Mercedes Lackey binge continued
Jan. 18th, 2009 09:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI have discovered the limit of how many Mercedes Lackey books I can read in a row without my brain melting - and it's fourteen.
In the last 11 days of 2008, I read the first two Valdemar trilogies (first in terms of in-book timeline, not the other in which they were written), and the first 18 days of 2009 have got me through the next nine books:
Brightly Burning - the tragic tale of Lavan Firestorm, a young boy with the firestarting gift, who is Chosen as a Herald and forced into defending his country in a war. He sacrifices his life to end the war, so it's quite a sad one.
Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood - still in the Valdemar universe but set outside Valdemar itself and not involving Heralds very much at all, these three tell of the adventures of Kethry, a sorceress, and her oathbound sister, Tarma, a religious warrior. Kethry's magic sword gets them into lots of trouble, as it forces them to intervene on the behalf of any woman in trouble wtihin a several mile radius. They battle demons and bandits, with the help of their warhorses, and a wolf-like creature with the same intelligence as a human, named Waarl.
Exile's Honour, Exile's Valour - a duology telling of the first Karsite Chosen as a Herald, Karse being a bordering country with a history of enmity towards Valdemar, and unpleasant traditions as to what should be done with anyone demonstrating any kind of magical power. Alberich, the Karsite in question, has to come to terms with the fact that a lot of what he has been brought up to believe is false, as well as dealing with the suspicion of the Valdemaran court. This set of books has a great deal of politics, ethics, and discussion of religion in it, and is definitely a cut above the others I've read recently - probably partially due to the fact that it's one of the most recently written.
Take A Thief - sort of follows on from the Exile duology, but focuses on Skif, a young thief who is Chosen, charting his early childhood and then his introduction to the Heraldic Collegium and all that it means to serve the Crown.
Arrows of The Queen, Arrow's Flight - the first Valdemar books Lackey wrote, and by far the weakest. They bring to light a lot of inconsistencies in the timeline, and contradict several things that occur in books written later but set earlier. The writing is amatuerish, and plots flimsy, and I had to stop before moving onto the last in the trilogy because I just couldn't take it any more!
There are ten more Valdemar books set after the Arrows trilogy, and they are of a much better standard again, but I think I need to take a break from Lackey and read something completely different for a bit!
In the last 11 days of 2008, I read the first two Valdemar trilogies (first in terms of in-book timeline, not the other in which they were written), and the first 18 days of 2009 have got me through the next nine books:
Brightly Burning - the tragic tale of Lavan Firestorm, a young boy with the firestarting gift, who is Chosen as a Herald and forced into defending his country in a war. He sacrifices his life to end the war, so it's quite a sad one.
Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood - still in the Valdemar universe but set outside Valdemar itself and not involving Heralds very much at all, these three tell of the adventures of Kethry, a sorceress, and her oathbound sister, Tarma, a religious warrior. Kethry's magic sword gets them into lots of trouble, as it forces them to intervene on the behalf of any woman in trouble wtihin a several mile radius. They battle demons and bandits, with the help of their warhorses, and a wolf-like creature with the same intelligence as a human, named Waarl.
Exile's Honour, Exile's Valour - a duology telling of the first Karsite Chosen as a Herald, Karse being a bordering country with a history of enmity towards Valdemar, and unpleasant traditions as to what should be done with anyone demonstrating any kind of magical power. Alberich, the Karsite in question, has to come to terms with the fact that a lot of what he has been brought up to believe is false, as well as dealing with the suspicion of the Valdemaran court. This set of books has a great deal of politics, ethics, and discussion of religion in it, and is definitely a cut above the others I've read recently - probably partially due to the fact that it's one of the most recently written.
Take A Thief - sort of follows on from the Exile duology, but focuses on Skif, a young thief who is Chosen, charting his early childhood and then his introduction to the Heraldic Collegium and all that it means to serve the Crown.
Arrows of The Queen, Arrow's Flight - the first Valdemar books Lackey wrote, and by far the weakest. They bring to light a lot of inconsistencies in the timeline, and contradict several things that occur in books written later but set earlier. The writing is amatuerish, and plots flimsy, and I had to stop before moving onto the last in the trilogy because I just couldn't take it any more!
There are ten more Valdemar books set after the Arrows trilogy, and they are of a much better standard again, but I think I need to take a break from Lackey and read something completely different for a bit!
