The first trilogy holds its own

books:

	• Arrow's Fall (The Heralds of Valdemar, Book 3) Mercedes Lackey DAW, 1988 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 61 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The first trilogy holds its own

The original Valdemar trilogy holds a special place in my heart. While it is true that she didn't have many books under her belt at the time of the writing, the characterization and plot development are well-handled. Some of her later books suffer from overly condensed or elaborated plot points - an element that she maintained masterful control over in the earlier books.
The characters face challenges that thrum with urgency and have a realism to them all too lacking in much fantasy. She made some effort to make this a real world with a complex political situation, and it shows. And at the same time we never stop caring for Talia or lose sight of her plight in the midst of political machinations.
The relationship between Talia and Dirk rings most true when they are struggling toward each other; the final union is sweet but could have used more development.

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The Best Was Saved For Last

This was by far my favorite because it was so much more realistic. Lackey does not shy away from what happens to women who are held captive by those bent on harm. The 'far fetching' was exactly that, a little too good to be true, but who wouldn't like to have an ability like that and horses like those Companions?

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Talia grows up

Although these first books in the Valdemar series lack a certain maturity (especially when compared to the Vanyel series or "Storm Warning" and "Storm Rising") they're still a must-read to truly appreciate the series.

Herald Talia has grown up, earned her whites, and faces triumph and tragedy (with much stronger violent content) that may shock younger readers who began with the milder "Arrow's Fall" so be warned.

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Happy conclusion

In this third volume of the series, Mercedes Lackey switches direction. Unlike the first two volumes, the focus moves away from the growth of Talia as a person and as a Herald and shifts to a more action oriented story of intrigue, betrayal, and good winning over evil.

In this volume, Talia has just concluded her training as a Herald and comes back to the capital to assume her full role as a member of the governing council of Valdemar. She now must deal with court intrigues including finding ways to deal with her nemesis - who happens to be the most senior councillor AND the uncle of her good friend Kris. While in the capital she must also deal with her budding romance with Dirk.

The switch in direction becomes apparent almost immediately as the author starts telling the story from three different directions. We get a few paragraphs told from Talia's point of view, a few from Kris's, and a few from Dirk's. I did not like this. I find this mechanism to be very artifically done and not to have aided the story much.

The bigger storyline is that a marriage proposal has arrived in Valdemar proposing to hook up Elspeth with the son of one of Valdemar's few friendly neighbors. Talia and Kris are dispatched to check this out in advance of the Queen's arrival at the other land. One thing leads to another and many dark secrets and evil magic are encountered along the way as this task is not as simple as it looks. However, the end of the book resolves the main points of the crisis, brings out the best in many of our heroes, and brings the young lovers (Dirk and Talia) to their senses and has them married off!

In addition, the story line evolves to allow for many future directions. Dirk has been adopted by Kris's family and Talia may be introduced to them; The revelation of new uses for the old and terrible magics leads to many possible future volumes; the companions find new ways to be helpful; etc.

I downgraded this book because the ending was too pat and the storyline was way too predictable. It was too easy to see who were the real evildoers in this book. Also, too many fortuitous connections to previous volumes in the series were being made. As an example: just when Talia is at the end of her rope (apparently), she comes across an individual whose life she saved in a previous volume in a totally different land. And, it turns out that not only can he help her immediately, but he is almost immune to the bad forces, AND he is the head of a clan. I mean, come on!!!

So, while there were many intriguing moments and emotionally gut wrenching moments in the book, there were also too many problems for me to rank it higher than just average. Sorry.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

With Elspeth, the heir to the throne of Valdemar, come of marriageable age, Talia, the Queen's Own Herald returns to court to find Queen and heir beset by diplomatic intrigue as various forces vie for control of Elspeth's future.

But just as Talia is about to uncover the traitor behind all these intrigues, she is sent on a mission to the neighboring kingdom, chosen by the Queen to investigate the worth of a marriage proposal from Prince Ancar. And to her horror, Talia soon discovers there is far more going on at Prince Ancar's court than just preparation for a hoped-for royal wedding. For a different magic than that of the Heralds is loose in Ancar's realm--an evil and ancient sorcery that may destroy all of Valdemar unless Talia can send warning to her Queen in time!

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