Valdemar Anthologies Batch 2

Passages edited by Mercedes Lackey

My review is broken into pieces following each individual story in the order I read them in. I only read three stories from this anthology.

“Temper” by Mercedes Lackey: Kind of a cute little tale of Kerowyn’s first couple weeks with the Skybolts. It was alright.

“Expected Consequences” by Elizabeth A. Vaughan: I do believe Cera and Jebren are going to end up being an item. Nice continuation of Cera’s tale.

“Tables Turned” by Kristin Schewengel: Cute little tale of what happened in Valdemar when the k’Sheyna Heartstone’s power jumped to Haven… at least concerning one Herald.
 

 

Seasons edited by Mercedes Lackey

My review is broken into pieces following each individual story in the order I read them in. I read five stories from this anthology.

“A Midnight Clear” by Mercedes Lackey: Another cute little tale of Van and Vixen and monster spiders. I definitely noticed that “Vixen” and “A Midnight Clear” share Lackey’s exact descriptions of Kettleford and Matya’s home. Anyway, it was definitely cute. Not sure if dressing up spiders in wool makes them more or less terrifying…

“Going Home” by Louisa Swann: Liana from another short story was only 14-15?!!! Frigging Tedrels. I’m very glad she essentially got revenge on her abuser.

“Unknowable Consequences” by Elizabeth A. Vaughan: Makes me happy that Emerson’s parents are accepting of who he is and of his and Withen’s (yes, spelled how it was in the original Lady Cera story he appeared in) burgeoning relationship. I also quite enjoy Xenos and Jebren as a pair. Overall a nice little continuation to Lady Cera’s tale.

“A Midwinter’s Gift” by Kristin Schwengel: About as boring as the plot of Closer to Home, what with a young lady almost ruining her reputation for some ne’er do well… but hey, new spy acquired, I guess. Not the same characters.

“One Town at a Time” by Jennifer Brozek: It’s usually a good thing to have the status quo questioned every once in a while. Not super great when it’s someone like Wendel, though. Reiterating what Heralds are essentially for, even if just among themselves, isn’t bad either. This was the first story of the anthology, too, so extra awesome time to reexplain Heralds briefly.