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Magic's Price
(Valdemar: The Last Herald-Mage #3)
by
The final chapter in Mercedes Lackey's spellbinding fantasy trilogy! The Herald-Mage, Vanyel, and his Companion, Yfandes, are alone responsible for saving the once-peaceful kingdom of Valdemar from the forces of a master who wields a dark, forbidding magic. And if either Vanyel or Yfandes falters, both Valdemar and its Herald-Mage must pay the ultimate price.
Mass Market Paperback, 351 pages
Published
July 3rd 1990
by DAW Books Inc
(first published July 1990)
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Showing 1-30
I had been warned. I sort of knew what was going to happen. I had no expectations, considering the trainwreck that was the first book. But when I read the ending, I was pretty much
I mean, after pretty much everything you've done for Valdemar, that's what you get in the end?
Forget about duty, responsibility, and doing what was right because you can't do otherwise. As Pat Jr from Silver Linings Playbook more or less said, there's enough shit we have to deal with in real life, why can't we have a ...more
I mean, after pretty much everything you've done for Valdemar, that's what you get in the end?
Forget about duty, responsibility, and doing what was right because you can't do otherwise. As Pat Jr from Silver Linings Playbook more or less said, there's enough shit we have to deal with in real life, why can't we have a ...more
Parts of these books I really like -- and then other parts make me want to either throw the book across the room, or smack Mercedes upside the head a few times.
Lackey is pretty darned good at manipulating emotions when she sets her mind to it. I'm just as susceptible to melodrama as the next person, and probably more susceptible than many -- and Lackey's books don't lack for that. On the other hand, Lackey often doesn't seem terribly concerned with logic. For instance, an especially egregious (a ...more
Lackey is pretty darned good at manipulating emotions when she sets her mind to it. I'm just as susceptible to melodrama as the next person, and probably more susceptible than many -- and Lackey's books don't lack for that. On the other hand, Lackey often doesn't seem terribly concerned with logic. For instance, an especially egregious (a ...more
Review may contain spoilers for those who have not read the first two books in the Last Herald-Mage series.
Vanyel gets a new boyfriend. Sure, there's a lot of other stuff about ruling a kingdom steward-style for the ailing king and loads of heroic feats including surviving torture, defeating an entire army with several powerful mages, and dying a bloody death. But mostly, Vanyel gets an awesome new boyfriend. (view spoiler) ...more
Vanyel gets a new boyfriend. Sure, there's a lot of other stuff about ruling a kingdom steward-style for the ailing king and loads of heroic feats including surviving torture, defeating an entire army with several powerful mages, and dying a bloody death. But mostly, Vanyel gets an awesome new boyfriend. (view spoiler) ...more
Apr 21, 2018
Wanda
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
reading-project,
speculative-fiction,
1990s,
female-authors,
lgbtq,
read-in-2018,
public-library,
fantasy
If I had been paying attention to the series title (and the title of this volume), I would have had a better idea of where this book was headed! I suppose you could interpret the ending as a sad one—in my opinion, the results were unavoidable and unsurprising.
I was fond of Vanyel as a character. Lackey has written more books sent in Valdemar, but I’m not sure that I’ll continue on without him. I was glad to see him get a new love interest in Stefan and squeeze in a bit of happiness around his du ...more
I was fond of Vanyel as a character. Lackey has written more books sent in Valdemar, but I’m not sure that I’ll continue on without him. I was glad to see him get a new love interest in Stefan and squeeze in a bit of happiness around his du ...more
The books are well written, I'm not debating that. What I am hating is the main character, Vanyel. I usually tolerate goody two-shoes to a great extend, but this character just want to make me barf. Pretty much he sacrifices everything in order to save his kingdom, a kingdom that doesn't even like him for who he is and only care for his supermagic.
Frankly the ending suck, so if anyone is expecting a HEA or HFN, this series is not for you—it's a tear-jerker. It's one thing to give up your life f ...more
Frankly the ending suck, so if anyone is expecting a HEA or HFN, this series is not for you—it's a tear-jerker. It's one thing to give up your life f ...more
This initial fantasy trilogy is a really fun read.
Last one! It's a toss up whether this one or the first is my favorite, it's so hard to pick. Anyway, here we go:
Price is set about eight years after the end of Promise. Vanyel is no longer on the front lines of the war; he's been put in a more or less administrative position in Haven. That doesn't necessarily mean he's not working as hard. The king, Randale, who has been suffering from a chronic illness for years, suddenly becomes fatally ill, and the Healers don't even know what is causing his ...more
Price is set about eight years after the end of Promise. Vanyel is no longer on the front lines of the war; he's been put in a more or less administrative position in Haven. That doesn't necessarily mean he's not working as hard. The king, Randale, who has been suffering from a chronic illness for years, suddenly becomes fatally ill, and the Healers don't even know what is causing his ...more
I was debating giving this book a three, because I did enjoy parts, but in the end I decided it just wasn't good enough. You can read other reviews to see what's wrong with it, but, in a nutshell: most of the issues in the story aren't well-resolved, such as the king's illness and the idea of Stefen as a reincarnation of Tylendel, and most importantly, who the hell Leareth is; there is a severe inconsistency in the difference between the deaths of the two herald-mages and Savil's death which is
...more
Final Rating: 4.25/5
Well, this one outright slaughtered me (and healed me again).
But in the end, I will talk about mostly about good and the bad, as it is the end of a series.
Let's start with good things:
► This is a character driven story. There is a lot of focus on characters and their surrounding families, royalty, other heralds and companions. A lot of in fact. Which is very much appre ...more
“I only know that without you, no rank or fame would be worth having.”
***
“As long as I can be with you”
Well, this one outright slaughtered me (and healed me again).
But in the end, I will talk about mostly about good and the bad, as it is the end of a series.
Let's start with good things:
► This is a character driven story. There is a lot of focus on characters and their surrounding families, royalty, other heralds and companions. A lot of in fact. Which is very much appre ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Cheesy, tawdry, melodramatic with a hero who supposedly resembles a cross between Fabio, an elf and Gaston from the Disney Beauty & The Beast. I LURVED these so hard when I was a teenager, you better believe it.
There's still a little voice inside, today, who says "But... butbutbut...gay protagonist! Romantic storylines and heroism and GAY(yay)!"
There's still a little voice inside, today, who says "But... butbutbut...gay protagonist! Romantic storylines and heroism and GAY(yay)!"
2.5
Generally a character becomes more likable as a series goes on. But Vanyel actually seems to get worse or at least he doesn't much change as he gets older. It is one thing to see those things in a neglected, abused boy, but they become very unattractive in an adult man. I think part of the problem is that there are times here when he does or says something that just seems to come completely out of the blue. Instances I generally blame on author convenience. (view spoiler) ...more
Generally a character becomes more likable as a series goes on. But Vanyel actually seems to get worse or at least he doesn't much change as he gets older. It is one thing to see those things in a neglected, abused boy, but they become very unattractive in an adult man. I think part of the problem is that there are times here when he does or says something that just seems to come completely out of the blue. Instances I generally blame on author convenience. (view spoiler) ...more
Ugh. So many things wrong with this book, where to begin…
Magic’s Price, the third and final novel in Lackey’s Last Herald-uMage series, takes place nine years after the events of the series’ second novel, Magic’s Promise – which, when added to the 11-year gap between the events of books 1 and 2, puts us at a convenient 20 years after the events of Magic’s Pawn. “Price” centers on the political and personal upheavals threatening or taking place in (respectively) Valdemar: religious war may break ...more
Magic’s Price, the third and final novel in Lackey’s Last Herald-uMage series, takes place nine years after the events of the series’ second novel, Magic’s Promise – which, when added to the 11-year gap between the events of books 1 and 2, puts us at a convenient 20 years after the events of Magic’s Pawn. “Price” centers on the political and personal upheavals threatening or taking place in (respectively) Valdemar: religious war may break ...more
The final book of The Last Herald-Mage trilogy finds Vanyel quite literally the last Herald-Mage. Most of the other Herald-Mages have been killed in battle, and no child has manifested the Mage Gift in years. As Van probes more deeply into the problem, he discovers that someone is targeting anyone with the Mage Gift--someone who is determined to bring Valdemar, already on the brink of losing its king, into utter chaos.
In this book, we come full circle, as Vanyel finds love again and learns to tr ...more
In this book, we come full circle, as Vanyel finds love again and learns to tr ...more
Sigh. As the final Act of an epic storyline, this novel was, in a word, disappointing.
Plot-wise, it was anticlimactic, and utilized a literary device I particularly dislike: (view spoiler)
Character-wise, I enjoyed the character of Stef, but felt he lacked depth. The interactions between him and Vaneyl were well written, and believable, up until the ...more
Plot-wise, it was anticlimactic, and utilized a literary device I particularly dislike: (view spoiler)
Character-wise, I enjoyed the character of Stef, but felt he lacked depth. The interactions between him and Vaneyl were well written, and believable, up until the ...more
3.5* from me. one of the big things i was missing in all three books in this series was some kind of central plot line that the books were following. when i'm reading a fantasy series i kinda want some deep plot in the background that the books follow slowly but surely. in this last book some portions felt really rushed and some things happened that just seemed useless and not important for the story. not entirely happy with how this ended and just in general how it all played out. still enjoyed
...more
2.5
hey ho i marathon read the last book of this series and tbh??? still wont change my opinion
the plot was rlly lame, it has lots of sad gays tendencies, there was a lot of love at first sight bullshit going on, plus all character interactions felt kind of flat and repetitive :////
it might just be me having way too high expectations for it but tbh? it was kinda mediocre
still not bad tho, just not terribly good either ...more
hey ho i marathon read the last book of this series and tbh??? still wont change my opinion
the plot was rlly lame, it has lots of sad gays tendencies, there was a lot of love at first sight bullshit going on, plus all character interactions felt kind of flat and repetitive :////
it might just be me having way too high expectations for it but tbh? it was kinda mediocre
still not bad tho, just not terribly good either ...more
This is the third book of her trilogy, the Last Herald Mage. I’ve always liked her treatment of gay characters (shaych). Reminds me of Marion Zimmer Bradley. However, this last book has definite problems, perhaps from being rushed to finish—at least that’s my guess. This review is from several years ago. [Spoilers below]
My one irritation throughout is how Vanyel eschews possibly physical involvements. It seems a little contrived, almost like she’s trying to prolong the story by having him throw ...more
My one irritation throughout is how Vanyel eschews possibly physical involvements. It seems a little contrived, almost like she’s trying to prolong the story by having him throw ...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Last Herald Mage Trilogy was fantastic.
I love it. It is really sad, but really good at the same time. Vanyel reminds me of Tylendel in his last moments. The way his obsesion with revenge has taken over. However, unlike Tylendel he has 'Fandes to set him right. Also he listens to Stefen more than 'Lendel listened to him. (view spoiler)
Full review here:
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
While it reads like a series of vignettes, it's still a solid end to Vanyel's tale.
http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...
While it reads like a series of vignettes, it's still a solid end to Vanyel's tale.
The last of the Valdemar-Vanyel-magic in this series, and it's taken me a couple of days to digest it. While reading it, I enjoyed it immensely, but it left a lot of questions hanging in thin air.
I liked it well enough, it was a good story, but the last half of the book felt hurried, hastily and shoddily put together, and this had me falling out of the narrative more than once. I feel it was not up to Ms Lackey's usual standards. I have only a couple of excerpts from the whole book, which—for m ...more
I liked it well enough, it was a good story, but the last half of the book felt hurried, hastily and shoddily put together, and this had me falling out of the narrative more than once. I feel it was not up to Ms Lackey's usual standards. I have only a couple of excerpts from the whole book, which—for m ...more
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy concludes in this exciting and romantic novel, which had me both happy and sad at the same time. Some will argue that this is the best novel in the trilogy. For me, it was the first novel, Magic’s Pawn. Throughout the book Mercedes Lackey addresses all kinds love and all kinds of situations/issues lovers deal with because of this powerful love. And through all these, the message remains the same, and it is a message of tolerance.
Karse’s self-proclaimed Prophet-King h ...more
Karse’s self-proclaimed Prophet-King h ...more
what a bummer of an ending omg. Vanyel lived one hell of a short and miserable existence.
idek what I think of this trilogy? it was fun and easy to read but there were really weird elements to it lol. The last two books were better than the first in that it wasnt sO ANGSTY AMD DRAMATIC but nothing felt particularly cohesive. this book like, changed plot halfway through, from focusing on the growing relationship between Vanyel's new boytoy and Randale's declining health to the Greatest Threat to V ...more
idek what I think of this trilogy? it was fun and easy to read but there were really weird elements to it lol. The last two books were better than the first in that it wasnt sO ANGSTY AMD DRAMATIC but nothing felt particularly cohesive. this book like, changed plot halfway through, from focusing on the growing relationship between Vanyel's new boytoy and Randale's declining health to the Greatest Threat to V ...more
Audiobook Review
I am writing this review after listening to all three books in this series. I’m glad I waited to review because I have adjusted my ratings from 5 to 4 stars on the overall story. This series is about Vanyel, a Herald Mage. It starts in Book 1 when he is about 16 and ends in Book 3 in his late thirties. This series was written in the 1990s, so I tried to listen to it with that filter. Back then, gay themed YA books were rare and gay themed fantasy book even rarer. Overall I really ...more
I am writing this review after listening to all three books in this series. I’m glad I waited to review because I have adjusted my ratings from 5 to 4 stars on the overall story. This series is about Vanyel, a Herald Mage. It starts in Book 1 when he is about 16 and ends in Book 3 in his late thirties. This series was written in the 1990s, so I tried to listen to it with that filter. Back then, gay themed YA books were rare and gay themed fantasy book even rarer. Overall I really ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Vaaanyeeeeeel.
This last book in Vanyel's trilogy finally brings us his lifemate, Bard Stefen, who is wonderful. He's supposedly the reincarnation of Tylendel, but who cares, he's awesome all on his own.
And the story comes full circle, as Vanyel goes through something very like the situation that was Tylendel's undoing in the first book. It's painful to read, especially since you know what's coming, but Vanyel manages to avoid going down the same revenge-driven path as Tylendel—interestingly enou ...more
This last book in Vanyel's trilogy finally brings us his lifemate, Bard Stefen, who is wonderful. He's supposedly the reincarnation of Tylendel, but who cares, he's awesome all on his own.
And the story comes full circle, as Vanyel goes through something very like the situation that was Tylendel's undoing in the first book. It's painful to read, especially since you know what's coming, but Vanyel manages to avoid going down the same revenge-driven path as Tylendel—interestingly enou ...more
"I told you I would never leave you when I Chose you...I knew what our bond would come to then, when I first Chose you - and I don't regret my choice. I love you, and I am proud to stand beside you. There is not a single moment together that I would take back."
//
I am legitimately so conflicted about this book. I figure that any book that can make me cry (that ending, like of course I was bawling) should get I high rating, but I have some issues with it that are kind of preventing that.
I found th ...more
//
I am legitimately so conflicted about this book. I figure that any book that can make me cry (that ending, like of course I was bawling) should get I high rating, but I have some issues with it that are kind of preventing that.
I found th ...more
Skimming through some other reviews I passed one that called this book "Cheesy, tawdry, melodramatic". I completely agree, but I actually reveled in those facts while the other reviewer gave it two stars. :P It's definitely over the top and has some logic defying moments, but I find myself quite invested in Valdemar. I *was* a little torn on my rating and I think 4 stars is rounding up for me because there was a resurgence of the plot point that bothered me in the Vows & Honor books I've rea
...more
This is my favorite book in the Last Herald Mage trilogy. That said, I kind of hate this trilogy, so it's not saying much.
Vanyel finally quit whining in this book. One thing I will say is that Lackey does a great job at showing Van's growth and maturation over the course of the story. I didn't think Van would ever suck it up, buttercup, and quit whining all the time.
This book reads like an after school special in so many places. Van and Withen's reconciliation, for example, was so cheesy I had ...more
Vanyel finally quit whining in this book. One thing I will say is that Lackey does a great job at showing Van's growth and maturation over the course of the story. I didn't think Van would ever suck it up, buttercup, and quit whining all the time.
This book reads like an after school special in so many places. Van and Withen's reconciliation, for example, was so cheesy I had ...more
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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 &am
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Valdemar: The Last Herald-Mage
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“A quaint conceit, don't you think?”
—
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“Don’t you see, Stef? It’s not that I’m serving Valdemar, it’s that I’m helping to preserve the kind of people who leave the world better than they found it, and trying to stop the ones who take instead of giving.”
—
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