Rating: 
Summary: A Debt of Gratitude.
Review: I am appaled at the other reviews, Fatwas of the Imams of the Mosques of NitPicking. Who cares whether Romans pressed their bulls-eye glass, or spun it? Valdemar is not a district of Rome. My greatest wish was not for more accurate research in how things happened in our middle ages nor in Valdemars' history, my greatest wish was to be there, in Valdemar, helping however I could. That hunger for immersion is my test for the quality of a book, and this one gets 4 stars with no reservations. These Valdemar books lit up a desire for reading in half my children, for that I am in the authors' debt.Myste creates and chronicles lovable and hateable people, characters who are multi-talented, dedicated, and lamentably human. Companion or no, Gift or no, I'd buy a ticket to Valdemar at whatever price. Sadly, I'll haver to wait for another novel instead, and re-read the ones I have in the mean time.
Rating: 
Summary: So very, very disappointed
Review: I have been reading and rereading the Heralds of Valdemar series since I was Talia's age in 'Arrows of the Queen,' so I was very excited to pick up 'Exile's Valor.' But then I read it. This book actually made me angry - there are so many gross errors in it that I cannot possibly believe that Mercedes Lackey wrote it - there had to be a ghost writer. I had to go back and read the 'Arrows of the Queen' series to cleanse my palate! And who the heck edited this thing? He or she should be fired! HOW could the mix-up between the bardic and the heraldic trainee have occurred? Who is in charge of story continuity? Your ghost writer ought to read The Valdemar Companion, Misty. It might help. There was also too much coincidence - just as one character though of something, another character would come in and say the exact same thing the first character was thinking. Or, "There's a problem here only X can solve - well, looky here, it's X!" How convenient!
I read the reviews here on Amazon before I actually bought the book, and now I wish I had taken the advice of one reviewer who said to check it out from the library, or at least waited until the paperback version came out. If you are a huge fan and have everything Lackey has written about Valdemar, do yourself a favor and wait for paperback - trust me! If you are just getting started with Lackey (and you should - she's really a very good writer), I recommend reading these books in the order they were published, not necessarily in order of the Valdemar timeline.
Rating:
Summary: Hindered By the Mary Sue Element
Review: I should start out by saying that I may have given this book more stars than it deserved, and was highly tempted to give it only three--the reason I didn't is that three seemed too low, just as four seems too high. This is a difficult book to rate, because I believe how well a reader will enjoy it depends quite a bit on just how familiar they are with the world of Valdemar and with Mercedes Lackey fandom in general. Like several recent Valdemar books (and its own prequel, _Exile's Honor_), this one is set in a space of history which was alluded to in the early novels; now we have a chance to see just how the events unfolded, and get to know some characters--Selenay, Alberich, and Talamir, among others--in greater depth than ever before. This can be a fun experience for the Valdemar fan. I enjoyed seeing Selenay as a young Queen, and Talamir as he is after the tragedy he suffered in _Exile's Honor_; the glimpse of Karathanelan and exploration of Selenay's doomed marriage were also worthwhile. Alberich remains a colorful and interesting character. I did think more space was spent on the game of Hurlee than it needed or deserved, which could have been better spent on plot... but then, I'm not a sports fan. These are the good aspects, and if you concentrate on those the book deserves four stars. I should also mention that this wouldn't be a bad book for those new to the Valdemar series (though I'd suggest reading _Exile's Honor_ first if nothing else): it's a light, engaging romp, and a decent introduction to Valdemaran governance--and if you haven't read many of the other books, you're less likely to be bothered by the many and myriad consistency errors here. This was one of my two main quibbles with _Exile's Valor_. It appears that Lackey really, *really* skimped on her homework, and that no editor made any effort to clean up the mess. As far as external consistency goes: what happened to Karathanelan's nickname (previously 'Thanel,' not 'Karath') and eye color (Elspeth, whose eyes are brown, was previously said to have her father's eyes)? And how exactly are two blue-eyed parents supposed to have produced a brown-eyed daughter anyway? My erstwhile Genetics professor would probably have something interesting to say about that. Also, _By the Sword_ clearly states that Karathanelan's father died *after* his son's antics in Valdemar and subsequent death--in fact, Thanel's hijinks were what caused his father's collapse. So it's rather confusing to see Megrarthon kicking the bucket months in advance of the entire episode here. Internal consistency doesn't fare much better; Lackey can't seem to make up her mind which of a pair of troublemaking students is a Herald-Trainee and which a Bard, and switches their roles twice! First Mical was the Herald, then Adain, and then Mical again. Shouldn't some editor have caught that? Having so many errors makes the book look sloppy (IMHO) and causes some points of confusion where it openly conflicts with other volumes. The second quibble is another one which may be less apt to bother those who aren't so familiar with Lackey fandom: the existence and predominance of the character Myste. As other reviewers have mentioned and as Lackey has herself confirmed in the short story "After Midnight" (which appears in a DAW anniversary anthology), Myste is Misty Lackey herself. She appears to go so far as to share not only the author's name, but also her physical build and possibly her general personality. In fanfic this would be called a 'Mary Sue,' and probably looked down upon as self-indulgent. I find it, if anything, even more self-indulgent here. At least in _Exile's Honor_ and _Take a Thief_, Myste wasn't always at the forefront--but in _Exile's Valor_, she has the solution for *everything*! Everyone relies on Myste to solve all their problems! She's one of the heroes of the entire Karathanelan affair, never mind that this makes the lack of any mention of her up until the preface of _Winds of Change_ awfully hard to explain! And she gets the male lead as her love interest! Good gods, but that gets old. I firmly believe this book would have been much, *much* better if Myste had not been in it, or at the very least if her role had been seriously downplayed. Come on, ML--Selenay has a lot of scholars and Collegium Heralds at her disposal. I found it hard to swallow that she or anyone else would really think to themselves that *only Myste* could possibly be able to untangle any of the knotty intellectual problems facing Our Heroes. Jeeze. In short, this isn't the strongest Valdemar novel, and is unfortunately plagued by a host of minor problems. However, it may be a fun read despite that--it depends on what the reader is looking for, and how much the errors bug him or her. They bugged me a *lot* (obviously ;) but I still liked the novel enough that I look forward to rereading it in time. My advice: get this one in paperback or from the library if you like the sound of its story, but don't expect it to be either the best or the worst work that Lackey's ever done. And if you decide to make this your first Valdemar novel, you may want to give the series another try by reading an earlier book (I would recommend the Last Herald-Mage trilogy) should you find this one not to your taste.
Rating: 
Summary: Another joy for fans of Valdemar
Review: I started Exile's Valor as soon as it arrived (not nearly soon enough - why is shipping taking so long these days?), and didn't do much else until I'd finished it. I hope Ms. Lackey never runs out of ideas for Valdemar stories! Most series "fizzle out" after a while, but by using different time periods, different characters, and the many countries and peoples she has created for this one, she should be able to continue as long as she remains interested in doing so. For that I am profoundly grateful. I discovered Lackey through her collaboration with Anne McCaffrey some years ago. The Valdemar series is entirely different from what she wrote with McCaffrey, but even more illustrative of her talents as a writer. Somewhere, Valdemar exists. It is real in Lackey's imagination, and in the hearts and imaginations of her readers, of whom I will be one as long as she keeps writing.
Rating:
Summary: appreciation ;)
Review: I thought that Exile's Valor was as always...a wonderful book. I have been reading Mercedes Lackey for about 2 years now..and I am just a teenager. She's awesome! She's up there with J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling for me! I discovered her one day because I started reading Raymond E. Feist's collection of stories. Then i seriously got hooked on Science Fiction. Now I am hoping to go into the author's business. Anyways back to the book ^.^.
The only thing i really really hope that Ms. Lackey is gonna do is write another novel about Alberich...i wanna know what happens between him and Myste. If she is gonna write another one..then i give this one 5 stars instead! Alberich is a wonderful character. He is starting to get accepted in the Valdemaran society and is learning to become tough and supportive and everything. It's awesome.
Rating: 
Summary: not one of Mercedes Lackey's best
Review: I'm a big fan of Mercedes Lackey and the Valdemar series but this book is not one of her better books. It's a pleasant read and the various elements of the story are entertaining so I recommend it for Valdemar fans. However, the book has structural problems. The main character is Alberich but the main plot is Queen Selenay's and Alberich has only a peripheral role in it. Basically, the council pressures Selenay into choosing a husband, she demolishes their arguments in a council meeting early in the book, and everyone backs off. Then Selenay meets her future husband, falls in love, and surprises everyone with her engagement. Everyone but Selenay thinks her fiance is bad news but no one has any reason for it so this seems a bit contrived. Those of us who have read the Arrows trilogy know why and we also have a general idea of how this book will end so in addition to the weak plot it lacks suspense. You would think that the book is all about Selenay but it's not. Most of it is about Alberich and his daily activities. Alberich' and Selenay's activities come together in the end, but all of the time spent on Alberich' activities leaves less time to spend on developing the main plot which suffers as a result. Mercedes Lackey is a skilled story teller so the individual events are a pleasant read and the various characters are interesting. The story also flows better than "Take A Thief" so fans of Valdemar will enjoy this book despite it's problems. However, for non-fans I recommend either her earlier Valdemar books such as the Arrows trilogy or her other new book "The Fairy Godmother" which has a much stronger plot and is better structured.
Rating: 
Summary: Editing????
Review: I'm a huge fan of Valdemar and I have been eagerly reading each book as it comes out since Arrows of the Queen. This did not make the grade. It's not the plot, which is somewhat weak, nor the characters, whom I quite liked. (I get tired of the hero/heroine with manifest destiny and startling abilities chosen by the gods story line. It was quite nice to read about a man just doing his job, albeit in a world of political intrigue and fantasy.) No, the thing that I could not stand about this book was the writing. It was terrible. At points it felt like every single thought a character "had" was chewed over three times and then regurgitated two pages "later" by another character. Considering the fact that this book takes place in an "extremely" well-established world, there was no "need" for the wordy descriptions of any and every thing. I don't need to know how they make glass, or how to make skates, or whether Valdemarans use meatpies as hand warmers. Certainly not at such "tedious" length. And what is with the "ITALICS"? It is hardly necessary to italicize so much of Alberich's thought processes (or worse, the authorial voice's), if it's well written we'll pick up on the emotional emphasis on our own. The amount of "shoulds", "hads", and "coulds" that were needlessly italicized was positively painful. All of that combined with the petty mistakes begs the question: Did Ms. Lackey fire her editor?Compared to the quality of writing and plotting in her first books, Exile's Valor, Exile's Honor, Take a Thief and Joust are poor indeed. I give this book one star because I do like Alberich, otherwise...
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing...save money reread some of her earlier work
Review: I've read every single Valdemar series book by Mercedes Lackey. What started out with the wonderful Heralds of the Queen and Vanyel series often fell into more formulaic writing in some of the later series. Even though they were predictable, these books were at least still interesting with fairly good character development and plot.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Lackey produced Exile's Valor inspite of her supposed hiatus from writing in Valdemar (although maybe it was this book that drove her into the hiatus). I have suffered my way through one third of the book and am convinced not to ever pick up another Lackey book. In the third I've read, the characters are superficial (even though we're re-visiting them from previous books) the storyline is thin, and a good portion of the first third is dedicated to Lackey's Valdemarian version of ice hockey. There are hints of of suspicious activities, discontent with the queen, foreshadows of marriage arrangements but all of this lacks the hook for the reader to get into the book.
I found this book easy to put down but difficult to pick up. With the likes of Modesitt, Zucker Reichert, and Martin producing quality work, it really is difficult for me to justify buying another Lackey book. I gave the book two stars...one for me surviving as much as I did and one for Jody Lee's gorgeous coverart.
Save yourself some money and pass on this book...re-read some of Lackey's earlier works. Or--try a Modesitt Recluse series book or George R.R. Martin Song of Ice and Fire series book. It'd be money better well spent.
Rating:
Summary: Publishing error - it might not be the book you think....
Review: If you ordered this book, start reading it immediately to make sure you got the correct book. When I got mine, the cover looked OK, but the story inside was Omega by Jack McDevitt. Apparently, the publisher put the wrong binding on some of the books.
Rating:
Summary: VALDEMAR RESUSCITATED
Review: Is the world of Valdamar getting a bit thin? Well after twenty some novels it wouldn't be surprising and in my humble opinion the Mage Winds Trilogy demonstrated just how far down into boredom the Heralds of Valdemar series have descended. So do you save the series and if yes then how? Maybe by developing a new series around one of the most genuinely interesting and original characters found in this entire compendium, Alberich the Karsite Weaponsmaster. EXILES VALOR continues the story of Alberich, most specifically as it relates to his position as Valdemar's master spy, at least as far as Haven is concerned. His undercover, and under the covers, work (yes Alberich gets involved with a bit of romance) is great reading, wellworth the time. So why only the average rating, because Alberich's tale is only half the story. The other half deals with Queen Selenay and HER first romance/marriage. The problem here is we're dealing with old news. If you've read the Arrows and Mage Wind series then you already know what's going to happen from the moment she meets good old Prince Karath. No surprises, no suspense, no interest. It would have been nice if Ms. Lackey would have woven a completely separate plot/storyline for Alberich, one that hadn't been so fully revealed by previous novels. It was too much like reading history (don't get me wrong, I like history, just not in my fantasy.) Even for those who don't particularly like the Valdemar series I would RECOMMEND EXILE'S VALOR and it's previous companion volume EXILE'S HONOR. Alberich is a fascinatingly complex character that I for one have enjoyed following and I think you will also.
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