This new Valdemar story takes place after Mags and Amily have married and had three children. Mags is a Herald spy and Amily is the King's Own herald. They have three children. This story talks about a trip Mags takes with his oldest son, thirteen-year-old Perry.

All of Mags and Amily's children have been taught to take care of themselves and to be spy-like. It is likely that they will all choose to serve Valdemar whether or not they are chosen by Companions and become Heralds themselves. Perry has animal mindspeech which allows him to talk to most kinds of animals. He can see through their eyes which is a great advantage for a budding spy. He can also direct them to do things for him.

When a retired herald sends a message about a large number of people going missing around his area, Mags decides to investigate and decides to take Perry along for a chance at some training outside the city. This herald's village is on the edge of the Pelagirs which has long been known for strange events and beings.

They soon find themselves involved in a situation that is much more complex and dangerous than Mags would have wanted for a training mission. Someone is kidnapping lone travelers and taking them somewhere unknown. When they discover that the kidnapper has mindspeech powerful enough to control a whole troop of mercenaries, Mags is all for sending information back to the King and keeping out of the way. But Perry feels the need to do something NOW.

Perry and his new companion Larral who is a kyree go to the kidnapper's fortress in the guise of a Dog-Boy to take care of the mastiff pack that is there. Perry puts on the persona of a simple-minded kid which, along with his shields, helps him conceal his mindspeech from the kidnapper. The only problem is that he doesn't have a way back out of the fortress and things are getting more and more dangerous as the kidnapper tries to enhance his mindspeech with blood magic and gets more insane all the time. He even awakens the spirit of the fortress and creates another enemy for himself.

There was all sorts of tension in this story as Perry and Larral investigate inside and Mags tries to figure out how to rescue his son and neutralize the kidnapper before he gets the idea of invading Valdemar.

I enjoyed this coming of age story. Perry's experiences give him a new point of view on his father and his decisions mature him. I can't wait to read more in this new series to learn more about Mags and Amily's other children. ( )

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. ( )

Set far enough from the last Mags book that now he has several children with his wife and is working as a spy for the king. His eldest son wants to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and is training hard with his siblings learning things that might be useful for them if they become Heralds. Word comes to the capital of people going missing that are not that important. There is a nearby retired Herald that had reported this, but he can’t investigate it due to health. Mags and his eldest son Perry disguise themselves as traders and go and check out things. Things are happening and along the way Mags and his son meet several non-human residents of the Pelagirs and Perry animal mindspeech skills become very useful. A nice coming of age of story and I wonder if the next book will focus on one of the siblings or follow more on Perry?

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Mags and Amily have their own family and the children are about ready to join the business of spying. Perry is off on his first mission into the Pelagirs. ( )

Another good story in this long-running and very good series. Perry is turning 13 when he joins Mags and both go underground to investigate numerous disappearances on the fringe of Valdemar's borders. Perry penetrates a mysterious fortress as a "dogboy" and discovers a very malevolent presence that holds everyone in thrall. Lots of assistance from prescient local creatures are required and used before Perry with help from Mags as well, escapes and makes things right. ( )