Green Rider

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**Title** **Green Rider**

Author	Kristen Britain
Cover artist	Keith Parkinson
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Green Rider (series)
Genre(s)	Epic fantasy
Publisher	DAW Books
Released	November 1998
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	504
ISBN	ISBN 0-88677-824-7
Followed by	First Rider's Call

Green Rider is the first novel written by Kristen Britain and is the first book in its series.

1 Plot summary
2 Characters in "Green Rider"
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Karigan G'ladheon, a merchant's daughter is cast out of her school by Dean Geyer in Selium because she stood up to an aristocrat.

Running away from those burdens into the forest called Green Cloak, she meets a legendary Green Rider (one of the King's messengers) who is dying with two protruding black arrows from his back. F'ryan Coblebay makes Karigan swear to carry two messages to Sacor City for the 'love of her country', there to deliver into the hands of either Laren, the Captain of the Green Riders, or the King himself. She is not to read one letter for the sake of her life, while the other he did not mention. F'ryan also gives her his golden winged horse brooch that is the symbol of his office as a Green Rider. As his life passes, he whispers with his last breath; "beware the shadow man...".

Karigan, following her promise, rides the Horse (whose real name is Condor) to Sacor City through perilous paths which only the Horse knows how to get out of. During the journey, she meets many people, including the Berry sisters, Eletians, two Weapons turned traitorous...etc. Throughout her journey for a very dangerous promise, the ghost of F'ryan Coblebay stays with her all the time as a ghost, urging her on and providing her help when desperately needed.

When she reaches Sacor City and Laren, she is hailed as a Green Rider by the brooch that is on her chest and the message that she did not read is finally delivered. The other, which she read out of curiosity, was a love letter to the beauteous Lady Estora, which she thought unimportant.

Time passes and nobody could work out what the letter meant and what F'ryan Coblebay thought so important until Karigan finally gives the love letter to Lady Estora, who gave it to Laren for closer inspection for it was not like her lover's usual writing. The love letter is decoded to reveal a plot to tip King Zachary off his throne and put his brother Amilton there instead. Amilton was the elder brother of Zachary, but because of shameful behaviour, he was denounced from his birthright and banished to the provinces of Hillander, where he disappeared a few years earlier.

Then follows a desperate battle as Shawdell, an Eletian, is revealed as the Shadow man, after a dangerous battle involving ghosts and a moonshard, Karigan kills the rogue Eletian and Zachary's throne is safe again.