Short Reviews Batch 5

Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Originally Posted to GoodReads: 4-20-21

Second Read-Through... I think.

Anyway, I had honestly forgotten everything in this book. Like, the last two I had vague remembrances of, but this one... nothing.

That said, I enjoyed it a lot. The pacing was pretty good, the characters were 100% themselves, and I even enjoyed the romance bits I normally roll my eyes at. Speaking of which: it’s so nice to have the “will they, won’t they” bullshit out of the way this early in a series. So refreshing. Kate and Curran are definitely up there on my completely biased and made up list of series power couples.

 

High Wizardry by Diane Duane
Originally Posted to GoodReads: 4-23-18

Not sure quite what to say about this one... I really loved the Mobiles and Dairine's journey and even the reveals at the end. The story zips along for the most part, I think the only halts were mine... but yeah. Good read. Interesting Ordeal. Interesting reveals. The poor Callahan adults though... 

Promises to Keep by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Originally Posted to GoodReads: 4-30-14

Yet another awesome addition to the Nyeusigrube library. Everything changes with this book and the stakes have never been higher. I enjoyed getting to know new characters, the cameos from some older ones, and the general expansion of the Nyeusigrube universe. I'd write more, but my first read was kind of a blur wrapped in some babysitting.

In Other News

I'm taking a short break from reading Collegium Chronicles to read a bunch of InCryptid short stories. Just FYI.

Changes by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler-Free Review

Changes definitely lives up to that title. There's the change in Mags' training, everyone's relationships, and the group of antagonists everyone is dealing with. Changes is jam packed, to say the least, but also quite good.

Kirball actually plays a big role here, or at least a bigger role than I thought it was ever going to play. We get a blow-by-blow game right at the beginning, which sets us up to follow a much more truncated game later in the book. We're also able to see, through this, how Mags comes to trust Gennie's coordination of both Mind-Speakers and non-Gifted. Gennie's involvement here is helpful later with the... well, it's not actually given a name at any point here, so I'm just gonna call it the Web-Stone as well as during the attempted kidnapping of Amily and Mags.

Mags' training ramps up during Changes in such a way that I really questioned Nikolas telling Mags at the end of Intrigues to just be a normal Trainee for a bit. Mags' formal education is shuffled around to compensate for some on-the-job training. I'm actually surprised at the amount of customization that was allowed for... the Collegium's curriculum and teaching style is a mystery to me. It's still obviously in a state of flux between the direct apprentice system they had before and the more classroom focused system they're having to move to. Mags basically being able to run around for Nikolas all night and have all his summer classes moved to the afternoon still strikes me as odd, but so does the year-round schedule of classes the Collegium has opted for. American school systems have the summer break and winter and spring breaks, where the Collegium seems to just have the winter break. It's odd.

But anyway, Mags gets to see how Nikolas operates outside of the Palace and Collegium. He gets to experience Valdemar's version of CSI at work. I thought it was interesting that there was such a thing and that they were so flexible working with Mags hanging around. Makes quite the change from how Vanyel dealt with his crime scene in Magic's Promise. All this stuff then leads to Mags having to operate in a moral grey area concerning the foreign agents' little informants which then leads to a frank conversation with Dallen about the whys and whens of Mags' being Chosen. I liked that we got that because it's really not often apparent why certain Heralds are Chosen. Also makes me look a little askance at Nikolas being Chosen as King's Own as opposed to, ya know, not. But that might just be me.

Relationships get a little bit of a shake-up here. We see next to nothing of Mags' non-Collegium friends and get a big focus on Bear, Lena, and Amily. Bear and Lena deal with their individual family issues while at the same time starting to deal with their burgeoning relationship. Amily gets a big focus due to her importance to the plot, Nikolas, and Mags. I really hope, though, that all that drama is fully dealt with for now. There's only so much repeat business I can take of relationship drama.

I mentioned the Web Stone earlier. This is the focus stone Vanyel used to create the Web of Heralds. I find it so odd that so many important things like the Web Stone have just been straight up forgotten between the events of Magic's Price and the Collegium Chronicles. I'll give the Web Stone a bit of a pass due to how secluded it is and how little I think anyone outside of Vanyel's little coven actually knew about it. But absolutely no one catching on to the existence of Mages or magic despite how important Herald Mages used to be and I assume had songs written about them. Perhaps Stefan did his job raising regular Heralds up a little too well. I don't know. Just seems really odd to me that something that important would just be straight relegated to myth as fast as it was... much shrugging.

The last thing I want to talk about is Mags' speech patterns. I guess it was kind of cute at first, to have his actual speech patterns written out as he would actually speak. However, three books in, it's gotten more annoying than not. Especially as he demonstrates to Dallen that he can speak properly when he chooses to. This passage in particular: " ’Idin’ ’er ’ere i’ th’ Palace, " took me three tries to read and comprehend, which I only did at last because I gave up and went on to the rest of the sentence after it. I'm pretty sure most authors at this point just mention someone having a particular accent and readers just adapt to that. Mags' speech just shows that there's a fine line between visible accent and incomprehensibility.

Oh! I lied. I also want to touch on Bear and his whole thing with Amily's leg. I think it's really interesting that we're still in this pseudo-renaissance-y setting and getting into reconstructive surgery. I liked the way Mags coaxed Bear to accept some outside help. I teared up a little bit during the impromptu brainstorming session in the Collegium cafeteria. I thought that entire thing was really well done.

Changes was ultimately a lot of fun. There was a lot to unpack in terms of both character and world-building. I'm very much looking forward to Redoubt and perhaps finding out why Mags was wanted by "The Agents." Mags is obviously the center of things at this point and I hope we find out why soon.

Time's Fool by Karen Chance

Spoilers for the first 134 pages.

Well, this went straight to the DNF pile.

We last left off with Dorina, Ray, and Kit stranded in Faerie, where Mircea had apparently decided to chase after his long-thought-dead wife. Dory and Louis-Cesare were left danging by Hassani just about to tell them why the Fey wanted Dorina. Aaaand now we've jumped back to the late 1500's...

Time's Fool is divided into parts denoting where we are in time and with which characters as the main focus. The first part, which was alright enough to keep me reading, was Dory and Mircea. Really, during this part, I just kept being angry at Mircea for apparently wiping Dory's memory (which we already knew about) to the point where she doesn't even recognize him aside from some vague feeling she kind of does... Just... Nope.

The second part follows Kit and Gillian. Gillian's a witch and it was nice to get some actual witch lore because I've been sitting here going "what's the difference between Witches and Mages aside from every Mage we meet being male?" So, got that question answered, but then we go out into London and are baraged by everything Karen Chance has learned about 1500s London that you only really wanted to know if you got dropped there by an errant time traveler. I get world-building and needing to set a scene, but I don't see why I need a primer on the different types of thief looks and punishments.

I noped out of the Cassie series because of the overly long, info-dumpy jaunts into the past and I'm sad to say that's exactly why I'm noping out of the Dory series. I'm vaguely interested in why Rhea and Hilde are back in the 1500s, but not enough to slog through the Kit and Gillian portion of the book to find out. I might keep an eye out for whatever the next Dory book is in hopes that it gets back on track with the rest, but I'm not holding my breath over it.

Midnight's Daughter Series Overview

Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab by Karen Chance

This post will contain spoilers for the entire series and the Cassandra Palmer series. You have been warned.

So, the Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab series. I found it to be much tighter in terms of plot than its sister Cassandra Palmer series. The characters were much more vivid and well rounded. It actually felt as though Dory's story took place during war times. Dory was much more informed and actually engaged with her story than I felt Cassie was. Even her cadre of side characters had stakes. Honestly, if I were to recommend one series over the other, I'd recommend Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab. I will now try to focus on Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab and not compare it to the Cassandra Palmer series further... they really are too different to compare very much anyway.

I do have a numbers question that’s been niggling at me for at least the last two Dory books. How many vampires are there? How many fey end up on Earth, like population-wise? How many Silver Circle mages are there? The Cassie books make it sound absolutely dire for them to be dying due to the whole Artemis’ spell thing, but there are enough to be running a crime scene back in the Dory books? The sheer number of supernaturals running around makes it seem like the humans should at least be aware of them, but they’re not. And like, why not, really? I mean, I also get that the various supernatural races don’t really play well together, so a coherent government might not work well, but like… I’m just confused as to how all of it works to begin with. The vampires apparently have MASSIVE numbers given the amount Dory mentions as being in Mircea’s family alone and what we see from Cassie’s bodyguard contingent. It really seems like this should be a world where the supernaturals mesh with human society rather than being utterly separate.

I believe I've ranted some about Mircea in my Cassie Palmer reviews, if not the overview, but he's gonna get his own section here. I, uh, pretty much hate Mircea. He's utterly selfish and a complete ass to those who he professes to love. He's so obsessed with his dead wife that he courts Pythias across his centuries of life to see if they'll consent to bringing her back to the present instead of her just dying. It's made worse in Cassie's case due to his a) not knowing if she was going to by Pythia in the first place; b) putting a really gross charm/curse thing on her when she's really young; c) passing off the way used to break said charm/curse to someone else; d) vampire marrying her under the influence of the charm/curse gone wrong; and e) not mentioning his ulterior motive for any of this to her until well after he'd established a relationship with her. Like, what the hell? In regards to the Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab series, Mircea's big thing is about Dorina. Keeping Dorina separated from Dory well after he should have. Not even wanting to explain anything to Dorina before or after separating them. Not even wanting to talk to Dorina after discovering he hadn't quite locked her down as much as he thought he had. Oh, and 500-something years after the fact, painting Dorina as the absolute worst creature ever in order to get Dory to consent to trying to lock Dorina away again. Sir, that is your daughter, whether you like it or not. I understand locking Dorina away essentially saved both Dory and Dorina from certain death, but once they were adults, you really should have, I dunno, asked for their opinions on the matter. I also get that Dorina doesn't seem that angry with him about it, but I'll stay angry on her behalf. While he was locking Dorina away, Mircea also wiped Dory’s memory of her life, ostensibly to protect her, but it’s not until Time’s Fool where we find out just how much of her memory he wiped. She doesn’t even recognize him when he hires her to take care of some revenants. What the hell, Mircea? To make matters worse in the present, Mircea goes swanning off during a WAR after his not-as-dead-as-previously-thought wife... 500-something years after her supposed death. Yeah... fuck Mircea.

I really enjoy how Fae/Fey play a role in Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab. Mostly the so-called "Dark Fey" in the form of the trolls who live with Dory and Claire. Claire herself with her dragon-half and cadre of "Light Fey" bodyguards is a nice grounding influence. Not sure I love the dichotomy of Claire being a vegetarian and her dragon half definitely carnivorous, but she's an otherwise great character. I love Olga to death. She's the kind of community mom that Dory seems to need around. Caedmon I could probably do without... but, ya know, gotta have those allies in this big war that's going on in the background. Olga's sons of nephews (I can't be bothered to remember or look up which they are) are alright and just kinda there for the most part.

I'm a big fan of Ray. He's mostly comic relief when he's introduced, but it turns out he's a lot more valuable to Dory and Dorina than anyone originally thought. I like how stubborn he is about protecting his vampire family. I like how he is with Dorina, not coming across as condescending or anything to a being who's basically a child. Ray's resourceful and funny and I just really enjoy his character.

I will say, Karen Chance does have a habit of introducing random characters to the series in info-dumpy kind of ways. One that really stands out is the War Mage Jacob, probably because he was kind of a big deal in Shadow's Bane. For some reason, though, this sort of thing works well in that we're meet Dory present day with some 500 years of experience under her belt. It's not as though she hasn't had time to make connections we just haven't seen.

So, after a couple days of slogging through four pages of Time's Fool, I've decided to drop the Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab series. I was just really disappointed in how Karen Chance chose to go from a cliffhanger at the end of Queen's Gambit to jumping to the 1500s and completely away from the modern-day storyline. Maybe I'm just used to my series going chronologically from one event to the next, but I'm annoyed with the whole thing now. It's actually kind of sad, because I really enjoyed Queen's Gambit and was otherwise enjoying the Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab series. I might look up the next Dory book when it comes out, but it's not on my priority list the way something like the Anita Blake series is. You can read more about this decision in my Time's Fool review.

Overall, the Midnight's Daughter/Dorina Basarab series is delightful. Quick-paced action and somewhat funny interludes and actual compelling mysteries serve the series well. The character work is well done, too. I definitely did not do it justice in this overview.

Intrigues by Mercedes Lackey

Slightly Spoilery Review

I said in my Foundation review that Collegium Chronicles would be a good place to point Harry Potter fans. I still stand by that, but I will definitely say that Collegium Chronicles ramps up the darkness much quicker than Harry Potter did. Intrigues literally has Mags getting depressed to the point of suicide. So if you are going to recommend Collegium Chronicles to anyone, you might want to warn them about that. It’s far more visceral than even Vanyel’s descent in The Last Herald Mage. I wasn’t expecting Mag’s depression at all.

While kind of on the subject of Harry Potter, I’m going to come out and say that Kirball is much more fun to read than Quidditch. It would definitely be muuuuch harder to turn into a real-world sport (impossible, really, because Companions), but it’s much more fun to read. I liked the way the teams were structured and I can definitely see how it’s fully living up to its dual role as war training. I do hope the players eventually get to play different positions on the team, because I’m sure there would be instances of Companions being taken out of commission and such that at least the Heralds would need to know how to deal with.

All that aside, I very much enjoyed Intrigues. It definitely lived up to that title. Everyone is much more in their own little worlds within the Collegium at this point, at least as far as Mags’ group of friends. Bear’s got his family stuff to deal with; Lena’s finally getting a bit of attention from her father; and the Kirball teams have been established. It actually kind of reminds me of the Buffy episode “Earshot” in which Mags is essentially playing the part of Jonothan… everyone’s too wrapped up in their own crap to really help Mags deal with his. Which, shame on the Mindhealers for not calling him in for therapy or something. Poor kid.

Also shame on all the Farseers for letting their visions get out. I feel like that stuff should be strictly controlled as to who gets to know what the visions contain. It obviously only causes strife. They need a better system that does not lead to a student being ostracized the way Mags was.

Of course, Mags’ depression wasn’t overly egregious or just there to serve the plot. I feel like anyone would sink into a depression after such a public ostracism and then rift with their only friends… and what happened with Dallen. Dallen’s injury definitely broke the camel’s back… no puns intended. The whole situation was just bad from start to finish.

Anyway, except for the depression part of the book, I felt Intrigues was an enjoyable read. The ante is definitely upped in a satisfying way. I only wish Mags a better second year at the Collegium. 

Favorite Line

::We’re none of us quite so sure of our place in the world that we can’t be rocked off our feet by bad times. It’s the getting back up again that counts. Not that you fall, but getting back up again counts for more in the long run.:: - Dallen

Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff

Reread Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: April 16, 2013

Previously posted to my old blog at about the same time

I mentioned earlier that this is one of my all-time favorite books so we'll go out on a limb and say that I loved it. I also love rereading it, which I don't get to do often. There are just so many wonderful nuggets in it for a fantasy/mythology nerd like myself.

Summon the Keeper introduces Claire Hansen, Keeper, and her talking cat, Austin. It holds true that if there is a snarky talking cat, you're usually off to a good start. Claire sort of inherits a guest house where there's a hole to Hell in the basement and a "Sleeping Beauty-ed" Keeper in one of the rooms. The maintenance man/cook of the guest House is Dean. He's also the running love interest and all-around-hero-type. A couple chapters in, we're also introduced to Jacques, the ghost. Each of these characters is well developed and brought to life brilliantly. Their interactions comprise most of the action in the book, but it never gets stale.

For most of the book, the story revolves around Claire running the guest house. This would be boring if all the guests were normal. The guests most assuredly aren't normal in any sense of the word. We get werewolves, a vampire, old gods/goddesses, and a psychic medium, along with a bevy of supernatural visitors on Halloween. Not to mention, the next door neighbor, Mrs. Abrams, popping in all willy-nilly.

In addition to the guests, Claire must battle the forces of Hell, who/which is hilarious. Hell is one of the best parts of Summon the Keeper. It has running dialogues with itself and the occasional talks with Claire and Austin. I would go into that more, but I think Hell is best discovered on your own.

The world Claire, Austin, Dean, and Jacques inhabit is slowly built up throughout the book. It sort of reminds me of Buffy, but only in the supernatural existing alongside the "real" world quite well. Well, that and the humor. The Keepers' function is to fix whatever holes happen to be torn in the fabric of reality. There are Cousins, who are essentially lower-tier Keepers... sort of. Claire explains it better in the book. As for the rest, go read the book. Not spoiling any of the fun surprises is rather hard at this point. I will say this, though: You don't have to be gigantically versed in mythology to enjoy Summon the Keeper. It helps a bit, but it's not required.

I think if you're a fan of mythology, fantasy, and humor, you'll love this book as much as I do. Of course, as I love Summon the Keeper to bits, I'm rather biased.

In the Forests of the Night by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Reread Review

Itty-bitty spoiler in the second-to-last paragraph... kinda

This was probably my third foray into Nyeusigrube, as Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has dubbed her supernatural world. I read these books in an odd order originally, but I was in love immediately. These were the vampires I “grew up with” despite also reading Dracula and The Vampire Lestat around the same time. Atwater-Rhodes’ vampires remain my favorite iteration of the creature. Picking up one of her books is like stepping back into my teen angst… the less cringy parts of that, anyway.

In the Forests of the Night is a short, fairly easy read that really sucks you in. It’s the kind of atmospheric read that I love. I’m not sure I really felt the characters, but the atmosphere is definitely there. The world-building is straightforward, even blunt at times. There is no overtly flowery language or symbolism here. I actually quite enjoyed the way it was done here.

I’m realizing on this reread that Risika’s whole thing with Aubrey is an abuse storyline. Aubrey’s tactics are straight out of an abuser’s playbook: create a situation or situations where your target is weak. Keep them in that mindset. Keep them afraid of you. Risika overcomes all that, but only after 300 years. Even their fight at the end has Aubrey trying to intimidate her out of it rather than fighting her for most of it.

That was really my big revelation this time around… and now I find myself at a loss for words. Or at least, more coherent thought.

I enjoyed the way Risika’s turning was written. I am completely flummoxed at Alexander’s ultimate reaction to Risika. But other than that, no other insights.

I still really enjoy Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ writing. I enjoy revisiting Nyuseigrube every once in a while. It’s nice to come home to less complicated vampires.

On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

Slightly Spoilery Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: April 15, 2017

So, that was On the Other Side. Interesting.

I might not have clung to this book as much as other people seem to have (I've only read a few other reviews and they mostly seem either ecstatic about the book or overly negative), but I did enjoy the read. It was a quicker read than I was expecting, though the beginning did drag. I've never read a book quite like this one. It was definitely interesting.

On the Other Side has, at its heart, a love story that's somewhat timeless so long as you don't mind a few anachronisms or oddly over-bearing parents. This kind of romance story isn't normally my cup of tea but the excitement from Carrie on her YouTube channel was just so infectious, I knew I had to read it. I definitely enjoyed the story, even if the magic I'd been envisioning wasn't there. Not to say there is no magic, there's definitely magic, it's just not as all-encompassing as I'm used to from my magical stories.

I would also like to address, as others have, the writing style of On the Other Side. The big things others have mentioned is the "show, don't tell" aspect of writing. The belief that the author mustn't ever explicitly tell the reader anything. I feel like, in this case, the telling part at the beginning was more necessary than attempting to show the reader how it worked. The understanding of how Evie's afterlife worked was more important than trying to lead the reader by "showing." The book's not really about that part anyway. It's a means to and end and it's fine. I honestly hope Carrie learns to do away with that sort of thing in the future, but I don't have a problem with it in this book. Also, I think it's important to remember that On the Other Side is Carrie's first fiction work. Not everyone pops out a perfect novel first time out.

In Other News

I've finished another OviPets Project: Mothmon. Based on the Digimon of the same name. Mothmon took me 8 months to fully complete.

Mothmon is the first of my Armor Digimon Project, although my Bucchiemon Project was actually the first Armor Digimon I "made" on Ovipets.

Queen's Gambit by Karen Chance

A Spoiler-Free Review

Holy World Building Spree, Batman. There is a lot packed into Queen's Gambit. A. Lot. I'm not even completely sure I understood it all or that it's going to stick in my head, but yeah. So much. We got pre-Mircea vampire stuff. Got a good chunk of the aftermath of Cleopatra and Anthony's battle with their Master (Sokkwi, apparently)... and yes, I will call them (her) that at this point because there's too many "Consuls" to do otherwise and if you didn't realize she was Cleopatra by now... I can't help you. Anyway, we also got Dorina's side of things, which was wonderful an frustrating. We got a good deal of Hong Kong post Dragon's Claw. We got vampire politics. Just so, so much. And largely engaging, too boot.

All of that said and although I really do enjoy the building out of the mythology surrounding this universe, it still really bugs me that we're stirring mythologies together like they all have the same roots. I will give the Greek/Roman stuff specifically a past as they're mostly Romans copy-pasting things, but tying in the Egyptian and Norse pantheons... no. These three mythologies were a hell of a lot more separate than Karen Chance is making them out to seem. Yes, there was a little bit of crossover with the Egyptian mythology and Greek/Roman stuff, but not enough to just copy-paste gods onto each other. Not to mention Norse is so far afield from any of the others... and that's not even bringing in the South American mythologies that Hassani blathers about during his snake/sun-god thing... This sort of thing really, really, really bugs me. It was overall a smaller part of Queen's Gambit than I'm making it out to be, but that's how much it bugs me.

Speaking of Hassani's snake/sun-god thing... the big ol' fight in the "morgue" (I guess it was a morgue, I was confused) was fun. I was not expecting a big fight like that at about the mid-point of the book. It really felt like a finale fight more than a mid-book fight.

Okay, so, I'm a very glad that Dory and Louis-Cesare are more of a unit in Queen's Gambit than they have been. I appreciate Dory literally pulling Louis-Cesare aside to discuss her issues with his treatment of her. Communication is key and they definitely do some work on that here. Makes me happy to see.

I also really enjoyed Dorina and Ray in Faerie. Although most of that was Dorina's memories, the actual running around Faerie the pair did was interesting. I'm very glad we got to see more of Faerie than we have in the past. Ya know, more caves and crazy rivers is fun. Nimue was... there. I like that she's so far divorced from the Arthurian stuff Chance originally pulled her from. Dorina's memories were a nice little respite from the crazy happening with Dory. They did make me even more angry with Mircea than I was at the end of Ride the Storm, but I will refrain from ranting about that now. I like Dorina so far. She's definitely different from Dory, which I suppose should have been obvious, but she's also not a rage-filled as one might expect.

The whole Hong Kong "underworld" section was honestly a blur. I like the come-alive graffiti idea. It was kind of constantly confusing, though. That might have been the amount of random graffiti or the amount of characters in this section, but... yeah. Crazy-pants stuff that I'm having a hard time recalling even five minutes after I read it.

The ending... uh yeah... that was an ending. I won't spoil it, but it did feel really convenient. Especially with certain characters showing up a little earlier and straight-up murdering other ones... and 360 change of heart apparently? Okay then. But Hassani turns out to be a better guy than I had the original impression he was, so that's nice. I'd like Hassani to be the main consul we deal with now, thanks. Cleopatra isn't nearly as fun or interesting.

My last note is about Dory and Cassie apparently actually meeting at some point. I decided after Ride the Storm to stop reading the Cassie books, so I completely missed this meeting. I feel like the execution of the summary of that meeting in Queen's Gambit left much to be desired, especially as it meant so much to Louis-Cesare, who is a more Dory-side character... I assume, anyway. Maybe would have been nice as a prologue or something, although Queen's Gambit is already quite long and stuffed.

Anyway, I did quite enjoy Queen's Gambit. Took me much less time to get through than the last few books, so that's also nice.

Foundation by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

People always seem to talk about the next books they should read after Harry Potter. Or at least they used to. I think I might point them in the direction of Foundation. It might not be as “magical” strictly speaking as Harry Potter, but it’s a fairly nice school story, all told. Foundation was also a fairly good introduction to the world of Valdemar. Much better than The Mage Wars or The Last Herald Mage. I quite enjoyed it.

Reading the Valdemar books in chronological order the way I am made reading certain parts of Foundation interesting. Well, mostly the part about the vrondi. I immediately clocked what was going on with the foreigner Mage — who isn’t actually confirmed as a Mage in the story but, knowing what Vanyel tasked the vrondi with made it obvious. Also seeing how Valdemar seems to have forgotten that Mages are a thing is interesting. Kind of concerning, actually, but I’m sure that’s more of a “furture Valdemar” problem.

Moving on to characters; I thought Mags was an engaging protagonist. I like him and Dallen a lot. Dallen’s currently fighting Yfandes for the spot as my favorite Companion. Mags is also a good POV character as, despite living in Valdemar his entire life, he knows next to nothing about it or its customs. I probably learned more about Valdemar and how it works from Foundation than I did from any of the previous series or short stories.

I also like Lena and Bear, though they felt more tacked on after Mags spends a good chunk of the book with Lydia and her friends instead of Lena and Bear. But I liked them alright. Herald Jakyr… clearly a dude with attachment issues. I’m not sure what to say about him. I did like Herald Nikolas, though. He seems like an interesting man, especially as a King’s Own. Mind you, I’ve “experienced” all two of those in Shavri from The Last Herald Mage and Talia from The Heralds of Valdemar.

So yeah, I felt Foundation was really good as both a Valdemar novel and a school novel. Highly recommend to fans of either series or sub-genre.

Dragon's Claw by Karen Chance

A Spoiler Free Review

Okay so, I have come to realize that although Karen Chance does write some pretty good battle scenes, her writing really shines in the quieter moments. It’s a shame, really, that the quieter moments between epic battles are subsumed by those battles. I was really enjoying the “Dory plays detective” aspects of this novella and then most of that went out of my head because of the high-stakes epic battle that always happens toward the end of Karen Chance’s books.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Pritkin show up. I found it a little weird that we only know it’s Pritkin is because the nameless Irin name-drops him. Which is like, Easter Egg for those reading both Cassie and Dory books. I don’t know that I would have taken that one name drop and followed him from the Dory books to the Cassie books, but I might have been more interested if it was more than a single name drop and not “the mage” or “maybe a mutant” thing that was going on.

As for the ultimate “villain reveal” I’m feeling incredibly underwhelmed. The info-dump of the reveal is… not great. It definitely doesn’t make me wanna go back and re-look at all the clues and it didn’t make me go “oh that works really well.” Just blah. And the “villain” remains nameless, so the ending has even less of an impact.

I might be expecting a lot from a novella, but this really doesn’t feel like it had much bearing on the overall story. It feels like Dragon’s Claw largely serves as a vehicle to showcase Dorina’s power set and solidify Cheung and Zheng’s places on the Senate. I could be wrong, but I guess I’ll see once I start Queen’s Gambit. 

Favorite Line

"To be remembered is the only real eternity." - Irin

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

A Mostly Spoiler Free Review

I have pretty much loved this entire series. Seanan McGuire stole my heart as swiftly as the Doors steal away children. Lost in the Moment and Found is no exception. In fact, I probably enjoyed this one the best out of the single character stories. Antsy might not be the most well-rounded character, but I liked her well enough.

So, the author’s note at the beginning of the book had me in a sort of dread lock while reading the first part of Lost in the Moment and Found. The warning was a good idea for those who have experienced the same type of trauma Antsy did, but it definitely had me reading in a “when is the other shoe going to drop” kind of way. I am so glad Antsy got the chance and made the decision to run. That said, Lost in the Moment and Found is definitely dark but doesn’t stay that way… mostly.

I also enjoyed the Land of Lost Things. Definitely brought back memories of how thrift stores felt when I was younger. I would very much enjoy going back with either Antsy or a different character.

This part is kind of a spoiler, but I think it bears some talking about. Vineta and Hudson’s attitude toward the cost and letting the children make the informed choice is very understandable. Vineta experienced the cost and doesn’t think it would really make that much of a difference letting the kids know. Hudson’s got that longer view due to the magpies being around to see whether or not it would make a difference to know the cost. Antsy not realizing there even was a cost was also understandable. We have to teach kids about cost because they just don’t know until they learn eventually. I very much agree with Elodina and Antsy’s view that the cost must be known. Informed consent is best consent. Just letting kids do all the dirty work, essentially, without knowing what they’re giving up is just messed up.

Speaking of information, I really liked that we got some more information about the Doors and how they work. I always enjoy the world-building aspects of this series.

I’m really not sure if I can say much else without properly spoiling things, so I’ll just stop here. If, for some reason, this is your first Wayward Children book, I highly recommend reading the rest of the series. It’s wonderful and Lost in the Moment and Found is a wonderful addition.

Shadow's Bane by Karen Chance

A Spoiler Free Review

Well, that was a fun, crazy, but still coherent ride. Dory fights slavers and body-jumping fey and finally kinda figures out how to communicate with Dorina. Kinda, cuz it’s really Dorina who initiates all the communication, but it will do.

Dory and Dorina aren’t the only ones dealing with alternate personalities here. Claire is also learning to deal with her dragon side. She’s also finally slowly accepting the vampires she’s just going to have to deal with if Dory’s around, which I think is a good thing.

We also learn more about the Fey in Shadow’s Bane. Caedmon is an actual font of information, even if it’s mostly the legend of Alfhild. There’s actually a lot packed in there. All the stuff about fey bones and the vargr powers. Very important. I was less pleased with Caedmon deciding to bait Louis-Cesare, but I guess it was kind of fun?

Louis-Cesare and Dory are yet again doing the on-again-off-again relationship thing that I hate. It’s even more annoying because they had it worked out and were being all cute and then Dorina’s suddenly a threat… it’s just ridiculous and they don’t actually talk it over. I’m just really hoping now Dory and Dorina have more or less worked out their shit that the Louis-Cesare stuff is settled. I think Dory and Louis-Cesare would work much better as more of a power couple.

Ray’s back. Cementing himself as Dory’s Second and bringing her a vampire family. I’m interested to see how that works out with her being a dhampir and all.

I quite liked the plot of Shadow’s Bane. It all manages to hang together really well. I’m not entirely sure I like how it was all info-dumped for Marlowe toward the end, but I guess we gotta spell it out somehow.

Shadow’s Bane is definitely more of an introspective book, but Dory’s introspection often comes with action, of which there is plenty. Most of the fight scenes are chaotic but fairly easy to follow. My favorite one was the Louis-Cesare/Kit Marlowe fight. It made me laugh. So yeah, pretty good all around.

Favorite Lines

"Love is sending someone away, because you would rather hurt than hurt them, Love is fighting beside them, bleeding along with them, and putting their well-being above your own. Love is trembling at their touch so much that you do not notice that they are trembling at yours." - Louis-Cesare

"Read a book sometime, you philistine." - Radu Basarab

The Last Herald Mage Overview

The Last Herald Mage by Mercedes Lackey

There will be spoilers for the entire trilogy in this post. You have been warned.

Alright, here we go. The Last Herald Mage trilogy is kind of a hard one for me to put an overall label on. The series takes place basically over Herald-Mage Vanyel Ashkevron's lifetime but there are very few actual events from that lifetime that we get to witness. Mostly we get to witness Van's various recovery eras rather than his exploits, which I think is fair. Vanyel has got to be one of the most traumatized characters I've encountered in a while.

So when we first meet him, Vanyel is being mentally abused by his father, Withen and various siblings/foster-siblings while at the same time being physically abused by the Forst Reach's weapon's master, Jervis. All this prompts Withen to send Van off to his sister in Haven, Savil. While this stops the abuse, Van ends up pretty much shutting himself off emotionally from everyone he meets until one Tylendel Frelennye manages to get under Van's skin and break him of this destructive behavior. It's nice that Tylendel is able to do this, really, but that relationship is pretty much never healthy. Healthier than it could have been, yes, but it's not great that they become codependent.

I've never been a fan of the Van/Tylendel pairing and I really think part of that has to do with how rushed it is in Magic's Pawn. We go from Tylendel bringing Van out of his protective shell to them being absolutely inseparable (within Savil's living quarters anyway) to Tylendel's breakdown upon the death of his twin and Tylendel's death, all in pretty quick succession. We barely get to see Van and Tylendel as an actual couple and their dynamic is remarked upon as being potentially unhealthy by Savil, who then never really checks up on that afterward. She just leaves them to their own devices even when she probably shouldn't have. Aaand then Tylendel manipulates Van... so it's just always left this icky feeling behind, for me anyway.

I find the Van/Stefen romance much more palatable, reincarnation stuff aside. It really doesn't affect their relationship at all anyway, since Savil and Starwind opt not to tell them about that. I feel like Van and Stefen came at their relationship in a much healthier manner and it really feels like an actual relationship. I'm also glad Stefen stuck by Van when they went off after Van's nemesis. Van needed a more grounding influence on that trip than even Yfandes could provide... and then, ya know, help through the trauma after the bandits captured him. Thinking about Van's relationships now, actually, it's like the difference between your do-or-die teen romances as opposed to more adult ones. Just all the cringe followed by something much, much better.

And speaking of those changing relationships, Van and his parents are interesting to look at. We're made to really dislike Withen Ashkevron in Magic's Pawn but by the Magic's Price he's mostly a cuddly teddy bear. I think the progression throughout Van's life is quite realistic, even if, at times, it does seem a little rushed. I found the timeline a tad hard to keep track of between Magic's Promise and Magic's Price, to be honest, which accounts for the rushed feeling. Withen's change in attitudes are also helped along by the death of Father Leren and a retelling of Moondance's story. Treesa, on the other hand, is a bit of an odd duck to me. I like that she at least attempts to foster Van's talents and later completely accepts Yfandes. I find her clinging to youth thing more annoying than anything else, and that "courtly love" thing she does rubbed me the wrong way. Of course, not being a girly-girl myself and having absolutely no flirting game, I'm not even sure how the "courtly love" thing actually works. However, if it's coming on strong enough to freak out a traumatized child, there's an issue.

Van's other family members aren't really worth going into, but I do have to mention Van's sister, Lissa. I wish we'd gotten more Lissa. I liked Lissa.

Jervis turned out to be a much more likeable man and important character during Magic's Promise. He clearly had some time to think about how he treated Van and how he should be treating his other charges. I think it's a little odd he didn't tell Van why he wanted to spar all the time instead of just letting Van stew about it... but it turned out all right in the end.

I feel like I'd be a bit remiss in not mentioning the Tayledras pair of Moodance and Starwind k'Treva. They are instrumental in both healing and training Van after the whole Tylendel incident. They also help after the assassination attempt on Treesa. I like them, but they're also relatively flat as characters. Moondance is more fleshed out than Starwind, but mostly because of his backstory... which is told exactly the same way in both Magic's Pawn and Magic's Price, though with different intentions.

Pivoting to the plots of The Last Herald Mage: I'm pretty sure I enjoyed Magic's Promise the most. Magic's Pawn mostly just had Van along for the ride and then recovering from that ride. Magic's Price felt like there was too much for the one book. Magic's Promise, while mildly infuriating, probably had the best overall plot. The mystery around Tashir was a good one and fairly well put together. My only issue with Magic's Promise was just how long it took Van to get back to the initial crime scene. An actual investigator, he is not. It also bugged me a little how long Van spent undercover in Lineas for fairly little reward.

There's also some discussion (actually a fairly small discussion, but turned into Stefen's life's work after Van's death) in the books about how Heralds are viewed and view themselves. I find it interesting that Herald-Mages are apparently much more valued than regular Heralds... probably because I read The Heralds of Valdemar trilogy first, in which there are no Herald-Mages. So... the numbers just don't seem to make sense to me in terms of valuation. Granted, we as readers don't actually have a good idea how many Herald-Mages there were to normal Heralds, but we do know there aren't many older Herald-Mages to act as guides to the younger Herald-Mage Trainees... hence part of why Savil had three trainees at the start of Magic's Pawn. The Herald-Mages were also largely wiped out during the war with Karse to the point that it left Savil, Lissandra, Van, and Kilchas as the remaining Herald-Mages. The numbers in my head of Heralds vs Herald-Mages just don't make sense with how the general public views them... I mean, I guess it's probably more akin to, like, A-list celebrities vs the rest of Hollywood. I don't know. It's just odd to me.

I'm not really sure I have much else to say about The Last Herald Mage. I did enjoy the trilogy a lot more than I did The Mage Wars and a little less than The Founding of Valdemar. Yfandes is probably my favorite Companion.