Exile's Valor

Exile's Valor Mercedes Lackey Date: 05 October, 2004   —   $7.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

I'm beginning to wonder about Valdemar. From the books I've read, it seems that there is a continuous line of wars and plotting against the throne. Good Lord, don't these people have anything else to do?

Following the Tedrel Wars and the death of the king, the young Selenay is put upon the throne. Naturally, her advisors try to rule her life (and her country) and just as naturally, she resents this. And Alberich is spending all of his time teaching weaponry and tracking down plots.

Now consider that Alberich has been a Herald for perhaps twelve or fifteen years when Talia enters the scene at the age of thirteen. So he's been a Herald for twenty-odd years at the end of the Queen's Own series.

And he's been tracking down plots that entire time. Some of them are even the same plot, or variants thereof, though admittedly many of them are the small-time criminal stuff.

Come on, Valdemar. Get a little self-respect. It's not as though you're ruled by a despot. Some countries go for literally centuries without somebody trying to depose the monarch. Coup-d'etats are not the norm.

Well, anyway. It just seems obvious to me.

So... then. This is more Alberich. If you liked Exile's Honor, you'll probably like this one. The humorless Weaponsmaster actually cracks a smile or two, and it's not hard to have fun when somebody occasionally breaks into Yoda-speak. (Alberich finds it very hard to understand sentences with the verbs in the middle, where they can apply to anything.)