers. Her intricate plot and hypnotic voice will cast a spell few will be able to resist.
About The Author
Alice Borchardt shared a childhood of storytelling wither sister, Anne Rice, in New Orleans. A professional nurse, she has also nurtured a profound interest in little-known periods of history. She lives in Houston, Texas
Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.
The Raven Warrior
(Bantam Pbk,
2004)
Pbk Jun 04
The Dragon Queen
(Bantam Pbk,
2002)
The Wolf King
(Voyager Pbk,
2001)
Night of the Wolf
(Voyager,
1999)
Voyager Pbk Jun 00
The Silver Wolf
(Voyager Pbk,
1999)
The Raven Warrior
by Alice Borchardt
