Rating: Summary: Not perfect, but still great!!! Review: This isn't the best Lackey has ever written. However, it had three major components that led me to enjoy it. 1: It was not co-written with her husband.2:She created a good, beliveable main character, and 3:There was a solid plot, something which the Owl books seemed to lack. This return to Valdemar was refreshing and tear-wrenching, and i want more like it!!!
Rating: Summary: Back to the Collegium with Glee! Review: I was really excited to read another book that dealt with the training of a Herald and how Haven was between Vanyel and Talia. The only other glimpse we've had of this period is during Oathbreakers--and we only saw White Foal Pass then. I was very please that Misty is writing characters that people can associate with. The plot moved well this time, and I couldn't put the book down. I lost 4 hours of sleep for 2 nights in a row so I could finish the book! Overall, I was very pleased with this book--however, even if I had to wait 2 years between Valdemar books, I wish Misty would spend more time developing the characters and exploring the possibilities. The Bullies of this book we're so 2-dimensional; I felt I was reading a play script that was missing quite a bit of character development. There wasn't even a motive for most of the behavior of the bullies or the lack of concern of the teachers. As a teacher, I find the 2-dimensional teachers and administrator just as offensive. There is no way you can go into any school in the world and not find at least one teacher who cares about their students. That's part of the gift of teaching--trust me, we're not in it for the money.It was great to see the Healer Collegium training fleshed out a bit, and it was great to not be "wowed" by the exotic as we have been with gryphons and Taledras for so long. I look forward to her next book and hope she continues the efforts set forth here. There have been so many stories she has either written songs about or referred to in the other books that could be great pieces to cry over!
Rating: Summary: One of her best books yet! Review: This book deserves all of the praise it can get. I am an avid reader of Mercedes Lackey's novels, and so far only three of them have extraordinarily touched me somehow("Magic's Price," "Storm Breaking," and this). All of the others were excellent too, but these surpass them in my opinion. The book pulls you into Lavan's life, and lets you feel as if you were a part of it. The characters are dynamic, and each one of them helps to shape the story. If you have read any of her other books that mention the legend of Lavan Firestorm, you will already know this, but in case you haven't I will explain it for you. According to what Ms. Lackey has written, Lavan Firestorm was the most powerful Herald ever, with the power to summon firestorms--a mixed blessing, I assure you. He saved Valdemar from being destroyed, and gave up his life in the process. His Companion perished also. I hope that this has helped you, and if it has, that you will purchase this book as soon as possible! :)
Rating: Summary: Good Book but more of the same... Review: Wonderful emotion! I enjoyed this newest adventure of lackey but unfortunately it seems she's following a formula. Same old same old just different faces and names. I believe the Last Herald Mage series was her best and broke a lot of ground but unfortuantely the greatness of the past has yet to rise again. If you love Valdemar you can't help but read it and love it. You'll sense the lack though and wish for more.
Rating: Summary: Good read, but not as inspired as her earlier works Review: Let me start by saying I'm a huge Mercedes Lackey fan, and own/have read just about every book she's written. Like other recent Valdemar books, this one is a little on the "soft" side, lacking the gritty edge and captivating suspense of the "Arrows" or "Magic" trilogies. Although the ending of "Brightly Burning" does harken back to the earlier Valdemar books. However, this definitely suffers less from that softness than the last two volumes of the "Owl" series. If you're a casual SF/Fantasy fan, "Brightly Burning" works fine as a stand-alone volume, although some of the references will seem obscure. It's not a bad place to start, but I would strongly suggest starting your exploration of the world of Mercedes Lackey with "Arrows of the Queen", "Magic's Pawn", or "Winds of Change". Two suggestions to the author: Try to decrease the "perfect justice", the good guys being close to flawless, etc. The other is to tighten up the cover art. The companions look like a teenage girl's fantasy of a unicorn, not anything matching the descriptions in the prose. All that being said and done, this is a good book and well worth buying.
Rating: Summary: She does it again! Review: I bought this book knowing that I would be reading something wonderful by one of the best authors in the genre. Mercedes Lackey writes with flair and style. The story of Levan Firestorm pre-dates many of her other books in the series, but you really don't have to read the others to be immersed in the world she creates for you. Her writing spurs the imagination so adequately that you feel, hear and taste every nuance and emotion the characters in this book have. Again she does what few authors do. She creates a land, people, and experiences that make you avid to read anything else she has written. This book is a must read!
Rating: Summary: Moved Me! Review: I am not easily moved in theater or in books. Mercedes Lackey is one of the only authors that I have read that can move me to losing it, even in public. Her writing transports me to the land of Valdemar, and the surrounding nations. You can feel what the characters are feeling, they become a part of you, almost like they are really in front of you. Brightly Burning is a great story, and should not be missed by Lackey fans, and is great even if you have never read anything of hers before.
Rating: Summary: A good turn-around. Review: I guess you would call me a fan of "old-school" Misty...All her old stuff was great, and the more recent publications are trite, boring, and not worth reading. Brightly Burning is about 10 times better than the bilge she's been producing lately, but it's not up to the standard of the Arrow, Vanyel, or Mage Winds trilogies. I think it's a promising sign that she's turned her work around and is getting back on the right track. So, on to critiquing the book, shall we? Bad points first. It really took awhile for the book to pick up the pace. Too much time was spent on Lan's awakening ability, not enough on his Herald traning and the bonding to his Companion, and the end of the book was very rushed (as I believe someone else pointed out). The characters were the same stock characters Misty loves using. Angst-filled, pure-hearted main character, good-hearted but unprepossessing friends, Companions who resort to childish jibes, simple country folk with the dialect written in, annoying parents, and the hated sibling who actually turns out ok. Misty has also started writing very annoying and subservient female characters (like Ilea and Elenor...I couldn't stand them). There also seem to be a few contradictions in this book as pertaining to the rest of the Valdemar books, especially in the way the Companions Choose and the subsequent acceptance of the new Herald. On the bright side (pun not intended), the emotion in the book was written superbly. All the times when Lan's Gift comes in, you almost get lost in the same feelings he does. The storyline is decent even if it falters a little. I found myself actually interested in the ending (a phenomenon that hasn't happened since before the Mage Storms came out...). If you're a fan of the series, definitely buy this book. It's refreshing, if not her best. If you're new to Misty, start off with some of her older series such as Arrows of the Queen or The Last Herald-Mage.
Rating: Summary: Common Folk Have their Field Day in Valdemar Review: i must admit i'm not hot off the burners, loving mercedes lackey, it was a thing, about... oh... 5 years ago. but i really got addicted to talia (queen's own) and the mage winds that followed it. never wanted the others... i dunno, burned out or not captivated by going into the past. so i tried this one. i can't remember, were her characters always this flat? talia was alive for me, i seem to remember. but Lan... is a cliche. a canvas for the plodding morality tale slash exposition of 'youth' and 'responsibility' and maybe 'choices'. happy midwestern jolly characters with work-ethics, otherwise, and the mature man, concerned (very concerned) and yet... somewhat 'silly' in his sensible reserve (a lot of people have 'sensible reserve' or 'sunny sensible reserve' or 'madness' in this book.) the Bullies, the Parents, the Bulwarks of the Kingdom and the Ordinary People Just Getting By, and the common man, etc. oh god, the dwelling on their Ordinary Lives, clothes, routines, small interests. This reads like it was -written- by a writers' guild-member. Such a trite relationship to poor Kalira, touching in a couple places but obvious material for the plot. The pointless girl infatuated with him (i think meant for ironic counterpoint/irony and maybe slight comic relief) Tuck, I maybe like (the friend) 'cause he seemed to surprise me with his attempts at intelligence perhaps. No room though, mostly, he acted like The (Farm-Boy) School-Chum. nothing new or embellishing to the tapestry of valdemar i had in my head here. perhaps in the tales of vanyel (which i avoided out of pique for such change of subject before), but at least it would be different(?) i couldn't identify with him or any of the other goody-two-shoes or villains or Common Folk in this book. oh yes, he's uncommon, you say, the most powerful firestarter ever? his emotions raging brighter than anyone's? Just words to me. Did i mention they were -obvious- words? Some one-liners about teenage love, but that's about it. A -lot- of description of mundane life in Haven if you happen to love this sort of thing. If there's anything this book is, it's not Brightly Burning. Lan is still no more real to me than he was. I'm sure you're happy now, Lan, 'cause all you ever wanted was for them to leave you (and your Companion) alone, right?
Rating: Summary: Valdemar never ceases to amaze me. . . Review: Okay, what can I say? With every book that Misty writes, you stay up longer, and severe amounts of sleep are lost. With "Brightly Burning," the story of the legendary Herald Lavan Firestorm is finally revealed. Its really quite amazing the amount of humanity, and great magic that Mercedes writes with. Now, I don't want to go into great details, but any Lackey fan, or someone just figuring out that this very talented author is out there, should own this book. You will laugh, cry(alot), sympathize, and stay up way past your bed-time to finish this amazing book of fantasy fiction.
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