Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
Summary
Mags works in a mine. He is one of many orphans who are essentially slaves working to extract sparklies, and when he doesn't find enough of them, he is starved and beaten. His meager existence changes drastically when a Companion chooses him to become a Herald. He begins his training in the midst of the founding of the Herald Collegium.
Commentary
This is the beginning of the latest series in Lackey's Valdemar world, which has always been full of warm and fuzzy. I was actually somewhat disappointed by this return although I was really eager to read it because I remember loving Valdemar.
Perhaps it's simply that I don't remember all the references made to previous stories. The Companion was too smug and cuddly, and the main character Mags was too cookie-cutter or something along those lines. I just didn't enjoy this book as much as Lackey's previous works.
This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the book because I did. It was heroic, good triumphs over evil, and exactly the way I remembered Valdemar to be. Unfortunately, that also made it somewhat formulaic. Hopefully, the rest of the series will turn out to be more interesting.
Star Rating: 3.0/5.0
For an explanation of the Star Rating go here.
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4 comments: Jump to Comment Form
Lackey's more recent Valdemar books are a lot more hugs and kittens than the older ones. Though that also makes them less rapey, which is a good thing. I wasn't a fan of this one, but By The Sword is one of my favourite books in general.
It's interesting to see how the Companions differ between books (remember when they couldn't all use mindspeech in Talia's trilogy?), and there are a lot of timeline discrepancies, particularly around Take a Thief and the two Alberich books. If you have all (or most) of the books, it's interesting to start with those set earlier in the history of Valdemar and read through the timeline.
It's been so long since I've read the previous parts of this series that I really don't remember that the Companions couldn't all mindspeech heh~~
I loved Valdemar too, but this is not the first slightly negative review I've read of this new series.
I'd be still looking for the book in my library, but will not be buying.
-Dee from e-Volving Books
@Deepali yah I got my copy at a library sale because I wasn't sure it would be great. It's definitely worth reading if you're already a Valdemar fan though just to revisit the world ^.^
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