Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing and Heartbreaking
Review: Couldn't put it down! Though one of the other reviewers thought the ending was a "cop out", I disagree. Though my heart ached, I thought the ending was in keeping with the story. I only wish it had been written within a three book setting. Such fine writing!
Rating: 
Summary: Addition to the Valdermar series which may disappoint
Review: Having been a fan of the Valdermar series for a long time and having read all the Valdermar books prior to this, and some of the online reviews, I was anticipating a return to the writing quality of the Last Herald Mage or Arrows Series. I was disappointed. Although the end of the book is very powerful (a tribute to Lackey's ability to pull on the heart-strings) there is too much time spent on introducing Lan's Gift, not enough time on the unique relationship between him and his Companion and from the moment they go off to fight Karse, the book switches into overdrive. I agree with a previous reviewer who said that at this point the book seemed rushed. The book is a decent read even if it does not reach the dizzy heights of Lackey's previous Valdermar books and is an improvement over the recent Owl trilogy. I would say if you are a fan then its a must buy to add to the collection, but if you're a first time buyer, then go buy Magic's Pawn and start reading from there.
Rating:
Summary: An excellant bit of Valdemar history
Review: Laven Chitward - Lavan Firestarter - Lavan Firestorm - or just Lan to his friends.We hear of Lavan Firestorm in the later Valdamar books, now we get his story. He has reciently moved to Haven, capitol of Valdamar. His mother, a Guild representative, needs to be close to Guild headquarters in Haven. The rest of the family settles into the new circumstances easily, but not Lavan. His misses his country home, friends and freedom. He is left with little to do. His parents end up sending him to a School. Here he finds new friends and a bunch of upper class bullies. After a few days of bullying, Lavan becomes ill and has to stay home a few days. He returns to more bullying and passes out in class. The Healers say he is letting his emotions get the best of him. To add to Lan's troubles, when he tries to explain the bullying to his mother, she accuses him of lying. Lan returns to School again and manages to figure out how to avoid the bullies. This works for awhile till they wise up and trap him after hours. They start to "punish" - their word for torture - him and Lan's new Gift acts in his self defence: by setting the bullies on fire, even though Lan doesn't know he can do this, and he passes out. When he wakes, he is questioned by Herold Pol and the captain of the Gaurd. As Lan starts to get upset and start another fire, Companion Kalira steps in, chooses Lan to be a Herald - at least a trainee at this point - and helps control his Firerstarting "gift". Thus starts a fast moving tale to a climatic end near the boarder with Karse, a country at war with Valdamar. Full of vivid characters, including Theran, the King; Tuck, Lan's Herold Trainee friend; Elenor, Pol's daughter who is a Minderhealer. This book is not perfect. Merecedes Lackey leaves as few areas untouched that should have been and would have filled out the book nicely. But it still worth reading by any Valdamar fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Lackey returning to what mader her a favorite
Review: I was somewhat leery of purchasing this book in hardcover, especially after the disappointing Mage Storms trilogy. Misty finally seems to be returning to the writing style that made her great. She's always known how to write people, but in the past few years it's seemed as if she'd forgotten how. Laven is a character we can care about. She's taken him and made him a person, as it were. The story she weaves for him answers many fans' questions about this often mentioned historical figure. I couldn't put the book down. Definitely recommended reading for any Misty fan.
Rating:
Summary: Very good standalone novel
Review: I've read all of Mercedes Lackeys' books about the Land of Velgarth and this is one that stands out. Although there is always a theme when it comes to writing books about the people in her world (a young child who is at odds with everyone and everything gets pushed to the brink and is then Chosen by a Companion) she still managed to captivate me for 2 full days in which I couldn't put the book down. Reading this book has made me want to re-read all of the other Valdemar books in hopes of finding mention of Lavan Firestorm. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Brightly Burning By Mercedes Lackey
Review: Yet again another wonderfull book i read it in 2 days i was just so captivated i couldnt put it down. The book filled in a wonderful part of history for us what exactly happend at burrning pines and who was Lavan Firestorm. I would have liked to find that this was to be another set of three books series like the herald mage series but other then that its a grate book. I hope that some day we may here the story of Rothas Sunsinger and Lythe Shadowdancer.
Rating:
Summary: BRIGHTLY BURNING
Review: ONE OF THE FEW VALDEMAR BOOKS THAT GIVES HISTORY OF A CHARATER METIONED FREQUENTLY IN LATER BOOKS, VERY HELPFUL IN GIVING BACKGROUND HISTORY. (SORRY FOR THE SPELLING)
Rating:
Summary: Burning Brightly
Review: No one can doubt that a return to Valdemar and the Herald-Companion storyline would ever be a bad read. Unfortunately I was also dissapointed. Many of the conflicts that I believed would be resolved had just been glossed over and sort of shoved under the rug at the very end of the book. It seemed like there were so many interesting things that COULD have happened, but didn't. Thinking that possibly my dissapointment was because I am no longer a teenager reading Lackey, I decided to re-read her first trilogy about Herald Vanyel. And that trilogy was just as good as the first time I read it. Somehow it just seems that Mercedes Lackey has lost some of her talent at creating characters that you wish were real.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but disappointing.
Review: Overall, the book was good. However, Misty has done much better in the past. The book started out quite well, and the development of the characters was quite good. A good amount of time was spent developing the situation and characters leading up to and shortly after Lan becoming a Herald-trainee. However, after a short period in the Collegium, Lan and company were rushed off to war. At that point the quality of the writing went downhill and the whole feeling seemed rushed. The story may not have been long enough for a second or third book, but it should have been longer. I get the impression that the book was hurridly finished to meet a publishing deadling. That is unfortunate, as Misty writes wonderful material when she spends the time on it. This book seems to be about 100-200 pages too short.
Rating:
Summary: Brightly Burning fizzled out
Review: This is a book that I would love to love. It had good characters (not great, but good) and a totally fascinating premise, I mean, what would happen to ones mind if they had the power to call down fire onto anything at will? The ability to burn the very air and yet the inability to control it? However I kept wanting for there to be a climatic confrontation between Lavan, our hero, the bringer of fire, and Elenor, the Mind Healer with an infatuation with him. I felt like there had to be some big scene between the two, about Elenor's unreciprocated love, and Lavan's guilt about killing (yes he does kill a quite a few people). But THERE WASN'T! I had thouroughly enjoyed the book all the way up to the climax when I realized there were too few pages left to settle that little conflict nicely. Let me say that it would have been fantastic if Lackey hadn;t taken the easy way out! And somehow I don't think this will be resolved in a sequel. -Eli@
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