Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey

First off, I was right in my prediction about Tremaine in Storm Rising. He indeed became King of Hardorn. Much surprise. He’ll be a good king.

Secondly, I’m really not sure exactly how to review Storm Breaking. A lot happened and a lot didn’t happen. Karal and his group in Urtho’s tower did a lot of rediscovering of Urtho’s work. Melles in The Empire did a lot of scheming. Elspeth and Darkwind did a lot of planning with Tremaine. Altogether, though, not a lot physically happened.

There is a lot of technical world-building here. Readers got a taste of how Urtho was, which is actually just about as much as we got in The Mage Wars trilogy. Urtho remains mostly a mystery. But yeah, a lot of the world-building here is very technical and not the most exciting. The Empire probably had the most world-building work done, but even that was Melles’ inner thoughts about how to run The Empire with what resources he had.

I was semi-excited to see the Teleson get reintroduced… or introduced if you’re reading in publication order. It’s a useful tool I hope will get used more in the future.

I had some vague memories from my first read of Vanyel, Yfandes, and Stefan playing a much bigger role than they did. So that was a bunch of me waiting for them to show up and do stuff and then being a little disappointed when they did. It wasn’t bad, but I did very much enjoy them and will miss them in future.

Overall, Storm Breaking was a satisfying ending to this portion of the Valdemar tale. It really did feel like a finale, if not the super exciting one I might have been hoping for.

Favorite Lines

"Cats. You can't live with them, and the fur's too thin for a rug." - Firesong

:Pay heed to the sunm but watch your feet, or you'll fall ingloriously on your nose.: - Altra

"That's religion as an excuse. Sometimes it seems to me that when religious fervor enters the mind, the wits pack up entirely and sly out the ear," Karal replied a bit sourly. "But worst of all is when powerful, ruthless people use the religious fervor of others to further their own greed." - Karal

:That's the advantage of having a Cat instead of a Horse as a partner; we don't go running off to sacrifice ourselves at the sound of the first trumpet call,: Altra said, feebly winking at Karal on the side opposite Florian. :We're sensible.:

Storm Rising by Mercedes Lackey

Storm Rising is definitely a middle book of a trilogy. Not a whole lot actually happens, but there is a lot of character work and some figuring out of stuff. It was very middling.

Theory: Tremane is going to end up as the new Hardorian king. We get to know Tremane here. We see how he is with his men, how he is with command, and even how he is when confronted with a mistake. I definitely feel like he’s essentially going to be elected King, even if he doesn’t want to take the crown. Not sure how or even is The Empire is going to play into the next book, but yeah.

So much introspection in this book. Fleshing out Firesong, An’desha, and Karal more. I liked An’desha and Karal’s character development, but really, really could not even with Firesong. Every time he showed up, I found myself wanting to just skip over his parts. Ultimately, I’m not even sure it was worth it not to.

I don’t really have feelings about the rest of Storm Rising. Like I said, it was fairly middling and not really that exciting.

Favorite Conversation

     "I'm soaked in trouble anyway, why not add hot water?"

     "Careful with that kind of talk," An'desha grinned.

     "You'll make it start raining again." - Karal and An'desha

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

Winds of Fury by Mercedes Lackey

Winds of Fury is a lot. It has to do a lot to get to a conclusion that sees the end of enemies of Valdemar who have been enemies since Talia met Elspeth in Arrows of the Queen and deal with Valdemar's magic problem, which has been a problem since Vanyel died at the end of The Last Herald Mage trilogy. It does manage to do all these things, though some of how they get this is honestly convoluted and convenient all at the same time. Parts were fun and parts made me want to speed through as quickly as I could... but overall, I think Winds of Fury was quite good.

I'm going to get the "I didn't like this" part out of the way first. Mornelithe Falconsbane managed to survive... again. Thanks, I hate it. Having him actually team up... sorta... with Ancar also landed in the category of "Thanks, I hate it." It eventually led to a very satisfying stomping of at least one of the two (Gwena was magnificent), but I still did not enjoy their team-up at all. Those were the chapters I probably would have skimmed if I had remembered anything from this book.

My notes have about two paragraphs gushing about Vanyel and Stefan being back for a bit. I was incredibly satisfied seeing them again. I was also overall satisfied with the explanation as to what the hell happened with the vrondi and the anti-magic spell thingy in Valdemar... I've only been ranting about it since Collegium Chronicles... Anyway, the chapters with Van and Stefan were a breath of fresh air and a much-needed break from the dire circumstances that were the end of Winds of Change and the ongoing war with Hardorn. I am also very glad the anti-magic thing is done and over with. Glad we've got Herald Mages back.

I genuinely loved pretty much everything that happened upon Elspeth's return to Valdemar. The reaction of people to the gryphons was great. Kerowyn's reactions to everyone was great. I enjoyed Kero since her introduction and I'm not sure I realized how much I missed her until she showed up to talk with the gryphons et al.

But yeah... I think that's really all I've got to say about Winds of Fury. Well, I guess I should mention An'desha... he was there... part of that convoluted and convenient plotting thing I mentioned in the intro. I have many shrugs in his direction. Other than that, though, I'm overall satisfied with the book/end of this trilogy.

Favorite Lines

"The mage who knows how to use simple spells cleverly is just as effective as the Adept with no imagination." - Nyara

"'Glorious Destinies get you Glorious Funerals.'" - Vanyel via Stefen

"Love is as much trust as it is devotion." - Stefen

     "Stay awake, stop fading! Or--or I'll tell you Hawkbrother jokes! How many Hawkbrothers does it take for a mating circle?"

     :No... not that... anything but that...:

     "Only one, but he has to be flexible!"

     :I'm doomed...: - Elspeth and Darkwind

Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey

Technically a Reread Review

Winds of Fate is a dense book. So much detail packed into it. It’s really no wonder I don’t remember much from my first read. There’s a bunch of Darkwind’s story to flesh out, Starblade’s backstory, Elspeth and Skif’s journey, Nyara’s story, and then bits from Dawnfire and Mornelithe. It’s a lot and it’s skillfully woven together.

I had completely forgotten about this big ol’ plot point of everyone forgetting and not being able to talk about magic in this book. So clearly forgotten it that this plot point has led to a gigantic amount of frustration in any book in the chronology past Vanyel’s books. I have ranted about it in other reviews at length. I still am not sure what about his Herald-Web spell made all this nonsense happen, because that wasn’t explicitly part of his spell, at least not that I can remember. The problem of magic in Valdemar is just as frustrating to me as it is to Elspeth. That all this has something to do with Stefan becoming part of The Forest of Sorrows is odd. Stefen was supposed to bolster the view of regular Heralds and Herald Gifts, not somehow make magic anathema to the point it’s currently at in Valdemar. So very, very odd.

So, Quentin knows elementals exist. He has a little bit in his thoughts about “an earth-elemental in the scullery.” So… why are the vrondi not identified as elementals instead of just “whatever watches Valdemar?” I do find it somewhat funny that Need is the one to finally tell someone about the dang vrondi.

I have always enjoyed Elspeth as a character. She’s been fun to watch grow up through Talia and Kero’s books. I love that she’s decided being herded in a particular direction by the Companions is not in her cards. It’s pretty great. Love me a good independent female lead. I’m also actually really glad she has the cajones to stand up to Skif’s nonsense. Not nonsense I ever thought he’d be party to, mind, but utter nonsense all the same.

Skif… doesn’t really feel like the Skif from earlier books. I’m going to chalk this up as us basically jumping from child Skif to teenage Skif to “present day” Skif who is honestly acting horribly toward Elspeth. I’m not sure if it would have helped getting something from his POV during this adventure, but perhaps. I’m also not sure how I feel about his insta-bond with Nyara. Seems detrimental, if I’m honest.

Knew Mornelithe was evil, but to make his daughter a) into a Changechild and b) desire him as much as she does is just sick. Mornelithe actually reminds me of Hadanelith from The White Gryphon. They both use a twisted form of BDSM to warp and control their “playthings.” Both are just gross, personality-wise. Mornelithe just managed to get into an actual position of power, where Hadanelith was skulking around wishing he had it. All this was written before the reveal that Mornelithe has memories of his past lives, and… I won’t reveal it here, but Skandranon is mentioned so… yeah. Go figure I’d make a connection relating to him.

We get confirmation here that the Dhorisha Plains are the former site of Urtho’s Tower. So that’s fun. Really there’s a lot more connection between Winds of Fate and The Mage Wars than I was expecting. Not bad, by any means, just bits and pieces I found interesting.

I want to say I liked Winds of Fate, but that’s mainly because I didn’t hate it. It was good, just not super awesome and didn’t really leave me with a feeling of finality to this piece of the story. That’s definitely not a bad thing, given that this is the first of a trilogy… just a thing. I am looking forward to rediscovering Elspeth’s journey in the next one.

Favorite Line

"The hertasi were fond of referring to these unwelcome intruders as 'fertilizer.'" - Darkwind's Narration

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey

I really, really enjoyed Valdemar. It was a fitting end (at least I’m pretty sure it’s the end) to The Founding of Valdemar trilogy. It hit all the points it needed to, but didn’t feel tedious in doing so. There were even some things that got cleared up satisfactorily that I didn’t even think were going to be fixed in a good way.

Lythe and Rothas are an interesting addition. I honestly thought they were just going to end up as a sort of side-quest thing. Turns out, they were really helpful and actually quite fun as characters.

The first Companions seem angelic, in their true form. Especially with the “fear not” thing Ardatha talks about. I do like that they and Kordas came up with how the Heralds would function. Glad to know it wasn’t just Companions appearing and dictating to their Chosen how it was going to work.

The first Herald/Companion rescue mission had me tearing up. I am a sucker for that sort of coming together thing… as I’ve stated multiple times in my reviews. The generosity of the Valdemaran also made me tear up, even if their surplus of stuff to kit out the Heralds was super convenient. Not a bad kind of convenient, as it makes sense in terms of what’s been laid out so far.

I’m very happy to have an explanation as to what an Adept is. That’s been a tad fuzzy, in my estimation. Lackey actually goes a lot more into the details of magic here, where she hasn’t exactly gotten that technical about it (at least as far as I’ve currently read in the Valdemar series. Jonaton and Kordas go very in depth with the coronation thingy, like, waaay more than I was expecting, just for example. Honestly, my brain is somewhat boggled at the sheer amount of magical detail we get throughout the book.

The big battle at the end made me long for more magic in the rest of the series. I’m kind of glad Valdemar came out in the middle of my reread, or else I might have been much more salty about the lack of magic in the rest of the series, even knowing The Founding of Valdemar is a prequel. Jonaton is just super inventive with his uses of magic here.

I feel like there was an inordinate amount of attention paid to the death of Sydney-You-Asshole. Don’t get me wrong, I’m also kind of sad the cat finally died, but I’m not super fond of the overly long farewell he got after everyone realized he was gone. I’ve also never thought about or even realized that Haven had a crest or a flag or whatever, so having an explanation as to why there’s a black cat on it was just like… huh. Okay then. Sydney will be missed, I guess, just not exactly by me.

But yeah, Valdemar was a fun addition to the series. I think it did a really good job doing what it needed to do as a prequel and being entertaining in its own right.

Favorite Lines

The way you remember things is not always accurate to what it actually was, but you know the way it felt. - Kordas

Celery. The vegetable of depression. - Restil 

“I have a Companion with a somewhat sarcastic vein.” 

     :It’s not a vein. It’s an entire mine. Nice of you to notice.: - Restil & Darshay

Magic is all about playing the odds and hoping you stay lucky! - Koto

By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey

I have divided my review of By the Sword into parts, just as the book was divided. Spoiler: I loved this one.

Book 1: Kerowyn’s Ride

Aside from Alberich’s battling bandits at the beginning of Exile’s Honor, this is the most brutal beginning to anyone’s story we’ve had yet. Aaand I forgot Tarma’s introduction, so I’m wrong. But it’s up there with that.

I like that Kerowyn has a moment of revulsion at having killed. I like her reasoning the guilt out. Kerowyn’s a fun character all around. She’s headstrong in a good way.

We got an interesting look at how Need actually takes over. We didn’t get a lot of that from Kethry’s POV. Kero’s handling of Need was also neat. Looks like Need’s actually found herself a partner rather than a someone she can control.

Oh NOW we get a mention of the vrondi watching Kethry and Valdemar’s weird anti-magic thing that makes zero sense. I’m rolling my eyes here. And yes, I’m likely to mention this crap every single time it comes up until it’s not an issue anymore.

Book 2: Two Edged Blade

I had a feeling Kero was going to end up leading the Skybolts, wasn’t expecting the long journey to get there, but yeah.

Speaking of the journey, I am somewhat disappointed Kero doesn’t end up going to Valdemar to at least claim Eldan’s bounty or whatever. I liked Eldan and Ratha. I liked that Kero ultimately made the more “adult” decision to leave them so they could get back to Valdemar.

Book 3: The Price of Command

Again we get the whole “no magic in Valdemar” issue. I’m a little surprised Quentin and his set couldn’t figure out the vrondi but I also feel like that would have taken up too much “screen time” anyway.

Even though I knew it was coming, the Skybolts’ vote to stay and fight made me tear up. Heck, Daren arriving even though I knew he would had me in tears as well. I dunno if it’s the sudden burst of hope or just that I’m tired and easily affected by this sort of thing, but… yeah. Happy tears were shed. I won’t say anymore as this is already bordering on spoilers.

Overall, I really enjoyed By the Sword. It was fun, if long, but it really needed the length. I’m glad Ancar got dealt with right away in the chronology, too. Or at least mostly dealt with. I am very much looking forward to continuing my Valdemar journey.

Arrow's Fall by Mercedes Lackey

So, Arrow’s Fall was kind of a mixed bag for me. Some of it I found extremely frustrating and parts were very good, if anxiety inducing. I feel it was a satisfying “ending” to Talia’s tale. I say it like that, because she does survive and goes on to fulfill her Queen’s Own duties. But yeah, this review will make it abundantly clear how I felt about certain parts.

Kris really should have known to make it crystal fucking clear to Dirk that he and Talia weren’t a thing. Kris should have explained that they were just friends, instead of leaving Dirk to wonder. But noooo, Kris is too damn pleased with how Dirk’s acting in Talia’s direction, he didn’t even think to make it crystal clear to Dirk. I really, really hate these kinds of plot points. Love triangles annoy me to no end. It’s not even a proper love triangle, as Kris and Talia already had their relationship worked out… it’s just Dirk and Talia both refusing to actually talk to each other. And yes, I said both. Talia could have said something but instead she was waiting on Dirk to make a move he clearly wasn’t going to. I’m just so annoyed about this entire thing.

Finally, this is where Lord Orthallan comes to the fore in all his manipulative glory. Figures that he’d be in it for the crown he literally cannot have without outside help. Le sigh, so annoying. It’s really no surprise he’s been attempting to undermine Heralds and failing miserably. I’m not sure I suspected him of being behind everything it turned out he was behind, but as I did suspect him of a lot… I dunno, I call that a win for me.

Here we see a fine example of non-Valdemarans, and non-Heralds as I assume Lord Orthallan doesn’t actually believe Companions are what they are, not really understanding what a Companion is and therefore completely discounting them. Hulda has no clue Talia appearing without Rolan wouldn’t do anything to help her plan. No one in Hardorn knows Rolan was sent with Talia’s message or even thought to try and detain him… not that they could. Hulda’s original plan for Elspeth would have failed completely anyway, if Elspeth wasn’t ever Chosen and she just gives no shits about that and probably didn’t think it would be an issue. It’s just really interesting to me that no one outside Valdemar and the Heraldic Circle thinks about the Companions as important outside of being mounts for Heralds.

It’s also hilarious to me that Hulda is given to monologuing. She doesn’t even stop despite Talia calling her out on it. Ancar’s just a gross, sadistic human. Not even that interesting. “I consider myself an artist” please. He and Hulda together are just horrific. I hate them so, so much.

Dirk and Elspeth’s rescue attempt had me in tears. Rolan and the Companions coming to help made it worse.

The way Rolan addresses Dirk is odd, like he can’t just say Dirk’s name or originally didn’t bother to learn any of the Heralds’ names. Just weird. None of the other Companions seem to have issues talking about other Heralds by name, even if they don’t talk to them.

So yeah, Arrow’s Fall, a fitting end to the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy. I largely enjoyed it, even though it was also highly frustrating.

Favorite Line

"What is it," Talia asked the ceiling above her head, "what is it about would-be tyrants that makes them speak and posture like a third-rate gleeman in a badly-written play?"

Arrow's Flight by Mercedes Lackey

Arrow’s Flight is honestly the first true look we’ve gotten as to what Heralds get up to on a daily basis. The regular ones, anyway. That makes sense as it’s part of the first Heralds of Valdemar series and what I’ve been reading up til now (Chronologically) just wasn’t meant to be a primer or Heralds and what they do. Not that there isn’t plenty of that, but Arrow’s Flight really drives all that home and very well.

I love the Prologue. Glad it wasn’t a first intro to Valdemar, but it’s a pretty cool intro and recap rolled into one.

I said in my last review that Lord Orthallen was one of the conspirators… apparently I was wrong. The man is rather prominent, though. Aaand sowing seeds of doubt about Talia and her Empathy… even if he says he’s maintained he’s not the one sowing those seeds. I’m definitely with Talia is being extremely wary of him, as I have been since his first chronological appearance.

I did not remember the thing about the arrows. Still probably won’t remember it… It makes sense in the context of not all Heralds having Gifts and apparently not even able to talk to their Companions the way everyone up until Talia has been able to… at least that I’ve read. However, as we’re not drilled as much as the characters about it, it probably won’t stick in my brain at all.

A good chunk of this book has me screaming at the characters to fucking talk to each other. They keep wanting to and then not doing it, which is CLEARLY just making things worse. Ugh. That even Rolan won’t talk about it is so stupid. Like, I know he can’t speak directly to Talia, but Kris and Tantris can act as go-betweens for that. Just uuuugghhhh. Add to that the misunderstanding Talia and Kris end up having about their relationship… just much groaning and eye rolling on my part. I hate when people who should talk to each other just don’t for whatever reason.

I liked getting to see some actual Gift training. It’s all well and good to be told this stuff, but it’s another thing to be seeing it through the eyes of the characters. I feel like the last book was more of the former. I like that it turns out Talia wasn’t just automatically able to perfectly control her Gift. Makes her less of a Mary Sue character. I am not so fond of everyone and their mother being afraid of her because of the rumors about her Gift, but I suppose the adversity helped?

I did ultimately enjoy Arrow’s Flight. I feel like we got a better understanding of Valdemar as a realm, rather than just the stuff at the Capital. I also quite enjoyed getting more of Talia’s grown up character, as opposed to her unfinished version. Arrow’s Flight is solid and I’m looking forward to the next part of Talia’s story. 

Favorite Lines

"Oh, huzzah, I'm a marvel of coordination. I can kill anything on two legs. That's a terrific qualification for being Heir." - Elspeth

"In that case, I can assume it's safe to come to bed?"

     "I wouldn't murder you there, anyway," she replied with a hint of her old sense of humor. "It would get the blankets all sticky." - Kris and Talia

Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Arrows of the Queen is truly where you want to start a Valdemar journey. I know this time I'm reading through chronologically and everything about Heralds is technically explained in other books to other characters, but I feel like Talia gets the best introduction and us along with her. The only issue I really have is that Rolan and Talia cannot speak mind-to-mind like all of the other Herald/Companion duos we've encountered thus far in said chronological reading of the Heralds of Valdemar series. It's not a serious issue, just an interesting one. Talia not only gets lecturing on what it means to be a Herald, but also how the Gifts work and even a peek into how special the Monarch's Own Herald is... as Talia is the Queen's Own.

Rolan being unable to mind-speak Talia really bothered me during the first portion of the book as he's taking Talia to Haven. Everyone she meets is like "there are rules" and "you'll just get confused if we tell you what's going on" which is confusing to Talia and to a reader who's not familiar with Valdemar and how things work. Most other Heralds would have their Companions mind-speaking them and explaining what's going on but not so with Talia so the poor girl's just confused af. Like, at least have it in "the rules" that someone can tell the clearly very confused and worried Herald-to-be that they've been Chosen and that someone will explain what that actually means once they reach the Collegium. Seriously.

I believe I have ultimately figured out why Lord Orthallen was ringing bells in my head during Take a Thief. I'm not sure whether I'm remembering correctly or not, but I believe he's one of the unnamed conspirators. Definitely not 100% sure, but about 90% sure.

It was nice seeing Skif again. I like his relationship with Talia and who he's growing into. I am definitely happy his rough speech is gone now, cuz boy was that hard to read. He's much more settled now, even if he is still a bit of a scamp. It's nice.

I really enjoyed Talia's relationship with Elspeth. I loved that Talia wasn't taking any of Elspeth's crap from day one. So good. The turnaround in Elspeth's behavior was fun to see. I don't remember a whole lot from the rest of the Valdemar series so I'm looking forward to watching her grow up.

Talia herself is an interesting character. She is at once very reserved but also willing to lend an ear to whoever needs her. I very much felt for her during the bullying bit of the plot. Poor thing had her formative experience with adults who wouldn't listen to her and so doesn't trust anyone else and it's so true to life it's heartbreaking. I am very glad she grows beyond that and gets the help and support she really needed.

Ah yes, and I must mention the use of the Valdemar Heartsone room... or whatever it's called. Created by Vanyel and then forgotten about for a while until it was discovered by Mags, who had zero idea what it was or that it was actual magic. Selenay drags Talia, Dirk, Kyril, and Kris down there and they use it to boost the Heralds' powers... so I guess someone figured out what was up with the magic room at some point between Mags and Talia. Just mentioning it because it's been a point of high salt from me in the past.

Arrows of the Queen is definitely the best of the introductory books so far in my chronological read. We get character and world building is such a way that doesn't feel forced. It's also nice to have a main character who doesn't have some sort of weird accent that the reader has to stumble through reading. But yeah, pretty solid beginning to one of the main trilogies in the Valdemar series. 

In Other News

My Valdemar reread is going on a tiny bit of a hiatus... probably. I'm about to have my second vacation of the year, which means I won't be reading on my phone so much... which is where I read the Valdemar series. We have definitely reached the point of my read-through where I am rereading these, but I honestly don't remember much so... I look forward to rediscovering things.

Take a Thief by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

Take a Thief was honestly a lot of fun. I’m not sure I have too many deep thoughts about it, though. Skif was a fun protagonist to get to know and see grow. I honestly thought he was a lot older than he was while the whole stalking Jass thing was going on. It’s really no surprise that he came across as older, given what he’d been through and, as Alberich observes, had his childhood basically stolen.

That said, I don’t really need my main characters to be put-upon orphans. This is not a trope I enjoy very much and I don’t really think it does much for their character except to make them less likely to sniff at a bit of hardship. I mean… I guess it makes them a little more interesting than rando middle-class kiddo or the “I’m so spoiled everything shocks me” type… but… I dunno. Don’t know why the pair of kid main characters up til now in the chronology have had to be super destitute orphans. All that said, I do actually like Lackey’s world-building through and around Skif. I can really feel how gross the tavern is, how oppressively hot his room next to Jass is, and how disgusting that blanket at the end was.

However, I honestly find reading the “gutter speak” or whatever quite annoying. It was annoying when Mags (Collegium Chronicles and The Herald Spy) was speaking in it throughout his run and it’s annoying now with Bazie and Skif.

Speaking of, it is very clear that Mags is a pale imitation of Skif. Skif has infinitely more personality and feels much more real than Mags ever did. Skif fits better into the world he inhabits and isn’t just constantly referring to past hardships as though they’re a personality trait.

But yeah, aside from all that, I did really enjoy Take a Thief. It was interesting to see Alberich from an outside angle and know that it was Alberich even if Skif had no clue. I also actually enjoyed Skif’s spy stuff… mostly because it wasn’t referred to as such and was the thieving aspect of his life.

Very much looking forward to the next part of my Valdemar journey with Heralds of Valdemar. I have definitely read the next three books, so it'll be interesting to get to know Talia all over again... and maybe figure out why I definitely seem to remember Lord Orthallan being a baddie.

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.

Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey

Somewhat Spoilery Review

I was honestly not expecting Brightly Burning to be as good as it was. I don’t think I was expecting it even through the first bit with Lan’s victimization at the hands of his bullies. Brightly Burning is really good. Not something I think I’ll be rereading anytime soon due to emotional turmoil, but yeah… my eyes are still leaking tears as I write this.

I hate the way Nelda Chitward goes about parenting after Lavan’s confession of being bullied. Jumping straight to victim blaming when told of his bully. Ma’am, you’ve clearly never been bullied in your life, and especially not with the threat of no one believing you held over you. Add to that, that she wouldn’t believe it due to the family Tyron came from… entitled brats will be entitled brats, especially when they think they can get away with it, regardless of family standing. What the Sixth Formers are doing is some bullshit. Tyron is a sadist.

Cloistered Order of Kernos-Sequestered is fucking crazy-pants and I don’t understand how that’s even a thing. A good thing it exists, for Jisette Jelnack’s imprisonment, but like… how do you get more followers? Solitary is inhumane and to essentially have a religious order that practices it… what even? Religion is largely stupid, in my opinion, and doubly so in this instance. The fact that the Kernos-Sequestered thing isn’t as bad as I thought it probably would be doesn’t actually help matters.

The way Valdemaran troops treat Lan after his big debut on the battlefield brought tears to my eyes. Happy ones, cuz lord knows he deserves the praise. Lan’s anxiety beforehand was completely understandable, especially considering what he’d been through. Little bit sad though. Probably what ultimately prompted my tears… a complete reversal of events from what Lan thought might happen.

I quite liked Tuck, though he did fade into the background during the last part of the book. Elenor, too, though I really do hate that whole unrequited love thing she has going on… I’ve never been one to have crushes like that, so it didn’t connect with me. Pol and Satiran were amusing together. I completely get Pol’s sense of duty and I’m glad his sight was mostly restored in the end.

I did see the ending coming from a mile away. That said, it was still quite moving and, as I said at the beginning, I did tear up. Brightly Burning is definitely up there in terms of my favorite Valdemar books. Kind of intense and definitely not one to reread super often. It’s a really good stand alone novel.

Favorite Line

:Emotional crisis is the constant state of the young, Chosen,: Satiran chuckled. :That's why they can eat so much; they burn it up with emoting.:

Closer to the Heart by Mercedes Lackey

A Mostly Spoiler Free Review

Closer to the Heart was honestly a lot of fun. Most of the book was dedicated to Mags and Amily building up their spy network, which was pretty gratifying at times. The plot involving Menmellithians was semi-interesting and probably would have been more-so if the solution hadn't just been dropped into Mags and Amily's laps. More on that later. But yeah, overall, Closer to the Heart was fun.

I like the addition of Tuck and Linden to Mags' Haven group. Tuck was a nice way to get "traditional" spy gear into Mags and Amily's hands. It does sort of bring up my question about who's going to inherit this expanded Valdemaran CIA once Tuck, Mags, and Amily step down or die or whatever. I'm sure that'll be addressed in later books, but it is kind of lurking in the back of my mind. I'm sure this sort of thing is passed from King's Own to King's Own, but that's definitely complicated by the way things are usually passed down, what with the Herald in question having to die and all... and vague remembrances of Talia not having a network in The Heralds of Valdemar but, yeah... Anyway. We got a more expanded spy network through Lord Jorthun and Lady Dia as well, now taking on female spy recruits. I found this portion of the book quite fun.

The Attlebury section of the story seemed mostly to serve as a juxtaposition of Mags' time at Cole Pieter's mine vs a properly run mine. There was also that little bit of information they gleaned about "General Thallan," buried in there. That sort of thing also showed how much seemingly unrelated work spies have to do to actually get at the information they might need... and the Kirball match was fun. They usually are and this one served to get a bit of action into an otherwise mostly plodding plot.

That brings me to the final bit of the Closer to the Heart story in which Mercedes Lackey had Mags and Amily kidnapped again... and lamp-shades it. This seems to be a habit with the Mags books: story mostly goes along with no issues and then BAM wrap it up suddenly. This isn't exactly a bad thing, but it's getting really repetitive. Mags and Amily have things pretty easy this time around, especially due to their "traditional spy tools" all hidden in their clothing and the timely momentary return of Healer Coburn. This part also had me rolling my eyes at "General Thallan" through his whole monologue to Mags. I mean, really, the man went classic with the villain monologue and had clearly never actually given a thought to how mind-magic might fit into his plans involving the Heralds and Companions. Just... ugh.

But yeah, overall, I had fun with Closer to the Heart. Very glad that Mags and Amily are finally hitched, it was bleedingly obvious that was going to happen pretty early on in their relationship. Aaand yeah, next up's the conclusion to The Herald Spy series and I'm really hoping it's a good one.

Favorite Line

"...when you treat your workers well, they not only work well for you, but their children and children’s children will want to work for you." - Tiercel Rolmer

Closer to Home by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler-Free Review

The Herald Spy series starts off right where Collegium Chronicles left off, with Mags at the end of his first Herald Circuit. We are sans Lena and Bear and don’t find out what happened to them for at least a chapter. As this is not specifically Mag’s story, we get the second POV of Amily, which makes a nice change.

I knew Amily’s choosing was going to happen due to vaguely perusing the Companion list on the Valdemar Wiki. I knew and yet it still made me tear up. The whole scene of Mags and Dallen trying in vain to save Nikolas was probably what did it. Aaand then I got just as confused as Mags. The whole situation was just… wow.

It’s semi-interesting that there’s a big to-do here about marriage and the culture of the court surrounding marriage. Valdemar both enlightened in the way they treat women but also not. The high born ones are very marriage oriented and don’t realize there are options other than marriage open to them… aside from a position in the Guard apparently. I guess technically there’s other jobs open for women outside of Heralds, Bards, and Healers, but no one apparently thinks about them in high born circles. The timeframe makes all this make sense, it’s just… uh… interesting, is all.

At the same time, it’s really slammed over our heads that Valdemar society takes it cues from our own historical views towards women. It’s also slammed over our heads how our main characters don’t track with that viewpoint. The whole thing was very heavy handed, in my opinion.

Found the Romeo and Juliet B-plot highly predictable. Saw it coming as soon as Violetta became a POV character and we knew of the feud. And ya know, for all Amily’s worry about Violetta and knowing Violetta’s lovesick for Brand, not once does she think to intervene on that account. Oh no, no one who has knowledge of that debacle dares try to switch which daughter Brand must marry. Oy vey. I hate this so much.

I was, however, somewhat pleased with how things turned out. I won’t spoil that here, but it was not a Romeo and Juliet ending nor the sappy romantic ending I was envisioning. Got caught up in Violetta’s head, I think. Anyway, it was more satisfying than I was expecting.

Lazy March Update

I feel like it's time for a little update, for those interested. Just a little check-in to let ya'll know what I'm doing outside of this blog and such.

Reading-wise, I'm on the fourth Dorina Basarab book and in the middle of a bunch of short stories related to Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. That is to say, according to the chronological list of Valdemar books I'm going off of, I'm in a small stretch of short stories that take place between Magic's Pawn and Magic's Promise. I'm not, like, in the middle of a bunch of short stories like I am in the middle of a bunch of books... which I am also that. I'm about to finish off my most recent Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets reread. Catching up on that while I'm listening to Mugglecast's reread. Stay tuned for my review.

By a happy coincidence, I've finished the first of two Companion projects on OviPets! I didn't plan to be in the middle of rereading Valdemar when I started this project in January of last year. I'm actually kind of bad at breeding projects quickly as OviPets is more of a relaxing thing for me and breeding projects quickly takes more brain-space than I have at any given moment. OviPets might live rent free in my head, but it's in a corner over there, rounding out my days.

On another gaming note, I am still playing Pokemon Scarlet. I'm currently about to collect/destroy the last batch of glowing stakes to get the last of the Paldean Legendaries. I did catch my Walking Wake while it was available. Oh! In Pokemon Go, I finished catching every version of Vivillon! Well, every Scatterbug that'll evolve into Vivillon. I had a couple of very helpful players in Finland and Armenia send me the last couple of postcards I needed from the Icy Snow and Sandstorm regions.

I am also in the middle of rewatching a bunch of random things with my boyfriend. The man refuses to binge things properly, so we're watching several shows at once. Those shows being: Community, Lost, Fringe, Supernatural, The Last of Us, The Mandelorian, and The Walking Dead. I most likely won't be reviewing any of these, but this is what I'm currently watching, so yeah.