The Unschooled Wizard: The Ladies of Mandrigyn and The Witches of Wenshar Hardcover – January 1, 1987 by Barbara Hambly 
 
The Unschooled Wizard: The Ladies of Mandrigyn and The Witches of Wenshar is a Science Fiction Book Club omnibus volume containing the first two books of Barbara Hambly's Sun Wolf and Starhawk series. The mercenary captain Sun Wolf had two rules he refused to break: never fall in love . . . and never mess with magic. He and his soldiers would face any ordinary danger, but when it came to fighting sorcery, well, there were easier ways to commit suicide. So when the Lady Sheera Galernas offered him 10,000 gold pieces to lead the women of Mardrigyn against the evil Wizard King Altiokis, the Wolf just laughed. It wasn't that he doubted women's ability to fight -- his own most trusted lieutenant, Starhawk, was fearless, expert at the arts of war, and no less a woman for it. But Altiokis had spent 150 years building his power, expanding his empire and hunting down any wizard who could possibly oppose him. Mere swords, even in the hands of the Wolf's crack troops, were useless against such might. But Sun Wolf had underestimated the determination of Sheera and her rebels -- a determination fueled by the knowledge that Altiokis was working their men to death in the foul mines beneath his mountain fortress. Robbed of what they cherished most, these women would stop at nothing. In The Witches of Wenshar, Mandrigyn had been left far behind. Sun Wolf had tangled with magic, and now he had to live with the consequences of that folly. With only Starhawk at his side, he began searching for, of all things, a wizard of his own . . . one to help solve his present problems. When the search brought them to Wenshar, he and the Hawk hoped to remain aloof from its stormy politics -- especially since the Lady Kaletha, a self-proclaimed wizard with a strong following, stood at the eye of the storm. But then someone was brutally murdered by magic, and the two found themselves forced to step in and find the killer.
 
4.5