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Foundation

(Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles #1)

Mercedes Lackey

4.02 · Rating details · 10,957 ratings · 539 reviews

"Mags had been working at the Pieters' mine, slaving in the dark, cold seams, looking for sparklies, for as long as he could remember. The children who worked the mine were orphans, kids who had been abandoned, who had lost their parents, or where generally unwanted. Cole Pieters, who picked up these pitiful strays, preferred them around eleven, though he would take them a "Mags had been working at the Pieters' mine, slaving in the dark, cold seams, looking for sparklies, for as long as he could remember. The children who worked the mine were orphans, kids who had been abandoned, who had lost their parents, or where generally unwanted. Cole Pieters, who picked up these pitiful strays, preferred them around eleven, though he would take them as young as nine if they were strong and looked as if they could do the work and withstand the punishing conditions. But Mags was different." "Yer Bad Blood, boy, an' it's damn lucky for you that yer here an' we can put ye to work an' keep those idle hands busy, or ye'd be dancin' at rope's end already," Cole Pieters had told him. And Mags had no reason to question this information." "Mags was "Bad Blood," because his parents were bandits who had been killed in a raid by the Royal Guard. "Bad Blood" because he'd been found in a cradle in the bandits' camp. Blood so bad that no one had wanted to take him in except Cole Pieters. And so he had come to the Pieters household as an infant, and from the moment his tiny hands could actually do anything, he'd been put to work, an unpaid, poorly fed, scantily clad, dirty little drudge. When he was big enough to see over the sides of the sluices he had gone to work at the mine. On his very first day he had found a pile of sparklies - enough to cover the palm of his hand. "By the gods, ye've got th' eyes of a magpie!" one of the Pieters boys had said. And that was how he had gotten his name." "Mags was good at survival. Every time he found a sparkly, it earned him an extra piece of bread, and that extra piece of bread kept him alive, unlike so many of the less fortunate kids whodied of exposure and starvation at the Pieters mine." "Mags knew nothing of the world beyond the mine, and was unaware how unusual his paltry existence was. Then some strangers on huge white horses forced their way past the Pieters family and carried him away to Haven to become a Herald Trainee." Suddenly the whole world opened up for Mags. He was warm and well fed for the first time in his life, and he has Dallen, his Companion, who seemed more miraculous than an angel. But the world of the Collegium was not all heavenly. There was political upheaval in Valdemar's capital, for the ancient way of training Heralds - the system of one-on-one mentoring that had been successful for centuries - was failing. Many veteran Heralds had died in the wars, and there were too many Trainees to go around. A Heralds' Collegium was being built, and many thought it was wrong to train Heralds in classrooms the same way the Bardic and Healer Trainees were schooled. But dissent among the Heralds was not the only discord in Haven, for the court had been infiltrated by foreign "diplomats," who seemed to be more interested in seeding discontent than in actual diplomacy ... and Mags seemed to be the only one who'd noticed. ...more

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Paperback, 432 pages

Published October 1st 2012 by Titan Publishing Company (first published October 7th 2008)

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· 10,957 ratings · 539 reviews

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Dec 07, 2008 Judith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Valdemar fans

I liked this book - although I read several bad reviews for it on Amazon. I want to know what happens next to Mags - and I don't care if they have fondue in Valdemar 500 years before Selenay or play "I Spy" at parties and even - GASP - call it "I Spy".

I guess I'm just a Mercedes Lackey junkie. I didn't see the same flaws that had the other reviewers calling it lazy writing - what they pointed out as goof ups or flaws were things that I just accepted as part of the story. I guess that makes me u ...more

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Jun 19, 2011 Elspeth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: twenty-forteen

Let me start this review with saying I just finished reading this book for the third time, so needless to say I truly love this series. I have been reading Mercedes Lackey for years, I love her earlier work but her stuff in the past ten years or so have just been meh for me. This series makes me believe Lackey found what she was missing, the heart of her stories that Arrows, Winds, Magic, Oath, and By the Sword has. I don’t know if she just couldn’t give up her characters from Winds and just dra ...more

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Nov 05, 2008 Julie (jjmachshev) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fantasy fans

Shelves: 2008-reads

I'm a Mercedes Lackey fan from way back. I devoured her 'Magic' trilogy and haven't looked back since. This is one fantasy author I continue to buy as soon as her books hit the shelf because I know the story will pull me in and have me cheering for the hero or heroine. Her newest "Foundation" is no exception and as a bonus, it's set in Valdemar!

Mags is an orphan who ended up in the hands of a greedy cruel mine owner as a baby. His work in those mines began as soon as he was old enough to stand a ...more

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May 11, 2009 Andrea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, z2009_read_list

How to write a Mercedes Lackey Valdemar book in Three Easy Steps:

Step One: Create a main character who is abused, socially stunted, living in abject poverty, living with religious zealots, or gay.

Step Two: Have a Companion choose them.

Step Three: Upon arrival in Haven, have them be awkward but keenly observant, picking up on a dastardly plot no one else has noticed, thereby saving the kingdom, while making friends, becoming more secure in their Gifts, and learning a few valuable life lessons al ...more

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Sep 18, 2008 Cait rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, currently-to-shelve, all-of-my-reviewed-books, series-valdemar

Well, it's no Magic's Pawn, but none of them ever will be again (let us not dwell on the probability that this is because I will never be twelve again) and in fact it's not a book I'm particularly ashamed of being given in hardcover. It sounds like a new series is being launched with some promising setup -- tension between the Heralds, Bards, and Healers! Herald turning on Herald! Ominous strangers from outside the borders! A certain lack of the preaching to the choir which has been driving me m ...more

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Nov 15, 2008 Anna rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Most of Lackey's novels follow an easily seen formula-the character has an unhappy to horrible life until they are Chosen, then everything becomes sparkles and kittens while they solve problems that only their special talents can fix. 'Foundation' is, sadly, not different.
Despite this commonality, the plots are usually interesting and well thought out. This book, however, was very disappointing in that area. While character development is desirable, it was too great of a focus, and left little ...more

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Sep 12, 2018 Pam Baddeley rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, teen-or-young-adult

I had planned not to read any more of this author's books, having found them rather uneven, but this one was a find on the library discard shelf for a nominal sum. Having realised it was book 1 in a series, I decided to try this sample.

The story conveys a slight deja vu feeling, as I had previously read her Arrows of the Queen. Mags is a young boy living a miserable existence who is chosen by a Companion, taken to Haven to start his education as a Herald, and is found to have a maturity beyond h I had planned not to read any more of this author's books, having found them rather uneven, but this one was a find on the library discard shelf for a nominal sum. Having realised it was book 1 in a series, I decided to try this sample.

The story conveys a slight deja vu feeling, as I had previously read her Arrows of the Queen. Mags is a young boy living a miserable existence who is chosen by a Companion, taken to Haven to start his education as a Herald, and is found to have a maturity beyond his years and a gift for Mindspeech and other things .... However, this version of the same basic story is made more interesting by the Dickensian setting at the beginning, for Mags is an orphan. Along with other unlucky children, he is being used as a slave to mine jemstones. The orphange boss, and the mine owner, is meant to be providing them with a roof over their heads, food and an education, but the roof is a nest among straw in a shed, the food is the equivalent of gruel with the odd bit of burned bread or even dead cat, and the education is learning by rote as one of the owner's daughters leads them in extremely rudimentary lessons in reading and writing. Nevertheless, Mags is smart, has picked up more skill in reading than the owner realises, and is also adept at doing what he needs to do to survive, especially since the owner has occasionally made "examples" by beating children to death and then disposing of their bodies in the mineworkings.

Despite this, all empathy and kindness has not been expunged from Mags, who is now about thirteen from what he can determine: he does give a bit of bread to a younger child who, through no fault of his own, has been unable sufficient jemstones. There is a mystery about Mag's origin: the mine owner occasionally delights in reminding him he is 'bad blood', having been found as a baby at a bandit camp when the bandits were suppressed. He doesn't know his real name having been nicknamed 'magpie' when it was found that he was more adept at others at panning the mine spoils for odd shafts of jems, a name that over time was shortened to Mags.

Following his rescue Mags is bewildered by all the new things he has to encounter, but is reassured by his Companion, Dallen, through their mental bond, and gradually settles into a new life in at the recently founded school for Heralds at Haven. He is there at a time of great change, as the decision has only recently been made to have a Collegium for both Heralds and Healers. Previously, Heralds took one or two trainees and acted as mentors, and healers also took apprentices, but so many youngsters have been Chosen by companions in recent years that it was decided to adopt the model already used by the Bards and have a college for each one. New buildings are being constructed to house them all and the overcrowding in the interim means that Mags is given a cosy room in the special stable which houses the Companions (not the ordinary horses).

At first, Mags' hard earned caution prevents him from making friends though gradually this changes and he is brought into a kind of inner circle around the King's Own Herald and a set of younger people in Haven, who seek to use his gifts to help keep a watchful eye on those who oppose the Collegium. For not all is sweetness and light, as he suspected. As this is only volume 1 in what appears to be a fairly long series, it is not surprising that most of the questions about Mags and about other odd events are not answered by the book's end, but that didn't trouble me. I'm sure Mags' origin will eventually turn out to be signficant and he won't actually be the child of bandits but a child they had abducted.

I found the writing a little clunky at times and Mags is possibly a little bit too perfect. But he is quite an engaging boy with his "uneducated" way of speaking and through him the prejudices of certain individuals are highlighted. The background is also interesting: one reference to Vanje made it clear that this story takes place two or three generations after the "Last Herald Mage" trilogy, and hundreds of years before Arrows of the Queen and similar books. And there was a helpful explanation of exactly what the "eyes" are that magic workers experience watching them - these were a feature of one of the books I read recently, By the Sword, but there was no explanation in that book and I couldn't recall what might have happened in the "Last Herald Mage" trilogy to have caused such a phenomenon.

There is the occasional oddity, such as people enjoying an evening eating fondue, which doesn't appear to fit into the setting, but it was an easy read. I think, despite the odd reference to other people having sexual encounters, that the book is aimed at teen or young adult readership: certainly, there is no romance between Mags and either his female or his male friend. That doesn't affect the enjoyment of what is a simple story of a boy who is developing new skills and confidence and seems to be lined up to be a key player in the future of the Collegium and the Heralds. So I rate this at a workmanlike 3 stars. ...more

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Mar 28, 2017 Jenn Morgans rated it liked it

Shelves: american, fantasy, in-2017

I liked this a lot, but some clunky patches of writing and a little voice in my head relentlessly whispering "this is stupid" mean that I relegate it to 3 stars. ...more

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May 10, 2011 Danica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-me

If you're looking for moral complexity or beautiful prose, you should direct your gaze elsewhere. Mercedes Lackey writes uncomplicated characters, in simple sentences, moving through a world that is entirely black and white. If the protagonist thinks poorly of a character on page seven, by page 307 that character has been revealed as a proud, shallow, child-murdering, power-hungry weasel. Good guys are easily identified when they share their last piece of bread with a starving orphan or put them ...more

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Nov 17, 2008 Annette rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fantasy Lovers

Shelves: fantasy

I picked this book up at my favorite bookstore - which foolishly provides nice comfy chairs right next to their shelves - and read it in about three sittings. (Yeah, right there in the store. Tsk, tsk!) I'd never read anything by Lackey before, although certainly her name must be familiar to anyone who frequents the sci-fi / fantasy section. I admit what drew me to the book in the first place was the audacity of namimg it "Foundation" (a word never used in the story, as far as I can remember), w ...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Andi added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

A good start, but something that Lackey has been falling prey to lately is a lot of build-up and not paying it off in a satisfying way. I saw this in her latest Elemental book, and also The Phoenix Unchained.

An example from within the book is when Mags goes to a party, and Lackey spends almost two whole pages describing the food. Not necessary. She makes up for this (as always) with her characterization and conflict, but it is mostly unrealized. I assume she intends to finish it up trilogy-style ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Diana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, read-in-2017, sci-fi-fantasy-read, read-in-2019, read-in-2018

Re-read 2019

Re-reading now that I have all of the books currently published about Mags. I'm going on a bit of a binge.
Wanted a quick fun re-read for the first few weeks of class. Something that is very different from my books for college classes. Even though the book deals with some tough subjects, it is a good escapist read.

I have read this book multiple times. Herald Mags early life struck a chord with me and I loved how his life ended up. This focuses on the time of the building of the Hera ...more

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Oct 28, 2008 Jess Miller rated it liked it · review of another edition

The Valdemar books are very much comfort reading-it was the first fantasy I every read and liked, back in high school, and I've always had a soft spot for them. The good guys are Very Very Good, the bad guys are Very Very Bad, and there are increasingly more details about life in a medieval(ish) society. overall, fun stuff, but definitely wait for the mass market. ...more

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Feb 11, 2018 Magnus rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I... really liked it? I honestly enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Someone could say it reads like Harry Potter Valdemar!AU - and that would be true, there are many clear similarities. But I had zero problems with that, the story is nice and well-written. I liked it a lot, and will be re-reading it in the future (while waiting for the next parts of the series)

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Jan 08, 2019 Desiree rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2019

Now I remember why I really like Valdemar books. It's a comfortable place to go back to. The plots are mpt very imaginative, but they make you feel good and I like the writing style.
If you have already read some novels set in Valdemar, do go ahead and continue, if you're new to the series, this is not a good novel to start, though it has only a few references to previous books ...more

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Jul 14, 2014 Octobercountry rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I recently read Mercedes Lackey's five-volume series The Collegium Chronicles . The books, in order, are:

Foundation
Intrigues
Changes
Redoubt
Bastion

Here, why don't I jot down a few words about the entire series, and not just the first book (no plot spoilers).

Lackey is perhaps best known for her long-running series about the fantasy kingdom Valdemar, and this set of five books are her most recent addition to the saga. The Valdemar books overall don't have to be read in any ...more

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Mar 31, 2014 Gemma rated it liked it · review of another edition

I first encountered Mercedes Lackey's books at 13, with her "Arrows" trilogy, and she has always had a place on my bookshelves ever since. As I have grown older, I know I can always return to her books for a comfort read, and "Foundation" is no exception. Whilst the writing is quite simplistic (making it feel like a young adult read) it still contains Lackey's beautiful writing skills, enabling the reader to immerse themselves in the story. My major gripes, however, are that most stories rely on I first encountered Mercedes Lackey's books at 13, with her "Arrows" trilogy, and she has always had a place on my bookshelves ever since. As I have grown older, I know I can always return to her books for a comfort read, and "Foundation" is no exception. Whilst the writing is quite simplistic (making it feel like a young adult read) it still contains Lackey's beautiful writing skills, enabling the reader to immerse themselves in the story. My major gripes, however, are that most stories rely on having some kind of conflict within the story that the protagonist must encounter and overcome (or not). Aside from a brief run-in with another herald (and by brief, I mean maybe a page or two), the only conflict was within the last 15 pages, leaving the bulk of the novel reading more like a diary.

Which brings me to my next gripe. The story-line itself was somewhat formulaic to those familiar with Lackey's works: the hard-done by, abused, often-orphan is Chosen by the mystical Companions and swept away to the marvellous land of the Heralds where everything is rosy and wonderful. And while this *is* what makes Lackey's books an enjoyable comfort read for me, I would have loved to see her branch away from this tried and true (and honestly, getting a bit worn) formula. It wasn't helped by the fact that upon reaching the Heralds, Mags seems to seamlessly be blessed with a natural skill at weapons work, riding, mindspeach, reading, maths, information gathering, reading people, knowing if someone has died", making powerful friends who count on his opinion and skills, and having a great memory. Whilst his Companion has helped with this (and aren't Companions supposed to step back from doing this, and let their Chosen figure it out for themselves, only stepping in in very rare circumstances?), I found the degree of how pretty much *everything* came so easily to what is essentially an uneducated mine slave (being able to read and write aside) with no experience his entire life outside of the mine to be pushing the bounds of credulity for even a fantasy novel.

I am also enjoying reading about the foundation of the Herald's Collegium and hope that subsequent novels will explore this further, in what is a truly significant piece of history in the Heralds of Valdemar world.

So read this novel for what it is: an engaging and diverting comfort read. ...more

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Apr 09, 2009 Kiri rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Either Lackey has lost her magic, or she's just lost her magic for me. This book has a lot in common with "Arrow's of the Queen" in that it's about an abused, disadvantaged youth who is Chosen by one of the mystical Companions of Valdemar and is transported into a new, very different life in the city of Haven. Mags, the protagonist, is certainly not the same person that Talia (protagonist of "Arrows of the Queen") and the tale of Mags finding a new life and a place for himself is all fine and we ...more

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Sep 18, 2018 Mordie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

My first expression of this book was: 'I've read this.' It began the same way as the other books and had the same format. A poor child in a poor environment meets their horse and becomes chosen and have an adventure together. Unfortunately where others had been good and entertaining to read, this fell flat.

Mags didn't bring anything new to the table and I even felt bored to read the story. This book might be a good one to one who hasn't read all about Valdemar or has taken a first step to Merced ...more

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Oct 10, 2008 Jeffrey rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: lackey fans

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2008

Another Valdemar novel set in the time period prior to the Seleny novels but after the Mage Pawn and Griffin series. AS in the early volumes of each trilogy, this is more abbout introducing the characters, and leaves us kind of right in the middle of the story at the end. Its engaging and Mags, the main character seems to have several mysteries that will probably be fleshed out in the later books.

Nothing amazing, but another nice little story in the Lackey universe.

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Dec 12, 2008 Beth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Like much of Lackey's recent work. I read 90% of the book learning the detail of the world and the intricacies of the main character (loving both by the way), but only after that 90% did any sort of plot emerge and that was superficial and unfinished. If you're a Lackey fan, give it a try. If you've never read Lackey, this is definitely not the place to start. ...more

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May 25, 2015 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: magic-and-fantasy, adult-lit, 2-stars, witches-mages-magic-doers

i suspect i could have chosen a more exciting valdemar book as my first experience of mercedes lackey's writing but, although not very much happened until the last 50 pages or so, it was still interesting enough and i'll probably read the other books in the series, to see if it picks up. ...more

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Dec 02, 2018 Saphirablue rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2018, friendship, in-english, horses, animals

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 20, 2020 Daniel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

I've heard many people dislike Mag's story for a few reason, often his accent can be difficult to read. I didn't struggle too much with his way of speech too much while reading and I'd say that's probably due to Amy on the Kindle Fire reading it. It's a bit more natural when it's spoken, though the computer did get hung up sometimes.

I've read this before and I did remember some highlights. I didn't remember Dallen using Mag's hands and that was interesting. I even had to ask some other Valdemar ...more

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Apr 02, 2018 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This author was recommended to me and apparently she writes short series that all have the same setting like Tamora Pierce, so I went to the library and just got the only one that was the beginning of a series. There were a couple places where explanations seemed abrupt and I'm guessing there was more info in books I should have read before this, but I still understood what was going on just fine. Anyway, this book had the feeling of older (80s/90s) fantasy and I liked it a lot. ...more

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Jul 01, 2018 Tarma added it · review of another edition

This is a re-read and I really enjoyed reading the beginning of the story of Mags.
Yay for Mags! I love this series.

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Mar 26, 2019 Janet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-by-this-author, fantasy

Great book, feel like I really know the characters, but the ending left me hanging.

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Aug 16, 2018 Melissa Fordyce rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sick abed, nothing better than to stumble across a new series. Loved this book - and will be devouring the rest in the series as quickly as possible.

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Feb 27, 2017 Sydney added it · review of another edition

Work. That is all Mags has even known, work in cold and in hot with no end in sight and very little food. That is until a Herald shows up and takes him away on a white horse called a Companion. Now Mags is never hungry, cold, and is in a place where he belongs. There is one thing that he doesn't know, who his parents are. He has been told that he had bad blood, but the Heralds say that that doesn't matter. His Companion, Dallen, explains things to him through Mindspeech, his Gift. So Mags just l ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Kirsti rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So I really liked this book! One of my favorite novels of Valdemar is Brightly Burning, and this had many of the aspects of that novel that I liked, although you can tell this one is set up as a series as opposed to a stand alone. It had the lonely, abused boy getting Chosen and his world changing for the better. He struggled with learning the rules at the Collegium, but makes friends and uses his particular gift. At the same time there are events afoot that not even we as readers are privy too, ...more

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About Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

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Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & M Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

Author's website ...more

Other books in the series

Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles (5 books)

Books by Mercedes Lackey

Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar, #1)

Arrow's Flight (Heralds of Valdemar, #2)

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Quotes from Foundation

“He is an excellent fellow, but he has one deep flaw. He cannot cook. In fact, he has been known to ruin boiling water.: Mags” — 1 likes

“Life isn’t fair’ is nothing but an excuse people make to justify bad things they do. But why shouldn’t life be fair? What’s keeping it from being fair? Those same cruel, mean, and evil people. I think you understand that, Mags—maybe not in your head, but in your heart, which is more important. And the more people there are who try to make life fair, the more likely it is that it will become fair. Don’t you want that?:” — 0 likes

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