Rating: 
Summary: Love at first sight!
Review: My girlfriend has a great affinity for finding slashy books that make our hearts palpitate and keep us entranced for the duration-- if not longer. This is one of those books.I know that if not for this book, I'd never have gotten into any of the Heralds of Valdemar books. The idea of a young man pressured into a mold he does not fit and punished for that which he cannot help is something many people can sympathize with. Vanyel is a young boy whose only intrest is music -- he longs with all his heart to be a Bard; however, he is heir to his father's holdings. Withern, Vanyel's father, has for all of Van's life tried to make the boy fit a mold he was never meant to fit. His trying does more harm than good and fed up with the inability to make Vanyel into the man he thinks Van should be, sends him off to be fostered at Valdemar's capital with the boy's Herald-Mage aunt, Savil. In a stunning tale of romance, Van's life whirls out of control and into 'unforseen' directions for the young man. After rereading this book too many times to remember, it does seem a little trite and simplistic -- but I think that's what makes it so dear to me. Yes, by the covers of the following books in the trilogy you know that somehow Van becomes a Herald-Mage (assumably the Last Herald-Mage, by the title of the trilogy), but how things occur and the pain or joy of each happening is just wonderful. I read the back of this book then started it and found myself asking "ok, I thought he was a Herald... what gives?" But it all comes together in this beautifully written story. My problems with Mercedes Lackey's works aren't really tied to the errors in the printing or anything like that, it's the time frame jumps between certain books. Particularly in the Last Herald-Mage Trilogy. Ten years between book one and two, quite a few more between books two and three... And Van changes ever so much between books! I die to know more details about Van's adventures. And even as much as that frustrates me, makes me utterly curious, I still find this trilogy to be one of my all time favourites. If you love to feel all gooey inside and get torn to tears at times, this is a GREAT book for you. Personally, I like Pawn and Price best of the three, and in my opinion, you could skip Promise entirely and have a complete and wonderful story. But then what's the fun in that? The more Vanyel, the better!
Rating:
Summary: Marvelous
Review: I got so wrapped up in this book I just couldn't put it down! I love it.
Rating:
Summary: I have discovered the love of my literary life...
Review: This book, to me, presents one of the most pulling stories that has ever been or ever will be written - it is safe to say that I will never, ever forget it! Vanyel Ashkevron is without question my favorite character out of all the books that I have ever read throughout my life, and believe me, there has been a VERY substantial amount. After reading this, in fact, I have not been able to take any character romances in different books seriously - all other love stories just pathetically pale in comparison to Vanyel and Tylendel. I laughed, cried, hurt, grieved, rejoiced, and loved with all of Lackey's characters - Vanyel, Tylendel, Savil, Yfandes... every last one of them. All were believable and beautifully depicted. And apart from the simple aforementioned beauty of the characters, the story itself is one to be adored, fascinated by, reread, and talked about for years upon years. It has a little bit of everything - action, humor, depth, love, twists and turns... it's everything a fantasy fan could ask for! This is a novel that's got something for everybody out there... especially for the girl who has read it at least ten times a year, between books, from the ages of fourteen to eighteen. :) A stunning piece of work that should certainly be looked into without qualms.
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Summary: This book has shown me something new
Review: This book was flat out amazing. This is the first book by Mercedes Lackey I've read, and I loved it. I now plan to read every one of her other books. The reasons I loved this book so much revolves around the characters. I am a 16 year old male, and I thought it was weird that most reviews on this website were by females. After I read the book, I understood. However, it is really a pity that maybe a lot of male readers aren't reading this book series. There are at least 4 homosexual characters, and I think that may be a turn off for a lot of readers. I myself never thought a homosexual love story could be so damn good. It's so tradic and dramatic and just so damn well written, I loved every page after 1/3 of the way through. I reccomend this book to anyone with even a mild interest in excellent storylines, magic, and or action. It's got it all.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing.
Review: I am an avid reader of all different types of genres, and this book is definitely one of the best books I have ever read. This is, for sure, Mercedes Lackey's finest trilogy ever written. It marks the beginning of a story about a boy whose life takes a turn that he never expected. All his life, Vanyel has had to deal with being different, and being pressured by his father to be more "manly." It is not until Vanyel is sent to a place called Haven by his father as punishment that he realizes why he has been so different his entire life. Vanyel learns that he is not attracted to women, and finds himself falling in love with a beautiful blonde named Tylendel, who is a Herald-Mage in training. The moment Vanyel meets Tylendel, his life changes, and thus the adventure begins. The first book is warm and cozy, tragic and heart-wrenching, and filled with magical action. Are you a fan of Mercedes Lackey, or a fan of fantasy books in general? This is the trilogy for you. I guarantee you, you will love it.
Rating: 
Summary: Valuable more for what it can do than for the story itself.
Review: In many ways, "Magic's Pawn" deserves the "groundbreaking" labels that regularly get slapped on it. While a lot of fantasy books feature an angsty teenage protagonist searching for his or her true self, few feature a teenager concentrating so hard on a developing sexual identity. Because Vanyel, the hero, has come from a repressed atmosphere and has a severely homophobic father, he has to first discover the existence of people like Tylendel, who regularly sleep with and love their own gender, before he could even consider the possibility that he might be the same way. And here the book excels, showing just how hard it would be for someone who hadn't considered the notion before to deal with it. For a teenager who hasn't read any books with gay characters before (the situation I was in when I first read it), it's a wonderful and gripping story. Unfortunately, on most other levels the book falls apart. Vanyel embodies a lot of the harmful stereotypes of gay men- perhaps because Lackey was so intent on showing his sexual identity beyond a doubt that she shoveled too many easily identifiable labels onto him. He's pretty (described as more beautiful than most women over and over again), very effeminate and emotional, obsessed with fashion, suicidal. Again, the book's emotional intensity is captivating and gripping- for a teenager. Rereading the story, or trying to, as an adult, I was able to see how Lackey plays on the reader's emotions and uses shallow characterization and dirty tricks to make Vanyel's plight seem even worse. His father is a one-dimensional bully devoted to making Van's life miserable. Vanyel also happens to overhear the thoughts of the *one* homophobic member of the Heralds' college, which drives him to suicide. If the story had taken place entirely in a prejudiced society, it would have been more believable. However, most of the Heralds are accepting and welcoming of Vanyel's sexuality, all the better to drum in the point that the people who are not must be wrong, wrong, wrong. Though Lord Withen is characterized somewhat better in the last two books of the trilogy, in the first he seems like a stereotype himself, defined by his biases. Even Vanyel's highly emotional and suicidal lover, Tylendel, comes off better. So, this book might serve as an excellent introduction to the idea that homosexual characters are human as well, and not to be portrayed just for shallow laughs or hinted at darkly around the edges of a story. When I hear the series touted as the best of fantasy with gay characters, however, I grow uneasy. It's a beginning, but not the end. Try Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series or Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint for a look at male characters in relationships that are a little less over-the-top and focused towards the human rather than the extraordinary, and the extraordinarily angsty.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasted Potential.
Review: Vanyel is a lord's son, and heir to the title, but he seems to attract bad luck. He's not good at anything that his father wants him to be good at, no one in the family cares about him, and he is constantly ridiculed and shamed. Eventually, he is practically exiled from the family, and sent to live with his Aunt Savil, a Herald-Mage, in the capital. He tries to shield himself from all this misfortune with arrogance and aloofness; placing himself in a dream world made completely of ice. This book is a hard one to summarize because the pacing at the beginning is so erratic. The introduction lags painfully, but then, maybe 100 pages in, the story inexplicably picks up, but at this point, there is no need for the rushing. Vanyel, at first, seems well fleshed out, because of his extensive introduction. I understood many of his motives, and his fears. But, when other characters are introduced, most notably Tylendel, Vanyel's love interest, they lack that same attention. And, when Vanyel begins to open up, and come out of his shell, I didn't feel like I knew him anymore; most of the character changes weren't really founded, or explained. I finished the book really feeling that I didn't know many of the people. The love story between Van and Tylendel drives the entire story once Tylendel is introduced. I can see plainly the significance. But, it was really very contrived; I knew they were in love, I knew how important they were to eachother, but I didn't really believe it. They had conversed, maybe, three times before they got together; there was no build-up, none of the tension that makes developing relationships interesting... There was no developing relationship. And, while usually this wouldn't bother me quite as much, it was the basis of everything else, the starting point of the story. So, it kept getting shoved at me, and here I was thinking it was a contrived plot device. Which it was. However, the plot was interesting once it got started, if you can put the love story aside. The settings were all very lovely, and very original... k'Treva was especically captivating. The book, overall, is worth it for light reading, as it is quite short, but I don't feel it's "Lackey's best" or the fantasy classic a lot of people feel it is.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This was the first misty book I read, and I'm glad I did. If you haven't read Lackey before, start with this series or the arrows of the queen series. You will love them. I promise.
Rating:
Summary: So SAD!!! Poor Van!
Review: First off, I'm going to say, that Savil was NOT saying that Vanyel turned out to be gay because of how his father treated him. NO, she was telling Withen that Withen's treatment of Vanyel was the reason that Van was so insecure and unstable. Because Van's father had always suspected that the boy was gay, he was even harder on him. It's soooo sad. Van and 'Lendel remind me of Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones.
Rating:
Summary: Read This Book
Review: I've cried over few books, and this was one of the chosen few. I didn't expect it at all. Don't get me wrong, this was one of the best books I've ever read. You get to know the characters so well. Tylendel was the sort of cheeky person who you love to read about, but he has other sides. You find that out quickly enough if you simply look into his past.Vanyel is the perfect character. He has just the right amount of faults, just the right amount of worries, hopes and good traits. He's perfect because he's not. If you think, after reading the beggining that Vanyel indulges in self pity though, think again. So it might be partly true, but put yourself in his place. Isolated, alone. No one understands you. You find you have a gift you desperatly don't want. All you want is to be a bard. I'm getting ahead of myself though.I love the ideas Mercedes Lackey has about different branches of magic and of how you come to be discovered. Companions are probably the best thing she could have thought of. They are somone to share thoughts with. Someone who you can talk to you have no one else. Yffandes was one of the first people Vanyel loved and its only because of him Vanyel didn't kill himself when- never mind. This book has everything it needs- hope, isolation, pain, love and magic to enhance everything. This was the first book by Mercedes Lackey I've read and all I really need to say is I have a new favorite author.
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