Magic’s Price by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

Magic’s Price is the third and final book in the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, part of the Valdemar series.  In it, we see Herald-Mage Vanyel as he cooperates with the other Herald-Mages to protect the Valdemarian borders and aid its dying king.  Between these problems and his own loneliness, Vanyel fights battles on several fronts, physical as well as mental and emotional.

Then a young Bard appeared whose music was so Gifted, it could soothe the king’s pain long enough for the monarch to hold court as he had when in health.  And against all hoping and longing, Vanyel finally finds love again.  Even though he and his lover must keep their love a secret from most, and even though Vanyel’s work keeps them apart for long periods of time, Vanyel finds happiness at last. 
But something or someone is attacking the kingdom in the most insidious way.  The attacker is using magic to kill off Heralds and make it look like an accident.  The attacker is even killing small children who have begun to show Herald or Herald-Mage potential, also making it look as if it happened by chance.  So much so, that no new Heralds have appeared with the Mage gift in several years.  So subtly diabolical is this plan that no one even suspects what’s happening until the magic sneaks right into the palace itself and kills a Herald-Mage. 

When all the rest of the Herald-Mages also die off in suspicious accidents, leaving Vanyel as the last Herald-Mage to protect Valdemar, he knows what he must do.  But he cannot convince either the King or the Council that taking the battle to the enemy is the best thing.  They want him to stay and use his powers to protect Valdemar.  Finally the Companions convince King and Council that the best way Vanyel can protect Valdemar is by seeking out this enemy and defeating him before he can ever get across Valdemar’s borders.  What the King, the Council, and Vanyel all fail to realize is the extent of the danger that this threat poses, both to Vanyel and to Valdemar itself.  And what truly is, for all of them, magic’s price.

Magic’s Price was a bit darker than the Mercedes Lackey books that are truly my favorites, although it certainly had its light moments.  One thing the author does, though, is she makes you care about those characters so you keep reading through all the darkness to find out what happens to the characters, who are your friends.  You don’t want them to hurt, you don’t want them to be lonely, you don’t want them to suffer injustice, and you want them to succeed and find happiness.  That is one of the main things that keeps me reading Mercedes Lackey’s books.  I feel like I know her characters personally.  I would recommend this book to adults, or perhaps young adults, especially those whose taste runs toward books that are a bit dark.

The previous books in the series are  Magic's Pawn and Magic's Promise.

The next review will be for By the Sword, which is a Valdemarian stand-alone book about the granddaughter of Kethry, a character in the Oathbound trilogy I recently reviewed. Look for it on the first Friday in February!

Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

Magic’s Promise is the sequel to Magic’s Pawn, in which we were introduced to Vanyel. As the book opens, we find Vanyel, one of Valdemar’s few Herald-Mages, returning from war, with a weary body and depleted magic.   He needs rest and time to rebuild his stores of power so he heads home to visit his family.  He returns to the entirely different world of familial problems: a mother who smothered him, brothers who looked down on him, women who wanted to seduce him and trap him into marriage, a weaponsmaster who resents him, and a father who despises him.  These things he expected; but in addition he faces an unprecedented temptation. 

He meets Medren, a young boy who reminds him so much of his own self at that age that he fears that the boy will meet the same fate as he himself once did at the hands of his father and the weaponsmaster.  Vanyel feels he must find a way to protect the child from these powerful men who want to train him to be warriors like themselves.  Soon, however, Vanyel discovers that Medren is also Gifted with the Bardic Gift Vanyel once coveted, which causes him to redouble his efforts to keep the men from breaking Medren’s lyre-playing fingers … or from breaking the boy’s spirit.

Needless to say, this keeps Vanyel from getting the rest he needs. Out with his Companion Yfandes,  Vanyel hears a cry of distress from far away, and they race to go to the rescue.  What they find is confusing at best and shocking at worst: a Herald and a small boy who had just been Chosen by a Companion.  And the Herald is beating the Trainee!  The cry they had heard was from the Trainee, a boy named Tashir, who is apparently Gifted in telekinetics.  It appears the child had just killed everyone in the house during a party, including his own entire family.  Vanyel couldn’t understand it.  If a Companion had Chosen Tashir, there was no way the child could be evil, and yet all evidence pointed to the deaths being Tashir’s doing.  The child was so traumatized that he had blocked out most memories of that evening.  What few memories the child could share proved to Vanyel that Tashir’s was a family with as many factions and politics as his own.  On top of that, Vanyel finds himself involved in a family feud that may turn into an all out war.

Not believing Tashir was responsible for all those deaths, or that at worst, he had done so accidentally as a result of not being able to control his Gift, Vanyel has to find a way to protect the boy while he investigates. If someone else is responsible, then Vanyel needs to bring them to justice.  Meanwhile, Vanyel finds himself accused of unsavory intentions which threaten to distract him from finding the truth.

Magic’s Promise started out slowly.  It seemed to me she took too many chapters explaining that Vanyel needed rest and was going home to visit his family even though he dreaded it.  But before it was over, the story was so exciting it was impossible to put down.  I recommend Magic’s Promise to any adult who loves fantasy, adventure, magic, and good vs. evil.

Magic’s Pawn, by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White
 

In the first Valdemarian book, Arrows of the Queen, Talia reads a book of ancient legends about Vanyel, the greatest of all the Herald Mages.  In Magic’s Pawn, Mercedes Lackey begins a trilogy which will tell Vanyel’s story, set centuries before the events in Arrows.

Vanyel was the firstborn son of holdowner Withen, destined to take over rulership of the hold after his father.  But it was the last thing Vanyel wanted to do.  Withen and his swordmaster Jervis tried to train Vanyel to war, but Vanyel had no talent for such things.  His dream was to become a Bard or at least a minstrel.  Ultimately, Jervis broke Vanyel’s arm during training, temporarily, at least, putting a stop to either future.  Once he was healed, Vanyel was sent away in disgrace to Haven, the capital of Valdemar, to stay with his aunt, a Herald named Savil.

In Haven, several important things happened.  Vanyel was allowed to be educated, even in music, but found that he had no Gift for Barding.  Disheartened to have his dreams snatched away, he came to depend more and more on his romantic relationship with Herald Tylendel to feed his self-esteem.  Vanyel was a bit jealous of the bond between Tylendel and his Companion.  He also had trouble comprehending why someone would want to be a Herald in the first place.  Tylendel tried to explain the virtue of putting others before oneself and fighting for them, but to no avail.

Then Tylendel’s cousin involved Vanyel in the intrigues of a long-standing family feud, and tragedy upon tragedy ensued, culminating in Herald Tylendel being repudiated by his Companion, something which had never happened before. Unable to deal with being repudiated,Tylendel committed suicide leaving Vanyel bereft beyond belief.

However, with Vanyel’s bereavement came a blessing; he was Chosen by Companion Yfandes, giving him the incredible love and acceptance of a Companion of his own.  However, at the moment of Tylendel’s death and Vanyel’s Choosing, also came the awakening of all Vanyel’s mage Gifts.  Most Heralds had one or maybe two strong Gifts; Tylendel’s four Gifts had been rare, but now Vanyel had them all.  Having these Gifts come upon him so strongly and all at once, without training to shield himself, Vanyel’s mind was now a raw, aching grief with no one strong enough to give him the healing he needed.  With no training to shield others from the power of his Gifts, he was also now a danger to others. 

Savil took Vanyel away from Haven, to some mage friends for healing and training.  With time, Vanyel’s mind and emotions began to heal, but he still resisted the idea of being a Herald.  Then a nearby village was attacked and Vanyel was the only available protection for the innocent villagers.  But the foe was a stronger one than even his teachers had ever had to face, and Vanyel would have to call upon powers that no one, least of all himself, suspected that he had. 

Magic’s Pawn is, so far at least, the earliest book chronologically in the Valdemarian world.  It is the first in a The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy, and is followed by Magic’s Promise, and Magic’s Price.  I would recommend this book for adults or young adults who love stories of adventure, magic, and peril.  My next review will be for Magic’s Promise, which continues the tale of Vanyel and his adventures.

 Note:  Holly's introduction to the world of Valdemar can be found here.

For earlier reviews, please check the entries for the first Friday of each month.