Heroes of Ravenford (series)
Safe through Heroes of Ravenford Book 3
Main text: Book 1. Books 2–3: collapsed sections below.
Series & Books
Heroes of Ravenford is F. P. Spirit’s fantasy series about a small band of young companions who come together on the road, take work in the seaport of Ravenford, and discover that the troubles around their new home are connected. The tone mixes swords, sorcery, and sarcasm: deadly ruins and dark cults, but also bickering, loyalty, and heroes who are still learning how much they do not know.
Book 1, Ruins on Stone Hill, introduces Glolindir (‘Glo’), an elven wizard travelling with his familiar Raven; Aksel, a gnome cleric of the Soldenar; Seth, a halfling who prefers stealth to speeches; and Lloyd Stealle, a human spiritblade whose twin blades can burst into flame. A caravan ambush throws them together, and Ravenford gives them work: first a wizard’s errand to the ruins on Stone Hill, then an orc hunt in the Bendenwoods, a hill giant at Bardon’s Gap, and finally signs of a darker organisation moving in the Dead Forest. Along the way the group grows to include the elven bard Elladan, and the stone golem they free is nicknamed the Boulder.
The series’ appeal is the companionship as much as the quest. Glo must learn that book knowledge is not experience. Aksel leads and heals while trying never to lose another loved one. Seth insists he is only staying to keep the idealists alive. Lloyd, the group’s heart, wants to earn his name on his own merits. Ravenford itself — its baron and baroness, their daughter Andrella, its inn, temple, keep, and merchants — gives their heroics a home worth defending.
Book 1 closes by naming its sequel: ‘Here ends Book One of the Heroes of Ravenford. The story continues in Book Two, The Serpent Cult.’ This page keeps its main text at Book 1. Who joins, who leaves, and where the road goes in Books 2 and 3 are in the collapsed sections below, for readers who have got that far.
The series so far on this wiki: Book 1, Ruins on Stone Hill; Book 2, Serpent Cult; and Book 3, Dark Monolith. Each book page gives a spoiler-light introduction. Read in publication order, starting with Ruins on Stone Hill, then follow the links to Ravenford, Stone Hill, and each companion.
After Book 1 — spoilers for Book 2, Serpent Cult
Serpent Cult opens with the companions riding back into Ravenford with the Boulder. Titan announces she will apply to the Knights of the Rose, and she and Brundon leave town early in the book. Martan, the Black Adders’ coerced guide, tells his story to Baron Gryswold, is freed, and fights alongside the companions from then on.
The book adds new allies. The three sisters, Ves, Ruka, and Maya, meet the party near Cape Marlin. At the performers’ camp before Andrella’s coming-of-age gala, Elladan finds his old friend Donatello (‘Donnie’), who fights beside Lloyd when the cult strikes and joins the party. The singer Shalla Vesperanna shares Elladan’s stage but stays a performer. The book ends with the cry of ‘Heroes’ in the keep courtyard and points readers to Book 3, Dark Monolith.
After Book 2 — spoilers for Book 3, Dark Monolith
Dark Monolith sends a bigger company out of Ravenford: Glolindir, Aksel, Seth, Lloyd, Elladan, Martan, and Donatello, joined by the seeress Elistra and by Dame Alana Benefilla of the Knights of the Rose. Ruka catches up with them on the south road. Ves stays behind with a promise of help, and Maya goes into the woods with the old druid Almax.
Book 3 ends by naming Book 4, Princess of Lanfor. This wiki currently stops at the end of Book 3.