Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey

 Reviewed by Holly White

Storm Breaking  is the third book in Mercedes Lackey’s Mage Storms Trilogy, part of her ongoing series about the country of Valdemar.  It follows the books Storm Warning, in which a mage storm, something unprecedented in anyone’s memories, attacked Valdemar and all the surrounding lands, and its sequel Storm Rising, in which they discovered that, after another series of smaller mage storms, yet another cataclysmic mage storm was coming, much worse this time.  Storm Breaking  opened with Karal in recovery from his first experience at being used as a mage channel, a channel through which mage energy and power to flow.  Although Karal and the mages he helped were successful, they are now exhausted and weak, and still have not found or implemented a permanent solution. 

Elspeth and Darkwind went to visit Tremane, in order to further cement the alliance with him.  Tremane, who was already being called “king,” by some of the Hardorneans, was about to take the title officially, and with the full support of the people of Hardorn.  But there was a condition.  He would have to take the “earth-binding” oath, an ancient tradition that had not been invoked in centuries, by which he would pledge himself to the land of Hardorn, to protect it and not to do it harm.  The earth-binding further ensured that he would be under a permanent “truth-spell,” unable to lie.  The beleaguered Hardorneans were dubious about trusting a newcomer after everything they had been through under Ancar’s rule.  They distrusted any newcomer, but especially someone from a conquering land such as The Empire.  But with the earth-binding, they would accept as king this man who looked already out for their good.

Meanwhile, in The Empire, Emperor Charliss, who had named a new successor, Melles, was dying, and blamed Valdemar for not only the fact that he was dying, but also for the mage storms themselves.  Melles sought only to build his own power while undermining Charliss.  Melles used every devious means he could think of to steal the loyalty of the people from their dying Emperor, and get that loyalty for himself.  But Charliss had an insidious plan that he had revealed to no one.

Karal returned to Haven, the capital of Valdemar, again as the envoy of Karse, to help the alliance try to find a way to defeat the mage storms and their unnatural effects.  Just as they settled on a solid plan, Natoli, the girl with whom Karal is in love, was badly injured in an explosion.  And just when their relationship might have been blossoming into something more than friendship, Karal was forced to go far away.  He had to prepare to be used as a mage channel once more.  So he left Natoli lying in the hospital, knowing that she understood that he must do his duty, and traveled to the far-off land of the Shinain people, along with all the mages that could be spared.  There Karal worked with people of all sorts, Hawk Brothers (who bonded with birds), Gryphons, the lizard-like hertasi, horse-like Companions like Florian, and wolf-like historians who were there to write it all down for posterity, in case they succeeded and there WAS a posterity.  They worked together to study the experiments and spells of an ancient mage, Urtho, and found powers that, if wielded, could cause extreme protection or extreme death.  No one knew for sure which way they were intended to work.  Everyone working there, especially the mages, and most especially Karal, faced the fact that even if they succeeded in protecting the land from the last cataclysmic mage storm, they may not live through it themselves.

Will Tremane take the earth-binding oath and become the true king of Hardorn?   Will he find out he has more than one unexpected ally?  Will Melles succeed in overruling Charliss’ Empire before he is even in his grave?  Or will Charliss succeed with his most diabolical plan ever?  Will Karal and the others find a way to protect the world, or will they die trying?  And if they do protect the world, what will it cost them?  And if they do survive, what kind of world will it be, if all magic is stripped away? 

Find out by reading Storm Breaking by Mercedes Lackey.  Any adult who loves good vs. evil stories, magic, and fantasy creatures and lands, will love this book.  It’s well-written, well-characterized, and well-plotted.  I’m looking forward to doing my next Valdemar book review, on Owlflight, the first in the Owl Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey.

Winds of Fury by Merecedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

Winds of Fury is the third and final book in Mercedes Lackey’s Mage Winds Trilogy, coming after Winds of Fate and Winds of Change.  It is but one of many in her books about Valdemar, which I am reviewing in order of publication date.

In Winds of Fury, Elspeth and Darkwind arrive in Valdemar, intending to help Valdemar in the war with Ancar, the ruler of the neighboring country of Hardorn.  Elspeth, a Herald who was also the Heir to the throne of Valdemar, had traveled far and long to find allies for their fight- mage-trained allies who can not only fight for Valdemar themselves, but who can also detect latent mage gift in Valdemarians, and help train them to use it in the fight as well.

Unfortunately, the mage gate they used to get to Valdemar did not land them where they intended to be. They met a mysterious stranger, and they could not tell if he is friend or foe.  They also learned that Ancar had formed an alliance with their old enemy, Mornelithe Falconsbane.  But then, they received unexpected help to get to where they intended to be in the first place.  They arrived, along with their entourage of people and creatures so varied that the locals were terrorized at first.  It took no small amount of effort to convince the good people of Valdemar that these were all allies and not enemies. 

As it turned out, their unexpected journey was a bit of good luck in disguise. Apparently Elspeth had been believed to be dead, and her trip from the gate back had allowed her to be seen by the villagers of all the towns they had passed, thereby dispelling rumors of her demise.  But when she arrived at Haven, she did something so unexpected, that it left both the Council members and the Queen reeling from the shock of it.  However, after having time to think about it, the Queen and Council agreed it was indeed the best decision Elspeth could have made.  That left only strategy to plan.  The Valdemarians needed to find a way to defeat Ancar and his mage allies, Hulda and Falconsbane. 

Then they learned of a further complication.  They found a new friend and ally, An'desha.  He was a good man whose body the evil Falconsbane had taken over years ago, and whose consciousness still remained alive, if subdued, inside the body,   An'desha agreed to help by probing the mind of Falconsbane for his plans and motivations, even knowing that if it came down to it, he might die if they killed Falconsbane.  Elspeth and the others agreed that if at all possible, they must find a way to get rid of Falconsbane once and for all, while keeping An'desha’s body intact, so that An'desha would not die as well.

Will the Valdemarians and their newfound allies find a way to defeat Ancar and his two powerful mage allies?  Will the mages find and train new Valdermarian mages in time to be of any help during the upcoming battles?  Will Elspeth and the others find a way to kill Falconsbane without killing An'desha?  Find out by reading Winds of Fury.

Winds of Fury is a great book, holds my interest well, and I recommend it for any adult who loves fantasy, magic, or good vs. evil stories.  My next review will be Storm Warning, book one of the Mage Storms trilogy (which also includes Storm Rising and Storm Breaking), also by Mercedes Lackey, also set in Valdemar.

Winds of Fate by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

The next novel written in the Valdemar series, Winds of Fate, centers around a woman named Elspeth, Herald and Heir to the throne of Valdemar (daughter of Queen Selenay).  We first met Elspeth as a young girl.  Series readers will know Elspeth’s early background from the first Valdemar trilogy  (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow’s Flight, and Arrow’s Fall) which centered on Talia, the Queen’s Own Herald, who served as confidant, advisor, and protector to the Queen and to her daughter.  In Winds of Fate, Elspeth is the adult Heir to the throne.

In this installment of the series, an all-out mage war threatened the kingdom.  Valdemar had had no mages, adept or otherwise, since the death of Vanyel, the last Herald-Mage, long before Elspeth’s time.  Now the mage war loomed; their enemies had mage power, and Valdemar did not.  Nevertheless, Elspeth believed that the mage ability had not left the people of Valdemar; it was simply that no one currently had the power to recognize it in its latent state.  Moreover, even if they were to find someone with mage potential, there was no one to train them. To Elspeth, the best course of action would be to send an emissary to other trusted nations (and potiental allies in the conflict) to ask for someone to seek out and train mages in Valdemar. This emissary would have to be someone with the authority of the throne—either Elspeth or the Queen. Since the Queen could not be spared, Elspeth was the logical choice.

Elspeth’s idea was opposed by the Queen and Council.  Elspeth felt they still thought of her as a little child, and no amount of training or maturity would ever change their minds.  However, Elspeth’s plan received the unexpected support of her plan from a group of allies whose advice the Queen and Council were forced to respect.  Queen and Council reluctantly agreed, on condition that Elspeth take along one other Herald for advice and added protection.  The Queen and Council chose Herald Skif to accompany her.  Elspeth was glad that if she had to bring someone along, it was Skif, for he had always been like a big brother to her.

Skif and Elspeth set out on their journey, alone except for their Companions, horse-like creatures who share a mental bond with their Chosen human. Then the complications really began.  Disagreements between Skif and Elspeth constantly arose: when to go in disguise and when to wear their Herald Whites, when to spend money and on what, and most importantly, whom to trust with the truth of their identities and their mission.  To make matters worse, Skif began to have feelings for Elspeth that were anything but brotherly, but Elspeth did not reciprocate.  This heightened the tension between them.  Before long, Skif began to challenge Elspeth’s every decision with critical disdain at best and outright argument at worst.  On top of all that, they had to change destinations and plans mid-journey.

They finally reach the Hawkbrothers, humans with a magical connections to birds, who might be able to help.  Unfortuanately, they found the Hawkbrothers on the eve of battle with an adept mage named Mornelithe Falconsbane, a man  both powerful and evil beyond imagination.  Exhausted from the journey and from attacks along the way, Elspeth, Skif, and their Companions were then forced to prove they could both be trusted to help and also that they could be of some use in the upcoming battle.  They finally joined forces with the Hawkbrothers to fight Mornelithe Falconsbane.  Would their strategies be enough to defeat him?  If so, would the Hawkbrothers be convinced to help them with recognition and training of mage ability for Valdemar?  Moreover, what would happen in the relationship between Skif and Elspeth?  Find out by reading Winds of Fate, the first in The Mage Winds Trilogy of Valdemar.

I found this book hard to read in places, but that may just be the fact that I do not like to read about the antagonist and his motivations and/or actions.  There were whole sections written form the point of view of Mornelithe Falconsbane, and I found it difficult and unpleasant to get into his mind even for a short time.  However, there were also whole sections written from the point of view of Darkwind, one of the Hawkbrothers, which I also found difficult to read in places.  Perhaps that was difficult for me because Mercedes Lackey, the author, is personally involved in the conservation of American falcons, hawks, and other birds, and I felt she included far more technical bird information than I wanted to know.  It seemed to me to slow the story down some.  However, with all of that, it is still and good and interesting story, and there were places where I could not put it down.  I would not recommend it for children, though, due to the intense journeys into Mornelithe Falconsbane’s twisted mind and activities.  However, any adult who loves fantasy, stories about mages and magic, or even someone who loves birds and the conservation thereof, will probably enjoy this book. 

My next review will be about the sequel to Winds of Fate, called Winds of Change, and the one following that will be the final book in the trilogy, Winds of Fury.  For an overview of the Valdemarian universe, please visit this link:  Valdemar..