Sun In Glory (A Valdemar Anthology)

Rating:
Summary: A Book of Short Stories.
Review: I enjoyed this book as a way to read different authors but with a setting known to me. It is often so hard to break into a new author or buy their book even. You never know what they are like. I enjoyed all of the stories. Some I liked more than others. It was a fun book to read. I enjoyed not being stuck reading a 300 + page story. Sometimes it is nice just reading short stories. This was a fun way to do so in a setting I knew.

Rating:
Summary: The sun should set on this one...
Review: I normally enjoy most of Mercedes Lackey's work. I picked this up, and was expecting good things. The Valdemar world is fairly structured and stable. I barely made it through the first story before I put the book on my "to give away... QUICKLY" shelf. One of the other stories wasn't too bad, although it wasn't memorable enough for me to remember its title (it would be the one about the priest and his suncat).
I think this is probably the worst book with Ms. Lackey's name on it since she changed the complete history of Skif in 'Take a Thief'. If you must read this, get it from the library. Its not worth owning.

Rating:
Summary: The sun should set on this one...
Review: I normally enjoy most of Mercedes Lackey's work. I picked this up, and was expecting good things. The Valdemar world is fairly structured and stable. I barely made it through the first story before I put the book on my "to give away... QUICKLY" shelf. One of the other stories wasn't too bad, although it wasn't memorable enough for me to remember its title (it would be the one about the priest and his suncat).
I think this is probably the worst book with Ms. Lackey's name on it since she changed the complete history of Skif in 'Take a Thief'. If you must read this, get it from the library. Its not worth owning.

Rating:
Summary: Hit and Miss
Review: I quite enjoy most of Lackey's work - it's entertaining, engaging light reading, with a well thought out world and sympathetic characters. Not great literature, but a really good read.

That said, I have not been impressed with her forays into editing. Sun in Glory suffers from the same faults as its precurser, Sword of Ice. There are a couple of decent stories, notably Nancy Asire and Tanya Huff's entries, which provide interesting forays into Valdemar. Most of the rest read as if they were fan-fiction. Not truly terrible, but unsatisfying and unable to stand on their own as good stories.

My advice - go off and pick up a copy of Magic's Pawn or Arrows of the Queen, or Oathblood for some *good* Valdemaran short stories. Give this book a miss, unless you are intent on completing the series.

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great anthology
Review: Of the two Valdemar anthologies so far, "Sword of Ice" is better than this. However, "Sun in Glory" has its moments, mostly because there are four or five very strong stories that overshadow the weaker ones.

The four strong stories are by Ms. Lackey herself, Rosemary Edghill, Nancy Asire, and Tanya Huff. Ms. Huff's story, "Brock," was the most off-concept, as she wrote about a mentally challenged man who had all the attributed of a Herald, but could not be one due to his other problems. Despite that, he was exemplary, and even though he couldn't realize he wasn't a *real* Herald, the actual Heralds mostly left him alone, or helped him.

I also enjoyed Ms. Edghill's story, "Icebreaker," which was another off-concept story. Her hero wanted to be a Herald, but when he got a taste of it, he decided he wanted no part of that. Which is realistic; Valdemar needs more than just Heralds, or the kingdom will die out. It needs its scribes, its scholars, its librarians.

And those people make just as much of a difference as the others. Just in a quieter way.

Ms. Asire's story, "The Cat Who Came to Dinner," was amusing and moving. It was about Reulan, the last truly good head Sun-priest in Karse before Solaris (a several century gap). Reulan is a plainspoken man, a good priest, someone who cares about his flock. And who knows nothing about Firecats, until he meets one.

Great story.

And Ms. Lackey uses some of the material from Ms. Asire's story in her own "Sun in Glory," which concludes this collection. "Sun in Glory" is a sort of outtake that explains how Talia gained ascendance in Karse, and shows Alberich's more quiet reunion.

The other stories are hit and miss. Some are good. I liked most of them. But they weren't as outstanding as these four.

The one really poor story, that makes no sense in the established chronology of the whole world of Velgarth as Ms. Lackey has conceived of it, was Catherine McMullen's "Herald's Journey." I don't care how young Ms. McMullen is; she needs to read over her chronology again. Errold's Grove could not have come into being like this. It's too close to Iftel, which is protected; we find out why in the "Storm" books and at the tail end of the "Mage Winds" trilogy. Basically, the Kaled'a'in went to Iftel, and stayed there. That's why Iftel has been so reclusive. Those people were afraid, and they didn't want to come out of hiding until they were absolutely sure either no one could catch them, or do anything with them, or it was absolutely necessary.

I can't believe anyone would want to get that close to the remains of their own people, yet refuse to go the rest of the way to Iftel. And if those mages were powerful enough to feel the rupture of the earth halfway across the globe, they should have been able to feel those refugees in Iftel.

Plus, the story isn't all that well written. It's fine for a twelve year old, but it's not professional, and I don't know why it's in this book.

It's by far the weakest story in it, and it leads off everything else. I have to say that choice puzzles me. I'd have led off with Ms. Asire's story, as it was hundreds of years before any other story in the book outside of Ms. McMullen's.

That being said, I recommend this anthology, but also recommend that you check out the superior "Sword of Ice." Four stars.

Barb Caffrey

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great anthology
Review: Of the two Valdemar anthologies so far, "Sword of Ice" is better than this. However, "Sun in Glory" has its moments, mostly because there are four or five very strong stories that overshadow the weaker ones.

The four strong stories are by Ms. Lackey herself, Rosemary Edghill, Nancy Asire, and Tanya Huff. Ms. Huff's story, "Brock," was the most off-concept, as she wrote about a mentally challenged man who had all the attributed of a Herald, but could not be one due to his other problems. Despite that, he was exemplary, and even though he couldn't realize he wasn't a *real* Herald, the actual Heralds mostly left him alone, or helped him.

I also enjoyed Ms. Edghill's story, "Icebreaker," which was another off-concept story. Her hero wanted to be a Herald, but when he got a taste of it, he decided he wanted no part of that. Which is realistic; Valdemar needs more than just Heralds, or the kingdom will die out. It needs its scribes, its scholars, its librarians.

And those people make just as much of a difference as the others. Just in a quieter way.

Ms. Asire's story, "The Cat Who Came to Dinner," was amusing and moving. It was about Reulan, the last truly good head Sun-priest in Karse before Solaris (a several century gap). Reulan is a plainspoken man, a good priest, someone who cares about his flock. And who knows nothing about Firecats, until he meets one.

Great story.

And Ms. Lackey uses some of the material from Ms. Asire's story in her own "Sun in Glory," which concludes this collection. "Sun in Glory" is a sort of outtake that explains how Talia gained ascendance in Karse, and shows Alberich's more quiet reunion.

The other stories are hit and miss. Some are good. I liked most of them. But they weren't as outstanding as these four.

The one really poor story, that makes no sense in the established chronology of the whole world of Velgarth as Ms. Lackey has conceived of it, was Catherine McMullen's "Herald's Journey." I don't care how young Ms. McMullen is; she needs to read over her chronology again. Errold's Grove could not have come into being like this. It's too close to Iftel, which is protected; we find out why in the "Storm" books and at the tail end of the "Mage Winds" trilogy. Basically, the Kaled'a'in went to Iftel, and stayed there. That's why Iftel has been so reclusive. Those people were afraid, and they didn't want to come out of hiding until they were absolutely sure either no one could catch them, or do anything with them, or it was absolutely necessary.

I can't believe anyone would want to get that close to the remains of their own people, yet refuse to go the rest of the way to Iftel. And if those mages were powerful enough to feel the rupture of the earth halfway across the globe, they should have been able to feel those refugees in Iftel.

Plus, the story isn't all that well written. It's fine for a twelve year old, but it's not professional, and I don't know why it's in this book.

It's by far the weakest story in it, and it leads off everything else. I have to say that choice puzzles me. I'd have led off with Ms. Asire's story, as it was hundreds of years before any other story in the book outside of Ms. McMullen's.

That being said, I recommend this anthology, but also recommend that you check out the superior "Sword of Ice." Four stars.

Barb Caffrey

Rating:
Summary: Excellent anthology
Review: The ancient realm of Valdemar remains as usual inundated by hostilities, internal strife, and war. To keep the fragile peace that seems to fall apart repeatedly (twenty five books over the last two decades will do that), courageous Heralds and their loyal intrepid Companions use various skills like mindspeaking, empathy, foretelling, and kinetics. Into the Lackey land, rides thirteen authors (some well known, others with a clear future ahead of them and of course Mercedes Lackey) contributing a tale of a Herald and their Companion struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

SUN IN GLORY AND OTHER TALES OF VALDEMAR is clearly intended for two audiences: the Valdermar die-hard supporters and those wanting a taste of what this series is all about. Each tale adheres to the Lackey laws of the realm yet provides each author's personnel stamp on the story. Well written and fun, Valdermarites will especially appreciate the magic of this book.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Excellent anthology
Review: The ancient realm of Valdemar remains as usual inundated by hostilities, internal strife, and war. To keep the fragile peace that seems to fall apart repeatedly (twenty five books over the last two decades will do that), courageous Heralds and their loyal intrepid Companions use various skills like mindspeaking, empathy, foretelling, and kinetics. Into the Lackey land, rides thirteen authors (some well known, others with a clear future ahead of them and of course Mercedes Lackey) contributing a tale of a Herald and their Companion struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.

SUN IN GLORY AND OTHER TALES OF VALDEMAR is clearly intended for two audiences: the Valdermar die-hard supporters and those wanting a taste of what this series is all about. Each tale adheres to the Lackey laws of the realm yet provides each author's personnel stamp on the story. Well written and fun, Valdermarites will especially appreciate the magic of this book.

Harriet Klausner