Series: The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey ("Arrows of the Queen")

[Beth]

Here's the thread for discussion of Mercedes Lackey's first series The Heralds of Valdemar!

This read will start January 20, 2020, with Arrows of the Queen. Further volumes TBD.

Since this is an ongoing thread for a series, please mark spoilers and mention the chapter/s you're talking about so others can easily follow along. Other than that, there are no rules. Feel free to join in whenever you like, and have fun!

Reference links

Mercedes Lackey bibliography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercede...

There are plenty of interviews with Lackey online, though understandably a lot of them deal with more recent work than this series.

(more introductory material, etc. to come?)

[Cheryl]

I'm in. I've loved the 500 Kingdoms and have wanted to try some more by the author. Please forgive my presumption, but I want this link here if only for my reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercede...

[Beth]

No worries, Cheryl. It'll be the first link to be added to the opening post. (She is one prolific author!!)

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

I love this series. I think I might be in.

[Beth]

Hooray! Looks like we'll have a good sized group. :)

[Anthony]

I’ll be in for the first and if I like the first I will continue.

[Jemppu]

Oh, yes. Reporting in here as well for the first book o/

[Aga]

Yey! I was thinking about rereading Valdemar series for a long time. I'm not sure if I've read all of the books (propably not). "Arrows of the Queen" was one of my favourite books for a long time.

[Beth]

Thanks for checking in, everyone. I'll post a reminder a couple of weeks out from Jan. 20 so folks have time to find/get/borrow/etc. their copies.

[Bobby]

I've been too busy to participate in buddy reads for a while, but hopefully that will change by the time this one comes out. These were some of my favorite books when I was younger, so a re-read would be fun. At the very least I will lurk.

[Cheryl]

Tyvm for the promised reminder; I'll need it!

[Beth]

Here's a reminder for everyone so they can obtain/borrow their copies of Arrows of the Queen in advance of our buddy read. "Official" start date is Jan. 20, but feel free to post your thoughts any time.

[Beth]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through Arrows and it's been great getting reacquainted with this story.

The writing style is smooth and pleasant to read, but doesn't feel like over-simple "bestsellerese."

I like Talia more than I'd expect from a "Chosen One" type character, and I think a lot of it is because she's so modest. Even though she's been daydreaming about being a Herald for a long time, she doesn't actually believe that that's what's going on until she is straight up told by (view spoiler)[Queen Selenay (hide spoiler)].

Despite this being pretty soothing stuff so far, there's a thread of suspense, tension, or danger. (spoilers for Ch. 3) (view spoiler)[What happened to the previous Queen's Own? Was he murdered? Will Talia be up to snuff in time to protect Selenay, and herself? (hide spoiler)]

[Alia]

I'm actually doing a personal challenge that involves reading all of the Valdemar books and I haven't read these ones yet so I think I'll join in.

[Beth]

Welcome, Alia!

What order have you been reading the books in?

I hope to eventually catch back up with the novels set in this world, but with 36 to date (ignoring the 8 short story collections), that will take a while.

[Alia]

I started on the The Last Herald Mage series last year as a buddy read with a friend so I've only read two of those but I've been slowly collecting all the books set in the Valdemar universe, I'm currently at 13 of 36 books.

[Cheryl]

I've ordered this, don't know if it'll come in by the 20th. So many other group reads, too....

[Beth]

Feel free to join in any time, Cheryl. No FOMO (fear of missing out) 'round here!

Ch. 6: what a charming chapter. (view spoiler)[Not the dirtbag Blues, of course--fairly boring bully types--but Talia's meeting and subsequent friendship with elderly herald Jadus.

Talia's natural talent for music kind of tipped things over to her being a Special Snowflake for me. Ancillary Justice's Breq, for example, loves singing but has a terrible voice, and a little flaw like that--or any other, really--would make her less overwhelmingly perfect.

I like this story's coziness--at no point do I believe Talia will come to real harm, even from the aforementioned bullies. About the bullies and Talia's loneliness: wouldn't Rolan have noticed something was wrong, considering the deep sympathy between them? They aren't yet communicating on the same level as when she was first Chosen, so maybe that accounts for it. (hide spoiler)]

[Aga]

I'm starting a little late, but the weekend is coming :) I've read the first chapter and everything is just like I remembered. This a reread for me and as I've written before I'm going to reread the whole series and read the books I've missed somehow.

Does anyone know if the fragment Talia is reading at the beginning appears in The Last Herald Mage series? I can't remember if I've checked.


This book made me start horseback riding :)

[Beth]

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts about the first book any time! Please mark spoilers beyond the first couple of chapters.

Not sure about the "book excerpt" about Vanyel is actually in that series, since I've only ever read this first trilogy. Are there any other Valdemar fans who know?

I may have wanted to ride during my horse phase, but considering how indifferent I was about ballet, volleyball, etc. once the glamour had worn off and the actual work started, my parents probably (wisely) decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to sign me up. Do you still ride now?

[Alia]

I'll be starting this hopefully over the weekend, I heard Van was in this and wanted to have The Last Herald Mage finished up before then so I'm not spoiling much for myself.

[Aga]

Beth wrote: "Do you still ride now?"

I was riding for five years and then University started so I didn't have enough time anymore. I started thinking about coming back to riding lately. The riding school I used to go to is pretty close to where I live. I have more time now, so maybe after rereading Valdemar... ;)

[Aga]

Alia wrote: "I'll be starting this hopefully over the weekend, I heard Van was in this and wanted to have The Last Herald Mage finished up before then so I'm not spoiling much for myself."

Oh, so maybe you will be able to answer my question after reading the first chapter. But I don't want to spoil anything for you now.

[Michael]

I have to jump in - my mom loves Mercedes Lackey and I asked her for a recommendation literally yesterday and she said to read VALDEMAR! And so it came to pass 🙂

[Beth]

Welcome, Michael!

[Bobby]

Michael wrote: "I have to jump in - my mom loves Mercedes Lackey and I asked her for a recommendation literally yesterday and she said to read VALDEMAR! And so it came to pass 🙂"

My mom got me started on Valdemar when I was a teen. It was always great sharing the books with her, and I've always loved Mercedes Lackey because of it.

[Bobby]

I finally got a chance to start this one, and I finished the first chapter. This is a re-read for me, but it's been a long time, so I don't remember much.

[Cheryl]

The copy that I requested is In Transit, so crossing fingers for soon!

[Joelle.P.S]

January's been busy, but I hope to start this 1 in a week or 2!
Excited to read some Mercedes Lackey cuz I'll see her at WorldCon in NZ later this year. :-)

[Alia]

Okay so to answer the question about that fragment of the book Talia is reading about Van, it does not happen exactly like that in Magic's Price but it is similar, obviously the big difference is Talia's little self insert and made up companion being there to help out. Honestly though I love that Talia is inserting herself into the story she is reading because I definitely did that at 13 too.

[Alia]

Another interesting point about Vanyel and how he's talked about in this is that on pg 118 in chapter 5 (view spoiler)[ Talia asks about what happened to him at the end of the tale and the instructor says that he was hacked to bits by the dark servants before help could arrive, but that isn't what happens in Magic's Price at all. I actually think its pretty clever since this book takes place about 500 years after Van's time and so it would make sense that the truth would have been warped by then. (hide spoiler)]

[Aga]

Alia wrote: "Okay so to answer the question about that fragment of the book Talia is reading about Van, it does not happen exactly like that in Magic's Price but it is similar, obviously the big difference is T..."

Thank you Alia! I was surprised because I have no recollection of a character mentioned in that fragment. If I remember correctly all of the books in The Last Mage series were written from Vanyel's POV.

Last time I've read the books I started with Talia's series and didn't recognize that something's different when reading Magic's Price.

[Aga]

Alia wrote: "Another interesting point about Vanyel and how he's talked about in this is that on pg 118 in chapter 5 [spoilers removed]"

Good point! It reminds me of Robbin Hobb's Assasin series and The Piebald Prince short story. After many years stories are based on gossip more than the truth.

[Ariana]

I read all three of these Heralds books recently and really loved them. This was my first exposure to Valdemar, but I'd love to read more. What should I read read next? I'm a little daunted by all the sub series.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I can say The Last Herald-Mage is good but extremely sad and took longer to get into for me than this series. That's as far as I've made it with Lackey lol

[Cheryl]

My library system finally sent me a beat-up mm pb ... but once I finally got my hands on it I read the first third when I should have been sleeping, and now am having trouble putting it down. It's an easy, engaging, teen/ YA style read, perfect for young girls who love horses and for us older women who remember being young and want a comfort read... probably good for other folk, too. I do hope that I can read the sequels; I'd kinda like to own the trilogy. If it ends as well as it's going so far, it'll be a strong four stars.

[Alia]

Ariana wrote: "I read all three of these Heralds books recently and really loved them. This was my first exposure to Valdemar, but I'd love to read more. What should I read read next? I'm a little daunted by all ..."

The Last Herald Mage series is fantastic but I'll echo Allison that its a lot sadder.

[Alia]

I'm honestly shocked I never read this series as a kid, I was absolutely obsessed with horses and horseback riding as a child so Valdemar as whole would have been right up my alley. Reading this has been kind of like appeasing my younger self.

[Ariana]

Alia wrote: "Ariana wrote: "I read all three of these Heralds books recently and really loved them. This was my first exposure to Valdemar, but I'd love to read more. What should I read read next? I'm a little ..."

Thanks!

[Ian]

Cheryl wrote: "My library system finally sent me a beat-up mm pb ... but once I finally got my hands on it I read the first third when I should have been sleeping, and now am having trouble putting it down. ... I do hope that I can read the sequels ..."

They are very much worth reading, but a word of warning: the story gets a lot grimmer as it goes along.

[Beth]

Cheryl, this trilogy is still in print. :) The books are available both individually and as an omnibus, and both in "dead tree" and ebook form.

I usually go with publishing order for series like this. I'll probably skip the Tarma and Kethry books that come right after these, though--for a couple of reasons--and move on to Last Herald Mage.

Everyone, feel free to keep going with this trilogy and post your thoughts in the thread! Please note the book and chapter, and mark any spoilers.

[Cheryl]

I finished, and gave it a strong four stars. I will indeed be looking for library or used cheap copies of Arrow's Flight and Arrow's Fall. I am going to stick with the subsets of the world as listed in the beginning of this book.

Thank you Ian for the heads-up about 'grimmer.' That does definitely concern me!

[Aga]

Cheryl wrote: "I finished, and gave it a strong four stars."

I gave it strong four stars too. It's a heartwarming story (especially first chapters).

(view spoiler)[It was interesting that Talia wasn't in the center of the royal intrigue. Yes, she took her part in it, but most of the time she encountered only echos of the main treachery plot. She was too young and eas protected by older Heralds most of the time. What I didn't remember about Talia, from reading the book last time, that she had so many talents and so much time for all those daily tasks. Well, we don't know how long the day and night is in Valdemar ;) (hide spoiler)]

I remembered, that this book was recommended to me by my high school friend who is now a successful fantasy writer herself. I hope that her books will be translated into English one day.

I'm going to continue reading this series, one book a month.

[Beth]

Yeah, I thought it was an interesting, and kind of cool decision, to not make Talia (view spoiler)[the major driver of events in the story (hide spoiler)]. She is a young teen, after all. I wonder if that will continue into the next book, or if the series will have more of a typical (not in a bad way) fantasy series arc. I read this quite a while ago and don't remember!

[Aga]

Exactly! I can't remember what the next two were about! I remember a scene or two, but not the main plot. That's strange because I discovered how well I remembered the first half of "Arrows of The Queen".

[Alia]

I just finished and gave it 5 stars cause it really was just such a wholesome read. I think Mercedes Lackey might be becoming a favorite author of mine. I'm excited to start the next book!

[Joelle.P.S]

I'm finally caught up on IRL bookclub reads & have some time to devote to this 1! Hopefully I'll get it read in a reasonably short time. Looking forward to returning to this discussion & opening all the spoiler links. :-)

[Cheryl]

I'm giving four stars to Arrow's Flight. It's very much a middle book, taking place mostly in a very short time frame, but Lackey makes it oh-so enjoyable nonetheless.

It is somewhat darker/ more mature than the first book. Talia is grown-up, and has a *lot* of hard work to do. I wanted to wrap my arms around her, hold her tight, but she's a "little bird" and she needs to grow strong enough for not only independence but adversity, and to fledge her wings and fly.

(Little bird is a sort of pet name, sort of respectful nickname. Not patronizing, though it seems so at first. Read and find out.)

The scanned copy on openlibrary.org is dark on most pages and blurry on several. If you can get this from your library or ILL, I recommend that you d!o so.

And now I'm biting my nails for the third book! Thank you for this buddy read to get me to read them!

[Aga]

I hope I'll manage to read Arrow's Flight this month, but I want to complete two buddy reads first. I need to read a little faster to keep up with my schedule!

[Cheryl]

I hear you! I prioritized this because it didn't feel like a duty, as so many other of my books do this month. It's so enjoyable it feels like a vacation, sort of.