Lackey's Foundation series (Valdemar books)
There are at least four books in this series. It follows the adventures of Mags, an orphan raised in a gem mine, who becomes a Herald during the time that the Heralds of Valdemar switch from being trained by individual mentors (as in Vanyel's day) to becoming trained in a Heraldic Collegium, as in Talia's day.
So far there are three books: Foundation, Intrigues, and Changes, with Redoubt being released in October of this year.
Keep in mind that I listened to these books on audio, so I will likely get the spellings wrong.
As many of you know, I'm pretty fond of Lackey, and I credit Vanyel with saving my life at least once. Yes, in all his dark and glowing emo beauty, he was a light in the darkness.
Lackey's taken a break from Valdemar and I haven't enjoyed all of the books--I found the Storm trilogy kind of disappointing, actually, and I hear that Exile's Honor was pretty bad. I wasn't willing to try it because of the fourth wall issues of her self-insert Myste.
So, what about this series? Well, it's OK. Not as good as Vanyel, but not terrible.
The story itself is pretty stock. Mags, short for Magpie, is a standard poor pitiful orphan with strong magical talent, who gets rescued by a Companion named Dallen. Dallen is my favorite character in this series. The young Mags meets Lena, a young female Bard trainee, and Bear, a Healer trainee with no Gift, and befriends them. The parallels to Harry Potter are fairly obvious. It's a magical school, Mags is an orphan, he has one male friend and one female friend. Yes, Lackey was writing about magical schools long before Rowling.
But it doesn't end there. Lackey introduces a new training game called kirball, which is like quidditch except played on foot, horseback, and Companion back. The captain of Mags's kirball team is Ginny or Jenny--I'm not sure how it's spelled in the book, but in the audio, it's Ginny and she has red hair and is kind and very good. In a later book, we meet Cedric, who is tall and blond. Mags gets fame and glory for being a star player of kirball, he wrestles with finding out who his parents are, he struggles with teen angst and people thinking he's possessed because he gets ideas and flashes of someone else's dark and brutal mind (ala Harry Potter's visions of Voldie, yes).
The three kids (Mags, Bear, and Lena) fight and make up several times. While some of what they say echoes what real teens would do/say, it does become annoying after a while. Lena in particular spends a great deal of time sobbing. It's disconcerting.
The most interesting (to me anyway) aspects of the story are:
1. Nicholas, the current King's Own herald, who tutors Mags in spying and being unobtrusive. It makes for a pleasant change from all the 'train up to be a mage user' stories. I won't spoil the main plot throughline of who/what they're spying on.
2. Nicholas's crippled daughter Amilee, who is Mags's love interest. She's a gentle and brainy young woman who suffered a leg injury when young--because she couldn't reach the healers in time, her leg set improperly and she has trouble walking. Unlike Lena, Amilee has the sense god gave a goat--at least most of the time. Unfortunately, in the third book she, too, takes a turn to weep and rage and make up hysterical stories. Supposedly there's a small scandal because she's such a nice young lady but no companion has chosen her. Dallen hints that 'something else' is planned for her. Why does no one remember that the King's Own Companion is inheritable? I don't know, man, but it appears to have slipped everyone's mind. Either she'll get Dallen or Rolan or there will be a grove born or something. Who knows, but the chance of Amilee not getting chosen forever seems Unlikely in the Extreme.
Another high point is the way that Dallen (Mag's Companion) uses his empathy and mindspeech to help Mags overcome the trauma of his past and help Mags through various aspects of anxiety. There's some interesting inter-Herald disagreements which I found fascinating and thoughtful--not quite the usual Lackey good people/bad people dichotomy. Good people on both sides.
On the downside, the Harry Potter references pull me out of the story every time--that's so pervasive I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be AU fanfic with the serial numbers rubbed off or what. I'd also made a guess as to several plot points very early on (we're talking chapter three) and so far have not been proved wrong. The red herrings are neon flashing signs in the night. Mags also talks in an appalling dialect wh' ye ken nawt en goes on fer a right 'ong time. It was better in the audiobook than it would have been written out but at times it nears incomprehensibility. *shudder*
I can't really recommend this series, but I don't have the heart to disrecommend it either. If you adore Lackey, you might find it worthwhile. Or you may not.
Personally, I'm off to reread Magic's Pawn.
Vanyel&Tylendel/Stefan OTP!
So far there are three books: Foundation, Intrigues, and Changes, with Redoubt being released in October of this year.
Keep in mind that I listened to these books on audio, so I will likely get the spellings wrong.
As many of you know, I'm pretty fond of Lackey, and I credit Vanyel with saving my life at least once. Yes, in all his dark and glowing emo beauty, he was a light in the darkness.
Lackey's taken a break from Valdemar and I haven't enjoyed all of the books--I found the Storm trilogy kind of disappointing, actually, and I hear that Exile's Honor was pretty bad. I wasn't willing to try it because of the fourth wall issues of her self-insert Myste.
So, what about this series? Well, it's OK. Not as good as Vanyel, but not terrible.
The story itself is pretty stock. Mags, short for Magpie, is a standard poor pitiful orphan with strong magical talent, who gets rescued by a Companion named Dallen. Dallen is my favorite character in this series. The young Mags meets Lena, a young female Bard trainee, and Bear, a Healer trainee with no Gift, and befriends them. The parallels to Harry Potter are fairly obvious. It's a magical school, Mags is an orphan, he has one male friend and one female friend. Yes, Lackey was writing about magical schools long before Rowling.
But it doesn't end there. Lackey introduces a new training game called kirball, which is like quidditch except played on foot, horseback, and Companion back. The captain of Mags's kirball team is Ginny or Jenny--I'm not sure how it's spelled in the book, but in the audio, it's Ginny and she has red hair and is kind and very good. In a later book, we meet Cedric, who is tall and blond. Mags gets fame and glory for being a star player of kirball, he wrestles with finding out who his parents are, he struggles with teen angst and people thinking he's possessed because he gets ideas and flashes of someone else's dark and brutal mind (ala Harry Potter's visions of Voldie, yes).
The three kids (Mags, Bear, and Lena) fight and make up several times. While some of what they say echoes what real teens would do/say, it does become annoying after a while. Lena in particular spends a great deal of time sobbing. It's disconcerting.
The most interesting (to me anyway) aspects of the story are:
1. Nicholas, the current King's Own herald, who tutors Mags in spying and being unobtrusive. It makes for a pleasant change from all the 'train up to be a mage user' stories. I won't spoil the main plot throughline of who/what they're spying on.
2. Nicholas's crippled daughter Amilee, who is Mags's love interest. She's a gentle and brainy young woman who suffered a leg injury when young--because she couldn't reach the healers in time, her leg set improperly and she has trouble walking. Unlike Lena, Amilee has the sense god gave a goat--at least most of the time. Unfortunately, in the third book she, too, takes a turn to weep and rage and make up hysterical stories. Supposedly there's a small scandal because she's such a nice young lady but no companion has chosen her. Dallen hints that 'something else' is planned for her. Why does no one remember that the King's Own Companion is inheritable? I don't know, man, but it appears to have slipped everyone's mind. Either she'll get Dallen or Rolan or there will be a grove born or something. Who knows, but the chance of Amilee not getting chosen forever seems Unlikely in the Extreme.
Another high point is the way that Dallen (Mag's Companion) uses his empathy and mindspeech to help Mags overcome the trauma of his past and help Mags through various aspects of anxiety. There's some interesting inter-Herald disagreements which I found fascinating and thoughtful--not quite the usual Lackey good people/bad people dichotomy. Good people on both sides.
On the downside, the Harry Potter references pull me out of the story every time--that's so pervasive I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be AU fanfic with the serial numbers rubbed off or what. I'd also made a guess as to several plot points very early on (we're talking chapter three) and so far have not been proved wrong. The red herrings are neon flashing signs in the night. Mags also talks in an appalling dialect wh' ye ken nawt en goes on fer a right 'ong time. It was better in the audiobook than it would have been written out but at times it nears incomprehensibility. *shudder*
I can't really recommend this series, but I don't have the heart to disrecommend it either. If you adore Lackey, you might find it worthwhile. Or you may not.
Personally, I'm off to reread Magic's Pawn.
Vanyel&Tylendel/Stefan OTP!