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hyzie's review against another edition
3.0
Mags' story is finally picking up.
I love that we are clearly going to get some answers about his past, although I would have appreciated them coming before this or at least being actually *stated* in this book instead of just apparently living in his head now without us getting to share them. I really hope the payoff is great, because the pacing of this whole series is terrible.
There were a completely unnecessary number of flashbacks/"drugged" dream sequences in this book. They were overly detailed and honestly felt like the sort of thing added to a book to stretch it out to "full length", and I resented the flashbacks in particular since they were (as far as I can tell without actually having compared them) word-for-word what was written in previous books. I feel like this particular series is too long and I *still* don't think that what happened in those scenes was so long ago that we need detailed flashback sequences.
Firecats are always welcome characters. The whole section in Karse was interesting, actually.
Bear finally getting a showdown with his father was nice, if only because his father has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. The marriage between he and Lena was moderately unexpected, but prevented from being shocking by virtue of my complete apathy for the two of them. It is something I am beginning to feel (or not feel, as the case may be) for the whole "cast".
I will read the next one, but I hope it is the last in this series, because the characters are all getting less and less fun to spend time with, and I just don't know that the ending is going to be good enough to make up for that.
I love that we are clearly going to get some answers about his past, although I would have appreciated them coming before this or at least being actually *stated* in this book instead of just apparently living in his head now without us getting to share them. I really hope the payoff is great, because the pacing of this whole series is terrible.
There were a completely unnecessary number of flashbacks/"drugged" dream sequences in this book. They were overly detailed and honestly felt like the sort of thing added to a book to stretch it out to "full length", and I resented the flashbacks in particular since they were (as far as I can tell without actually having compared them) word-for-word what was written in previous books. I feel like this particular series is too long and I *still* don't think that what happened in those scenes was so long ago that we need detailed flashback sequences.
Firecats are always welcome characters. The whole section in Karse was interesting, actually.
Bear finally getting a showdown with his father was nice, if only because his father has no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. The marriage between he and Lena was moderately unexpected, but prevented from being shocking by virtue of my complete apathy for the two of them. It is something I am beginning to feel (or not feel, as the case may be) for the whole "cast".
I will read the next one, but I hope it is the last in this series, because the characters are all getting less and less fun to spend time with, and I just don't know that the ending is going to be good enough to make up for that.
venusbloo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Redoubt by Mercedes Lackey is the fourth book in the Collegium Chronicles series set in the fictional country of Valdemar. In the previous installment, Mags manages to rescue Amily from the clutches of the assassins intent on destabilizing the Kingdom of Valdemar. Things seem to have gotten back to normal for Mags and his friends. Amily has since been through the Healing necessary to fix her leg, and she is beginning to work on learning to defend herself. Likewise, now that Lena's father, Bard Marchand, is in disgrace, she is excelling in her studies towards becoming a Master Bard herself. Bear, having been in charge of Amily's Healing, can finally feel confident in his abilities as a Healer even if he doesn't have a Gift.
However, there is still plenty of mystery surrounding the assassins. No one knows where they come from, who they work for, why some of their number seem to recognize Mags, or really anything much about them. Also, their first attempt to kidnap Amily revealed that Amily wasn't their only target. They tried to take Mags as well. What could they possibly want from Mags? As far as he knows, he's the orphan of foreigners killed by bandits, and he spent the first part of his life as a half-feral mine slave. Unfortunately, Mags's unknown past is about the catch up with him, and he will have to call upon every skill he has to escape it alive.
Some very interesting things happen in this book, but my favorite part in the whole thing is Bear's father finally getting his comeuppance. Lena has had her vindication when it comes to her father, and it's finally Bear's turn. Luckily, Lena helps with that, since Bear and Lena are in love and have been dating for a while. They both decide to surprise everyone and get married. Naturally, when Bear's father hears about this, he is in an uproar. However, I don't think anyone expected him to show up with armed mercenaries to try to drag Bear away. This was his downfall, since he conveniently forgot Bear lived on Palace grounds! It was so satisfying to finally see Bear and Lena both happy and together, so I really enjoyed this part of the book.
As far as Mags is concerned, he and Nikolas start working at the pawn shop again in an attempt to gather information as usual. In fact, Mags gets a bit of a promotion. He and Nikolas come up with a new persona for him that allows Mags to run the shop on his own some nights. It's when he's leaving the shop on one such night that he begins to feel watched. Before he knows it he's waking up in a wagon, drugged, and doesn't know where he is. Not only that, but his Mindspeech is gone.
Mags has to use all the skills he's learned as a Trainee and draw on his knowledge from his time at the mine to survive once he manages to escape his kidnappers. He finds himself in hostile territory as well. He's in Karse which is a country to the south of Valdemar that hates everything about Valdemar and Heralds. It was important for Mags to have this experience, though, because I think it helped him feel more confident in his abilities. Even though he had no formal survival training, he was still able to keep himself alive in the Karsite wilderness.
Unfortunately, he is recaptured, and the assassins force him to drink a potion that forces a lot of memories into Mags's mind. Mags is able to withstand this mental invasion, and thanks to the help of a local priest, he manages to finally escape back to the safety of Valdemar. These memories he was given are very important, though. Now he and the rest of the Heralds have more information than they could have dreamed of about the mysterious assassins and their origins.
By the end of the book, Mags doesn't survive totally unscathed, but he still manages to hold his own. He has also proven without a shadow of a doubt that regardless of his origins, he is a Valdemaran through and through. He uses ingenuity to combine past experience with his training to foil his kidnappers. There were several times he could have easily given up, but he kept pushing himself until he succeeded. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to do something like that, especially since Mags was hurt, hungry, and missing his Mindspeech. The overall lesson in this book was to keep doing what you know to be right and keep trying until you succeed.
I gave Redoubt by Mercedes Lackey four out of five stars. Mags consistently overcomes great odds to meet his goals. Bear, Lena, and Amily all manage to find paths forward as well. Mags and Dallen make a formidable team, and now that they have more information about Mags's past, they can work to discover who Mags is to these assassins. Your past will always find you, and Mags is ready to face it by the end of this book.
bibliophilicwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
A fair bit of fluff and filler as Lackey moves her pieces into place for the finale.
raerei's review against another edition
3.0
I knew I was missing books. Read this one a little while back when I saw it had published. I'm glad it finally started getting into Mags' past.
_misty_'s review against another edition
4.0
Thank you God, Mags started speaking like a human being. Reading his speech as a not native English speaker was becoming difficult and frustrating.
This book was a bridge between the past books and the future ones. Some characters got their closure, and Mags started delving a bit deeper in the mystery of his past. I have to say that at some point I missed Dallen and that I wish the final scenes were a bit more emotional but these books are more like long novellas than actual books, so I don't expect very much from them.
On to the next!
This book was a bridge between the past books and the future ones. Some characters got their closure, and Mags started delving a bit deeper in the mystery of his past. I have to say that at some point I missed Dallen and that I wish the final scenes were a bit more emotional but these books are more like long novellas than actual books, so I don't expect very much from them.
On to the next!
laura96's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the extra details that the first half have and the realism- there are slow points in life too! However, because of that extra attention to some of the more mundane parts of life when love is the biggest worry, the breakneck adventure from her other books took a long time to arrive! I'm interested to see where she will take us with this new group of people though and I hope we see more of them.
talreadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
leons1701's review against another edition
3.0
And so continues the Collegium Chronicles. Anyone who's been following this series knows what to expect by now, a lot of filler about Mags day to day life, a Kirball game or two and some undercover work in Haven. And if it's not earthshaking or even character developing for the most part, it's at least competently written and not too boring. Mind you, when stuff finally started happening about two thirds of the way through the book, it was past time. A few bits of revelation about Mags past complete the formula.
This particular series is a tough one to rate in many ways, I'm almost tempted to just give it two stars and have done with it, but it's just good enough to avoid that fate. A big part of the problem with this series is that it lives in the shadows of other, better works. Mags is really just a reworking of one of Lackey's more popular characters, Skif of "To Take a Thief" and most of the Talia/Elspeth series. Kirball is just a sillier, more Quidditch version of Hurlee. And the whole thing lives in the shadow of the book it should have been.
We're told this is the beginning of the Collegium, but other than a nod or two in the first book, you'd never know that. There's no sense of the beginning of things, of new traditions being established, of rules being laid down, of experimentation to discover what works and what doesn't. That's what I expected when the series was announced, what we got was just another Heralds in Training series that feels exactly no different from any other. This failure is easily the most grating thing about the series to me, why bother setting a series at the establishment of the Collegium if you intend to make zero use of that setting. Its every bit as annoying as the X-Men going to New Orleans and spending the entire time there in an underground cavern, making exactly the same story you'd get if they'd stayed in New York and gone to the Morlock tunnels. It was lousy storytelling there, and it's lousy writing here and Lackey really ought to know better.
This particular series is a tough one to rate in many ways, I'm almost tempted to just give it two stars and have done with it, but it's just good enough to avoid that fate. A big part of the problem with this series is that it lives in the shadows of other, better works. Mags is really just a reworking of one of Lackey's more popular characters, Skif of "To Take a Thief" and most of the Talia/Elspeth series. Kirball is just a sillier, more Quidditch version of Hurlee. And the whole thing lives in the shadow of the book it should have been.
We're told this is the beginning of the Collegium, but other than a nod or two in the first book, you'd never know that. There's no sense of the beginning of things, of new traditions being established, of rules being laid down, of experimentation to discover what works and what doesn't. That's what I expected when the series was announced, what we got was just another Heralds in Training series that feels exactly no different from any other. This failure is easily the most grating thing about the series to me, why bother setting a series at the establishment of the Collegium if you intend to make zero use of that setting. Its every bit as annoying as the X-Men going to New Orleans and spending the entire time there in an underground cavern, making exactly the same story you'd get if they'd stayed in New York and gone to the Morlock tunnels. It was lousy storytelling there, and it's lousy writing here and Lackey really ought to know better.