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Summary: A great start to a great trilogy
Review: Talia is an imaginative young girl trapped in an utterly backward society that punishes her for wanting learn and be independent. When she discovers that her family is going to force her to wed, she runs away. Talia doesn't get very far before she meets a beautiful white horse named Rolan, a Companion of Valdemar. Talia, not sure of what exactly to do, decides to ride Rolan, and he takes her on a journey to Valdemar's capital of Haven. Once there, she discovers that she has been Chosen to become a Herald of Valdemar... and her training begins!"Arrows of the Queen" is the first book in Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful introduction the world of Valdemar and to the lives of its Heralds. I loved reading about how Heralds are trained, especially in their "Gifts," special mind powers, such as Mindspeech and Foresight. Lackey's descriptions of the interactions between the Heralds and their Companions was also interesting, if not amusing at times. I would recommend this book to anyone who remotely likes fantasy or is a horse lover.
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Summary: One of my favorite books
Review: I have read this book almost 7 times. I love it! I recommend this book to anyone who loves Mercedes Lackey as much as I do. I own all of her Valdemar series, except for Take a Thief.
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Summary: wonderful!
Review: I've reread this book about 10 times, it's so good. It happens to be my favorite out of all the ones Mercedes Lackey has written. I love Talia, and seeing the Herald Collegium from her eyes is a lot of fun. You don't get to see a lot of the Companions in this book, and Rolan can't talk to Talia, but I still like the bits where Rolan and Talia are together. Also, this was written back when Mercedes Lackey still knew how to write a sensitive, caring character without making him/her seem preachy or overbearing about it.
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Summary: The Best of the BEST!
Review: This was not the first Misty Lackey book I've read, but it's my hands-down favorite! I really connected with the main char, Talia, and it was easy to jump into the story. It's the kind of easy and fun read you eat up in one sitting. The plot moves along at a rapid pace. If you need a break from books that bog you down with all those nasty complications, this will be your vacation. And you'll be addicted, hopefully. For those of you looking for plots 100 leagues deep, this isn't the book for you, try read the Mage Winds trilogy instead. This is the first book ever written in the massive Valdemar series. There are a lot of open places to leave room for the future books. It is also the first book Lackey ever published, and you can tell. But for good, honest FUN and brilliant characters that promise more to come, this is an excellent book, trilogy, and series! And because the series is so massive, you can keep enjoying these brilliant characters!
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Summary: A Romantic Fantasy
Review: And when I say romantic fantasy, I don't mean Nora Roberts. I mean it in the old sense of romantic literature--a story of adventure in which the main characters are usually young, just naturally good-at-heart, and make their decisions based on their intuition and gut instinct. No, literary buffs, Mercedes Lackey is not James Fenimore Cooper, and Arrows of the Queen is not The Leatherstocking Tales. But it is an example of romantic writing (some people might call this book a happy-fluffy book). You may take that description as you will; it depends entirely on whether you want something light and entertaining or something a little less naive and a little more realistic. If you prefer the latter, I suggest George R. R. Martin or Robin Hobb. Another semi-kudos goes to Lackey for writing a book that involves only one thing: the main character becoming a Herald. There is much foreshadowing, but almost no main plot element. One gets the feeling that Lackey would rather focus on her character's personal development without actually involving them in the main plot. I'm not sure whether this is a bad thing or not; Lackey manages to pull it off without the reader getting too bored. Arrows of the Queen is the story of Talia, a young girl from a farming community who runs away to escape marriage and gets picked up by a magical horse-like Companion, who carries her off to Haven, the capital city of Valdemar. There commences her training to become a Herald, the magical police force/wizards/spies/whatever-else-is-good-for-Valdemar people. Talia sees a little bit of court intrige, but otherwise the story is entirely consumed with her training and personal life. Even so, it's quite entertaining; Valdemar is pretty interesting, even for a happy-fluffy land. Arrows of the Queen is the first part of a three book series, and the first of all the Valdemar books that have won Lackey her fame and status. Careful though: if you fall in love with the works of Mercedes Lackey, you have some nine or ten books to read, and let's just say some are better than others.
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Summary: I cannot beleive how amazingly bad this was
Review: Very rarely do I find a fantasy book that I find so atrociously bad that so many people like. This book and series is one of the best examples ... I have ever read, however. The story is the same old song... farm inhabitant chosen for no particular reason to be hero. Farm inhabitant is good for no particular reason at things he/she needs to do... blah blah blah. This book in particular tries to justify that effect by focusing primarily on the characters. This would be a noble endeavor if any of them were interesting in the slightest. They are for the most part one sided and their actions are predictable at best. The author, seemingly unable to come up with something interesting to fill space, continuously falls back on Talia having no self esteem throughout this entire series. I am serious when I say this... almost every single problem in the whole 3 book series comes about because Talia is shrouded in self doubt. Again, this COULD work if it was done correctly, but the justification for such self doubt combined with events in the book make the continued existance of this self doubt unbeleivable. Another thing that really irritated me about the book was the narrative voice. Through a very un-judicious use of the exclamation point and highlighting every whimsical silly thing that happens on a regular basis, Lackey has produced a narrative voice not unlike that of a prim proper English lady (the kind of person that refers to themselves as "we" and has a high shrill voice). If you can stomach the thought of the wife of some snooty aristocrat reading you a story that is supposed to be high fantasy, then this book and series is probably up your alley. I have read a lot...in my fanatical fantasy/sci-fi bing reading spree, but this series is by far the worst I have read.
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Summary: Engrossing
Review: I have several friends who are big Mercedes Lackey fans, and have been trying to get me to read the Valdemar books for a long time. I was hesitant at first, because, looking at the synopsis, it appeared to be more suited to teenage girls who where overly fond of horses. This is not far from the truth, to be honest, but there is so much more here. I am glad I finally decided to read this book. This is a very touching story. It is also very well written. The beginning seemed a little too pat (girl dreams of becoming a Herald, and by Chapter Two she has been Chosen), but the story really picks up when she reaches the Collegium. There is not alot of plot in this book, as others have noted, because the emphasis is on the characters, especially Talia. I think this works for the benefit of the story.
In short, I found this book, the first in the trilogy, to be very engrossing and very, very good. I look forward to reading the next book in the Heralds of Valdemar series.
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Summary: Queen's Arrows
Review: I LOVED this book! It took places that I will never be able to go to in real life! When you read this book you feel like you are standing right next to Talia as she is chosen, discovers her destiny, makes friends with other students and learns the "skills" of her "trade"! This is one of the best books i've read, EVER!!!!!
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Summary: Misty rocks
Review: I love these books. The Herald books are some of the best I've ever read. Arrows of the Queen was the sixth book in the series I read, and it remains my second favorite. (Right after the threeway tie with the Vanyel books!) I'd definitly suggest this book for anyone, regardless of whether they like fantasy or not! This book will hook you into fantasy, and the series will keep you rather occupied for a long time. :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't connect with the main character...
Review: While this was the first book that I read by Mercedes Lackey,
(and the one that hooked me on others) I must admit when I read her other works (most especially By The Sword) it wasn't up to par. Plot was great- the problem I had with it was I couldn't feel much passion for Talia. She was an amazing person, but kind of- bland. No temper to control, etc. etc. She didn't have any major faults that she had to conquer inside herself. I'm not asking for some mean streak, but some kind of weakness we all can relate too. Don't tell me she was shy to a fault- she was an important person at the Queen's court and many times spoke for what she beleived in. It was just hard to connect with her. (I find Kerowyn and Elspeth much more interesting characters.) But, again, on the whole, a very good read.
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