The Windsinger Series by Megan Lindholm
The Windsinger Series, authored by Megan Lindholm, follows the intertwined adventures of Ki and Vandien, characters first introduced in the short story "Bones for Dulath." The narrative begins with Ki, a woman grappling with profound loss, seeking revenge against sentient harpies that destroyed her family. Throughout the series, Ki's journey evolves from one of vengeance to embracing life and love, particularly in her complex relationship with Vandien, who suffers a disfiguring scar from their adventures. The series explores themes of transformation, as Ki discovers her unexpected connection to the magical Windsingers, beings whose songs control the weather.
As Ki and Vandien face various challenges—including battles with harpies and entanglements with the mystical Windsinger realm—they navigate their emotional struggles and the scars of their pasts. Particularly in "The Limbreth Gate," Ki’s ties to the Windsingers deepen, revealing her potential to influence their realm. The series culminates in moments of self-discovery, love, and sacrifice, as Ki learns to let go of her pain while Vandien confronts his own vulnerabilities. The overarching narrative is rich with fantasy elements, character development, and a blend of humor and drama, appealing to readers who enjoy character-driven stories set in imaginative landscapes.
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Subject Terms
The Windsinger Series
First published:Harpy’s Flight (1983), The Windsingers (1984), The Limbreth Gate (1984), and Luck of the Wheels (1989)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Fantasy—magical world
Time of work: A pretechnology age on another world
Locale: An unnamed world
The Plot
The characters Ki and Vandien were first introduced in Megan Lindholm’s short story “Bones for Dulath,” published in AMAZONS! (1979; edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson), which won a World Fantasy Award as best anthology. An Ace editor’s interest in the story led to completion of the first book of the Windsinger series. The series brings Ki and Vandien together in an unlikely way, then takes them through a series of adventures with various creatures and magical beings. The subplot follows the evolution of Ki from a woman embittered by tragedy to a woman who can embrace life and love again.
Harpy’s Flight opens with a compelling account of a woman climbing a cliff to reach a harpy dwelling. Sentient harpies killed Ki’s husband Sven and their two small children, and she plans revenge. The sight of tiny toys hung over the harpy’s eggs quenches her vengeance. A battle follows nevertheless. The female harpy is killed, the eggs are destroyed, and the male is burned severely. As Ki’s life continues, flashbacks show her struggle with her own pain and that of Sven’s family, which worships harpies.
The main plot involves Ki, with her wagon and team of two horses, transporting a freight of valuable jewels disguised by grain and salt. She makes a dangerous trek over a difficult winter pass. She meets Vandien, as he, sick and malnourished, tries to steal one of her horses. Although she wants no one in her life, she grudgingly invites him to travel with her. Together they face an attack from the vengeful male harpy, in which Vandien sustains a disfiguring wound across his face. A brush with the fey shadow of the mountain crushes Ki’s wagon, along with the last cherished belongings of her dead family.
Ki stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the bond forged between herself and Vandien. After learning that the jewels she is transporting are fake and that she was set up for the harpy attack by Sven’s family, she feels released from her pain. She has a new wagon built and seeks out Vandien. This book ends in the fond and life-affirming banter that is their trademark.
The title characters of The Windsingers are creatures whose songs control the weather; they are human females who are taken while young and then transformed into magical beings. In separate plot lines, Vandien tries to recover a chest from a sunken Windsinger temple while the wizard Dresh manipulates Ki into penetrating the surrealistic Windsinger realm. Vandien is promised gold and something more—the removal of his disfiguring scar. He keeps this secret from Ki, knowing that it would hurt her to realize that he regrets the scar. Ki learns Vandien’s secret and goes to him.
They recover the chest under humorously impossible circumstances. It holds the preserved body of an original Windsinger, which the Windsinger Rebeke wants in order to model transformation into the true form. Dresh and Rebeke battle over the relic, and Ki intervenes in Rebeke’s favor by somehow breaking a protection rune. At the end, Vandien keeps his scar and Ki playfully shows how much she likes him, scar and all.
The Limbreth Gate reveals Ki’s unsuspected ties to the Windsingers, explaining her ability to penetrate their realm and to break the rune. It also explains her life’s tragedy. Windsingers open a Gate to the Limbreth world to trap her there forever. Once inside, Ki finds peace and serenity, leaving behind her wagon and horses. The Limbreth (or Limbreths—no one is quite sure) asks her to accomplish a task of her choosing. She decides to form a garden of wisdom. Vandien crashes the Limbreth Gate, creating a serious tear that “leaks” the Limbreth into the original world. He escapes Limbreth seduction by not drinking the water.
When Vandien finds Ki, he sees her happiness and is reluctant to ruin it. Fortunately, the rowdy Brurjan he rescued from the Limbreth has no such scruples, and the three of them escape through the gate. Rebeke, in her debt to Ki, sends Dresh and a betrayed Windsinger through to maintain the balance. Ki returns from her dream to the reality of Vandien’s caring. Again, her wagon is lost.
Luck of the Wheels finds Ki and Vandien in a gaudy “peddler’s wagon” unsuitable for hauling freight. Desperate for a hauling job, they ferry a teenage boy, named Gotheris but called Goat, from one town to another. They pick up another passenger, Willow, who is traveling to meet her fiancé. Neither, however, is what he or she seems.
Goat, a rude and insufferable boy, is part Jore, and he can pick up feelings and creep into the dreams of sleepers, stealing their personal thoughts. Willow is part of a conspiracy to overthrow the duke of the land through which they ride. Through Goat’s unthinking meddling, Vandien duels with and accidentally kills Willow’s fiancé, receiving a slash from a poisoned blade in the process. Vandien and Ki are separated. Each believes the other to be dead, and each falls into a unique—and destructive—despair.
Goat, transformed by his own brush with death, urges Ki to believe that Vandien is alive. They find Vandien dying by the side of the road. Goat challenges Ki to make a decision: Either love Vandien or let him go. She gathers him in her arms, and her love pours out as she has never before allowed, saving his life.