Rating: 
Summary: I loved it...
Review: This book was amazing. There was so much character development. I honestly think that this book was just to make sure that you knew everthing there was to know about Vanyel and his life. I've read a lot of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books, and I have to say that out of all of them, Vanyel and Y'fandes are my favorite characters. Don't let the fact that it's a sad story scare you, it's well worth the tears, believe me.
Rating: 
Summary: A Real Gem!
Review: I bought "The Last Herald-Mage" series some time ago because I was told it was great. However I kept postponing reading it because I usually avoid sad stories and felt that I could be too old for the type of fantasies written by Lackey. After much persuasion by a friend I finally read Magic Pawn last week end. Sigh..I love this book and yes I cried several times. I am completely captivated by Vanyel. I felt his pain and his suffering. His loss was just heart wrenching. This is a great book about character building and a young man's struggles to find acceptance and a place for himself in a world which has ostracized him. In particular, the love between Vanyel and his Companion is touching. I am hooked and will continue to the end of the series despite being warned of a tragic ending.
Rating: 
Summary: WHERE IS THE VILLAIN!?@
Review: Mercedes Lackey writes books to make money. Period. BR>The problem with this book is, you can see that she writes for money and not the love of a good story. Her protagonist is a young spoiled boy who, in the beginning is normal and patient and stuffy. But please! We all know that you don't have a story about a young man who is NORMAL! Anyone who has ever read a fantasy story could tell from page one that this kid was going to be the most powerful one of them all!
Lackey's writing is childish. Every OTHER word is italicized. Good lord this makes for difficult reading! Her characters are normal fantasy fare.
BUT WHAT BOTHERS ME THE MOST IS THIS.
Lackey does not introduce a villain until the last TWO chapters of the book!!! You don't even KNOW their is a villain until the very end of the story! he just shows up and the hero kills him! The rest of the story has very little bearing on the outcome! I really like to see and get to know my villain before the end of the story!!!
How do you have conflict in a story where there is no villain?
Rating:
Summary: Great for young adults. Don't expect anything deep.
Review: Magic's Pawn, the first of the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, is, to put it simply, good for a bit of light reading, but don't expect to see many intriguing things..To start out, the story isn't about anything deep. The protagonist, Vanyel, is a teenage boy who is the oldest born heir to his father's holding. The problem is, his father is a two-dimensional tyrant of a father, and just about nobody likes Vanyel. The beginning of the book finds Vanyel wallowing in self-pity, constantly complaining "why me? why me? Poor me!" Unfortunately, whining abounds with this character, and the beginning Lackey goes through great lengths to portray just how much Vanyel truly hates his life. He later becomes the boy that every character pities and tries to reach out to. It would have been more interesting if Vanyel had some kind of self-respect and inner-strength, that would have paved the way for some delicious family conflict, but all we get instead is a myriad variations of "why me." Thus, this book will appeal to certain people, particularly teens who are angst-ridden about their lives, as well as gay people (due to Lackey's obsession with homosexuality). For everyone else, if you don't expect this book to be very in depth or sophisticated, then you'll find it enjoyable. It certainly is above-average despite it's shallowness. I would say that the book's high point is the magic system. Though I feel it could have been portrayed better with more in depth description, Lackey succeeds in creating a magic system that is... well, magical. But there are times when lackey does overdo it and the silliness of it makes me want to either throw up or laugh out loud. Lines like "she mindspoke in private-mode" appear throughout the book. The characters are one of the book's weak points. Mainly that they are two dimensional and predictable. All it takes is less than a page of dialogue from a certain character to be able to guess everything they'd do throughout the book. Just about everything I expected the characters to do, they did. Aside from Vanyel, none of the characters develop much. There is no history, nor are there any ulterior motives or duplicity. What you see from the characters at first glance is basically all you get. I found Vanyel to be a particular pain, which Lackey probably did intentionally. There were times when I honestly wanted to jump into the book and strangle him, shouting "die, die, die!" I mean, I know he went though a lot, but Vanyel is a serious whiner and a spineless emotional leach, and since he stays that way except for at the very end of the book, it gets irritating. I truly disliked Vanyel. A last subject I'd like to address is Lackey's aforementioned obsession with homosexuality. The book's main relationship between Vanyel and Tylendel is both absurd and overdone (frankly, that relationship could have come from the cheesiest of romance novels). Not to mention Lackey seems to go out of her way to put the spotlight on her characters' sexual preferences. There's nothing wrong with that, but the way she handles the matter lacks a certain finesse that would have made it much more interesting. Instead she makes a big deal about her characters' sexuality, but you can't help but wonder exactly why it is such a big deal in the first place. In my opinion, Lynn Flewelling handled homosexuality much better. All in all, this is an excellent book for young adults, but adults should expect little more than a light read and a playful romp through a two-dimensional fantasy world.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was lame
Review: First of all, this book put such emphasis upon this homosexual character and they tried pass off his tendencies as an inborn thing when the author clearly contradicted themselves by showing that it was a result of his father trying too hard to push women on him when he just wasn't ready. Even if you got past this (which I managed to do), there was this "romance" that was so shallow and so senseless that it only merited as a plot device. After his power is all opened up, the most that he knows how to do is use these energy channels while his enemy uses lightning spells and he manages to defeat this enemy with a spell that he has never even used before. Very predictable and unrealistic (even for a fantasy).
Rating:
Summary: Best book ever!
Review: OMG! This is like the best book ever! I loved it! If you get this one and love it like I did I would sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo buy the next books! They are great too! I really think this is one of Lackey's best book series! EVER! It's sooooooooo cool! And great! And I bet anything you'll love it too! : )
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, shame about...
Review: Good book -- but the cover is truly horrible! It frightened me so much that I had to place my copy face-down, in between readings. Ugh. (The three stars aren't due to the cover, but because Lackey's style needed a bit work in a few places.)
Fast-paced and involving, with strong sympathetic main characters. And good horses, too.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books of all time
Review: This book was the first books by Mercedes Lackey, that I ever read. Actually the book that I read was all three of the books in the series combined into one book called, "The Last Herald Mage." The first time I read it I sat there for 3 hours crying my eyes out, because it was one of the saddest books I have ever read. And that was just the first time i read it. Every time i read it, it gets better and better. The reader is literally dragged into the world of Valdemar and feels all that Vanyel goes through. This book is great for people of any age.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book EVER!!
Review: This was an excellent book! I loved it! It was well written and exciting. At first I was a little nervous about Vanyel being gay, but I soon overcame that. Vanyel was a well thought-out character that you couldn't help but love! He suffered so much you couldn't not feel bad for him and love him. The book was engrossing and I found it very difficult to put down. The entire book was just heart breaking, and if you aren't willing to cry a little, then maybe it isn't for you, but I think this was a truly AMAZING book!! I can't possibly tell you how much I loved this book!!
Rating:
Summary: Warning! This book will make you cry... more then once!
Review: I started reading this series at a friend's suggestion (if you can call shoving all three books into my hands a suggestion!:) It had me at hello, as they say, I was hooked on this book from the first page to the last!
You can't help but love the characters, Vanyel and Tylendel in perticular. Magic's Pawn has everything, a coming of age story, a sweet romance, action, and a killer fantasy world! But a warning: Ms. Lackey's characters are so vivid, and feel so real that you will cry with them! It's a beautiful book, and a wonderful start to the series.
What are you doing still reading this? go get the book! :)
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