No True Way, ed. Mercedes Lackey
Confession time: I love Mercedes Lackey books in all their glorious weirdness.
I don't love all of them. Some of them are messed up and some of them are a little too weird and some of them are just plain bad (looking at you, Unnatural Issue) but I started reading them early enough (and they contain enough pretty shiny talking horses) that I will forever adore them, especially the Valdemar books.
This is why I read No True Way. It's a collection of short stories set in the Valdemar universe by various authors, only one by Lackey herself, which makes it better in a way as most of Lackey's recent Valdemar books have been... idk, lazy? Formulaic? It feels like she's found a groove and is sticking with it. No True Way manages to bump out of that a little, but overall it's just kind of... meh?
There weren't a whole lot of standout stories. The Whitest Lie, about a grieving Herald trying to come to terms with his wife's death and parent their daughter at the same time, is pretty good. I liked Consequences Unforeseen, which follows a young lady from Rethwallen trying to adjust to life in Valdemar after her husband is killed trying to kill Selenay. It's pretty domestic and calm, which I've come to appreciate. Written in the Wind was sad as hell but in hindsight kind of emotionally manipulative? Oh, and Ex Libris, another in the informal series about the Dann family, which is all about books and therefore great.
The rest are pretty forgettable (although I did like the bit in one of them where a Healer scolds Vanyel intensely). It's not a bad read, but I think only the true Valdemar completist will want to buy it.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/337855.html. Please comment over there if possible.
I don't love all of them. Some of them are messed up and some of them are a little too weird and some of them are just plain bad (looking at you, Unnatural Issue) but I started reading them early enough (and they contain enough pretty shiny talking horses) that I will forever adore them, especially the Valdemar books.
This is why I read No True Way. It's a collection of short stories set in the Valdemar universe by various authors, only one by Lackey herself, which makes it better in a way as most of Lackey's recent Valdemar books have been... idk, lazy? Formulaic? It feels like she's found a groove and is sticking with it. No True Way manages to bump out of that a little, but overall it's just kind of... meh?
There weren't a whole lot of standout stories. The Whitest Lie, about a grieving Herald trying to come to terms with his wife's death and parent their daughter at the same time, is pretty good. I liked Consequences Unforeseen, which follows a young lady from Rethwallen trying to adjust to life in Valdemar after her husband is killed trying to kill Selenay. It's pretty domestic and calm, which I've come to appreciate. Written in the Wind was sad as hell but in hindsight kind of emotionally manipulative? Oh, and Ex Libris, another in the informal series about the Dann family, which is all about books and therefore great.
The rest are pretty forgettable (although I did like the bit in one of them where a Healer scolds Vanyel intensely). It's not a bad read, but I think only the true Valdemar completist will want to buy it.
This entry is crossposted at http://bookblather.dreamwidth.org/337855.html. Please comment over there if possible.