Rating: 
Summary: Magical Story
Review: Vanyel is now a man with silver streaks in his hair but he still looks increadibly hot. And why not? What else does he have except his good looks and bravery? He is one of the last Herald-Mages in Valdemar and everything is always up to him, he has to fight, protect, serve with no time to catch his breath. The poor guy is practically celibate, he stays away from all men in guilt because he thinks that by adopting a lover, he might betray Tylendel.
I felt very happy when he accepted Stefen, though it took him freaking forever! Man, the guy sure is patient.
AS to the events of the rest of this book, they didn't go so well with me. I wanted to scream at Ms. Lackey for torturing her characters so cruelly. Why the hell won't she let Vanyel be happy for once? I just don't understand...I really do not.
And the whole business with Stefen, and him being a reincarnation of Tylendel, that was a good touch. Yeah....it was all fine, till another of them dies, and the other has to go through life alone...AGAIN.
Though it was sweet, I disliked the ending. It didn't feel real to me. So, in a sense, they were never together again where it mattered. Now it became Stefen's turn to live out his life in lonliness. In my opinion, she needs to stop mutilating her characters so much. WHo knows? Maybe once in a while, she can make them......um, i don't know...happy?
But, once again, overall, it was a great book and very emotional, so it deserves 5 stars, except Lackey's obsession of causing her characters to suffer massive amounts of harships, pain and lonliness.
Rating:
Summary: The best of them all
Review: Of all Mercedes Lackey's books, this may be the best. It never fails to make me cry, laugh, and just get into the book. Vanyel is a wonderful character (all of them are, actually), the plot is interesting and rich, the world believable. Van and Stefen's relationship is very similar to that between Van and Tylendel, and towards the end the parallels start getting rather scary. Even with all the angst, there are a enough lighthearted moments scattered throughout to prevent the reader from becoming horribly depressed, and yet, it never quite loses it's feeling of sorrow. The conclusion is a real tear-jerker, but for me at least, the last paragraph changes them to tears of happiness.
Rating:
Summary: Best Of Valdemar
Review: This is by far the best of Mercedes Lackey's books set in Valdemar. It pulls at the heart strings; you suffer and smile along with the people of Valdemar; sharing their laughs, songs, love, and pain.
Rating: 
Summary: Suprising.
Review: I'll say it right now... I hated Magic's Pawn. I wanted to stop reading the trilogy after that, and as all the books are pretty much self-contained, I could have gotten away with that.I'm glad I didn't though. The plot focuses on Van's life as the numbers of Herald-Mages dwindle, the king is dying, and Valdemar faces war from an unknown -- or maybe not so unknown -- enemy on a suprising border. And, while that's not the most riveting of plots, that's not why this book is the staple that it is. Lackey more than makes up for the mistakes of the first book here. The flaws in Van's characterization are nearly completely gone; I feel like I know him this time. And knowing main charachters is really important to me. The only remaining flaw is slightly jarring; Van is still the "perfect character:" beautiful, powerful, angst-y, tempermental, loved by all, and the father of everyone's children. The other characters seem to be subtly fleshed out in the same way; I fell in love with the new character, Stefen, soon after his appearance, and even Yfandes seems to have grown up a little. The love story was what pegged it for me, and that was also the thing that ruined the first book for me. Van's hesitancy is priceless, and I don't even like Tylendel. The growing relationship BEFORE the romance actually had me wanting them to hurry up already. The culmination, the love the springs up, and the inevitable conclusion all made me heave a totally sappy sign when I finished... Even the one annoying tie in from the past books couldn't ruin it for me. I just ignored it. So, if you hated the beginning of the series, don't give up! If you want to read the trilogy for the love stories, but don't like convoluted ones, skip straight to this book. It really was redemption for the rest of the trilogy, and, yes, I did read it more than once.
Rating:
Summary: The best one!
Review: This is the best book in the entire trilogy. In this book, Vanyel learns to love again, but his dearest friends and family die one by one, until at last he faces the final battle. ...I really can't give you a summary without ruining anything. Basically...if you liked Magic's Pawn and Magic's Promise...
You will LOVE this book. It is absolutely amazing, and Mercedes Lackey's finest piece of work ever. Don't push away the opportunity of reading one of the best books ever written: buy this book. You won't regret it. But be sure to have a tissue box ready when you sit down to read it!
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