Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Magic’s Promise is largely about Vanyel dealing with his grief and coming to terms with his childhood. He is able to quell his childhood demons through Tashir and Medren by dealing with Withen and Jervis as an adult rather than the surly teen he was. The grief part is dealt with throughout the book, because lord knows Van didn’t actually deal with it in Magic’s Pawn or the intervening 12 years. The mystery I’m about to talk about is really secondary and gives an actual plot to the book.

Van’s investigative technique leaves much to be desired. From the moment he set a shield over his crime scene, I was expecting him to get back asap. Guess I’ve been watching too much CSI and reading too many mystery novels, because he didn’t actually go back for OVER a damn fortnight. Too damn long. He’s lucky the evidence he ACTUALLY needed kept until he got back there. Didn’t stop me from being frustrated the entire time though.

I was pleased Van’s family has largely accepted him for who he is now. Not sure if it’s the Herald thing, time, or even separation, but it delighted me. Lady Treesa, though, needs to get over herself. I really liked Medren. He was a nice addition to Van’s life.

Jervis turned out to be a pleasant surprise as well. He was painted in such broad strokes as a curmudgeon in Magic’s Pawn and by Van here. To get the more rounded picture of him was good.

I will say, it was a little annoying but probably a sign of the times in which Magic’s Promise was written in that Van had to have a discussion about the difference between shaych and pedophilia with three different people. I know this was largely due to Father Leren’s influence over Withen, but it was just… ugh. I doubt this would have had to be reiterated so many times in a more modern text.

The story itself was honestly more drawn out that I think it really needed to be. Again, I think that’s down to Van’s investigating skills being sub-par. Like, yeah, the entire mystery surrounding Tashir got a bit deeper because Van spent more time not going straight back to the palace. It really gave Vedric more time to wine and dine the Lineans “off screen.” None of this is bad overall, just drew out the story. After all, the mystery surrounding Tashir was really secondary to Van’s personal issues.

Remembering Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey

Okay, so I actually started writing this post on my phone a few days ago, right before I started reading Magic's Promise. I have basically come to the conclusion that I remember next to nothing about this book... and I've read it twice. That said, I do want to share what I do remember, so here we go.

Magic's Promise was my introduction to The Heralds of Valdemar. So weird, I know. It's the second book in The Last Herald Mage trilogy and the (at the time) fifth book in the chronological run... but yeah, it was weird. I remember the cover super vividly from when I pulled it off my dad's shelf, a magical shelf of nonsense, that shelf.

See, my dad is a sci-fi fantasy nerd and I largely get my love of the fantasy genre from him. However, my dad's bookshelf left much to be desired if you were looking for a series to start. I don't remember many full series runs or even starts to series on that shelf. I know he had Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the first Anita Blake omnibus, but most of that bookshelf was random pick-and-mix. Magic's Promise was part of that and I think I largely picked it up because of the horse *cough*Companion*cough* on the front cover.

Looking back on Magic's Promise now, what I remember about the plot is... nonexistent. I remember little bits. Like Jervis wanting to learn Van's fighting style through sparing bouts and that there's a mystery involving Van interviewing some old woman with a brooch... I think. Also, I think Stefan is introduced somewhere in this book, but I can't be sure. I swear, I've read Magic's Promise twice! Once in my pre-teens/teens and once in college. None of it stuck, though!

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to reminisce about my dad's old bookshelf for a hot second. He sadly lost a good chunk of those books to mold... which is another story altogether.

On a slightly separate note: I'm a little over halfway through Magic's Promise at this point and Van remembered that you have to keep the evidence from being disturbed while investigating and so set up this mage-shield thing to keep his evidence from being disturbed. However, he's now spending DAYS away from his crime-scene. Like, Van, sir, I understand you needed to leave quickly and your magic reserves are dead and you were passed out for three days, but your evidence is now literally rotting while you deal with your personal shit! No one ever said Van was good at investigating, but this is breaking my SOD a little.