The horse lords
The horses Lords is a fantasy - novel series by German author Michael H. Schenk . The twelve volumes tell about the life and adventures of a horse people. There are parallels to the Horsemen of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings , but the novels about the Horse Lords are a story of their own.
The author
Michael H. Schenk (* 1955 in Bonn ), who was interested in fantasy and history at an early age, began writing the novel series "The Horse Lords" in 2006.
Publishers
Volumes 1 to 8 of the series were published as Mira paperback by Cora-Verlag. Since volume 9, The Horse Lords and the Night Walkers of Death , the books have been published by Arcanum Fantasy Verlag (since 2011 an imprint of the Scratch Verlag).
The novels
Volume 1: The Horse Lords and the Storm of the Orcs
The king's messenger is dead! Murdered on the pass that leads to the Hochmark and his disfigured body bears the horror marks of the orcs, which it was believed would never return since the horse lords had defeated them a generation ago. Garodem, the horse lord of the High Marches, gathers his men under his banner to help the king in the fight against the cruel hordes. But soon the Hochmark itself needs protection, because the orcs are gathering and finally an insurmountable enemy stands in front of the city and the gates of Eternas Castle. The Horse Lords and their elven friends prepare for battle, but they do not know that the enemy is already among them - especially in a place where no one will suspect him.
Volume 2: The Horse Lords and the Crystal City of the Dwarves
The green crystal city of the dwarves has been overrun by the orcs and the wondrous crystal ax, the symbol of royal dignity and the key to the city, has been stolen. Now the dwarves are under the bondage of the orcs and their only hope rests on the dwarf king and his company, who escaped at the last minute. Seriously wounded, the dwarf king reaches the land of the horse lord and asks Garodem, the horse lord of the high march, and his horse lords for help - but time is pressing, because the number of enemies is growing tirelessly and in the distance mighty clouds of dust herald the approaching of further orcs.
Volume 3: The Horse Lords and the Barbarians of the Dune Country
The dune land: Mummified corpses without skulls and picketed skeletons testify to the merciless cruelty of its inhabitants. Here, of all places, in the land of the barbarians, a full mount of the King the Horse Lord in search of the mysterious, former banner of the first king has disappeared. Now Garodem and his horse lords receive the royal order to search for the troop and bring back the lost banner. An assignment that is equivalent to a death squad! But without the banner, the alliance of the horse people will fall apart and while Garodem's wife Larwyn and her elven friends Lotaras and Leoryn struggle for the unity of the horse lords at the royal court, a mysterious murderer is up to mischief. Garodem has to find the old symbol of the unity of the horse lords, but the further the riders penetrate into the land of the barbarians, the more terrible the signs of horror become until they finally meet the enemy himself.
Volume 4: The Horse Lords and the Hidden House of the Elves
Garodem and his horse lords are called to help by the elves. They have not received any news from one of their houses for years. Every attempt at contact has failed; the last search party of the elves has not returned. The horse lord sets out and soon reaches the petrified forests with his lords, where the hidden house is said to be. But their way is a way of horror. They find the missing search party and finally even the house of the elves they are looking for, but everything that was once alive there is now frozen in the middle of the movement and - petrified. At the same time they discover a large war camp of the orcs and a terrible suspicion emerges: their most powerful opponent has regained strength and has teamed up with an enemy against whom there is no protection.
Volume 5: The Horse Lords and the Corsairs of Um'briel
The Kingdom of Alnoa is in great distress. Its coasts are increasingly threatened by corsairs, ships of the Alnoic Navy are hijacked and finally the pirates even manage to take the large port city of Gendaneris in one blow. The horse lords who approach the city to trade with the allied Alno people have no inkling of this. And the elves who want to warn their friends fall into a deadly trap. In a fight, their two elders are captured by the corsairs and brought before the Malaquant, the mad ruler of the swarms of the sea. They face an agonizing death if the Horse Lords and their friends don't succeed in freeing them from the hands of the enemy.
Volume 6: The Horse Lords and Paladins of the Dead City
Eerie things are happening in Niyashaar, the last outpost on the border to the east, which was once erected by the elves on the soil of the former kingdom of Rushaan to protect against the forces of darkness. But now the entire crew has disappeared there without a trace and the remaining inhabitants of the country report of gray fog and blue lightning in which people are lost or found cruelly burned. An extremely inopportune time for the elves as they want to go on their last journey and leave the country. And so they turn to the horse lords, who are to take over the guarding of the border and the protection of the countries instead of them from now on. An almost unsolvable task as Garodem and his men soon notice.
Volume 7: The Horse Lords and the Past Realm of Jalanne
After the death of the horse prince Garodem, his son Garwin and his mother Larwyn rule the Hochmark. But the peace is deceptive, because soon Larwyn is found poisoned in her bed. A fabled fountain of living water should be able to save them. This is deep in Jalanne's past realm. Against Garwin's will, the small horse lord Dorkemunt sets off for the former kingdom with Fangschlag - and falls into a life-threatening trap ...
Further volumes
- Volume 8: The Horse Lords and the Leatherwing People (Mira, 2009)
- Volume 9: The Horse Lords and the Night Walkers of Death (Arcanum, 2011)
- Volume 10: The Horse Lords and the Brotherhood of the Cross (Arcanum / Scratch, August 2012)
- Volume 11: The Horse Lords and the Blacksmiths of Rumak (Arcanum / Scratch, March 2013)
- Volume 12: The Horse Lords and the Ride to the Golden Clouds (Arcanum, November 2016)
main characters
- Main characters of the horse people
- Nedeam : a 12-year-old boy who lives with his parents Balwin and Meowyn on a remote farm in the Hochmark. He helps them raise and shear the sheep and wants nothing more than to become a horse lord like his father. Nedeam leads through the history of the horse people and matures into a proven fighter. He is the later horse prince of the high march of the horse people.
- Dorkemunt : a very short and experienced horse lord who loses his family to the orcs and becomes Nedeam's older mentor and friend.
- Garodem : the horse prince and lord of the high march of the horse lords, with his young wife Larwyn , who rule the march and whom the first swordsman Tasmund loyally stands by.
- Meowyn : Nedeam's mother and the healer of the Hochmark, close friends with the elven healer Leoryn , from the house of Elodarion.
- Bar host Malvin : who weaves a legend out of every unimportant event in order to quench the thirst of his guests.
- Barus, the rodent hunter : whose craftsmanship with the club has already cost many a cheeky rodent their lives and only scares them one thing in the world: the blonde shoemaker Esyne , whose literal quick-wittedness has broken or put an end to many brawls.
- Toslot, the farmer : who can hardly handle more than two cups of barley juice and the foam from the third.
More characters
- Llaranya : Elven warrior and later wife of Nedeam. Elf from House Deshay, the house of the primeval tree.
- Lotaras : Elven warrior from the Elodaryon wood elf house, friend and companion in arms of Nedeam.
- Leoryn : Elven healer and sister of the elven warrior Lotaras.
- Fangschlag : Orc legionary leader and later comrade in arms of Nedeam and Dorkemunt.
- Garwin : son of the horse lord Garodem and his wife Larwyn. After the death of his father he becomes a traitor and tries to murder Nedeam and Larwyn. Is cast out by the horse people and renegades, collects followers in order to found a secret march. The last known but secret place of his "free mark" is the petrified forest in the Ostmark, the former habitat of the elves of the primeval tree.
- The Dark Lord : the leader of evil and greatest enemy of the horse people. He united the orcs and the wizards among himself.