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libra17's review against another edition
3.0
Note: This is my review of the series on a whole, although I also reviewed all the books individually. Read in April of 2020.
So, I've been reading the Valdemar series in (mostly, ish) chronological order. I started with the Last Herald-Mage, I'm reading Oath, and have finished the Exile duology and Take a Thief. So, by the time I got to Arrows - which are actually Lackey's first books - I was used to better pacing, characterization, balance in the story, and writing more generally. I wasn't impressed at all by Arrows of the Queen, thought Arrow's Flight was only passable, and was really hoping for Arrow's Fall to redeem the series. I listened to the music long before I ever actually started the books, and thought the books would be at least as interesting. Such was not the case.
Huge parts of each book, especially Arrows of the Queen, were given over worldbuilding at the expense of characterization and plot. Not only did I not need it, but I don't think any new reader would have needed it. I did just fine starting with other trilogies and and duologies; they didn't include as much detail but also didn't have a story where it felt like nothing at all would happen for chapters at a time. And what makes it weirder is that Arrow's Fall and Arrow's Flight both have a prologue that explains the baiscs of the world of Valdemar, so one might think it was there to take the take some of pressure of worldbuilding off the story. That's kind of right; there isn't as much time and pages put into worldbuilding in the last two books, but but the stories themselves have only mildly better plot, pacing, and characterization.
Talia herself - despite being the main character - felt almost like an afterthought here, and she seems to just sort of blithely accept any and everything once she arrives at the Collegium, and she doesn't really get better over the course of the books. I was hoping for Talia to become a vivid character (like Vanyel or Savil or Alberich or Skif), but I came away from this trilogy no more invested in Talia as a character than I did by reading summaries of the series, which is problematic. The person who grew the most over this series and the one I liked the best is Elspeth, and she's not even in it for an entire book!
Plus, Lackey seems to have a bad habit of using sexual violence just because in the last novels of her series. I've only read two so far, but so far Arrows and LHM are two for two in sexual violence against main characters that serves no purpose whatsoever to the plot. (And, though I haven't gotten to it yet, I know there's a similar situation that occurs in the Oath duology.) Just...why? I have no idea.
This whole series feels more like a filler than anything. The writing is kinda bad (which isn't unexpected, given that these were apparently Lackey's first books), the story moves a glacial pace, the characters make stupid decisions not because they're stupid people but because it stretches the little bit of drama in the story longer, and it leaves off on a note that feels like it's setting up for what's next. I'm glad it's finally finished, so now I can leave it and never return. I can only hope the subsequent series will be better.
So, I've been reading the Valdemar series in (mostly, ish) chronological order. I started with the Last Herald-Mage, I'm reading Oath, and have finished the Exile duology and Take a Thief. So, by the time I got to Arrows - which are actually Lackey's first books - I was used to better pacing, characterization, balance in the story, and writing more generally. I wasn't impressed at all by Arrows of the Queen, thought Arrow's Flight was only passable, and was really hoping for Arrow's Fall to redeem the series. I listened to the music long before I ever actually started the books, and thought the books would be at least as interesting. Such was not the case.
Huge parts of each book, especially Arrows of the Queen, were given over worldbuilding at the expense of characterization and plot. Not only did I not need it, but I don't think any new reader would have needed it. I did just fine starting with other trilogies and and duologies; they didn't include as much detail but also didn't have a story where it felt like nothing at all would happen for chapters at a time. And what makes it weirder is that Arrow's Fall and Arrow's Flight both have a prologue that explains the baiscs of the world of Valdemar, so one might think it was there to take the take some of pressure of worldbuilding off the story. That's kind of right; there isn't as much time and pages put into worldbuilding in the last two books, but but the stories themselves have only mildly better plot, pacing, and characterization.
Talia herself - despite being the main character - felt almost like an afterthought here, and she seems to just sort of blithely accept any and everything once she arrives at the Collegium, and she doesn't really get better over the course of the books. I was hoping for Talia to become a vivid character (like Vanyel or Savil or Alberich or Skif), but I came away from this trilogy no more invested in Talia as a character than I did by reading summaries of the series, which is problematic. The person who grew the most over this series and the one I liked the best is Elspeth, and she's not even in it for an entire book!
Plus, Lackey seems to have a bad habit of using sexual violence just because in the last novels of her series. I've only read two so far, but so far Arrows and LHM are two for two in sexual violence against main characters that serves no purpose whatsoever to the plot. (And, though I haven't gotten to it yet, I know there's a similar situation that occurs in the Oath duology.) Just...why? I have no idea.
This whole series feels more like a filler than anything. The writing is kinda bad (which isn't unexpected, given that these were apparently Lackey's first books), the story moves a glacial pace, the characters make stupid decisions not because they're stupid people but because it stretches the little bit of drama in the story longer, and it leaves off on a note that feels like it's setting up for what's next. I'm glad it's finally finished, so now I can leave it and never return. I can only hope the subsequent series will be better.
poc's review against another edition
2.0
Clearly a first book. A whole mix of off-the-shelf tropes driven by a "Mary Sue" heroine who goes to magic school and has an intelligent horse. I barely managed to get through it and returned the rest of the series (I had bought them together in a Kindle deal). However the author is now highly successful so later works must presumably have improved a good deal, though I have yet to try any.