Exile's Valor by Mercedes Lackey

Exile’s Valor is probably my favorite Valdemar book at the moment. That might be due to the ending that made me cry, but I did really enjoy the book as a whole. Each of the elements combined really well. Definitely the superior spy book when compared to Herald Spy and Family Spies.

I like getting a look at what weapons practices are like from the Weaponsmaster’s POV. Makes a change from pretty much always having from a student’s POV.

Neat to read how glass is shaped and stuff. Highly recommend watching the Netflix’s Blown Away to actually witness some of that. They make some pretty cool art pieces. Not really practical, like Alberich is interested in, but neat all the same.

I like that Selenay’s still grieving toward the beginning of the book. She should be. It’s not like grief ever really goes away, and definitely not if you haven’t had time to really process anything because of how busy you are. As busy as Selenay is. Of course, that this essentially leads to the whole Karath thing is a bit regrettable, but… it is what it is.

We also basically have confirmation that Kirball isn’t a thing anymore… or, ya know, yet, as publication times go. Alberich essentially created Hurlee, though he didn’t know it at the time. As I’d completely forgotten about Hurlee except for reading random reviews of the Collegium Chronicles where people were complaining about it not existing, that’s not a big deal. Just interesting to see an author’s mind at work vs her readers. Also, I kind of see how Hurlee got so lodged in peoples minds, as it does play a very large role here. Alberich remarks that it’ll probably fade, which I’m going to take as some confirmation as to what happened to Kirball. These things happen.

It’s also really interesting to see how a majority of Alberich’s spy stuff went on to influence Mags’. Obviously some things weren’t thought up during Exile’s Valor that ended up being created in The Herald Spy, so there are technically continuity errors if you’re reading chronologically, like I am. I find the differences interesting, even if The Herald Spy completely ruined my enjoyment of the spy stuff in Valdemar. That said, I feel like Alberich’s spy stuff is just more believable than Mags’.

I actually quite like the Alberich/Mytse pairing and bit of romance. It feels quite real, as far as fictional relationships are often choreographed. Selenay/Karath, however… much barf. I am not really a fan of their kind of romance. Aaand considering how that turns out… still barf. Lots of barf.

It’s an interesting move that Karath is being known as Karath and not the name he had in Rethwellan among his family (Thanel)… known because the first part of By the Sword comes before/happens at the same time as this bit of Exile’s Valor. Makes sense, if you’re at least trying to separate your past self from your present self, or from your reputation.

Mical’s volunteering has me legit in tears. The hurlee team leaping to Selenay’s defense at the drop of Alberich’s vision was also tear-inducing. I’m not even particularly attached to them and their immediate reaction to their duty is just… aaaahhhh. Not to mention the rest of the Heralds and Trainees.

Given how Mercedes Lackey doesn’t shy away from certain realities of life, I shouldn’t really be super surprised Selanay has postpartum depression. I also kind of knew that from reading later books in the chronology. Selanay’s not super motherly in Elspeth’s direction, if I'm remembering correctly.

So yeah, I ended up really enjoying Exile’s Valor. It was a lot of fun with a good tempering of emotion to go along with it.