Exile's Honor: A Novel of Valdemar (Daw Book Collectors, No. 1235)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: this book allows you to look into the character of the weaponsmaster and makes him human. she outdid herself this time and i holed up in my house reading this and only came out whenever needed.

Rating:
Summary: Only good when considered with the rest of the series
Review: Alberich of Karse was a hard man made harder by the ever-present threat of a knife in the back from jealous military subordinates, and by the deadly and ever-present need to keep secret his sporadically appearing power of foresight. All powers in Karse that did not come from the temples of Vakandis Sun-god were witch powers and the only fate that the sun priests allowed for witches was death in flames. Little did he know that his destiny, with a little help from a suspiciously intelligent stallion, would take him from his land and people, whom he had vowed to protect, and into the land of the feared witch-riders and demon-horses of Valdemar. Fate had decreed that there was another life that Alberich was to shield on his path to becoming the man known as Herald Alberich.

Valdemar is brought to life once again through this tale of Alberich and his exile from Karse. For the first time, a grown man from Karse is brought to the ranks of the Heralds of Valdemar, to battle fears and mistrust for and from those that he must join, to do battle with an entire nation of mercenaries that Karse has hired to put an end to their greatest enemy.

The main problem with the book, that I think even some true fans of Valdemar will find themselves annoyed with, is the way Mercedes writes for Alberich's Karshian accent. While people have compared his speech with various other annoying speakers of entertainment history, I found the inconsistency in Mercedes writing of his speech the most annoying thing about it. Within a few compound sentences, she makes the mistake of putting the verb at the end of one part of the sentence and in the middle of the other part. Maybe I'm a bit overly critical, but these did distract me from the story since they just sounded a bit wrong when I read them.

Alberich is the focus of this third book of the Valdemar. With no other seeming purpose, this book dedicates itself to being a prequel for the characters and immediate history of the three books of Valdemar that preceded it. I love the minimalism of Alberich, and his frustration at the extravagant opinions many people carry around. I equally enjoy the irony of that frustration that results from his, sometimes less than open-minded, refusal of some concepts and ideas as a because of a, for the most part, HIGHLY admirable but sometimes obsessive view of personal honor. However, if you have not read the preceding books, or didn't like them, for some reason that I cannot imagine, you will only find this book a passable piece of pulp fantasy. If you have already read this book and are wondering why it isn't what you expected from Lackey, go ahead and finish its sequel EXILES VALOR, then read the Heralds of Valdemar Trilogy. As recommended by shel99, this book is not at its best if you read it as a stand-alone. If you do read it as a stand-alone, and judge it wanting, you could very well end in doing yourself a disservice by missing out on the rest of the story.

EXILES HONOR, if you have read and enjoyed the Valdemar Trilogy, should be read. The background you receive concerning certain characters will make their lives shine all the brighter in your memory.


Rating:
Summary: Valdemar VS Karse
Review: The story fills in some gaps of information about Valdemar's past. It is a well written book. There is quite a bit of war in the book. It is different than some earlier books from this series in the way it is written. There is less romance in it than others. This is not a bad thing but it does need pointing out. It is a good book. It is just not Lackey's best work.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: I am an avid Misty fan, even before I found out my roommate's previous job was bodyguard for her. Exiles honor (and exiles Valor) is on of my favorites, the sene after the battle when they go for the kids is wonderful, forshodowing the changes coming in the Sun Temple. People kept reviwing "why does Alberch stay in Valdemar?" cause he has nowhere to go, and he knows it "Why does Valdemar agree to give him such a high placed job as Weponsmaster, when he's 'the enemy'?" Cause the companions are smarter than humans (they have an inside line to the greater good) and they DO NOT chose bad people. EVER. so either he's good and there is no doubt that he's the best at wepons, or there was an reason for the companions to want him. either way the people of Vlademar learned a long time ago that companions know whats best.

Myst: One of my favorite charaters. People kept complaing that she is Mercedes' alter ego. so what? its her story, her world. people would be amazed how many main charaters in 100;'s of books will resemble the author. But after hearing stories of her from my friend, Myst is not very close to Misty, in apperiance or actions. Myst is a neersighted, clumsy bookworm clerk, Misty is a strong limed active woman that is very active in outside things. I feel myst is more MY alter ego. It brings ME into the story. not everyone is slender, perfect sighted and athletic.

Italics, other readers complain that there is to much. excuse me? how eles can she protray the mind to mind speaking? it is a widely accepted form in sci-fi and fantasy to either italic or small capitalize to represent mindspeach, that or diffrent color print, but that is expensive to print.



Rating:
Summary: Great for fans of Valdemar--don't start with it though
Review: As a longtime fan of Lackey's Valdemar books, I enjoyed getting a little bit of the backstory of some of the familiar characters from the other books.

Many reviewers have given this book a poor rating, saying this was the first Lackey book they've read and they were unimpressed. THIS IS NOT A STAND-ALONE NOVEL. One reviewer mentioned a frustration with the lack of resolution of several plotlines, such as Alberich's suspicion of Lord Orthallen. This is essentially a prequel to the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy -- Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall. The storylines that start in Exile's Honor are setting up the events that occur in the Arrows trilogy. If you'd like to try Lackey's Valdemar books, I'd start with those. On my member page is a listmania list of the books in the order I'd recommend you read them. I adore these books -- they're not especially deep or thought-provoking, but they're fun escapist fantasy.

For those who are Valdemar fans, I'd certainly recommend this book, though it has its flaws, including Alberich talking too much like Yoda and an unnecessary romance subplot with a thinly disguised Mercedes Lackey. But I really enjoyed spending some time with characters that were already history in the earlier books, such as King Sendar and his King's Own, Talamir, as well as seeing what Selenay was like as a young girl.