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jrho's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
catherine_t's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Book 3 in The Collegium Chronicles puts Mags in the role of spy. King's Own Herald Nikolas begins training Mags in the fine art of observing without being observed, on nights down in Haven's seedier areas, where Nikolas has established an identity as a pawnbroker. It's while they're down in Haven that Mags discovers a houseful of corpses: the bodies of the men who tried to infiltrate the Collegia and Palace some months ago. Now there are new operatives, and they have new abilities. It will take all of Mags' training and skill to defeat them.
I've been a long-time reader of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, and she rarely disappoints. I was a bit underwhelmed with the last book in The Collegium Chronicles, but she redeems herself here with a proper espionage novel. Mags continues to grow as a character, as do his friends Bear, Lena, and Amily.
I've been a long-time reader of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, and she rarely disappoints. I was a bit underwhelmed with the last book in The Collegium Chronicles, but she redeems herself here with a proper espionage novel. Mags continues to grow as a character, as do his friends Bear, Lena, and Amily.
heliotropepajamas's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I am so frustrated by this series. The first book was good, but then we got two more in which pretty much nothing happened. All I care about plotwise is the mysterious foreigners and I'm going to say maybe 50 pages of this book or less was related to that through-line. There are several other subplots but somehow nothing really happens with them either - Lena is anxious and her father is pompous, Bear is unsure and his family is overbearing, and with some minor details that's pretty much the summary of their stories from all three books so far.
As for Kirball - why? I'm pretty sure that barring HP no one has ever looked at a fantasy setting and thought "you know what would make this better? Sports!" So now we have to spend pages and pages reading about people and events that go nowhere in the grand scheme of things.
Finally written out dialects is a personal pet peeve of mind, and I swear Mag's speech gets more outrageous as this book progresses. He wasn't using nearly as many malapropisms or mangling words this much in previous volumes, or even from the beginning of the story from the end. It's getting hard to read at this point.
So yeah - a three star rating but a low three. I'll continue the series because there's potential for a good story there if you can get past all the chaff, but for the most part I'll be skimming.
As for Kirball - why? I'm pretty sure that barring HP no one has ever looked at a fantasy setting and thought "you know what would make this better? Sports!" So now we have to spend pages and pages reading about people and events that go nowhere in the grand scheme of things.
Finally written out dialects is a personal pet peeve of mind, and I swear Mag's speech gets more outrageous as this book progresses. He wasn't using nearly as many malapropisms or mangling words this much in previous volumes, or even from the beginning of the story from the end. It's getting hard to read at this point.
So yeah - a three star rating but a low three. I'll continue the series because there's potential for a good story there if you can get past all the chaff, but for the most part I'll be skimming.
jferrell526's review against another edition
4.0
Spies in the Collegium. Mags and his company are trying to find them while protecting all they hold dear. Great reading.
msjb22's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this, although Mags' pronounced dialect/slang seemed to be worse in this book than in previous volumes in the series, and I found it hard to understand at times. I also would have liked the book to be longer and the ending is still very much up in the air, so I assume there will be at least a foruth book in this series.
krisis86's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm... WAY too much Kirball, and the ending was abrupt and dumb. But I love Valdemar so much, and I even love Mags even though is accent is redonkulous.
flyingleaps's review against another edition
2.0
The temptation to read Mags as Skif’s lesser half continues in this third book in the Collegium Chronicles.
I say lesser, because Mags lacks the charm and sense of humor that made Skif so likeable in the first place. This isn’t to say that Mags isn’t likeable, it’s just that you have to peel back the layers of angst and emotional superiority (he came an obscene level of poverty, but the constant reminders that he had it worse than the worst any other Trainee has experienced is annoying) to get to his likeable personality.
Also maddening is the dialect in which Lackey has chosen to write her main character. "Tis like mebbe when 'e was s'posed t'be hangin' 'bout th' others, but whatever made th' furst mad sent 'im mad too." It’s infuriating, and sends the reader skimming every time a surplus of apostrophes appears. What makes it worse is that this isn’t consistent. Sometimes his grammar (spoken AND thought) follows this rule, and others it’s perfectly normal speech.
We continue to chase loose ends from the first novel (particularly about his parents) and the second (the origin of the assassins), but seem to get no closer to any answers. It feels increasingly like Lackey is taking a whack at the Harry Potter of Valdemar books, complete with Kirball in place of Quidditch.
I will say that the characters’ interactions this time around were truer to form than the second half of Intrigues. I also appreciated that because they’re all getting a bit older, their interactions are reflecting this.
However, of the three so far in the Chronicles, this is the most slapped-together installment yet. The grammar is atrocious, as are the spelling errors—EVEN IN CHARACTER NAMES. Typos that could have been solved with a simple run of spellcheck. Ugh.
Between the overwhelming amount of work left undone by her editor and the continuing feeling that Misty is milking this storyline for more than it’s worth, I remain undecided about finishing the last two installments of the Chronicles and finding out who the hell Mags actually is (and, incidentally, why I’ve cared for five books). Enough is more than enough, and with some (any?) editing, they should’ve called this one at three.
I say lesser, because Mags lacks the charm and sense of humor that made Skif so likeable in the first place. This isn’t to say that Mags isn’t likeable, it’s just that you have to peel back the layers of angst and emotional superiority (he came an obscene level of poverty, but the constant reminders that he had it worse than the worst any other Trainee has experienced is annoying) to get to his likeable personality.
Also maddening is the dialect in which Lackey has chosen to write her main character. "Tis like mebbe when 'e was s'posed t'be hangin' 'bout th' others, but whatever made th' furst mad sent 'im mad too." It’s infuriating, and sends the reader skimming every time a surplus of apostrophes appears. What makes it worse is that this isn’t consistent. Sometimes his grammar (spoken AND thought) follows this rule, and others it’s perfectly normal speech.
We continue to chase loose ends from the first novel (particularly about his parents) and the second (the origin of the assassins), but seem to get no closer to any answers. It feels increasingly like Lackey is taking a whack at the Harry Potter of Valdemar books, complete with Kirball in place of Quidditch.
I will say that the characters’ interactions this time around were truer to form than the second half of Intrigues. I also appreciated that because they’re all getting a bit older, their interactions are reflecting this.
However, of the three so far in the Chronicles, this is the most slapped-together installment yet. The grammar is atrocious, as are the spelling errors—EVEN IN CHARACTER NAMES. Typos that could have been solved with a simple run of spellcheck. Ugh.
Between the overwhelming amount of work left undone by her editor and the continuing feeling that Misty is milking this storyline for more than it’s worth, I remain undecided about finishing the last two installments of the Chronicles and finding out who the hell Mags actually is (and, incidentally, why I’ve cared for five books). Enough is more than enough, and with some (any?) editing, they should’ve called this one at three.
amandak70's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
crownoflaurel's review against another edition
2.0
Still suffering from the same issues as the earlier books in the trilogy.
Seriously, this whole trilogy could have been dealt with in one book. If this had been developed like one of her earlier books, it could have contained this story & more, as well as had more satisfying characters. I like Mags, but his friends were unbearable. Even [b:The Bartimaeus Trilogy|59268|The Bartimaeus Trilogy Boxed Set|Jonathan Stroud|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255646916s/59268.jpg|10452429] (whose characters I mostly disliked, across the board) had more character development, & a better denouement then this story. I do still read a lot of children's and YA fantasy, and this trilogy, with a few small edits, could have very easily qualified as a children's series. Sorry, Ms. Lackey.
Seriously, this whole trilogy could have been dealt with in one book. If this had been developed like one of her earlier books, it could have contained this story & more, as well as had more satisfying characters. I like Mags, but his friends were unbearable. Even [b:The Bartimaeus Trilogy|59268|The Bartimaeus Trilogy Boxed Set|Jonathan Stroud|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1255646916s/59268.jpg|10452429] (whose characters I mostly disliked, across the board) had more character development, & a better denouement then this story. I do still read a lot of children's and YA fantasy, and this trilogy, with a few small edits, could have very easily qualified as a children's series. Sorry, Ms. Lackey.