Rating: 
Summary: Her best trilogy to date
Review: I can't even be sure how many times I have re-read this trilogy. The development of the characters is amazing. The action is thrilling but not overdone. Character reactions are believable and sincere. This first book in the trilogy had me hooked and waiting impatiently for the second and third books to be released.A certain treat for any fan of Valdemar!
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: I enjoyed the book, Winds of Fate. The twists and turns of this book kept my interest right up untill the end. Jumping from Darkwind to Elspeth got a little boring, but it was well worth the wait. The intriques, such as Skif's attraction to elspeth made the story only more enjoyable. i would recommend this book to and fantasy reader.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I greatly enjoyed reading this book. Mercedes Lackey really knew what she was doing when she wrote it!
Rating:
Summary: Mage Winds Series Rules
Review: I have to be honest with you. I am new to the works of Mercedes Lackey but I have become hooked by reading this book. I have always loved fantasy and sci-fi novels a little more than most young women should, but I don't care. On with the book review. I found that the tale of Elspeth and Darkwind was one that I could very easily find myself immersed in. When this first happened it was much like Elspeth learning her magic for the first time...very overwhelming. As you begin to read the book you find that everything Elspeth deals with by being heir to the throne of Valdemar is what every teenager in every walk of life goes through eventually. That was one of the points that sold me on the book. Misty does not make you feel anything more than sorry for Elspeth and her plight. She wants to be free, but realizes that will be impossible unless someone who is more worthy than her decides to take the throne of Valdemar and free her from her responsibilities. All through the book Elspeth doubts that she is even fit enough to rule the kingdom of Valdemar the way it deserves to be ruled. As Elspeth fights her mother Queen Selenay and the Valdamaran council to be able to go on her journey to find the mages and teachers that may very well keep Valdemar safe from the wrath of the evil blood mage that wants to take over the kingdom of Valdemar you feel her rock-solid determination that she is the only one able to carry out this task because she is a herald and as she sees it she is expendable to the kingdom because Talia has the twins that are far more capable of ruling Valdemar than Elspeth is. Once the council decides that Elspeth is the one for the job the next task is getting them to agree to let her go outside of the kingdom on her own. That is not to be however and the council decides that she can go but that she has to take one more herald with her. That herald turns out to be the well-loved and well-written Skif. Though Elspeth is not big on the idea of having someone else slowing her progress down she agrees and decides it is better that it is Skif and not a whole troop of Valdamaran soldiers as her mother and the rest of the council wanted to begin with. The way Mercedes Lackey describes the land that Elspeth and Skif travel through and the people that they meet, it seems like you are right there, riding on the back of the Companions Gwena and Cymry as they wind their way to their destination. Once Elspeth has the sword Need and she wakes up the action really starts to become intense. Elspeth is a female that every woman young or old can identify with. Her anger at being herded down a path that was already pre-chosen for her is an anger that I am sure every human being, male or female has felt and rebelled against at one time or another in their lifetime. Once they get onto the D'Horisha Plains and draw closer to the lands of the Tayledras and the gruesome horrors that Mornelithe Falconsbane has unloosed in that territory you begin to feel that Elspeth is finally in charge of her own destiny and nobody is going to tell her what to do or where to go after that. As they get up to the ruins where the two gryphons Treyvan and Hydona live with their two young gryphlets they are chased into a cave of sorts by Mornelithe Falconsbane's evil concoctions. This is where Elspeth really begins to utilize her magic with the help of Need who is controlling her motions and trying to teach her without making herself a crutch for Elspeth to lean on in times of trouble. The first time we meet Darkwind and his bondbird Vree he is an enigma to us. We know that he is a scout for the Tayledras who used to be a mage but foreswore magic. In closing, I think that this book is a must-read for anybody who is into fantasy and magic.
Rating: 
Summary: very interesting
Review: I liked this book a whole lot. Ever since I read By the Sword, I wanted to know what happened with Elspeth and with the Daren/Selenay romance. I loved how Need Mindspoke to Elspeth, and the whole story behind the sword. However, Darkwind's story I found to be boring. It didn't really pick up until he realized what was up with his father, and broke the spell. I found myself reading through his chapters as quickly as I could to get to the Elspeth story. I thought Elspeth was a bit too strong of a character--she took after Kero too much, and that was ONLY after she left Haven. Maybe because of the sword? It hurt me a bunch to see a character I knew and loved (Skif) be brutally rejected by Elspeth when he thought he loved her, even if he was being annoying. I had just read the Arrows trilogy, and kept thinking about how none of his romances turned out right, and I'm hoping this thing with Nyara will be okay. I have yet to read the other two, but this one was good until about halfway through, then it was fantastic.
Rating: 
Summary: Why did Mercedes do this to me?
Review: I LOVE Mercedes Lackey's previous books because they were filled with characters I loved. This book reminded me severely of Rowling's fifth book, I found myself not caring much for the characters I'd originally loved and only read it because of the author.
I didn't like Darkwind with his romantic interests, which were completely sex-oriented (and EXTREMELY descriptive!), same with Skif's. And Elspeth was so BORING!
I have the second book but find I don't really want to read it. All in all, I wished I hadn't read it so my opinion of Lackey's writing wasn't now so changed for the worse.
Rating:
Summary: Enthralling
Review: I loved every bit of it. I think that Elspeth's apparent "teenage rebellious phase" could have been carried out a little more smoothly. I enjoyed the story very much on the whole, though.
Rating: 
Summary: pleasant, but kind of cliche'd
Review: I mostly enjoyed reading this book, but I found it pretty much a cliche. The young, feisty princess is threatened by an evil king and goes out on a quest to find magic. She fails to follow the advice of those older and wiser and acts rather stupidly rebellious. Fortunately, she didn't suffer quite the expected downfall and retribution for her behavior, which was sort of a relief. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading about her being tortured by the bad guy; and, fortunately, the tortures that others have suffered at his hand are only summarized briefly. This book is very, very sexual. If they put ratings on books, I think I would give it an NC-17. S&M stuff and incest appear fairly often -- pretty disgusting, even though it's only the bad guy who perpetrates this junk. Unfortunately, they don't put ratings on books, and my 13 year old read it. Fortunately, the stuff is expressed sufficiently metaphorically that most of it went over his head -- at least I hope so. The love scene between Darkwind & Dawnfire, though more traditional, was VERY titillating. On the upside of this, though, is that the bad guy's evil sexuality is pretty creative. I don't think that I've seen anything quite like it in a book. I just wish there were some warning, so I could keep it out of the hands of my kid. The suspense is pretty good, but there are some places that drag a bit. The second book is better, though still kinky.
Rating:
Summary: pleasant, but kind of cliche'd
Review: I mostly enjoyed reading this book, but I found it pretty much a cliche. The young, feisty princess is threatened by an evil king and goes out on a quest to find magic. She fails to follow the advice of those older and wiser and acts rather stupidly rebellious. Fortunately, she didn't suffer quite the expected downfall and retribution for her behavior, which was sort of a relief. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading about her being tortured by the bad guy; and, fortunately, the tortures that others have suffered at his hand are only summarized briefly. This book is very, very sexual. If they put ratings on books, I think I would give it an NC-17. S&M stuff and incest appear fairly often -- pretty disgusting, even though it's only the bad guy who perpetrates this junk. Unfortunately, they don't put ratings on books, and my 13 year old read it. Fortunately, the stuff is expressed sufficiently metaphorically that most of it went over his head -- at least I hope so. The love scene between Darkwind & Dawnfire, though more traditional, was VERY titillating. On the upside of this, though, is that the bad guy's evil sexuality is pretty creative. I don't think that I've seen anything quite like it in a book. I just wish there were some warning, so I could keep it out of the hands of my kid. The suspense is pretty good, but there are some places that drag a bit. The second book is better, though still kinky.
Rating:
Summary: love it
Review: I'm 13 and I love this book same as the ons after it they are my favort books and I fead alot about 6 books a week so thats saying alot if you like fanisey you will probley like this book I sure did.
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