Magic's Pawn

Mercedes Lackey’s story about Vanyel is emotionally rich, heart-rending and bittersweet. I was very captivated by the well written depths of feelings.

The plot revolves around Vanyel, a young man misunderstood by his family and the people surrounding him, with his sister initialy being the only one close to him. He is sent to the capital to live with his aunt Savil, a Herald-Mage. There he falls in love with one of her students, Tylendel, whose love story eventually ends sadly. He wants to become a bard and indulge in music above all, yet fate has other plans for him, and as his magic powers manifest, he must learn to control them in order to not hurt himself and those dear to him.

It's been awhile since I've read any fantasy books that took themselves seriously, but that's no bad thing. It's also been several years since I read The Queen's Own trilogy (my introduction to Valdemar) so I was a bit hazy going into this book about where we sat on the timeline. I never did sort that out until I consulted the interwebs after I finished and discovered this trilogy is set well before The Queen's Own. No problem. It stands just fine on its own.

I find Lackey's world captivating, her writing compulsively readable, and her characters largely enjoyable. Vanyel got on my nerves from time to time for being a 15-year-old dude with a ton of angst, and while it turns out I am willing to believe 15-year-old dudes really can be that show more angsty, he had a lot of Gary Stu going on as well, what with the "my father hates me and doesn't understand me no one understands me and oh I have no talent and my life is ruined forever wait what? I have all dah powerz and now everyone loves me?" (Followed a by a lot more angst. Un-spoiler: he doesn't really get over his angst until about 20 pages from the end.)

My only other complaint is the way Lackey uses italics to emphasize things. So many things. (See what I did there?) She apparently doesn't trust her reader to understand her sentences in exactly the way that she writes them, and sure enough, there were dozens of times where I tripped over an italicized word because I, myself, would not have bothered with the emphasis in that particular sentence. And then when she was anti-italicizing things for emphasis while her characters were mind-speaking in italics? GAH. That was terrible.

But I'm over it. I enjoyed the book, and I'll read many more of them, I expect. show less

Okay, my first thought is that description for GoodReads actually only barely touches on the time period in which the book takes place, and even then still gets a lot of things wrong. Kind of sad, given that it's only a paragraph long...

Now, onto the real review.

This was the first Valdemar book I ever read, and it was the one to hook me, reel me in, and never let me go. Every time I pick it up and read it, I'm taken back to a hot lazy summer in which my friend handed me a copy and said, "I think you'll like this." It got me interested in the series, in the author, and was without a doubt the first book to really kick off my obsession with fantasy novels.

Ladies and gentlement, the book that started it all.

This is also the turning point show more in the Valdemar series, where you can really tell that Lackey has found her voice and has settled into a comfortable and refined style that carries her through the rest of the books she writes. It's smooth, it's detailed, and it's captivating. The way she handles deep emotional scenes is wonderful, and I'm always entertained by the way she writes the thoughts and observations of the character whose viewpoint we're seeing. Unlike some, who will only write the important and relevent thoughts of a character, Lackey will take the time and space to have them seem realistic in their random observations and jokes and misconceptions. Some may consider it a waste of space, but I consider it a sign that the author has a good handle on how people actually behave and think.

True, there are problems with this book. It has its inconsistancies, as I think every Valdemar novel has by this point, but it even makes a few internal flubs, such as referring to a period of 60 minutes as an hour instead of the series-established candlemark. But the internal errors are few and far between, and most of them are only evident if you're really paying attention for them.

Maybe people who dislike this trilogy do so because Vanyel's a whiny little brat and they can't stand his emo tendancies. I have to admit, they do have a point. Even other characters point out that he's a brat. In fairness to him as a character, though, a large part of his bratty nature was posturing, another large part was because he had a screwed up set of circumstances and issue that don't end up getting resolved until well into adulthood, and thirdly, he was 15! Think back to when you were 15, and I bet you were brattier then than you are now. For this, I cut the guy some slack.

And luckily for me, the way Lackey writes pulls me through the story so swiftly that it doesn't feel like an entire book has passed before I get to see him grow up and mature!

Even though this book has its issues, it will still always hold a special place in my heart and on my shelves, and I still highly recommend this trilogy to those who enjoy Lackey's other works, and to those who want to give Valdemar a try but don't want to sit through a less-polished writing style. show less

This is my favorite of Lackey's books, her most moving and heartfelt. It famously has a gay protagonist, rare even in speculative fiction, even in these days. Gay characters aren't unusual, especially now, but gay protagonists still are.

Those themes are important in this book and trilogy, and I think it explores it in ways that are thought-provoking and stayed with me as a young woman. Back then in 1989 when this came out, before Buffy and Will and Grace I can remember very few positive depictions of gays in fiction. My mother certainly wouldn't have approved of the subversive notions under the innocuous cover with the pretty guy hugging a white horse.

However, although I do think this theme is part of what gives the Last Herald Mage show more novels emotional punch, it doesn't pound the narrative to pieces; the book doesn't feel preachy. It's just a good adventure, fantasy story, set in a pseudo-medieval world of "heralds" who are a police/military force chosen by seeming horses, magical creatures that can see into someone's character and are full partners--it's simply a good read. show less

Oh, man, this book was brutally tough to get through. I found Vanyel incredibly whiny, and he grated on my last nerve from the very beginning. So much whining and moaning and groaning about his fate without actually doing anything about it. He's one of those characters to whom things happen, rather than being proactive about his fate in the world.

I also found the writing incredibly repetitive. The same point was driven home again and again, page after page reminding us of things we already learned. I'm not sure if the author just assumed the reader's an idiot, or if she was trying to pad her word count, but in any case, I found it painful to read.

The only thing I liked was the same-sex relationship and the message of tolerance the show more author was clearly trying to drive home. So, yeah, this is definitely not a series I'll be continuing with. Which is a shame, because I'd had high hopes. show less

Do I find young Vanyel to be annoying and whiney outside of his attempt to protect himself? Yes and luckily he does grow from that and it's gratifying. The majority of Vanyel's story is angst but knowing his story becomes legend that does make sense. He is quite literally a legendary Chosen One so of course his story is going to be A Lot. I will continue to be fond of this and the rest of Valdemar because of my nostalgia.

Melodramatic, over-the-top, and as subtle as a brick to the skull, this is nevertheless an engrossing read. Vanyel's journey from a spoiled, effeminent musician-wannabee to a heart-broken, effeminent Herald-Mage is really engaging. Teenagers will especially find themselves drawn to this story. The one truly boring part is Vanyel's time spent healing with the elves (or whatever they're called--they're basically mystical Native Americans with equally mystical white hair and magical birds).