By The Sword by Mercedes Lackey

By the Sword features Kerowyn, the grand-daughter of the Sorceress Kethry from The Oathbound, Oathbreakers, and Oathblood. By the Sword is set between events covered in the Arrows of the Queen Trilogy and The Mage Winds Trilogy.

The only stand-alone book in the entire Valdemar series, where the previous books serve as myths, etc. for the later books. This book is the tale of Kerowyn - she starts out as your usual whiny forced-into-doing-something-heroic lead character and matures nicely throughout the book. Unlike some of the other books set in this world, By The Sword takes you on a nice journey through a number of different provinces/countries as Kerowyn travels around the land as a mercenary. A straight, simple fantasy tale and a reasonable introduction to a fascinating world - animal companions [horses, usually], telepathy, gay people, 'thinking' swords ... what more could you ask for?

Buy this book online at Amazon, Amazon UK, Kalahari or Loot