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 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

Valdemar Humble Bundle

As of the posting of this, there is a Humble Bundle of Valdemar eBooks! I just found this out last night and pretty much immediately purchased it.

If you've been enjoying my Valdemar book reviews and/or have an interest in reading the Valdemar books, this is an excellent opportunity. 37 books starting at $18. Proceeds support the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Bundle Includes:

Mage Wars

The Last Herald Mage

Collegium Chronicles

The Herald Spy

Family Spies

Brightly Burning

Owl Mage Trilogy

Vows and Honor

Alberich's Tale

Mage Storms

Mage Winds

Heralds of Valdemar

Seriously, I was so excited to see this was available. Such a good value and an amazing opportunity to not send Amazon all my money. All proceeds go to Humble, DAW, and the National Coalition Against Censorship.

17 days left as of June 7, 2023.