Ride on!

 Finished Mercedes Lackey's By the Sword yesterday, a rare solo volume in the series. (I mean, technically, it it's a continuation of Tarma and Kethry's story in Vows and Honor, but it picks up two generations after those adventures.) Anyway, we're south and west of Valdemar for the majority of this one, as the mage Kethry's granddaughter Kerowyn ends up rescuing her future sister in law from bandots on the eve of her wedding day. Kero winds up with the magical sword, Need, which gives its female bearers abilities to make up for ones they lack. 

Anyway, Kero really doesn't fit in with the small court her family belongs to, as such, she gets trained to be a mercenary by her grandmother and Tarma. While this does introduce her to Prince Daren of Rethwellen, he ultimately has a place as his brother's Lord Marshall after his other brother tries to kill off Selaney in Valdemar. 

So, we follow Kero in a series of deep dives over her career, seeing how they make her the woman she ends up as. In one of the early ones, she ends up saving Herald Eldan during a rout in a battle verses Karse. He helps Kero with her Mindspeech, she ends up getting hin to the border (and safety), and they end up playing games over his ransom. 

Kero eventually leaves her Company due to the current leader's incompetence. Which ends up with most of the rest of the company voting out the old leader and installing Kero as the leader. 

A few major battles later, Kero accepts Daren's invite to Rethwellen, when Talia and Dirk arrive to beg help from them for their war against Hardorn. Kero manages to bring up the fact Rethwellen owes Valdemar a debt from Kethry's time. As Rethwellen's army will take time to get there, KEro ends up taking her company across Valdemar, losing her Mages on the way. (The rejoin Daren's troops, and wind up marching through Karse, which has its own political shakes up going on, as we see later.) 

Anyway, Ancar's armies cause issues, Kero and Selaney and Elsbeth become friends, and Kero and Daren get chosen, setting up the Mage Winds trilogy. 

A lot of fun, since Kero is not very lady like.

Hello, Ratty

 So, I found a copy of Neil Gaimen's Neverwhere, which included the Author's Preferred Text. It's been a while since I last read it, but with a trip to London in a year, I felt like revisiting this rather dark and funny odyssey into London Below. (Also not, having been watching Doctor Who, I kept picturing David Tennant as Richard Mayhew.) 

For those who've never taken this journey, the story concerns one Richard Mayhew, a Scot moving to London, who gets mildly accosted by a crone before he leaves. As we return to him a few years later, he's working in Securities, engaged to charming social climber Jessica, and generally futzing about life. We get scenes intercut of a lady running from unknown assailants, until the plots converge outside a swanky French restaurant where Richard and Jessica are supposed to be entertaining her boss, Mr. Stockton. 

Richard, being a good sort, helps the injured woman who appeared in front of them rather than calling 999 as Jessica suggests. Which sets off a series of events Richard never would have imagined. The lady he saves in Lady Door of the House of Arch, part of the fantastical world of London Below, which has ties with London Above, but is kind of a satirical reflection thereof. Door's family was killed, and the assassins who did that are now after her. This would be Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, darkly comical figures in their own right. 

Door asks Richard for help, which leads him to talk to a rat, up on a high rooftop, and down dark alleys to find the Marquis, who is a major deal maker in the Below. Indeed, he helps arrange to get Door a bodyguard at the next Floating Market. After they leave Richard's apartment, Richard discovers he no longer seems to exist in London Above. Indeed, Croup and Vandemar explain via telephone that this now means they will eventually let him taste his own liver. 

Richard, following nightmare scenes of having his landlord show his apartment with him in it, his office removed, and his ATM dispensing no money, winds up finding teh Rat Speakers, who eventually get him to the Floating Market in Knightsbridge. (Aka Harrod's of London, although the path in Below involves crossing Night's Bridge, where the night can take its toll.) 

He does eventually find Door and the Marquis, but they don't want him with them. Door eventually does take pity and add him to their retinue, which now includes the fabled Hunter, who has killed beasts in several Below cities. We hear of several duchys within the domain, and are told never to ask about the Shepherds of Shepherd's Bush. We do end up on the train domain of Earl's Court, to get to the British Museum to meet the Angle Islington. 

Eventually, Croup and Vandemar appear to inform them there is a traitor in their midst, and we do eventually see Richard become the hero. And learn the same lesson such heroes as Frodo and Caramon learned about how the Hero, upon returning home, may not be home anymore. 

Even after all these years, I still love this book.

Falling down

 Talia's big story ends on a bang in Mercedes Lackey's Arrow's Fall, as Talia takes her full seat on the council as Queen's Own, and ends up knee deep in the treachery of one of the Councillors. 

As Talia and Kris return from their circuit. Skif rides out to meet them and pass on the mess Talia is returning to, namely the betrothal proposal from Hardorn, who's kind has been a friend for ages. His proposal would betroth Elspeth, Heir to the Throne of Valdemar to his son, Ancar, Heir to the Throne of Hardorn. Everyone seems to think it would be a good idea, some more than others. Talia and Queen Selaney manage to work out a few delays in there (like Elspeth finishing her Herald training prior to anything actually happening), but it looks like a good deal. In the mean time, Dirk, Kris, and Talia wind up in a three way fight, due to Dirk and Talia's distrust of Kris's Uncle Orthallen, Dirk's assumption that Kris and Talia are a committed couple, and Talia trying to bulldoze her way into their personal feelings. 

Anyway, it's decided that Talia and Kris will ride into Hardorn a week or so ahead of Selaney to make sure everything is on the up and up. Which, it isn't. Seems ol' Ancar wants both kingdoms, and has no problems escorting his father off his mortal coil to get the first. Kris winds up dead, and Talia gets locked in the dungeon, finding out what happened to Horrible Hulda, the nurse to Elspeth who was trying to turn the Heir into the Brat. Seems ol' Hulda is a mage of the kind Valdemar hasn't seen since Vanyel's time, as is Ancar. 

A lot of really unpleasant things later, Dirk and Elspeth use their gifts to save Talia, at which point a generation of plotting comes to light and Hardorn and Valdemar go to war (which of course sets up the next few trilogies and stand alone set in this time period.) Dirk and Elspeth finally manage to admit to their lifebond, get married, and get a sweet if contrived wedding gift from beyond the grave.

Still fun reading, and a reminder of why I love this setting so much.

Fly high, little bird!

 And once again, we return to the "Modern" era of Valdemar, which as I was reminded of, is on the planet Velgarth. (I have a friend who only refers to it as such; I personally only remember seeing the planet name in this trilogy.) As such, we're back with Queen's Own Herald Talia, as she's put in her whites and sent on her internship riding circuit on the Northern Border. 

Mind you, she's paired with Herald Kris, who's working partner is Herald Dirk, whom Talia has fallen for. However, Kris is one of the most handsome in the land, and women fall over themselves for a relationship with him...

While that underlies the book, much of the focus is is on Talia's missing training, a point brought out by Kris's Uncle Orthallen, who tells Kris rumors swirl that Talia is using her Empathic gifts unethically to influence politics.  When Kris mentions this to Talia, it eats away her confidence. This finally gets corrected when they get snowbound in the Forest of Sorrows, and Talia learns the basics of control finally. It also sets up events a few books down the road as something in the Forest is watching to make sure they're ok. 

By the end, Talia is in control of her gift totally and ready for her position, but along the way, we get glimpses of how powerful her gift can be. 

Good read, and there's a definite improvement in the quality from book 1, which happens with series fiction, as the author becomes more comfortable with their creation.

Exodus

 So, Mercedes Lackey has decided to write a trilogy finally depicting the Kingdom of Valdemar, starting with Beyond. We know some of the legends, thanks to prvious volumes, but legends often don't capture the full truth. 

In this case, we're dealing with the Duchy of Valdemar, a far flung part of the Empire, that specializes in horse breeding. Duke Kordas and his wife Isla run the Duchy, working to bring to fruition a plan his Grandfather, the first Duke, came up with to get everyone in Valdemar far enough away from the Empire that they wouldn't be stuck in the perpetual loop of Imperial Politics. Thus Kordas does his best to come off as a bumpkin to avoid the Emperor's notice. 

 As it becomes apparent they have the ability to start the evacuation, Kordas is summoned to the Imperial City for the Emperor's Birthday Regatta. Which leaves it up to Isla and her lovesick sister to carry out the plan, hoping Kordas can work out everything on his end from across the Empire. (In modern terms, it looks like the Capital and the Duchy are about the distance between, say, Los Angeles and Washington DC.)  

Unfortunately, Kordas is stuck dealing with imprisoned elementals, Imperial hostages, and the fact the emperor has been making abyssal deals on top of everything else. 

Again, as we've been reading the legends of these events since 1987, the ending comes as no surprise, although the ride to get there is fascinating to read. 

Great addition.