This is the novel that fills in the informational niche. Exhile's Honor is from the Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey. This book falls into the time line right before the Taila series (Arrows of the Queen, etc.)
Background: This is the background you need for these novels. One, it does not really matter if you read them in Chronological order. They were not written that way. Taila series was actually the first series written. Several of the books occur in trilogies while some like Exhile's Honor stand alone. Each story conflict is resolved by end of series or novel (if stand alone). So find the series that interests you and begin to enjoy the realm of Lackey's imagination.
Lackey has set up a world featuring several countries one of which is Valdemar. In Valdemar, there are "magical" horses which are telepathic and can see if a person is good and moral. The horses select individuals who have good hearts to serve as Heralds for the kingdom. Heralds are the peace keepers of the kingdoms. They act as judge and jury for the countryside (being very rural) and they perform any function that the king/queen of Valdemar deems necessary. They can be spies, warriors or diplomats. The Companions, as the horses are called, seem to be able to select people whose "talents" are necessary to the kingdom. Such as in Take a Thief, a thief is actually chosen because his skills were necessary to the kingdom at that time. There are other countries that surround Valdemar, one of which is Karse. Karse is the enemy of Valdemar. Karse is always trying to defeat Valdemar. The population of Valdemar has more rights than the people of Karse and this is threatening to Karse's rulers. Karse is ruled by a religious ruler who destroys what threatens his dictatorship. They tell the population that Heralds and their Companions are demons and will steal their souls. The world of Valdemar is very complicated and it would take pages and pages to explain it all, but this is the basic background for this novel.
This story: Alberich is a soldier in the Karse army. He is a good and loyal soldier, but he has a problem. He has the power of precognition. This is considered to be an unnatural power according to the Karse priests. Alberich is in danger of being burned to death if his power is discovered. He is also a honorable man who will not go against his word or allow innocents to suffer. It is this honor which gives away his power. He foresees a village being destroyed and cannot stand to see the innocents suffer. He saves the village while condemning himself. The priests lock him in a building and begin to burn him, but his is saved by a demon horse of Valdemar. The Companion takes him to Valdemar where he must learn to trust the people who have always been his enemies. Plus a war with Karse is brewing, threatening to catch Alberich and his honor in the middle. Alberich is a great character being straightforward in a complicated way. I really enjoyed the insight to the Herald's Weaponsmaster. He shows up in a lot of the novels and it was nice to finally know about him.
I always enjoy Lackey's Valdemar novels. Her characters are so human and believable that I have laughed, cried, loved and hurt with them over the years. Her characters are some of my favorite "literary friends" whom I visit again and again. Her stories flow very well. I always find myself caught up in them. If I sit down to read one, I am in danger of sitting there hours reading when I should be getting other things done. I would recommend these novels to anyone who likes a good fantasy story that features today's issues in them. Warning: Some of her novels have disturbing or explicit content in them. This one is pretty tame on that account.
