Rating: 
Summary: One of the best
Review: Magic's Pawn is the enthralling beginning of Herald Mage Vanyel's anguished tale. I don't think I have ever been as touched emotionally by any book. Mercedes Lackey truly understands the plight of outsiders like Vanyel. She artfully sweeps you up in this tragic story of a young man trying desperately to prove himself to his over-bearing father - and failing in every way he can. But a seemingly indifferent father is the least of Vanyel's troubles in this captivating coming-of-age beginning to The Last Herald Mage Trilogy. Once you have read Magic's Pawn, you have to finish the whole set, then read it all over again just to be sure you haven't missed one moment or one line.
Rating:
Summary: A Simple Thanks
Review: When I first read this book, I was young and stupid, and I feared and hated gays only because my school-mates told me I had to fear and hate them to be accepted by other people who feared and hated gays. This book literally changed my life. It taught me to love without fear and to accept people for who they are and pay little attention to what others say about them. For this gift, I am forever in debt to this wonderful author.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing journey
Review: When I first read this book it took me a few chapters to get into it but once I fell into the spell of this amazing book I was hooked. I laughed, I cired, and so much more. I have never been pulled into a book so completly as I was this one. The whole series is just increddible!!! I have read this book many times and my favorite character is savil.
Rating:
Summary: Best Trilogy Ever!
Review: I can't recommend this trilogy enough. Lackey draws you into her story to the point where you become emotionally envolved. All three in this series are true page-turners. These are truly my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Just too good to be true!
Review: First of all, this is my first time writing a review for a book mainly because of two reasons. First is because I think it's too much trouble and secondly it's because I'm a Thai and thus my command of English is too poor to write a good review. BUT! After reading all of her book in 3 days (Reading 3 of Eddings books had taken me much longer than that although I had considered THAT to be a good book) I just can't stand the fact that there is someone out there who are not READING these books. So please please please please do yourself a favor..get this book and the rest to the sequel...it's worth it..believe me I should know (since I had cried 3 times along the story)
Rating:
Summary: Not like corn...
Review: The basic storyline of a 15-year-old kid who discovers the potential of his hidden talent is nothing new, but somehow, the author is able to create a story that's rousing, emotional, engaging, and most importantly: not corny(!). Unlike some other 300 plus page fantasy books I've attempted to read, the names of the characters are unique and not just weird (or unpronouncible), and you aren't loaded with a hundred different foreign terms and places on the first couple pages. Instead, this book catches your interest from the very beginning. It gets you acquainted with a different world while taking you on a journey of great physical and mental proportions that all humans anywhere can relate to. (But don't get the wrong idea--this book still got its share of action and adventure!)
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, groundbreaking, eye-opening and thrilling
Review: With her "Magic Trilogy" Mercedes Lackey has given the world one of the most positive gay images in Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and maybe even in Fiction in general. Lackey has a gift for crafting fallable, believeable, captivating characters, and has created one of her best and most memorable in Vanyel, the protagonist of this trilogy. Showing great imagination, and intuition, she takes us inside the head of a young man coming of age, who is also coming to grips with his sexuality. I would hate to scare any readers off by making this sound like a coming out novel, or strictly a "gay" novel. It's not. It's first and foremost an adventure, just told from a different perspective than the usual. This is a very human novel, and it's great Fantasy. After all, as Vanyel struggles with his true nature, he also gets to come to grips with incredible powers, and gets to find love while traveling to exotic locales peopled with fantastic, memorable characters. For GLBT readers, I say buy this book, and any other written by Mercedes Lackey, because it's your chance to read some wonderful stories, while supporting one of our greatest straight-but-not-narrow champions in the world of Fantasy Literature today. She's right up there with Anne Rice, consistently giving us new and truthful gay images, both good and bad, with which we can identify and from whom we can learn. For those who aren't that familiar with gay issues, or actual gay people, I say buy this book because it is a safe, painless, entertaining, and thought provoking way to learn more about a part of the human condition you've maybe never explored or understood. For everybody, no matter which side of the fence they rope on, I say buy this entire trilogy because it's great entertainment and a thrilling, magical read.
Rating:
Summary: Gay Fiction at its best! Incredible!
Review: This is what Gay Fiction was meant to be! It had me crying and breathless and cheering. I've heard that Ms. Lackey is using her writing to advance her "pet cause". Know what? Good for her! It's about time SOMEONE does! We need this, and if the cause can be glorified with this much beauty then I'll stand up and scream for it! Keep it up, Ms. Lackey! I'll be reading every book you've ever written.
Rating: 
Summary: very uplifting
Review: This book forced me to revise some of my views concerning homosexuality. The relationship between Vanyel and Tylendel disturbed me a little but finally forced me to broaden my views. The plot line is exceedingly well crafted. I love how Mercedes Lackey writes out the character's thoughts line by line. Many authors tend to be defficient in this area.
Rating:
Summary: Not only a book
Review: This is literally the first book that has made me cry, both on the first read and the many repeats afterward. Though Lackey's portraying of "good guys" and "bad guys" were not that believable (with the sides marked clearly in black and white, when the world is really in shades of grey - after all, what bad guys think of themselves as "bad? They just fight for what they think is right), its fabulous characterization is enough to make people overlook that. This book is about a young man seeking an identity and understanding in a world that seemingly rejects him. Through time, a few surprises and many complications, Vanyel finally answers some questions about himself, and learns to accept who he is. The relationship between Vanyel and various other characters in the story - mainly being his lover Tylendal, his companion Yfandes and his parents - was beautiful and generally flawless. The internal struggles, too, are astoundingly realistic. When wrapped into a well-paced setting of politics, relationships, magic and humanity, this book has the capacity to be "experienced" countless times and be treasured for generations. However, Magic's Pawn is not purely a book. It widened my view of the world, both about homosexuality and the struggles a person may endure through life. It taught me tolerence and a gratefulness for my life, which has so far been quite painless. It is also a "home", a place (or a book) I can return to when I'm troubled, and get guidance and comfort from. Please email with your views on this book.
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