A review by alassel
Changes by Mercedes Lackey

4.0

This is the most recent Valdemar novel, following along as the third in the series telling about the founding of the Herald's Collegium and its early years. I love the world of Valdemar and will always enjoy stories set there, as they are consistently entertaining and wholesome while managing not to be treacly or too predictable. This novel did not disappoint, and there were some great parts that referenced other parts of the Valdemar history (especially the orb) along with continued development of the young characters that form the center of this story. However, there were a few flaws in this one that bothered me - first, Mags' accent seemed much more difficult to follow this time, and while I understand that it is written that way for a variety of reasons, I think that the same effect could have been achieved with a simpler style that left the intent plain but made it more readable. Secondly, the setup for the final event in the novel was way too predictable and I saw it coming at the first mention, and such a blatant setup is not usual for this author. The way the final event was handled was great, and was a fast-paced and exciting finish to the book, but the setup to get there was so simplistic that it felt out of place to me. Despite these flaws, this is still a good book for the Valdemar canon, and I am giving it four stars since I can't give it three and a half.