Barb Hendee

Barb Hendee writes dark fantasy and supernatural fiction, both independently and in long collaboration with J. C. Hendee. Their Noble Dead saga follows intersecting groups of dhampirs, vampires, scholars, and other companions through a world where scholarship can be as necessary as combat. First and Last Sorcerer is their 2015 Ace novel and the fourth volume of the saga's third series. It resumes the search for the ancient orbs after Magiere, Leesil, Chap, and Wayfarer are imprisoned. Wynn Hygeorht and the vampire Chane Andraso seek help from Domin Ghassan il'Sänke in a Suman port, while another danger emerges: a spectral undead able to take living bodies as hosts. That combination of rescue, magical research, and possession broadens the threat beyond a single adversary. First and Last Sorcerer leads toward The Night Voice, the concluding volume of this arc. Hendee's contribution sits within a sustained coauthored project whose continuity depends on recurring characters and accumulated knowledge across the Noble Dead world.