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.

The Start of it All

 Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar, a very long running series, got its start with Arrows of the Queen. Which opens on 13 year old Talia,living on the border with her people, the Holderkin, who have bigamist marriages in their holdings, and the men have the authority. Talia, who loves reading adventures, much to the amusement of the older women of the hold, dreams of being one of the heroes of the tales she reads. However, as she turns 13, she's informed that it's time for her to either be married off, or sent to the Convent. This causes Talia to rebel and run away from the council of wives. 

As she sits in her hiding place among some ruins, one of the white horses of Valdemar, a Companion greets her, and she rides him back to Haven, not really grasping that she has just been Chosen, let alone being Chosen as Queen's Own. (Since it gets explained in this trilogy more than anywhere else in the series, the position is advisor to the Monarch, Chosen by a Grove Born Companion, always a Stallion. It's heavily implied the Herald Gifts work towards that advice, as well as divine guidance on how to advise.) Talia is taking over after her predecessor was murdered, and as the queen is dealing with the current Heir, who can't become monarch due to not being Chosen.

Most of the book is set up to give us a look at the current governance of the Kingdom, as well as players in what is the Modern Setting of the series. (Books written later in the series tend to tell tales from much earlier in the time line, or continue the story in the modern timeline after this series ends. The modern timeline seems to have ended, in terms of new stories, after Darien's Tale, since the next few series were all set several centuries earlier, and the newest one, set to start later this summer, involves the founding.)

Anyway, this means we meet later players, like Skif (who started life as a thief) and Dirk, as well as Albrecht, who we eventually find out was Chosen from longtime enemy nation Karse due to his gifts.We mostly see Talia as she trains and blossoms into a young woman. (I read these last a long time ago. As I recall, the next book concerns Talia getting promoted to Full Herald and learning to control her Empathy gift, while the final book sets up the War with Hardorn that gets the Mage Winds trilogy rolling.) 

As a starting point, it's not quite what the series becomes as it evolves and gets fleshed out, however, it does show the core of the series was there at the beginning. Worth reading, and a good place to start.