Storm Warning by Mercedes Lackey

First question, mostly because of the Founding of Valdemar prequels… this Wolf Crown, is it a remade one or a twin or something? Cuz I could have sworn that Kordas destroyed The Wolf Crown in Valdemar. I know that Valdemar is a prequel, given its place in publication order, but that’s still the question in my mind.

I think I liked the look at The Empire, for all it was just the Emperor and Tremaine. It’s definitely less faceless now, in its “modern” form than it has been. It’s still mostly a monolith of “oooooh scary” but definitely less faceless now.

I quite enjoyed Karal as both protagonist and POV character. I wouldn’t jump into Valdemar with Storm Warning but I think you probably could with Karal acting as a good entry point character. Karal himself is also quite a fun character. Introverted, but not isolated nor wishing for isolation. I am pleased he was “granted” are Firecat. I like Altra.

I was actually pleased with An’desha’s inclusion here. I wasn’t so keen on him being included in Winds of Fury as that meant the returb of Falconsbane, who I hated. However, I actually like that An’desha wasn’t just magically fixed from an emotion standpoint. That there was fallout from his whole Falconsbane ordeal was a good thing, especially as he managed to actually serve the overall plot. I feel like An’desha’s still mostly blank as a character, though. Not a super bad thing, but a thing.

I don’t want to spoil things, but there’s a part of the book that deals with grieving. It’s very well written and had me in tears a few times as I read it.

I also really enjoyed the plot of Storm Warning. Started out slow and rather ordinary before the Mage Storms started hitting and then ramped up nicely. I also very much enjoyed the coming together of the mages and the engineers and Firesong’s dressing down. It was pretty great.

We still have the dangling plot thread of Grand Duke Tremane and The Empire, plus seeing how well those magic breakwaters work. Looking forward to seeing how all this shakes out. I have very little recall from my first read and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how much I remember versus what my brain made up.

Favorite Lines

"You don't go into a pairing intending to try and change someone to suit you. They were themselves long before you came along. You do go into a pairing ready to compromise." - Elspeth

"You change, or you turn into a dry old stick." - Karal