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Mercedes Lackey

1950-

Reviewed by Kat Hooper,
Ruth Arnell, Beth Johnson,
Tim Scheidler

Mercedes Lackey has been a prolific writer since 1987 when she published her first Valdemar novel. She has authored and co-authored many fantasy series, anthologies, and short stories (some related to role-playing games). Learn more at Mercedes Lackey's website.

Click covers to view available formats, including audio & Kindle.

Valdemar — (1987-2011) These are in cronological order for the epic, with the exception of Exile's Honor, Exile's Valor, and Take a Thief, which are prequels to the original trilogy. Some are Available for download at Audible.com Publisher: Talia, a young runaway, is made a herald at the royal court after she rescues one of the legendary Companions. When she uncovers a plot to seize the throne, Talia must use her empathic powers to save the queen.

Heralds of Valdemar (original Arrow's trilogy 1987-1988, prequels 2001-2003)

Mercedes Lackey Valdemar: Exile's Honor, Exile's Valor, Arrows of The Queen, Arrow's Flight, Arrow's Fall

Mercedes Lackey Heralds of Valdemar prequel Take a Thief

The Mage Winds (1991-1993)

Mercedes Lackey Valdemar: Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, Winds of Fury

The Mage Storms (1994-1996)

Mercedes Lackey The Mage Storms Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey The Mage Storms, Storm Rising, Storm Breaking

Darian's Tale (1997-1999)

Mercedes Lackey Darian's Tale: Owl's Flight, Owl Sight, Owl Knight with Larry Dixon

The Last Herald Mage (1989-1990)

Mercedes Lackey The Last Herald Mage: Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, Magic's Price

Vows and Honor (1988-1989)

Mercedes Lackey Vows and Honor: The Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood

Kerowyn's Tale (1991)

The Mage Wars (1993-1996)

Mercedes Lackey: The Black Gryphon, The White Gryphon, The Silver Gryphon

The Collegium Chronicles (2008-2011)

Mercedes Lackey Valdemar The Collegium Chronicles 1. Foundation 2. Intrigues

Mercedes Lackey Valdemar The Collegium Chronicles 1. Foundation 2. Intrigues 3. Changes

Miscellaneous Tales, Anthologies, References (1997-2011)

Mercedes Lackey: Brightly Burning, Sword of Ice, Sun in Glory, Crossroads, The Valdemar Companion

Mercedes Lackey Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey Changing the World and Other Tales of Valdemar

Mercedes Lackey Valdemar Finding the Way

Some available for download at Audible.com

Arrows of the Queen

Talia is not like normal 13-year-old girls. She likes to read adventure stories and she fantasizes about being a Herald for the queen of Valdemar. She does not want to get married to one of the dreary men in her village. So, when a Companion — one of the blue-eyed white horses who belongs to a Herald — shows up without a rider, Talia is happy to help him find his way home and stunned to learn that she’s been chosen to be trained as a Herald.

Published in 1987, Arrows of the Queen is Mercedes Lackey’s first novel and the first in her popular Valdemar series. This is a coming-of-age tale in which a naïve and wide-eyed youngster who has endured a repressive upbringing is suddenly freed and enrolled in a special school, where she makes friends and enemies and discovers that she has magic powers and an important destiny.

Like many such heroes, Talia is a good and well-meaning girl who, despite being mature and wise beyond her years, neglects to tell adults when she’s being bullied or needs help, thus getting into mishaps that could easily have been avoided. Fortunately, she deals with some equally unwise villains who tend to audibly rehash their evil plans at the exact moment that Talia happens to eavesdrop on their clandestine meetings.

Although I’ve read many books of this ilk and, therefore, found few surprises in this one, I must admit to being charmed by Talia and her story, though I’m certain I would have felt differently if Arrows of the Queen had been published more recently. Mercedes Lackey’s first novel has a nice pace (though Talia’s lessons were sometimes prolonged and too detailed) and an engaging heroine, and introduces a world I’d like to learn more about.

I listened to Albany Audio’s version of Arrows of the Queen, which was narrated by Carole Edie Smith. She’s a terrific actress, but she has a rather unsuitable Northeastern US accent which just doesn’t fit the medieval setting of Valdemar. I managed to mostly listen past that. Unfortunately, the next 24 Valdemar novels are not available in audio format. I may pick up the next couple of Valdemar novels in print, completing at least the first trilogy. This series has the potential to provide many hours of mindless entertainment. —Kat Hooper

fantasy book reviews Mercedes Lackey Valdemar Foundation Foundation

Mercedes Lackey has written this book before. And she’s written it better before. Foundation follows the story of Mags, a plucky orphan who is rescued from an abusive situation as a slave in a mine by a Companion and brought to Haven to become a Herald. Substitute Talia for Mags, and Holder for mine, and you have just summed up Lackey’s first book, Arrows of the Queen. The problem is that Foundation isn’t nearly as good.

Foundation is the start of a new trilogy set in Valdemar, Lackey’s favorite story world. The characters are retreads of old familiar faces, and the pacing is erratic. Lackey is obviously writing a trilogy, because the story just stops abruptly with little resolution. I have no problem with books being designed as trilogies with an overarching metanarrative, but I do like each book being able to stand independently within the trilogy framework and this book does not. The mystery Mags is called upon to uncover is laughably easy to reveal, and the big climax at the end feels tacked on to finish the story with some type of fight scene, rather than growing organically from the plot. It felt like driving along at 45 miles an hour and then hitting a brick wall that appeared out of nowhere.

I know writers all have their own style, but I was disappointed with how much Lackey plagiarized her previous work. From borrowing phrases (do bad riders do anything other than sit like a sack of grain?) to entire characters, Lackey is ripping off Arrows of the Queen to a disturbing degree. Mags has the same personality traits that Talia does, down to an unexpected skill at horsemanship and defensive fighting, befriends an important female highborn character while she is crying about a lost friend, has an unusually strong Gift, discovers an important circle of friends during the Midwinter Festival, and becomes a trusted confidant of high ranking Heralds while still a student. I don’t know if her editor has never read her books before, but this was a patent retread of previous work.

The story is barely adequate on its own merits. If I had never read any of her previous writing before, it would have been a passable story, though flawed in its own rights. Few of the characters are given enough time to develop into memorable personalities on their own. I spent half of the final fight scene trying to remember who one of the characters was.

If this was my first exposure to Lackey, I wouldn’t be reading anything by her again. As a long time reader, I am sorely disappointed, and can only hope that the next entry in this series fixes the extraordinary flaws of the first. But I’ll be checking the next one out of the library rather than buying my own copy. —Ruth Arnell

Intrigues

Dear Mercedes Lackey,

I’m writing to you as a lifelong fan. Your Valdemar books are what started me reading fantasy. Some twenty-plus years later, By The Sword is still one of my favorite comfort reads. I considered naming a daughter Talia. So please don’t think I’m just a hater when I say: please stop writing Valdemar books.

Valdemar used to be a place of excitement. Everything was new. Heralds were wonderful. Companions were amazing. Every new book was an adventure. Now, some thirty-odd books into the series, you have run out of interesting stories to tell in this setting, and have started recycling your old stories by changing the names. Now, I’m sure you could make the argument that setting these stories in different time periods and just changing the character names is making a point about how all history is a repetition of things that have previously happened, and there is nothing new and original out there, but I don’t think that’s what you’re doing. Because at this point, you’re not only recycling your own work (see my review for the first book in this Collegium Chronicles series); your ecologically friendly writing style is extending to other authors as well.

Evidence to back up that audacious claim, you ask? Your story is about a young orphan whose parents were killed violently, who gets chosen to go to magic school. He has two best friends, a girl and a boy, who are falling in love with each other. The girl is brilliant but moody and tends to periods of sulking when her feelings are hurt. The boy is big and kind of a doofus, but loyal to his friends, and comes from a long line of magically gifted people himself, even though he doesn’t seem to have the same power as his family members.

Now, they are all at the school together, and there is a new sport invented that involves getting a ball through any one of a number of goals at one end, which people guard with bat-like clubs. The main boy is extraordinarily talented at this game, and in his first match captures the flag, which is worth a lot more points than any goal and automatically ends the game.

Then, even though he’s only in his first year of training, he’s entrusted with special missions, given leeway no one else is, and is a favorite of the people running the school. Additionally, he figures out who the bad guy is and faces him down and defeats him all by himself, even though people who have been trained for decades can’t figure it out.

What book am I describing? Harry Potter (basically any of the seven) or Intrigues?

They are that similar. And that’s not a good sign. I’ve read your letter about plagiarism on your site, and I’m not going to say this is plagiarism, but there is not enough of a variation here to make me feel like I was reading something new. And I wouldn’t care so much except you’re a good writer. Did you see the review I just gave your Trio of Sorcery (below)? You’re better than this. Stop coming back to this old, worn out world when Jennifer Talldeer and Ellen McBridge are just waiting for new opportunities to shine. And I know you can make them shine. Even in this clunker of a story, there are flashes of brilliance. That fight between Mags and his two best friends, where they hurt each other only the way true friends can? That was so real it was painful to read. But those moments were few and far between. You kept telling me what they were thinking, and how their characters were evolving, rather than showing me through any plot advancement. You’re a storyteller, not a psychiatrist, and I think you’ve run out of stories to tell here. Move on to newer and fresher worlds, and let Valdemar go gracefully. It’s been a long time since you had a Valdemar story that I loved, so please let me remember the Heralds and the Shin’a’in and the Hawkbrothers and Need and Kero with fondness, rather than tarnishing their memory by adding to the family tree with literary dross.

Love,
A fan

P.S. I listened to the Brilliance Audio version of your story, narrated by Nick Podehl, and I thought he did a great job with the voices, though he tends to go a bit breathy on the females. It was very convenient that each of the CDs was the exact length of my commute. —Ruth Arnell

Changes

And it is on this day, the 23rd of April, in the year two thousand and twelve, that I, Ruth Arnell, having been ushered into the world of fantasy readerdom by Arrows of the Queen, have given up on Valdemar.

Mercedes Lackey was my gateway to fantasy as a teenage girl. Valdemar was fascinating to me, but after 30some-odd books set in the world, the magic has faded, especially in the volumes written with her husband Larry Dixon.

This is the third book in the COLLEGIUM CHRONICLES series, and I have chronicled my problems with the previous two books in the series, Foundation and Intrigues. Those problems are magnified in this volume. More kirball for no apparent reason. The same fights with the same characters. Dialect so strong that it made my head hurt to wade through it. Life’s too short to read bad books. This one hit the fifty page mark and got tossed (gently) aside. The only thing that saved it from a broken spine was that I had checked it out of the library.
—Ruth Arnell

Changing the World Mercedes Lackey Changing the World: All new tales of Valdemar

In Changing the World: All new tales of Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey edits a collection of short stories from several different authors. They’re all set in her famous Valdemar, and many center on a theme: What happens when being Chosen causes more problems than it solves? I enjoyed this approach to the classic being Chosen trope in which being Chosen is the end of all your troubles.

Lackey starts off the collection with “The One Left Behind” about a young woman who is dealing with the emotional fallout of being left — her father abandoned her as a child because he was Chosen, and her boyfriend leaves after he is Chosen. Other stories focus on people who have wonderfully happy lives and resent the intrusion of a magical white horse who is just mucking things up, or examine what happens when being Chosen means being forced to overcome personal shortcomings that the new Herald does not want to face.

Some of the more successful stories are not ones that center on the heralds and their Companions, but revisit characters from earlier Valdemar anthologies. We return to the tale of Ree and Jem (a human and hobgoblin) who are searching for a home and love in a time of upheaval. The two stories featuring these characters, each by a different author, provide a touching explanation of what it really means to be a family. Another particularly successful tale features a reporter interviewing a Companion… in Kentucky. In “Interview with a Companion” by Benjamin Ohlander, we learn that the Valdemar stories are a thinly veiled history of real creatures that intervene back here on earth on a regular basis. Have you ever noticed how many historical figures ride white horses? That’s not a coincidence. My other favorite story is “Nothing Better to Do,” by Tanya Huff, which features a poor, beleaguered Herald transporting an orphaned infant for several days through a forest.

These Valdemar anthologies come out on an almost yearly basis, and this is one of the stronger collections in the series. I particularly enjoyed the returning characters because they provide a sense of continuity. Like most anthologies, the quality is inconsistent, but the stronger stories predominate, especially in the second half of the collection. This is a good collection for Valdemar fans, and a fun collection for anyone else. —Ruth Arnell

Diana Tregarde Investigates — (1989-1991) Publisher: Long before Buffy showed the world how tough girls could be, Mercedes Lackey created Diana Tregarde. Diana is a Guardian charged with saving innocents and destroying evil wherever she finds it. Because if she doesn't, evil will find her — and kill her first. In Children of the Night, Diana is running her friend's occult shop in New York City when trouble does finds her. Mr. Trouble, as she calls him, is a vampire whose psychic power makes her radar go off the charts. In Burning Water, Diana gets a call from Detective Mark Valdez, an old college friend turned cop. When Valdez realizes that the serial killer stalking Dallas is not human, he knows he needs help. In Jinx High, Diana is summoned to Oklahoma by an old friend who fears that his teenage son is in supernatural danger from a fellow classmate.

Mercedes Lackey Diana Tregarde 1. Burning Water 2. Children of the Night 3. Jinx High

The Half-blood Chronicles (Elvenbane) — (1991-2002) with Andre Norton. Mercedes Lackey says that a fourth book, called Elvenbred, will eventually be published. Publisher: Two masters of epic fantasy have combined in this brilliant collaboration to create a rousing tale of the sort that becomes an instant favorite. This is the story of Shana, a halfbreed born of the forbidden union of an Elvenlord father and a human mother. Her exiled mother dead, she was rescued and raised by dragons, a proud, ancient race who existed unbeknownst to elven or humankind. From birth, Shana was the embodiment of the Prophecy that the all-powerful Elvenlords feared. Her destiny is the enthralling adventure of a lifetime.

Elvenbane, Elvenblood, Elvenborn, Elvenbred

Elvenbane

In the world of Elvenbane, elves have subjugated humanity because… well, they’re elves, frankly: magical and long-lived and perfectly capable of taking what they want. Apparently having served as the unselfish goodie-goodies one too many times, elves have instead been refreshingly cast as the fantasy version of the Roman Empire in this text, conquering and enslaving other races out of a sense of entitlement and a desire to expand their power. Humans are used for menial labor and sexual gratification, but any human/elf hybrid must by law be killed, as apparently these half-breeds can become very magically powerful and might do something crazy like pitying the wrong bough of the family tree. With a set-up like this, it’s really no surprise that our heroine is just such a hybrid, born of a pregnant human concubine fleeing into the desert. The young girl, called Shana, is raised by dragons for a time, but her magical powers eventually manifest and she is cast out after an incident with a young dragon. Relatively on her own, she makes her way toward joining a revolution and taking on the prophesied role the title hints at.

Elvenbane starts off with a very entertaining premise, I admit, and though I am far from a Mercedes Lackey fan, I was willing to give the Andre Norton/Mercedes Lackey team the benefit of the doubt and have a look. For a time, I was not disappointed (if not actively inspired) and was ready to log this away as a blandly fun fantasy romp.

The trouble, however, starts to emerge at about the two-fifths mark. It's at that point that, for whatever reason, the Lackey/Norton pairing stops being a happy marriage. Reading the book was like watching them bickering. Something would happen — a big plot point — and then it would be swept under the rug in the next chapter, only to come roaring back a little later. Plot threads would appear from nowhere as though they had been ongoing, and then simply vanish without a trace. I can't decide whether the communication was bad, the editing did strange things, or whether these two women really were sort of passive-aggressively hacking each other's plot points into dust, but it makes for a very disjointed reading experience. To provide one example among many, there is at one point a brewing romance between two main characters left on a dramatic cliffhanger. Then it's almost immediately, and absurdly casually, put down in the next chapter. Twenty pages later, it returns and becomes the basis for the protagonist's entire emotional state. Then it goes poof and we never hear from it again.

The number of dangling plot threads in Elvenbane is maddening, and even the characterization is affected. In order to fill certain roles in whatever direction one of them is trying to take the story at a given moment, characters will suddenly be revealed as different figures than they were portrayed as up to this point, carelessly flouting all evidence to the contrary provided so far that makes it abundantly clear this change was unplanned. What's even worse is that once they've done their duty to the plot, they'll undergo a sudden conversion experience and change right back again.

This last has Mercedes Lackey written all over it. She has always been a careless author with no sense of dramatic timing and the mistaken belief that she can get away with abrupt, sweeping changes without the slightest consequence to her world. She's not better, and is even a bit worse than usual, in this book.

I do have one positive element to note in Elvenbane, and that is that Ms. Norton is not only a far superior author to Lackey, but actually manages to provide some very good imagery and characterization. When the book swings up, I'm pretty sure it's her hand on the tiller. It does swing up once in a while, and as I've said, it begins very well.

But once again, the latter part of the book swiftly descends into Lackey's customary undramatic blather, with its cohesion shot all to ribbons by Norton and Lackey's apparent inability to work together effectively.

I give it points for the concept, and for Ms. Norton's truly entertaining prose in some places. But honestly, the plot is a complete shambles, and whatever dramatic moments the book has are smothered by Lackey. —Tim Scheidler

Bardic Voices — (1992-1997) Author's description: A voice, an icy, whispering voice, came out of the darkness from all around her; from everywhere, yet nowhere. It could have been born of her imagination, yet Rune knew the voice was the Ghost's, and that to run was to die. Instantly, but in terror that would make dying seem to last an eternity. "Why have you come here, stupid child?" it murmured, as fear urged her to run away. "Why were you waiting here? For me? Foolish child, do you not know what I am? What I could do to you?" Rune had to swallow twice before she could speak, and even then her voice cracked and squeaked with fear. "I've come to fiddle for you-sir?" she said, gasping for breath between each word, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. The Ghost laughed, a sound with no humor in it, the kind of laugh that called up empty wastelands and icy peaks. "Well, then, girl. Fiddle, then. And pray to that Sacrificed God of yours that you fiddle well, very well. If you please me, if you continue to entertain me until dawn, I shall let you live, a favor I have never granted any other. But I warn you — the moment my attention lags, little girl — you'll die like all the others and you will join all the others in my own private little Hell."

Mercedes Lackey Bardic Voices The Lark and the Wren

Four and Twenty Blackbirds Mercedes Lackey

Elemental Masters — (1994-2012) Publisher: In 1905, Medieval scholar Rosalind Hawkins is left destitute when her father dies, forcing her to accept the offer that has mysteriously come her way of becoming a governess in San Francisco. But she arrives to find a house without children, a wife, or even an employer, only a terrible secret.

Mercedes Lackey Elemental Masters 1. The Fire Rose 2. The Serpent's Shadow 3. The Gates of Sleep 4. Phoenix and Ashes 5. The Wizard of London 6. Reserved for the Cat

Bedlam's Bard — (2000-2005) With Rosemary Edghill and Ellen Guon. Publisher: After the events chronicled in Bedlam's Bard, world-saving bard and magician Eric hopes to settle down to the quiet life. No such luck: his apartment building is a safe-house for a group of occult Guardians protecting New York from supernatural evil. And there's a new evil for them to guard against... Unethical researchers are planning to raise a psychotropic drug-enslaved army of mercenaries. But this gets the attention of Aerune mac Audelaine, lord of the dark Unseleighe Sidhe, who hopes to use the drugs to break through to the human world. Both plans will bring terror to the world — and both are threatened by the very existence of Eric Banyon. With his possibly loyal companions — a beautiful elven half-breed and a gargoyle — Eric heads for a three-way battle of wizardry that will determine Gotham's fate-and his own.

Mercedes Lackey Ellen Guon Rosemary Edghill Belam's Bard review Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, Summoned to Tourney, Bedlam Boys

Rosemary Edghill Mercedes Lackey Ellen Guon Bedlam's Bard review 4. Beyond World's End 5. Spirits White as Lightning 6. Mad Maudlin 7. Music to My Sorrow

Heirs of Alexandria — (2002-2010) With Eric Flint, Dave Freer. Publisher: it is the year 1537. The great winged Lion stares over a Venice where magic thrives. The rich Venetian Republic is a bastion of independence and tolerance. Perhaps for that reason, it is also corrupt, and rotten with intrigue. But for the young brothers Marco and Benito Valdosta, vagabond and thief, Venice is simply-home. They have no idea that they stand at the center of the city's coming struggle for its very life. They know nothing of the powerful forces moving in the background. They have barely heard of Chernobog, demonlord of the North, who is shifting his pawns to attack Venice in order to cut into the underbelly of the Holy Roman Empire. All Marco and Benito know is that they're hungry and in dangerous company: Katerina the smuggler, Caesare the sell-sword, Montagnard assassins, church inquisitors, militant Knights of the Holy Trinity, Dottore Marina the Strega mage... and Maria. Maria might be an honest canaler, but she had the hottest temper a boy could find. Yet among the dark waters of the canals lurk far worse dangers than a hot-tempered girl. Chernobog has set a monster loose to wreak havoc on the city. Magic, murder and evil are all at work to pull Venice down. Fanatical monks seek to root out true witchcraft with fire and sword. Steel-clad Teutonic knights, wealth traders, church dignitaries and great Princes fight and plot for control of the jewel of the Mediterranean. And somehow all of these, from thieves to mages to princes, must gather around Marco and his brother Benito, under the shadow of the great winged lion of Venice.

Mercedes Lackey Eric Flint Dave Freer Heirs of Alexandria 1. The Shadow of the Lion 2. This Rough Magic

Mercedes Lackey Eric Flint Dave Freer Heirs of Alexandria 1. The Shadow of the Lion 2. This Rough Magic 3. A Mankind Witch

Mercedes Lackey Eric Flint Dave Freer Heirs of Alexandria 1. The Shadow of the Lion 2. This Rough Magic 3. A Mankind Witch 4. Much Fall of Blood 5. Great Doom's Shadow

Forthcoming: Great Doom's Shadow

Dragon Jousters — (2003-2006) Publisher: National best-selling fantasy author Mercedes Lackey creates a vivid, dynamic fusion of the cultures of ancient Egypt and legendary Atlantis with the most exciting and believable portrayal of dragons ever imagined. The first book in this thrilling new series introduces us to a young slave who dreams of becoming a jouster — one of the few warriors who can actually ride a flying dragon. And so, in secret, he begins to raise his own dragon...

Dragon Jousters: Joust, Alta, Sanctuary, Aerie

book review: Dragon Jousters Dragon Jousters

The first book in this quartet (Joust) was decent enough to make me move onto the second. It definitely had its flaws (Vetch is angry, hungry, and worth less than a slave... got it the first thousand times, thanks) but it had its intriguing moments.

Then Alta. The flaws from the first book which were bearable start getting worse. Lackeyever wrote, except even more lackluster. What makes it a problem, though, is that he's supported by mostly equally lackluster characters. The eight boys from his "wing" are basically stereotypes... shy, lazy, handsome, humorous (dopey, grumpy, sleepy, sneezy, doc...). They're tolerable, though. It's Aket-ten, the female protagonist, who is really irritating. She's one of those tough know-it-all characters who occasionally gets weepy, but that's ALL she is. She's front and center far too much to be so bland. The only characters with personalities are the dragons.

When your characters are iffy, you need a good world and/or a good plot instead. Unfortunately, the world is basically just a blatant rip-off of ancient Egypt, completely with tongue-twister names that exhibit how much Lackey DOESN'T know about the culture. I had hoped at first that Alta and Tia represented the Upper and Lower Kingdoms of ancient Egypt, but that hope didn't last long and was completely crushed during Alta. I don't like lots and lots of description, but why do we only get the barest explanation of the buildings and cities? Art and architecture were HUGE in ancient cultures, such as Egypt. Others might be fooled, but I'm not convinced that Lackey did her homework right.

And the plot... Do I really need to say it? Yep, you guessed it, abused, uneducated youth from the farthest reaches of Bass Ackwards goes to save his country armed with only his completely unbelievable wisdom and intelligence. How is it that Kiron can think of these great (and generally obvious) ideas that never even crossed the minds of experienced dragon riders? Because honestly, if it doesn't involve dragons or thwarting the Magi (INVENT. NEW. NAMES.) Kiron just isn't all that bright.

A quick word on the typos in this book... I am not one of those anal retentive people who gets off on combing a book for every single last little glitch. However, there were typos in this one for which there is simply no excuse: NAMES! For the longest time I couldn't figure out if Menet-Ka's dragon was Bethulan or Bethlan, because it went back and forth between the two so often, sometimes several times in a paragraph. And if I had a dollar for every time Gan was spelled Can... Come on! These are the names of your heroes here! Of all things to mispell, character names (especially the heroes) are just sad.

Alta does have its moments, due largely to the dragonets. They're so cute, even I want one. Even though it would probably eat my cats and my guinea pig. They're also most of the reason I've moved onto the 3rd book, but if things don't pick up, I don't think I'll make it to number four. —Beth Johnson

Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms — (2004-2011) Publisher: In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can't carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale... Elena Klovis was supposedto be her kingdom's Cinderella — until fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! So she set out to make a new life for herself. But breaking with "The Tradition" was no easy matter — until she got a little help from her own fairy godmother. Who promptly offered Elena a most unexpected job... Now, instead of sleeping in the chimney. She has to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who keep trying to rise above their place in the tale. And there's one in particular who needs to be dealt with... Sometimes a fairy godmother's work is never done...

Mercedes Lackey: The Fairy Godmother, One Good Knight, Fortune's Fool, The Snow Queen

Mercedes Lackey The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Werewolf

Available for download at Audible.com

The Doubled Edge — (2004-2008) Historical fantasy with Roberta Gellis. Publisher: The FarSeers among the Sidhe of Elfhame Avalon have seen two visions of the future. In one, an evil queen will take the throne and welcome the Inquisition in, debauching the nation and threatening even the elf strongholds throughout the land. In another, a red-haired child will grow up to take the throne and usher in a golden age of literature, music, and art. The evil Unseleighe Sidhe, who draw power from pain and misery, welcome the coming of a ruler of humans who will increase their strength, and are determined to prevent the red-haired child from coming to the throne. Unless the good Sidhe can find the child and protect her from the evils and dangers of both the human and elven worlds, she will never grow up to become Elizabeth, Queen of England in the Sixteenth Century.

Mercedes Lackey Roberta Gellis The Doubled Edge 1. This Scepter'd Isle 2. Ill Met by Moonlight 3. By Slanderous Tongues 4. And Less Than Kind

The Obsidian Trilogy — (2003-2006) with James Mallory — Publisher: Kellen Tavadon, son of the Arch-Mage Lycaelon, thought he knew the way the world worked. His father, leading the wise and benevolent Council of Mages, protected and guided the citizens of the Golden City of the Bells. Young Mages in training — all men, for women were unfit to practice magic — memorized the intricate details of High Magic and aspired to seats on the council. Then he found the forbidden Books of Wild Magic — or did they find him? Their Magic felt like a living thing, guided by the hearts and minds of those who practiced it and benefited from it. Questioning everything he has known, Kellen discovers too many of the City's dark secrets. Banished, with the Outlaw Hunt on his heels, Kellen invokes Wild Magic — and finds himself running for his life with a unicorn at his side. Rescued by a unicorn, healed by a female Wild Mage who knows more about Kellen than anyone outside the City should, meeting Elven royalty and Elven warriors, and plunged into a world full of magical beings — Kellen both revels in and fears his new freedom. The one thing all the Mages of the City agreed on was that practicing Wild Magic corrupted a Mage. Turned him into a Demon. Would that be Kellen's fate? Deep in Obsidian Mountain, the Demons are waiting. Since their defeat in the last great War, they've been biding their time, sowing the seeds of distrust and discontent between their human and Elven enemies. Very soon now, when the Demons rise to make war, there will be no alliance between High and Wild Magic to stand against them. And then all the world will belong to the Endarkened.

The Obsidian Trilogy: The Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, When Darkness Falls

The Enduring Flame — (2007-2009) Set in the same world as Obsidian, but with a different set of characters 1000 years later. Publisher: After a thousand years of peace, much Magick has faded from the world. The Elves live far from humankind. There are no High Mages, and Wild Mages are seen only rarely. Bisochim, a powerful Wild Mage, is determined to reintroduce Darkness to the world, believing that it is out of Balance. Tiercel, a young Armethalian nobleman, is convinced that High Magic is not just philosophy. He attempts a spell — and draws the unwelcome attention of Bisochim. Tiercel survives Bisochim’s attack and begins trying to turn himself into a High Mage. Next in line to be Harbormaster of Armethalieh, Harrier instead finds himself regularly saving Tyr’s life and meeting magickal people and creatures. To Harrier’s dismay, it seems that he must become a hero. In The Phoenix Unchained, Harrier and Tiercel begin a marvelous journey to uncover their destinies. Along the way, they meet a charming female centaur, several snooty Elves, and the most powerful dragon their world has ever known.

Enduring Flame: The Phoenix Unchained The Phoenix Endangered 3. The Phoenix Transformed

Available for download at Audible.com

Mercedes Lackey James Mallory The Enduring Flame 1: The Phoenix Unchained The Phoenix Unchained: Standard, but entertaining, "lite" epic fantasy

I picked up The Phoenix Unchained, the first novel in The Enduring Flame trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory because I haven't read Lackey before (and I wanted to) and this book was Available for download at Audible.com (and I needed something for my commute). The Phoenix Unchained is a sequel to The Obsidian Trilogy which, unfortunately, is not available (yet) on audio, and which I haven't read. However, I had heard that this new trilogy can stand alone, so I decided to give it a try.

The Phoenix Unchained begins as best friends Tiercel and Harrier are attending their city's celebrations of legendary events that happened in The Obsidian Trilogy. It's also Harrier's birthday and, as a gift, his strange uncle gives him a book about magick which Tiercel asks to borrow. Tiercel soon finds that he has some magick abilities and catches the attention of a Wild Mage named Bisochim who is far away but wants to make sure that Tiercel does not disrupt his plans for allowing some dark magick back into the world so that he can save the life of Saravasse, the dragon he's bonded to. Tiercel begins to have bad dreams, so he sets out with Harrier to find a Wild Mage who can help him.

What follows is a standard coming-of-age epic fantasy quest involving a boy who needs to learn how to use his magic before it kills him, his best friend who gets a fancy sword from a stranger, lots of slow travel with an unknown enemy pursuing, a few totally ridiculous place names (e.g. Githilnamanaranath and Karahelanderialigor — I did not make those up), several magical creatures (centaurs, unicorns, dragons, goblins, elves, fauns, etc), magic talismans, and a lot of sarcastic bickering and teasing such as teenage boys tend to engage in. Nothing I haven't read before.

There are several borrowings from Tolkien and others (gosh, the elves look just like Legolas!) and some explanations and motivations that are vague or unbelievable: Why doesn't Bisochim just go after Tiercel himself instead of sending spells or lackeys — sorry—who don't get the job done? When and why did Bisochim and his dragon fall in love (we see this happen, but I wasn't convinced)? How will letting in some darkness extend the life of Saravasse and why is Bisochim (who started off well) willing to let a lot of people die in order to do that? And if he has this potential for evil, why does Saravasse love him? Is Tiercel the only human with high mage powers, as the elves suggest, or is High Magick a skill that many people may be born with (as Tiercel says).

The Phoenix Unchained is not high literature, for sure. Don't expect the beautiful prose of Catherynne Valente or the deep insights of Ursula Le Guin. In fact, Lackey's descriptions don't get any better than this:

"Nothing in his life had prepared him for the heart-stopping beauty of a unicorn. She was as fragile, as delicate, as beautiful as a flower. She was grace personified."

As you see, the writing is serviceable (but certainly not elegant), and the heroes are likeable (but not particularly exciting). The plot is not as tight as I'd like, and it's hardly original. Nonetheless, I found myself entertained and, since there was a major plot-twist/cliffhanger on the last page, I'm curious to see where the story is going. I may or may not go back and read The Obsidian Trilogy first. Lackey and Mallory give enough background and history that I easily understood what was going on and the basics (I thought) of the history I needed to know. However, I found out later in the book, once the boys meet some very ancient characters, that some of the legends that had been passed down for 1000 years where amusingly inaccurate. I missed this humor because I wasn't familiar with the original trilogy. I probably missed some other information that may have helped inform or entertain me, too. For example, what is a mage price? How does this magic work? Is a "balance" between light and dark necessary (as Bisochim maintains)? What is the "phoenix" mentioned in the title?

The Phoenix Unchained is recommended for anyone looking for a "lite" escapist fantasy epic (don't expect anything more). The audiobook is a good format for this one — William Dufris's reading is dynamic and well-nuanced, though occasionally it gets whiny as he depicts that oh-so-typical teenage angst. —Kat Hooper

Mercedes Lackey James Mallory The Enduring Flame 2: The Phoenix Endangered The Phoenix Endangered

I got through about three quarters of The Phoenix Endangered on audio. This was a
sluggish and clunky second installment in The Enduring Flame trilogy. The writing was dull and not much happened to advance the plot. By the time a battle finally started, I couldn't muster up enough interest to participate.

Even more than the last book, this one was full of two teenage boys brooding, bickering, whining, and being noble. Half of what they say is said "sulkily," "rudely," "darkly," or "huffily." I got tired of hearing how they didn't want to be heroes and didn't want to kill anybody (even when a huge evil army which had destroyed a few cities and killed thousands of people had them under siege).

And the plot (what little there was) was just plain silly. For example, it is considered extremely rude to ask an elf any question (we are told this so many times!), but it really makes no sense that the boys have to figure out other ways to find out important information for their quest. According to elven protocol, if you needed to find out if an elf is seriously injured after a battle, you'd have to say something like: "It would make good hearing to know whether that sword has stabbed you in the guts and you are dying."

Also, the entire evil mage and his army was ridiculous. The explanation for how the mage had become evil (addressed in my review for The Phoenix Unchained) was unbelievable (especially after his dragon rejects him) and his military tactics were idiotic. He claims that all the nations are going to band together and come fight them, yet he sends his warriors out to search the vast dessert for one of the tribes who don't seem to want to join his army. That's smart. Worse were the people who he had managed to band together to form an army — it would have been hard to find that many illogical and gullible people. In fact, they were so stupid that they weren't at all scary.

When the evil army was at the door and I was starting to wonder if there might be some stock quotes on National Public Radio or some commercials on my favorite alt rock station, I decided it must be time to quit The Phoenix Endangered. In fact, even the audiobook reader himself sounded bored.

By the way, I still don't know what the phoenix is. —Kat Hooper

The Witches of Karres — (2004-2010) These are sequels to James H. Schmitz's The Witches of Karres. With Dave Freer and Eric Flint. Publisher: It just wasn't fair! Captain Pausert had foiled the deadliest of space pirates and eliminated the threat of the Worm World, yet his troubles kept piling up. Sent on a secret mission to stop the nanite plague, a self-aware disease that could devastate whole worlds, he quickly found that someone had convinced the Imperial Fleet that he was actually a wanted criminal, which led to a battle leaving his ship in urgent need of repairs. And while Goth and the Leewit, two of the notorious witches of Karres, could do amazing things, ship repair was not in their line. So he stopped at the next planet for repairs, but found that somehow his bank account had been cut off, and the authorities were looking for someone matching his description. There was only one thing to do-join the circus! An interstellar traveling circus, that is. All the galaxy loves a clown — as long as Pausert, Goth and the Leewit can keep their disguises from slipping. The show must go on — or the galaxy is doomed!

1. The Wizard of Karres 2. The Sorceress of Karres

Shadow Grail — (2010-2011) With Rosemary Edghill. Young adult. Publisher: Spirit White wasn't exactly a normal teenager; but when a freak accident left her the only survivor in her family, she found herself the legal ward of a strange boarding school and orphanage in the middle of Montana — the Oakhurst Academy — and its even stranger headmaster, Doctor Ambrosius.

Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill Shadow Grail 1. Legacies 2. Conspiracies

Stand-alone novels:

If I Pay Thee Not in Gold — (1993) With Piers Anthony. Publisher: In the first book of a brilliant new series that rivals Xanth, fantasy superstars Anthony and Lackey join forces to create a marvelous fantasy quest that examines the war between the sexes and the ethics of desire.

Sacred Ground — (1994) Publisher: Native American myth and magic blend with fantasy novel by the author of Winds of Change. Private investigator Jennifer Talldeer, grandaughter of a powerful Medicine Man — and a shaman-in-training herself — finds she is in deep trouble when a routine insurance investigation turns into much more.

Firebird — (1996) Publisher: Mercedes Lackey never puts a foot wrong in this confident, funny fairy-tale adaptation. Tsar Ivan has eight sons; all are brutes like himself except for happy-go-lucky, least-favored Ilya. Cast out through the machinations of his jealous, competitive brothers, Ilya stumbles onto an enchanted castle, distressed damsels, a garden of questing princes turned to stone, and the secret of the shapeshifting woman called the Firebird. In love with a captive princess, Ilya enlists the Firebird and a charming, crafty vixen to help him battle the sorcerer. But is settling down with a princess what "happily ever after" really means?

Firebird

Since Firebird is one of Mercedes Lackey’s somewhat older works, I thought I’d enjoy it. It certainly sounded promising.

And indeed, Firebird starts off with a lot of potential. Though the main character, Ilya, is yet another underappreciated, super-clever youth whose family is mean to him, etc. etc., he’s a bit of a, well, womanizer. He likes him some womenfolk, and it’s kind of charming in a rather “That’s not very like Mercedes Lackey” kind of way. I liked Ilya, and the book, with its charming premise, starts out well.

But… by page 90-something, it still hadn’t stopped starting. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for the book to get on with it. By the time I put the book down, Ilya still had not been “cast out” as the blurb promises. In fact, he’s still barely encountered the titular Firebird, let alone made any attempt to capture her. Instead he’s… taking a steam bath.

No, really. And that scene really epitomizes what made me put the book down. Firebird is chock full of tedious, second-to-second details, with barely any dialog or plot to move it along. I do not need to be told about how Ilya strikes the flint and lights the tinder for his bath. It’s just unnecessary and well, extremely self-indulgent.

I said before that my VALDEMAR cup had runneth over. Well, I’m pretty sure my Mercedes Lackey cup has too. —Beth Johnson

The Black Swan — (1999) Publisher: This fantasy is based on "Swan Lake", a monumental tale of loyalty and betrayal, of magic used for good and evil, of love both carnal and pure, and of the incredible duality of human nature as Prince Siegfried, a selfish hedonist and womaniser, is taught a lesson by the woman he has wronged.

Tiger Burning Bright — (1995) With Marion Zimmer Bradley and Andre Norton. Publisher: Abdicating when their realm is threatened by an all-conquering emperor, the three ruling women of Merina secretly plan a powerful counterattack that takes the form of deception, misdirection, and magic.

The River's Gift — (1999) Publisher: A new novel from Mercedes Lackey is always a special event. Now, for the first time, this fantasy legend has contributed a brand-new novella for Roc's fantasy hardcover line — a deluxe showcase for major talents such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley. In The River's Gift, a young woman uses her healing gifts to help a magical horse-like creature — and receives, in return, the greatest gift of all...

The Otherworld — (2000) With Holly Lisle and Mark Shepherd. Publisher: In this rollicking action comedy, a group of good elves with a passion for racing hot rods sets out to rescue Jamie's father from a fanatical cult that is in contact with a supernatural and evil entity.

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit (A Novel of King Arthur) — (2009) Publisher: Gwenhwyfar moves in a world where gods walk among their pagan worshipers, where nebulous visions warn of future perils, and where there are two paths for a woman: the path of the Blessing or the rarer path of the Warrior. Gwenhwyfar chooses the latter, giving up the power that she is born into. Yet the daughter of a King is never truly free to follow her own calling. Acting as the “son” her father never had, when called upon to serve another purpose by the Ladies of the Well, she bows to circumstances to become Arthur’s queen — only to find herself facing temptation and treachery, intrigue and betrayal, but also love and redemption.

Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit

I normally wait a day or two after reading a book to write the review. This gives me time to let the book settle, and for my opinions to solidify. I finished Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey over a week ago, and am still struggling with this review…

Gwenhwyfar is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, based on an ancient Welsh myth that says that Arthur actually had three separate wives named Gwenhwyfar. Mercedes Lackey decided to use this as a springboard to tell the story of the Gwenhwyfars, focusing on the third wife. The other two wives are bit parts, with the first one never actually appearing on stage, as it were.

This is a novel concept, and I was looking forward to a retelling of the Arthurian legend. I love authors who can take a familiar tale and make it their own. However, this story didn’t work for several reasons. First, the Arthurian legend is too much in the background. Arthur doesn’t come on the scene until almost three hundred pages into the book. Almost all the other elements of the Arthurian legend happen off stage as well, and are merely a minor part of the story. This wouldn’t be a problem in and of itself (for example, I love Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin, and that book doesn’t actually get to the Tam Lin faerie tale until a few hundred pages in either) except that we spend all this time watching Gwenhwyfar grow up and I can honestly say that I can’t remember the last time I read a character that was this much of a Mary Sue … which is the second problem.

Everyone loves Gwenhwyfar. Except the bad guys. And that’s how you know they are the bad guys — because they don’t love her. Actually, one of the bad guys does loves her, but in a bad way (because he is a bad guy). Gwenhwyfar is talented at everything she does. Both of the Goddesses blessed her at her birth, so she has a powerful ability to do magic, or she can be a powerful soldier depending on which one she chooses to pursue. When she chooses to pursue the Path of Iron, she knows that she will be forsaking magic, and won’t be able to do it anymore. Except she still can, because she’s that powerful.

Gwenhwyfar never disappoints anyone, her choices never have negative consequences, and she always gets what she wants (except one time, and then she gets something even better) without becoming spoiled or arrogant, and nothing is ever her fault. All of this combines to create a woman who, when she marries Arthur, feels like he is some sort of monster because he’s not in love with her and he treats her like a political marriage — the means to gain control of her father’s horses — which is what she is.

By the time we get to the familiar love triangle between Gwenhwyfar, Arthur, and Lancelin, I didn’t care anymore. This was the final damning problem. For an Arthurian retelling, this didn’t make me feel the magic of one of the most resilient and resonant legend cycles of all time. Arthur was a caricature, Gwenhwyfar was cloying, and Lancelin was the only one I felt any sorrow for. For tragedies to be compelling, you actually have to care about the characters, and I didn’t. Of course, when the entire world collapses around Gwenhwyfar, it is just to give her the opportunity to be amazing and serve as the bridge between the Old and New ways, and forge a new beginning.

All of this comes off sounding much more critical than I felt while reading Gwenhwyfar. I mostly felt disconnected rather than irritated. My frustration stems from how much I normally enjoy Mercedes Lackey — her Heralds of Valdemar trilogy is what started me reading fantasy. When a talented author and an interesting premise come together, I have high expectations, but those expectations were not met in this story. While it is competent writing, it was not enthralling, so I do not recommend Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit. —Ruth Arnell

Trio of Sorcery — (2010) From the Author: Trio of Sorcery contains three novellas by Mercedes Lackey, revisiting two favorite characters, Diana Tregarde and Jennifer Talldeer, as well as a new character. "Arcanum 101" goes back to Diana Tregarde's college days, her first semester at Harvard. But of course she is a Guardian, and nothing is ever simple for a Guardian, not even what her neighbors are up to. Add in a missing child and a fraudulent psychic, and things only go from bad to worse. "Drums" returns us to where we left Jenny Talldeer; shaking out her relationship with David, coping with the whims of the Little Old Man... and solving the mystery of mi-ah-lushka. "Ghost in the Machine" introduces Ellen McBride, a magician of another sort, a techno-mage whose expertise is to unravel problems where sorcery and cybernetics meet, and who is called in when an MMORPG goes terribly wrong.

Trio of Sorcery

[Ruth and her sister Sarah (one of our regular guest reviewers) both read Trio of Sorcery and finished within nine minutes of each other. This review consists of their email conversation about Trio of Sorcery. We edited it for clarity and removed their sisterly in-jokes.]

RUTH: I have to admit that when I got this ARC in the mail and turned it over to read the back cover, I squealed like a fan girl when I saw that there was a new Diana Tregarde story (the first in almost 20 years), a new Jennifer Talldeer story (the first in almost 15 years), and then there was a third story starring a new character, a techno-shaman named Ellen McBridge. Jennifer Talldeer was one of my favorite characters ever written by Mercedes Lackey, and I had always been sad that she had never gone back to that world. The Diana Tregarde books, about a Guardian who battles the forces of modern day evil, were among the precursors to the current boom in urban fantasy. She stopped writing the series because they were so well done and realistic that people thought Lackey was writing about her real life experiences. They started stalking her, either to convince her to give them training in magical arts, or to kill her, because she was either a) giving away magical secrets, or b) evil and needed to be destroyed for dabbling in the dark arts.

So, Sarah, which of the stories in the new Trio was your favorite?

SARAH: I was so excited to see a new Tregarde story, and it turned out to be my favorite. It was a prequel to the books she had written 20 years ago. The story of her getting called in by the police to debunk a psychic that was interfering with a kidnapping case only to find out that the psychic is real and into some really bad stuff was well done. I thought it was lighter than her novels featuring Diana, much more in keeping with today's trends in urban fantasy. I loved getting a chance to meet the gang from her college days that Diana mentions only briefly in the novels. I think Zaak shows up in Jinx High, doesn't he? The Scooby Doo references really amused me. 'Since there isn't an amusement park, it must be the abandoned farmhouse' had me snorting. I'd love to see more stories like this one, just not sure if she could/should modernize her.

Which was your favorite? Did the Talldeer one live up to your expectations?

RUTH: The Talldeer story did live up to my expectations. I was kind of disappointed in the Tregarde story just because the tone felt so different from what I was expecting. Those books used to terrify me, and this one did feel like a Scooby Doo episode, down to the gender makeup of the gang — we only needed a dog to show up. Also, in one of her anthologies Lackey did a Valdemar story that was a Scooby episode, complete with a carriage painted to look like the van, and "I would have gotten away with it too" references, so I felt like she was borrowing from herself a bit too much.

The Talldeer story was wonderful, focusing on Jennifer Talldeer having to deal with a vengeful ghost that is determined to come back to life and get a happy ending to his story this time. I enjoy Lackey's take on Native American mythology, and she did a really good job making the final dance scene pop off the page with her description. This is a world I wish she would spend more time in, because it's an area that I think is Lacke-ing (hahaha, I crack myself up.) If she went back to the Tregarde books, I think she would sort of blend in — female magical buttkicker with a vampire boyfriend — but there aren't a lot of Native American urban fantasy heroines, at least not that I have seen. I tend to avoid a lot of urban fantasy these days because it is so formulaic, so maybe I've missed them. You read more urban fantasy than I do, Sarah — which of these three heroines would be the biggest hit for a new novel?

My favorite was actually the third story, of a boss mob in a MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game — think World of Warcraft or Everquest) who is gaining powers his code shouldn't allow, and is trying to break out of the game and in to reality. As someone who was a member of a raiding guild in WoW, I can say that she did her research. Some of the terminology is different — we called them tanks, not bricks — but the final battle scene, and the description of how the boss was feeding off the belief and energy of the players was spot on. I was having flashbacks to the first time my guild took down the final boss in Karazhan. I'm wondering what someone who isn't a gamer thought of the story. Was it like reading a foreign language?

SARAH: I understand what you're saying about the Tregarde story. The novels were very dark, on the horror side of fantasy. I like Diana, but I don't like horror, so I appreciated the lighter tone of this novella. I hadn't read the other short story you referenced, so I was amused with the Scooby references in this one. At least no one said 'Jinkies' or offered anyone a Scooby Snack.

The Talldeer story was well done. I too would like to see more of these characters. I can't come up with a Native American Urban Fantasy series, my knowledge of the genre is Lacke-ing :). Oh wait, C.E. Murphy has a series that has a Native American protagonist. Lackey’s description did make me want to actually see the dancing. I've only ever seen bits and pieces on TV.

As far as the third story went, I liked it more than I thought I would. I was afraid it was going to be a DNF because I am not a gamer, and the techie vocabulary was a bit like reading a foreign language. There are still things I'm not sure I 'got', NPC? Non-Player Character? But within the boundaries of the story I understood the gist of it. I've at least seen some MMORPG played and had even more described to me in detail, so I knew a little bit about what was happening. Mom was a little more lost, but she finished it. Did you get any TRON and Avatar moments like I did? I'd like to see more of these characters and the ending left me believing there will be more in the future.

I think — modernization aside — Diana and Jennifer would both need the 'Nancy Drew' makeover to update their cars and accessories — they would work in today's urban fantasy market. My biggest concern would be Ellen’s ability to carry a series. It would require her to move out of gamer land into other areas of tech. It's do-able, I’m just not sure if the level of excitement/interest would be there. I've seen it done in mysteries without the paranormal. So, I'm sure it could be an interesting urban fantasy if done right.

RUTH: There would have to be the Nancy Drew makeover to make her modern, unless you want to leave them set in their time frame. How far back do you have to go before things become historical fantasy? Do the seventies count? It could be the start of a whole new sub-sub-genre — historical urban fantasy.

I'm glad to know you weren't completely lost with the gamer story. (And yes, NPC stands for “non-player character.” They are the ones that are game code — they hand out quests and advance the story line — as opposed to the PCs, or “player characters,” that are run by the players.) I wasn't getting the Avatar moments — because I've tried to block that movie from my memory — but there definitely was a little bit of TRON. Lackey dealt with the obvious Matrix parallels quite well, addressing how this was different. Having played World of Warcraft, I kept having Shadowmoon Valley flashbacks. She did mention in the story that she had done work for the Department of Defense — exorcising a stealth fighter — so I think she could move the story outside of video games. The spook squad for the government has been done with varying degrees of success — X-Files, Hellboy, Nick Pollotta’s Bureau 13 series, etc. It would be interesting to see what Lackey would do with it.

Charles de Lint has dealt with this idea of code waking up and gaining self-awareness in some of his stories, most notably in his novel Spirits in the Wires, and I found it fascinating there too. It seems to be the new frontier for the migration of myth. The elves came to America. They interacted with the native mythological characters, now where do they go? Into the virtual world. I think this could piggyback off the growing popularity of steampunk with its blend of fantasy and technology — there seems to be a desire for a way to make room for the racial memories/collective subconscious/mythic archetypes in our new surroundings. And everybody has encountered enough weird computer errors to give belief to the idea that there are computer gremlins. Just like most people believe there is a sock-eating gnome in the dryer and some mysterious force that misplaces library books the day they are due. If you really do have to believe in fairies in order for them to exist, what has been conjured into existence with our belief in the powers of technology?

Final thoughts and star rating?

SARAH: I'm not sure about the sub-sub genre thing. I would try these just because they are continuing characters. Don't know if it would appeal to me otherwise. I think historical is in the eye/age of the beholder. My idea of history isn't the same as my daughters’. They think I'm old because I remember when the only video game for TV was Pong.

I just finished reading Poltergeist by Kat Richardson a couple months ago. She deals with the belief bringing myth to life oeuvre (is that the word I want?) in that story. As for fairies/elves integrating, do you remember Lackey's SERRAted Edge series? Those were good.

Overall final thoughts — I enjoyed all three stories for different reasons. Getting some back story and a lighter version of Diana — I think lighter, because it was early in her Guardian career before things got so dark for her. Finally getting another Jennifer Talldeer story with the hopes that maybe there will be more. And, getting to see a brand-new set of characters from Mercedes Lackey with the Ellen McBridge story was also good. It felt like Lackey enjoyed writing all three of these stories. I haven't read a lot of her later stuff, but this felt like Lackey at the top of her writing game. I'm glad she took the chance to go back and write about some of her older characters.

I'm thinking 4 to 4.5 stars just because I enjoyed them all. What about you? Any final thoughts? Are you hoping for new novels from any of these characters?

RUTH: I’m thinking 4 to 4.5 as well. The Diana Tregarde story was a bit derivative of her earlier work, but I thought both the Jennifer Talldeer and the Ellen McBridge stories were excellent. I think I’m over my Diana Tregarde phase, she’s just too similar to what everyone else is doing now to truly stand out. But, I’d love to see either Talldeer or McBride get novels of their own. That said, let’s give Lackey a 4.5 for Trio of Sorcery, and welcome her back to the top of her game. These stories reminded me of why I first started reading fantasy, and why, even after some yawners in recent years, I’m always excited to crack open a new Lackey novel and see what adventures await. —Ruth Arnell & Sarah

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