Indeed, according to my lady, several of the main characters of their own series. Indeed, having finished the book I almost feel I know several of these people myself. In general, 'character' is the main strength here, and Lackey gives everyone at the Collegium, from the queen, to the cook, to Talia's roguish friend Skiff distinctive personality, manner and history of their own.

The way Lackey contrasts Talia's feelings of being out of her depth with an immediate snap back to straight forward competency in situations she can instantly grasp and responsibilities she can deal with is almost humorous in just how human it makes her. Undoubtedly this is because of Talia herself, since despite being a quiet, retiring person, Lackey is careful to make Talia rather more than just a passive character whom good is done to, and gives her several tasks and situations in which she can show her own specialized talents. While Talia’s time at the Collegium isn't entirely without incident or danger, I did find it remarkable how compelling the heartwarming story of a shy, wounded girl learning to trust and become a competent, responsible herald was. This means she is to become a herald, a set of guardians who keep justice around the kingdom of Valdemar, carry messages and use their own magical gifts to keep the peace.Īfter some very uncomfortable inferences about Talia's life among the Holder kin, the book generally settles down to detailing her time at the Collegium, the school where Heralds are trained, her attempts to make friends with fellow students take up some unique responsibilities and learn to use her own particular gift of magic. To her joy, Talia finds her long time dream coming true as she is adopted by a Companion, a sentient horse like creature with a psychic link to her (not unlike Anne Mccaffrey's dragons), a creature she'd previously only read about in old stories. The story focuses on Talia, a farm girl who flees her restrictive, misogynistic community on her thirteenth birthday to avoid an arranged, and likely abusive marriage. Arrows of the Queen is however one of the rare exceptions when the converse is true.

In the Hobbit, Tolkien remarks that things that are uncomfortable, unpleasant or dangerous make for extremely good tales, while tales who focus only on experiences of comfort or happiness are pretty dull. One of the first things that struck me about the book is its truly unusual emphasis. Since I'd previously only read her twisted take on superheroes, the online podcast series Secret World chronicle, I was eager to try out her more standard fantasy fiction, beginning with her first novel and the start of her epic Valdemar sequence, Arrows of the Queen. My lady was rather shocked that this site has no listing for Mercedes Lackey, a prolific and sensitive author and definitely one of the fantasy old guard whose works are usually regarded as cornerstones of the genre.

Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey