Rating: 
Summary: I loved it...
Review: This book is mind-captivating, It lets you lock out the world and dip into a magical event in time. The scene is set well, and the character's personalities are exact, and to-the-point. This book engulfs your mind with energy and lets you empathise with the characters in the novel. It shows you another view of life in general, and how wonderful yet lonely it can be. It shows the stereotypes and trials that any person goes through in a hidden sort of way. This novel makes you want to be a part of the story, it lets you LIVE the fantasy, and leaves you wanting to hear more. There isn't one word to describe it. I kept turning the pages, over and over to see what happened. Every page of writing leaves you with more and more mystery and suspense. Pefect for ANYONE that likes fantasy. The best book I've read yet. And yet, I give the book a 9. Well, no book is absolutely perfect. The description could have been cut down a little. Therefore, I think to give this novel a 10 would be judging it unfairly. Francesca, 14 years old
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read.
Review: This is the first book by her that I have read. Now I have read all of the Valdemar books, from THE BLACK GRYPHON to OWLFLIGHT. This is the best book I have ever read, and I have read a lot, varying from THE BOXCAR CHILDREN series, to STAR WARS YOUNG JEDI KNIGHTS series, to fantasy, to DESIRE to LES MISERABE. I liked this trilogy best. If you like reading fantasy/science fiction, you should definently read this.
Rating:
Summary: A fine start to a GREAT series
Review: Arrows of the Queen is one of my favorite books ever. Although the writing is a little unpolished (Ok, the characters and story are a little recycled too, but they were recycled because they were good in the first place!), the book drew me into the world of Valdemar. When I read this book I was exactly Talia's age and felt an incredibly strong empathy (no pun intended) with Talia. The world is rich and detailed. If you've ever dreamed of escaping your life and doing something exciting, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: A very re-readable series
Review: I did not start with this book. But I eagerly turned to it when I finished the Herald Mage series. Yes, I was a young teenager when I read it (ummm first time at least three years ago) but I very much associated with Talia, as she went through her trials at the Collegium and learned to love people and not fear them. I loved the series so much that I am in the middle of the last book (so far) Storm Breaking - (another excellent work from what I've read.) Not only have I read the (entire) series three times, it was one of the first things I knew was coming with me when I moved. Ms. Lackey writes very engaging novels, and I will happily continue to collect them all.
Rating:
Summary: Who Cares
Review: So this books a little to perfect sometimes. Or maybe things go a little to easy. Whats wronge with that? Wouldn't we all like to be somewhere where its a little too perfet? I loved this book and think its a wonderful read. If you really like fantasy books, or if you don't and think you would, I'd recommend reading this book. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I did.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading.
Review: This is a wonderful book. The characters are well developed and I loved the basic story. However, the plot is the standard Cinderella tale. It is handled very well and is a fresh new take, but is still not original (but then, everything has been done and you need some sort of plot). This is an auspicious beginning, and may Misty live a long, healthy life, spawning new Valdemar books like mad.
Rating:
Summary: This book was great!
Review: I love this book! The first time I read it, I couldn't put it down. I got really caught up in the story. I still read it over once in a while. It's really cool that it talks about how Talia was shy, and then became so much better in dealing with people. She wasn't that strong in character because of her background and she eventually overcame it. There's also the element of danger that Talia always has to face. This makes the book not fluffy, but very exciting. Rolan was really cool too. He helped Talia a lot. The Companions are very mystical and they just grow onto you because they are intelligent creatures. If you really love fantasy, then this book is a MUST.
Rating: 
Summary: A gate opening to a wonderous realm..
Review: Where I started so many years ago.. Not one of Ms. Lackey's better works, but the building block for all the other stories set in the realms of Vandlemar and those around it. Her first few books show her fedging feathers in the writing realm, but from there she starts to fly.
While the story is a little pat, a little too cliche, every once in a while it's nice to be fully wrapped in happy escape fiction to a world of black and white that in later novels becomes covered in grey. Read between the lines, a very good case study of physical and mental abuse.
Rating:
Summary: Personal opinion, characterization, and fantasy writing.
Review: As a person who has attempted this genre before, I know that to critique it requires an understanding of the actual process. Most fiction draws from personal experience, especially genre fiction. Horror stems from personal fear, science fiction from real science.. but fantasy must come from dreams and emotion, which are much more vague.
The world Lackey writes in is a vivid one, detailed in every way. Her characters have realistic attributes, and their emotional reactions are very true-to-life. Situations like Talia's recall times in every person's background when we wished to escape... her adventure recalls things that are universal--love, friendship, loyalty.
Some characters are overly stereotyped--Talia and Elspeth, for example, reflect completely opposite ends of the spectrum with nothing in-betwee. Still, their actions make up for flaws in characterization.
Between the sorrows of lost friends and the joys of gained ones, Arrows of the Queen is an intensely emotional book--steeped in feelings that we all have felt at some time or another.
Rating: 
Summary: Read for the (good guy) characters, NOT for the plot
Review: Once again, another minority I-don't-think-Lackey- is-the-greatest-thing-ever-to-hit-fantasy opinion. That said, I will agree that this is one of her more charming trilogies, character-wise. Perhaps overly so: Talia & co. are all universally well-meaning, good-hearted, ethically conscious, etc. ad nauseam.
I'll be honest: I did enjoy the book, especially for some of its humor, but here (again) Mercedes Lackey tends toward melodrama, and all the endearments ("love," "kitten," and so on) start to grate after a while. Isn't there anyone in the trilogy who is not a) one of the hero types listed above or b) a malicious, ambitious, greedy and poorly portrayed megalomaniac villain?
Once again, she covers up her lack of a focused plot by focusing more on character relationships. This sort of psychotherapy-oriented tale isn't bad *per se*; however, Lackey takes it to extremes. Yes, we care about Dirk and Talia and who-knows-who-else. But yes, I would *also* like to see a villain who isn't another cardboard cutout; and make no mistake, I have yet to see *any* Lackey villain who is more than a cardboard cutout with a few unique quirks.
I'm not saying the lady can't write; she can. I only wish she'd take the time to polish her works, because there's obviously potential there for some really riveting stories, and she's just as obviously not quite there yet.
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