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The Mage Winds

by Mercedes Lackey

The Mage Winds series by Mercedes Lackey has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Winds of Fate (1991).

Books
3 books
First published
1991
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: Winds of Fate (1991) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of Winds of Fate, the first book in The Mage Winds

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. Winds of Fate

    Novel

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  2. Winds of Change

    Novel

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  3. Winds of Fury

    Novel

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About The Mage Winds

The Mage Winds trilogy sends Herald Elspeth — heir to Valdemar's throne and a central figure introduced in earlier Valdemar novels — away from her own kingdom entirely, on a quest to recover true high mage magic, which has been effectively lost to Valdemar for generations. Traveling with the enigmatic and much older mage Firesong and, eventually, reuniting with figures from Valdemar's neighboring lands, Elspeth's journey reopens the wider magical geography of Lackey's world beyond Valdemar's borders, and reintroduces the non-human, winged Hawkbrothers as major players. Where the Herald-focused trilogies (Arrows, Last Herald-Mage) stay largely within Valdemar's own politics and training structures, Mage Winds widens the lens considerably, treating magic itself, and the shifting balance of magical power across the whole continent, as the central subject.

Across Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury, the trilogy sets up magical stakes and worldbuilding — the true extent and history of high magic, the forces working against Valdemar from beyond its borders — that directly carry over into the sequel trilogy, the Mage Storms.

How to read this series

Read in publication order: Winds of Fate (1991), Winds of Change (1992), Winds of Fury (1993). This trilogy assumes you've read at least the Arrows of the Queen trilogy, since it follows Elspeth, the Valdemaran heir introduced there, and pays off character and worldbuilding threads set up across the earlier Heralds of Valdemar books. It leads directly into the Mage Storms trilogy (Storm Warning, Storm Rising, Storm Breaking), which should be read immediately afterward as a direct continuation of the same story.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Mage Winds trilogy?

Three: Winds of Fate (1991), Winds of Change (1992), and Winds of Fury (1993).

What order should I read the Mage Winds books in?

Publication order: Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, Winds of Fury. It's a single continuous quest narrative, not standalone entries.

Do I need to read other Valdemar books before Mage Winds?

Yes — it follows Elspeth, a character established in the earlier Heralds of Valdemar books, and assumes familiarity with Valdemar, Heralds, and Companions. It's not recommended as a first entry point to the series.

Is Mage Winds connected to the Mage Storms trilogy?

Yes, directly. Mage Storms (Storm Warning, Storm Rising, Storm Breaking) is a direct continuation of the story and stakes set up across Mage Winds, and the two trilogies are generally read back-to-back as a single six-book arc.

Who is Firesong?

A powerful and unconventional Hawkbrother mage who joins Elspeth's quest partway through the trilogy and becomes one of the series' recurring major characters in the books that follow.

Reading order last verified .