Reviews

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey

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saemiligr's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

riley_97ri's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

All Mercedes Lacky books hold a space in my heart, I find them good reads that don’t take so much out of me. I enjoy them genuinely, they’re fun with enough stakes to keep you going and character I love. This one was no different.

Plot wise it’s slow going and only pick up speed at about 70% through but I didn’t mind. The climax did feel a bit rushed but not horribly so. The story is mostly character driven, with the stakes and threats really being on the back burner

timlucier's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

My favourite out of this trilogy, for reasons that will become obvious. This is the book that truly tells the story of the founding of Valdemar. From Kordas becoming King, to the arrival of the Companions and the beginning of the Heraldic circle. Complete with a conflict with what I can only guess is an early M'arr-possessed individual. This should not at all be your first book from the vast Valdemar series --- but if you are already a fan, this is the best of Lackey's recent output that brings us the closest to the stories we know and love from this world. I can imagine she might follow this up with a series following the line of Valdemar, and the next challenges they face in growing their Kingdom... And I look forward to that.

hebberelle's review against another edition

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4.0

Let me preface this by saying how much I love Mercedes Lackey and how I absolutely did cry twice in this book. First when the companions appeared and second when Sydney disappeared.

What I wanted: I was hoping for a gloriously magical tale of how the first companions appeared, how the first Heralds were chosen, how they felt and what they had to deal with in terms of everyone else's reactions, then how they set about organizing the future.

What we got: fully 50% of this was day to day minutiae for running a kingdom. It was slow and pretty boring. We also got sunsinger and shadowdancer, but they were mooney teenagers that just happened to have useful gifts. The Companions didn't appear until fully 48% into the novel. THEN it was still minutiae for another 25% of the book until the reader could figure out it was good ole' Falconsbane (Ma'ar) again and it was a battle for the rest of the novel. It felt VERY railroaded and formulaic, almost as if Lackey is trying to wrap up every last bit of Valdemar history and toss it all into this one book.

Still, 4 stars because it's well done and still Misty, and she made my cry.

liannekb's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Not recommended to anyone who hasn't been reading the Valdemar series since the beginning, since it's a bit of fanservice for the loyal fans, and doesn't entirely stand on its own.