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The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey

Myr

Entry posted by Myr in Books

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The first book in this trilogy, Magic's Pawn, is one of the most powerful books I have ever read.  I've reread it a few times over the years and it makes me cry every single time I read it.  It's really emotionally moving.  Mercedes Lackey has stated that her formula is simple:  Make the reader love the character and then drop a mountain on the character.  The first novel is deeply touching and heart-wrenching.  The full trilogy is powerful as well.  The second and third novels are not as powerful to me as the first, but they are still very good.  The entire trilogy covers the life of the character and the sheer amount of stuff he has to go through.  I can't recommend the books strongly enough.

From Amazon:

Quote

The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy—three groundbreaking, Lambda Award-winning novels that established Mercedes Lackey as a fantasy tour-de-force and her Kingdom of Valdemar as a place millions of readers return to again and again.

 

 

There are something like 35 novels set in this world now.  I own them all and have read all but 5.  It is really scary just how much writing Mercedes Lackey does.  I also have her Joust series, which I really like a lot too.  I still have to check out her Urban Fantasy series which has a dozen more books in it.

 

If you are only going to do one... do this one:

 

Let me know if you feel the same about the book.  Or if you decide to check it out.

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Brayon

Thank you for introducing me to this book, Myr. I'm always looking for some good SciFi or Fantasy books.

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Timothy M.

I couldn't agree more.  It's one of the reasons my only attempt at fanfic takes place in that trilogy. My second favorite is Brightly Burning.

I only have 23 Valdemar books, so I'm wondering which ones I'm missing. :unsure:  Maybe time to visit Amazon...

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Myr
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1 hour ago, Timothy M. said:

My second favorite is Brightly Burning.

That is right up there for me too. 

but I also like a lot:

The yearly anthologies have the cutest running gay story too. (the earlier ones.)  I forget where it started...

 

 

The have been a bunch of books based on Mags, who is an interesting character:

 

The trilogy with Darian is also good.

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Timothy M.

Yeah, Take a Thief is another favorite too, as is the Owl Trilogy. :yes:  

I don't know the Magpie books, and I'm also missing the Anthologies. Time to go shopping ! :2thumbs:

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Palantir

Five or six weeks ago I read Mercedes Lackey's Collegium Chronicles - somehow I missed this particular Valdemar series - and a reference somewhere in one of the books caused me to pull my copy of Magic's Pawn from my bookshelf to check something.

Result!

A re-read of all three. :)

 

 

On 1/20/2018 at 5:06 AM, BHopper2 said:

Thank you for introducing me to this book, Myr. I'm always looking for some good SciFi or Fantasy books.

You might like to have a try at Diane Duane's 'The Door Into Fire'.

Like Mercedes Lackey, she had no hesitation in publishing mainstream fantasy novels featuring gay characters as the main protagonists.

And also like M L, they are characters who grab your heartstrings (IMHO)

 

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Palantir
1 hour ago, Myr said:

@PalantirI have the series in my pile.  I haven't gotten to them yet.

 

lol -  you've got some wonderful reading ahead of you Myr. M L's Urban Fantasy stuff you mentioned is brilliant (I reckon) and that links to similar stuff by Tanya Huff ('Blood' Series) and the wonderful worlds of Charles de Lint.

Edited by Palantir
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Brayon

So, I decided to "try before I buy," but checking out a copy from my Local Library. I'm almost done with the first book of the trilogy. Wow. It's really good.

I also think that in the era in which the story was written, 1989, having the main character be a gay teenager, was really brave. I can appreciate the author being true to their character and vision, even when it's not as socially accepted.

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Timothy M.
On 1/21/2018 at 8:47 PM, Palantir said:

You might like to have a try at Diane Duane's 'The Door Into Fire'.

Like Mercedes Lackey, she had no hesitation in publishing mainstream fantasy novels featuring gay characters as the main protagonists.

And also like M L, they are characters who grab your heartstrings (IMHO)

 

 

I'll have to add them to my shopping list. I've only read the Wizard series by DD. They're great, even if she did mix up characters in Deep Wizardry.

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Timothy M.
On 1/21/2018 at 8:47 PM, Palantir said:

You might like to have a try at Diane Duane's 'The Door Into Fire'.

 

On 1/21/2018 at 8:54 PM, Myr said:

 

@PalantirI have the series in my pile.  I haven't gotten to them yet.

 

On 1/21/2018 at 10:06 PM, Palantir said:

lol -  you've got some wonderful reading ahead of you Myr. 

 

You can say that again ! I'm already deep into book three and I can't put it down. Bloody amazing. :worship:   Myr, put it on the top of your pile. :yes: 

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Myr
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2 hours ago, Timothy M. said:

Myr, put it on the top of your pile

Good Lord... which pile Tim?  I can see 10 different bookpiles from just where I'm sitting. ;)

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Rickbgo

Thanks Myr, this was my introduction to the wonderful world of Valdemar and Misty.  I enjoy Valdemar so that I even joined The Arrows Of The Queen. 

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Myr
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@CincyKris Since you enjoyed Tests of the Blood... This trilogy, especially the first book, "Magic's Pawn" is a great gay fantasy novel.

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