Stormy Weather...

So, as promised, I finished Mercedes Lackey's Storm Breaking, the final book in her Mage Storms trilogy.

Most of the book centers on a few places of power, from Elsbeth and Darkwind with Tremane in Shonar, to Braon Melles and Emperor Charlis in Jokona, as well as the group stuck in the basement of Urtho's Tower in the Dhorsia Plains.

Basically, the group in Shonar gets Tremane to accept the Earth Binding, a "primitive" magic that binds him to his current kingdom. Which is good, since it allows him to sense the Mage Storms as the come, locate Nodes that could go bad during the storm, as well as having the added effect of getting Iftel to drop its shield wall and send Envoys to Hardorn, which winds up being the one really big reveal in the book. Indeed, Solaris's reaction to the envoys is priceless.

In Jokona, Tremane former rival Melles is appointed Heir, and starts making moves to control what parts of the Empire aren't already in revolt after the complete failure of magic during the storms. Melles is mainly using the rather horrible philosophy that people value safety over freedom. In the process, Melles also finds out that Emperor Charlis really did stab Tremane in the back after sending him to Hardorn, which Melles uses as part of a campaign to get the Army under his control.

In the tower, pretty much every not quite deity (Avatars of the Goddess, representatives of Vkandis, Companions, Vanyel, Stefan, and Yfandes' ghosts, the Mage sword Need) shows up for the finale, Most of which requires Altra the firecat to use his Jumping ability to go fetch a few of them.

In the end, a Second Cataclysm  is prevented, but not without cost on everyone's parts.

Out of all of her Valdemar series, this is likely the best of the "Modern" setting she wrote. Not that the rest are inferior products, but more that she had a better grasp on the world she created and how to narrat eit by this point.

The answer is blowin' in the wind

In an effort to finish the series before moving on to new fare, I finished Mercedes Lackey's Storm Rising yesterday on lunch and started into the last book in the trilogy.

Rising is exceptionally angsty, as Karal is dealing with being an exceptionally young envoy whom nobody really respects and Firesong is busy being overly dramatic as he begins to figure out he and An'desha aren't lifebonded mates.

In Karal's case, he actually manages to almost get a Shin'a'in blood feud declared on him after coming down on the opposite side of Jarim, the current Shin'a'in envoy. While this does eventually work itself out, it's really ugly, sending Karal to the Ekele of Firesong and An'desha to recover.

Firesong, on the other hand, once he realizes how badly he and An'desha are splintering, decides to make a soul holder the way Ma'ar did back in prehistory. (Indeed, this is how Ma'ar ended up possessing An'desha.)

Then there's Termane in Hardorn, cut off from the Eastern Empire. He slowly begins to integrate the town of Shonar with the Imperial garrison, becoming a better leader in the process.

Indeed, during Solaris's state visit, some scrying between Karal, An'desha, and Natoli reval him to be the one the Allies need to talk to about alliance, since the next solution will likely involve Hardorn. Which means both Karal and Solaris finding ways to get past Tremane's execution of their friend and mentor.

Ultimately, we end up in the Dhorsia Plains, at the melted tower of Urtho, in hopes of finding a weaopn that can counteract at least one set of ripples in the reverse cataclysm. And it is here that more than a few differences get worked out before book two ends.

By far the one things that sticks out in this book is Firesong's reactions to a relationship ending. One gets the distinct impression Firesong is used to being in control of his relationships, and not used to the gradual drift that separates him from An'desha. Something that many people understand all to well.

On to the next.

Blow Gabriel Blow

O, given the rather strange chronology that came about when Mercedes Lackey was writing her Valdemar setting, I'm skipping more than a few series to get to Storm Warning. As a quick recap of what the situation is when this starts, Valdermar had been at war with eastern neighbor Hardorn, following the rise of Ancar, who was using his mage power to drain the land and invade his neighbors. Ancar had allied himself with Falconsbane, a mage with a particular vendetta verses the Shin'a'in and the Taledras cultures. Elsbeth, who at the time was heir to the throne, got training in her Mage powers from Darkwind and Firesong of the Hawkbrothers. All of whom ended up in Hardorn, killing Ancar, Falconsbane and Hulda, who had been a spy for the Empire on the other side of Hardorn. the person who's body had been inhabited by Falconsbane (An'desha) got his body backas a reward for helping out. As Ancar died, the Empire invaded.

Toward the end of the war, Valdemar's ancient Enemy, Karse ended up allying with Valdemar to repel Ancar's aggressions.

Which brings us to the start of the Storms trilogy.

We start with Tremane, soon to be Heir to the Imperial throne, whom the current Emporer assigns to finish the takeover of Hardorn. Then we join Ulrich and Karal, Envoy and secretary from Karse on their way to Haven to negotiate a longer peace with Valdemar on behalf of Karse. Karal being one of the major focus characters in this series, spends much of his time relearning things he'd grown up believing about the Hellhorses and Demonriders of Valdemar.

Then we start in with An'desha, who's convinced that Falconsbane still lives within him, causing him fights with his beloved, Firesong. Eventually, Talia introduces Karal and An'desha who become quick friends. Karal also meets Natoli, daughter of the Herald escort he'd had up from Karse. And Altra, the firecat who may or may not be an incarnation of a previous Son of the Sun, but is definitely a living messenger of the Karsite God Vkandis. And Florian, a companion who offers to help Karal adapt to Valdemar.

And then the Mage Storms start. Besides causing bad weather, circles of land begin switching places all over the world. Tremane assumes its coming from Valdemar, and attempts to destroy the alliances formed there, which in turn kills Ulrich. Valdemar, with the help of the Artificers, figure out how to predict the storms and eventually plot a way to form a Breakwater to prevent some of the damage being caused by the storms.

In the end, Karal, who is a channel, becomes the one to cross the Iftel sheildwall to set the breakwater there, although it's book 3 before we find out the whys on that one.

Fun book. I know I say that often, but this series has been on my shelf for several years now, and it remains a smile inducing read.