Fantasy.
Fiction.
LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.)
HTML:Groundbreaking epic fantasy series in Mercedes Lackeyâ??s Valdemar universe â?¢ Lambda-Award winning novels with heartfelt high adventure and magic
Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wasnâ??t no part in such things. Nor does he seek a warriorâ??s path, wishing instead to become a Bard.
Yet such talent as his, if left untrained, may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the fame Herald-Mages of Valdemar.
But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil cannot master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land.
And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shinâ??aâ??in Adept, Vanyelâ??s wild talent may have already grown beyond anyoneâ??s ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar it… (más)
lquilter: If you liked Magic's Pawn & the other two of the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, and want something like it but vastly darker and more adult, give Melusine by Sarah Monette a try. A lot of the same resonances -- torment, life among the rich and powerful, dialects, magic, hurt/comfort -- but much darker and more adult. And without the YA-style magical psychic companion.… (más)
Cloverlimes: A young powerful magic user learns and grows in a system that fails them.
There is a strong theme of music in both Magic's Pawn and The Wise Man's Fear.
2/3 of the book is people processing their emotions, as internal monologue or with one another. Unclear if the emotional processing would be less of a slog if Vanyel was less whiny and obnoxious---I don't think so. It's not Lackey's best book. But it's a classic of gay fantasy. Best read by preteens. ( )
Read this series last year and already can't recall much about it except that it is full of angst with a capital A. The hero is packed off to live with his aunt and falls for another of her male students and all ends unhappily except that he turns out to be the most superly talented magically endowed person ever.
Have read a few of these Herald of Valdemar books, and I like the Companions (intelligent and empathic horses) but I do find the wallowing in emotions a bit wearing. ( )
Oh, man, this book was brutally tough to get through. I found Vanyel incredibly whiny, and he grated on my last nerve from the very beginning. So much whining and moaning and groaning about his fate without actually doing anything about it. He's one of those characters to whom things happen, rather than being proactive about his fate in the world.
I also found the writing incredibly repetitive. The same point was driven home again and again, page after page reminding us of things we already learned. I'm not sure if the author just assumed the reader's an idiot, or if she was trying to pad her word count, but in any case, I found it painful to read.
The only thing I liked was the same-sex relationship and the message of tolerance the author was clearly trying to drive home. So, yeah, this is definitely not a series I'll be continuing with. Which is a shame, because I'd had high hopes. ( )
I like the books Mercedes Lackey writes, she is good at creating a believable world and people to populate it. While her writing is not the strongest I do find it engaging ang and enjoyable. I like a series I can live inside of and her books are ones that have characters I feel invested in and a world I believe could exist. ( )
"Your grandfather," said Vanyel's brawny, fifteen-year-old cousin Radevel, "was crazy." He has a point, Vanyel thought, hoping they weren't about to take an uncontrolled dive down the last of the stairs.
And--irony of ironies--as if the gods were taking with one hand and offering a pittance as compensation--the Bardic Gift.
This I think I have learned: where there is love, the form does not matter, and the gods are pleased. This I have observed: what occurs in nature, comes by the hand of nature, and if the gods did not approve, it would not be there.--p. 279
Fantasy.
Fiction.
LGBTQIA+ (Fiction.)
HTML:Groundbreaking epic fantasy series in Mercedes Lackeyâ??s Valdemar universe â?¢ Lambda-Award winning novels with heartfelt high adventure and magic
Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wasnâ??t no part in such things. Nor does he seek a warriorâ??s path, wishing instead to become a Bard.
Yet such talent as his, if left untrained, may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the fame Herald-Mages of Valdemar.
But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil cannot master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land.
And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shinâ??aâ??in Adept, Vanyelâ??s wild talent may have already grown beyond anyoneâ??s ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar it
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