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.