Eye Spy by Mercedes Lackey

The first half of Eye Spy is rather anthology-like, threaded together with Abi’s schooling and her run-ins with the Remps. The second half focuses on Abi’s “big adventure” in the wilds of an un-incorporated territory. The second half, I feel, is much better than the first half. There is a slight spoiler in the paragraph right before the “Continuity Error” section, just FYI.

I really like Abi as a character. She’s level headed and smart and apparently Asexual, so yay for representation. I quite like the way everyone’s treating her Gift. I even like the way Healer Sanje is planning to alter and train it. It’s fun to watch someone slowly learn about their Gift rather than just have it and have mastered it and/or master it quickly. Feels more realistic, especially if it’s a weaker Gift at first. Abi’s whole progression in this book is realistic, which is good.

Most of the characters introduced in Eye Spy are ancillary. The most important and recurring character is Princess Kat. I liked her. Abi’s school mates were largely just there to pad out that part of the story, I feel. Stev and Jicks were alright. I doubt we’ll see much more of Jicks, which is a shame because she was a fun, active character. Finally, the Masters that rounded out the Valdemar delegation were alright. Again, mostly there to pad out the story and give expertise where Abi could not.

On a separate note: Mag’s annoying accent is back and I still hate it. Along with the story of The Order of Sethor which I had hoped to never hear from again… only lasted for half a second, story-wise, but I’m still annoyed.

Aaand my favorite thing to gripe about: Magic. Because Abi is across the border out of Valdemar, we get another example of how Valdemar is dumb because of the lack of magic. Everyone outside of Valdemar seems to have magic and Valdemar only has mind-magic because… Vanyel, apparently. Still so very, very dumb. Especially if sections that have magic are thinking to incorporate themselves into Valdemar. All the Mages in those sections are going to go nuts once the vrondi start watching them, which is not a good thing. This story just hammers home how dumb Valdemar’s anti-magic thing actually is.

I find is ridiculous that Dudley Remp thinks he actually has a chance to take over whatever land he wants outside Valdemar. It doesn’t actually make any sense and is only a plot point due to his connection to Abi. That Abi thinks this makes sense… just no. This reveal just up and killed my enjoyment of this book. I really would have been completely fine with Karsites as the antagonists at the end.

The Continuity Error Section

Couple of mistakes I noticed right off: when describing how Amily was chosen by Rolan, Anily was referred to as Kat’s mother. A King Stefan is mentioned here when it should be Sedric.

I’m also very confused about Master Leandro and Tuck. In The Hills Have Spies Perry mentions that Master Leandro was the one who made Mags and Amily’s weapons-laden wedding clothes, making me think he’d been retconned to be Tuck. Now, Abi’s talking about a “mysterious craftsman” in Haven who can’t be anyone but Tuck. So apparently Master Leandro is just Master Jorthun’s Weapons Master. This is annoying and confusing.

Overall, I like Eye Spy. It might not have been as good as The Hills Have Spies but it wasn’t a disappointment, either. I’m looking forward to finishing off this trilogy.

Favorite Lines

"I like clever people. Dull ones irritate me, especially those who expect to be told what to do, and if they are not told, do nothing, even when something that needs doing is right in front of them." - Healer Sanje

"I've dealt with bureaucrats all of my life, my dear," Vance replied. "They're like a nervous horse. If you give them a chance to think, nine times out of ten they freeze, and the tenth time they balk. The only way to handle them is to rush them at and over the problem before they get a chance to get a good look at it." - Master Vance