Not as action-packed as other Lackey books

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	• Winds of Change (The Mage Winds, Book 2) Mercedes Lackey DAW, 1993 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Middle part of the story is like this...

In the aftermath of the battle with Mornelithe Falconsbane, Elspeth, Skif and their companions are pondering what to do. Since they helped the Tayledras and the Griffons defeat Falconsbane, they are offered membership in the clan. For Elspeth this is a good thing as it will allow her to study magecraft. Skif is happy as well as this will allow him to try and find Nyara - the cat woman he fell in love with - so the stage is set for the second volume of this trilogy.

As the book progresses we follow Elspeth as she learns more about magecraft as well as herself. She also learns to become more tolerant of others and some of the rigidity of a Herald wears off. She even manages to unwind enough to fall in love with Darkwind! Skif goes off to search for Nyara and is accompanied by Darkwind's older brother who is dealing with his own issues.

All the while, the mages of the clan are trying to discover how to repair the broken heartstone and other storylines are touched on. For instance, in several chapters we follow Nyara's path as she is being tutored by Need. Finally, a sidestory develops involving Teveran.

About two thirds of the way through the book the pace picks up remarkably. We find out that not all the enemies have been vanquished as instead a new challenge arises. The whole clan is in danger and they finally consent to request assistance - assistance which is readily granted in the form of a Healing-Adept of immense power who also happens to be a gorgeous male with extravagant tastes in clothing and bondbirds. While he comes across as vain and conceited, we quickly learn that he has the werewithal to back this up.

As is usual in these books, the story culminates in a massive magical battle in which all the people and animals on the good side participate. During this battle we learn the true identity of Mornelithe Falconsbane and find out what his ultimate (?) fate is. It does take the intervention of the goddess to make it happen, though, and it is not achieved without loss.

The final words in the book set up the third volume which will have Elspeth, Skif, Nyara, and Darkwind travel through Valdemar to the Forrest of Sorrows for additional mage training. Oh, in case you are wondering, Elspeth is not simply a master mage, she is a Super-Adept. Yep. What a surprise.

As far as my opinion on this book, there is a lot of stuff thrown at us and it is clearly a transition for Elspeth as she goes from being a brat to being the person who will likely save Valdemar in the next volume. As is usual with this author, the women are the strong ones who drive the action while the males are somewhat more in the background or are the evil ones. There is a large amount of text spent on the sexual escapages of the heroines, heroes, and sundry assistants and the gay sub-theme reasserts itself here. If you are offended by this kind of stuff in books that are obviously meant for teenagers, then stay away. On the good side, the good side wins. It is pretty light reading and would make a good beach book or one to pick up on a rainy day.

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Mercedes Lackey Does It Again.

This book drew me in from the beginning and held me in thrall to the end. Ms. Lackey is superior in fantasy novels. I completely enjoyed this trilogy.

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Okay, nothing special

Winds of Change is the second book in the Mage Winds trilogy and reads like a sequel. In this story Nyra (the catgirl) is prominently featured and the Elspeth/Darkwind romance is developed.

I found myself moderately interested in Darkwind/Elspeth's romance, mostly because I found myself annoyed by Darkwind's attitude. He objects to Elspeth acting like a princess when :gasp: that's what she is. Although I felt Elspeth explained herself pretty well, Darkwind's insistance that she change to be more 'likeable' irked this reader. His insistance on also dressing her seemed a little weird. Like he didn't love her the way she was... Only if she changed for him.

The whole Tayledras subplot I loved as a teen but found myself a bit impatient with as I get older. They seem to be Hollywood Indians with no apparent flaws. Long silvery hair, blue eyes and bohemian attitude. I was grateful for the introduction of Firesong. Before the character introduction I was beginning to think this was a race of Mary-Sues.

I also found the mindtalk between the various animals a bit tiresome. It was fun with the companions, but now there are also bondbirds, a talking sword and griffins who talk... The chatter was a little too much.

Overall, an average book but nothing that really made me want to read the third book, but since I own it, I probably will.

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It's better on the 2nd read

I needed to read this a 2nd time, after finishing all the other Valdemar books. It's even better.

Not as action-packed as other Lackey books

Winds of Change is a necessary read for the fan of the "Winds" series or the Valdemar world in general. I enjoyed seeing Elspeth mature and develop as a character, and some of the developments were pleasantly unexpected. But as far as the action and story-flow of this book went, I often found myself impatient, and even tempted to skip a few pages here and there (gasp!). In this book, Lackey mostly advances the story by having characters TALK about what's happening, instead of SHOWING us what's happening. Characters discuss with one another the plans they are making, then discuss the plans with other characters, and then reveal the plans to even more characters. I've never seen so many Council meetings and planning meetings in one book! And I was frustrated by how much unneeded exposition was woven into the dialogue - characters explaining things to each other that we either already knew or would find out anyway. I found the climax at the end to be predictable and actually quite ANTI-climactic. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Lackey fan, and let's face it, the only people who are going to read this book are people who are following the series anyway... I'm NOT suggesting you should skip it. But this certainly could have been better, in my opinion.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Princess Elspeth journeys to the Vale of the Tayledras Clan to seek Mage training among the powerful Hawkbrother Adepts, only to find that she and renegade adept Darkwind must confront the malevolent magic of Ancar of Hardorn. Reprint.

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