Mercedes Lackey

Arrows of the Queen is a magical school centered fantasy that was published in 1987 and is clearly the inspiration for all of the successful magical school fantasy books that came after! I’d also classify it as a semi-cozy fantasy. It has sad parts, which makes it not fully cozy, but the plot and pacing are relaxed enough throughout that it has a cozy fantasy feel to it.

The story follows Talia, a girl who has been raised in a cult environment and escapes with the help of a magical horse show more called a Companion. She then attends a magical school and is mentored by older teens and adults in the story, gradually coming into her own over the course of the book.

There’s so much to love about this book! First of all, it’s total wish fulfillment for teens who always wanted to own a horse growing up. Just look at that cover! That horse couldn't be more perfect. The worldbuilding and magic system are wonderful! There’s also a strong found family element to the story, which I always appreciate. And as an INFJ reader, it was so enjoyable to follow a main character who is pretty clearly an INFJ! INFJs often end up cast as the wise wizard-ish mentor or side character, so it’s great to get to see one in the spotlight.

There are also several delightfully unexpected story elements that made it feel way ahead of its time. Arrows of the Queen has LGBTQ characters, scenes featuring the importance of consent, and a discussion surrounding the use of a fantasy version of birth control!

There were a couple of drawbacks that kept this book from being a full 5 star read. For a story all about emotions, the writing is somewhat unemotional and removed. In many scenes, Lackey tells readers what characters are feeling rather than trusting them to discern on their own from the characters’ actions. Also, there were so many characters in the book and some weren’t developed enough which made it hard to distinguish between them. Even with those drawbacks, though, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives, and it’s definitely worth reading! show less

What a delight rereading this trilogy! I had read this when it first came out, and went to read quite a lot of the early Valdemar novels. I had forgotten what a joy they were to read, though I must say different things stuck out for me. I am quite certain that the first time I read these I was enamoured with the Heralds; the love story (and it's pathos!); the protagonist that wasn't quite perfect but just was enough of one to make me imagine being just like them. This time there was all show more that, making me smile with memory, but more so I was impressed by what a great job Lackey did with her first trilogy by letting just enough things that had happened in the first novel develop in the next two. How the love story developed over the whole trilogy when she needed to set it up with the first book. How the uncle went from an annoyance that we knew he was evil, but we could not pinpoint specific things (and he wasn't the main antagonist). Knowing later novels we could appreciate that there were more stories that should be told - not out of a 'what can we do to stretch it out..' but actual background stories which made us fall in love over and over again. Definitely I will be coming back to visit Valdemar again. show less

Ugh, right in the feels. This is a great short story about what happens when political correctness goes too far. Some stories fail with this topic, but I think Lackey did a bloody fantastic job with presenting that idea and the sort of form it takes in this uber-PC dystopia. Almost a shame it wasn't turned into a longer story, I do hope that one day the author decides to return to this world to explore it more.

Arrow's Fall is the final book in the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. Now that Talia's back from her internship and a full Herald, Talia takes her place at court in the full role as Queen's Own. There is intrigue afoot at court. Talia and Kris are sent on a mission to the neighboring kingdom of Ancar to see if their prince will be a suitable match for the Queen Selenay's heir, Elspeth.

The first half of the story reminded me so much of the first book as Talia reunites with show more everyone at the Collegium and learns her way around the court. Things take a decidedly dark turn in the second half once her mission is underway. This book is not for the faint of heart as it contains some trigger warnings for rape and torture, though it's not described in too much detail. The set up makes for some highly emotional moments in the book that I wasn't expecting. We also get to see more Heraldic powers in use, which was exciting.

I had two quibbles with the story. Firstly, the romance. It's a scenario where the angst could easily have been avoided if everyone would just talk to each other! Or just use your psychic abilities to get past all the silly will-he/won't-he nonsense. Second, the villains aren't too deep though in a way it's refreshing to just have bad guys that are unambiguously bad so perhaps it's not as big a quibble as the first one.

That said, this was a satisfying ending to the series. I enjoyed my first foray into Valdemar and getting to know Talia. I'm glad the story gives us a little of what happens after and the characters end in a good place for the most part.

I listened to the audio book narrated by Christa Lewis. Lewis continues her outstanding performance in bringing the third book to life. This book is currently available in the Audible+ catalog. show less