Rating: 
Summary: Same old ending but still worthwhile
Review: Karal, Sun Priest of Karse, along with the help of Firesong, An'desha, Altra, and Florian, has managed to temporarily block the Mage Storms from damaging the Alliance nations. The Storms continue to worsen and begin to break through the protections. Karal and his friends must search for a way to counteract the final devastating Storm, the echo of the great Cataclysm that transformed their world thousands of years ago...Meanwhile, Elspeth and Darkwind have been sent as envoys to Tremane in Hardorn to negotiate the terms of the Alliance. As they help Tremane prepare Hardorn for the worst, a surprising and mysterious ally comes to their aid... "Storm Breaking" is the final book in Mercedes Lackey's Mage Storms Trilogy. I enjoyed reading it, but it was definitely the weakest book in the trilogy. The characters, as always, were wonderful. Karal was his usual thoughtful self, and it was very nice to see Firesong in a much more rational light. Tremane continues to grow into an increasingly likable man. I was delighted to see a reappearance of three characters from previous books, who I won't mention here for fear of spoilage. I also liked the alternating perspectives. The narrative focusing on Melles and the Eastern Empire was surprisingly interesting, despite all of the politicking. The Elspeth/Darkwind narrative was a little slow at times but in the end *very* rewarding. The Karal narrative was by far the most compelling, but that is mostly because I liked the characters involved there the best. Lackey's rapid alternation of narrative towards the end of the book, especially in the last chapter, was extremely effective. The reader knew what was happening in each location, and was driven to keep reading when there were mini-cliffhangers. My major complaint about this book is not the climax itself (although it is nearly identical to the endings of the first two books in the trilogy), but the way the conclusion is presented. The climax is everything it should be, but I feel that it comes too close to the end of the book. All the loose ends are neatly wrapped up, but there is a definite lack of denouement (ten pages' worth), especially considering that this is the final volume in a trilogy. Bottom Line: A solid read with likable, well developed characters. Make sure you read "Warning" and "Rising" first!
Rating:
Summary: Not a winner but very good nevertheless.
Review: Like all her books about Valdemar this one held my interest as Ms. Lackey developed the story by going back and forth between the various characters involved. She tied all the different ends together well. However, I feel that the ending could have been less violent. Did Ms. Lackey really have to blind Karal and disfigure Firesong.. Surely she could have achieved her objective in a less violent way
Rating: 
Summary: predictable and drawn out
Review: Mercedes Lackey is a good story teller but after reading the last of the herald mage series and the queens own this story was very predictable. Disaster! Miraculous solution! World saved. It shouldnt have been a 3 book series
Rating: 
Summary: Long Winded, Repetitious, Too many characters, Anticlimactic
Review: My title for this review says it all. After just completing this book and taking over 3 weeks to get through it. I was sorely dissapointed in this story. The level of detail and insipidness of constantly going into the characters minds over and over again made it seem like this was not a story but an intimation on the characters thoughts and feelings. Ableit these things are needed to make any story done well, I felt that they were done far to much and too often. I read the other two books of the trilogy some years ago and was satisfied with them somewhat, however the last book falls very short of the energy built up in the previous two books. Another thing, there were to many characters and plots going on at the same time. We have a group of people at a magical tower. A couple of individuals working with a newly elected (er chosen by the land) king and their problems. The far eastern empire and its problems of political intrigue and machinations. All in all the amount of characters was too much too quickly. But the worst part of this book was the finish. We come to the last chapter and of course they find a solution to the problem at hand, but then it just practially ends. The only real thing that held the story together was the tension surrounding the building mage storms!
Rating: 
Summary: Very pleasing ending
Review: Okay, a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but I thought the ending for this book was excellent. It wasn't one of those cliche endings where everything turns out all right or everyone dies. I like to see variety in what I read, and as I read more and more, I find it less and less. (And for God's sake! I'm only 15!) I have been engulfed in Misty's Velgarth novels for quite some time, and after every time I read this, it seems as if this is the end of the "golden years" of Velgarth. I like that because it makes it seem as if everything is closed in, although there is another trilogy that follows this trilogy.
The other two books in the Storms trilogy may have seemed dull and a lot of talk unless you are an avid reader of Valdemar,(not for me personally) but this chronicle really tops it off well. Although, yes, there is the cliche of the climax towards the end of the book, that is the way that it had to be. What else would Misty talk about after the plot and storyline of three books passed over?
To give a synopsis of what is going on before the book: Karal and his "crew" are in Dhorisha Plains to find Urtho's "weapon against the mage storms." Duke Tremane is in Hardorn mucking around, and the entire country of Valdemar is afraid and confused. In this final volume, all questions will be answered, and the ending will definitely give readers something to think about.
I enjoyed this novel, and as learned person towards Velgarth, I absolutely recommend that anyone who reads the Storms at LEAST read the Mage Wars. I hope that all readers enjoy this page turner as much as I did and will for many years to come.
Rating:
Summary: A good ending to an enjoyable series
Review: Storm Breaking quite nicely rounds out the Mage Storm series.
It answers a lot of questions that have been lingering throughout many of the Valdemar books. It also does what the previous Wind Series did not do: it is an actual conclusion to this particular 3-book series. While there are still many open questions to be answered and some rather interesting possible storylines, it does not leave you hanging (and feeling rather cheated) like the final book in the Wind series,
Winds of Fury, did. The cataclysm is over.
The characters who have been present in the previous two books
(Elspeth, Darkwind, Firesong, Karal, An'desha, Grand Duke Tremaine, et al) are there. You also get to meet two characters frequently discussed, but never met: the Emperor Charlis, a marvelously twisted character, and Tremaine's main rival for the Empire's Throne, Melles, a very practical, if rather chilling, man.
And what I considered two of the high points of the book, the
gryphons in the far north of Valdemar and the question of Iftel are finally explained. The answer sent me running back
to the Black Gryphon to see if I had missed something: so far it doesn't look like I did.
This story is somewhat darker than the previous two books in
this series, nor does not it move at as fast a pace as the first two did. This is a book that resolves the problems that arose in the previous two books. The book is eminently readable and satisfying. While there are still many unanswered questions concerning
this time line in Valdemar, I hope that Ms. Lackey will do a book about the founding of Valdemar before she goes any further. There are so many little tidbits dropped surrounding
Baron Valdemar and the flight of his people, but the real reason that they fled the Empire is never given, just a rather vague comment about the abuse of power by Baron Valdemar's overlord.
Of course, I have noticed that Ms. Lackey does books about Valdemar in the order in which they are needed to further flesh out the Valdemar story, and to provide information that will be needed in the next set of books or stories.
I look forward with a great deal of anticipation to the next
Valdemar book, whatever it may be.
Rating:
Summary: A good ending to an enjoyable series
Review: Storm Breaking quite nicely rounds out the Mage Storm series.It answers a lot of questions that have been lingering throughout many of the Valdemar books. It also does what the previous Wind Series did not do: it is an actual conclusion to this particular 3-book series. While there are still many open questions to be answered and some rather interesting possible storylines, it does not leave you hanging (and feeling rather cheated) like the final book in the Wind series, Winds of Fury, did. The cataclysm is over. The characters who have been present in the previous two books (Elspeth, Darkwind, Firesong, Karal, An'desha, Grand Duke Tremaine, et al) are there. You also get to meet two characters frequently discussed, but never met: the Emperor Charlis, a marvelously twisted character, and Tremaine's main rival for the Empire's Throne, Melles, a very practical, if rather chilling, man. And what I considered two of the high points of the book, the gryphons in the far north of Valdemar and the question of Iftel are finally explained. The answer sent me running back to the Black Gryphon to see if I had missed something: so far it doesn't look like I did. This story is somewhat darker than the previous two books in this series, nor does not it move at as fast a pace as the first two did. This is a book that resolves the problems that arose in the previous two books. The book is eminently readable and satisfying. While there are still many unanswered questions concerning this time line in Valdemar, I hope that Ms. Lackey will do a book about the founding of Valdemar before she goes any further. There are so many little tidbits dropped surrounding Baron Valdemar and the flight of his people, but the real reason that they fled the Empire is never given, just a rather vague comment about the abuse of power by Baron Valdemar's overlord. Of course, I have noticed that Ms. Lackey does books about Valdemar in the order in which they are needed to further flesh out the Valdemar story, and to provide information that will be needed in the next set of books or stories. I look forward with a great deal of anticipation to the next Valdemar book, whatever it may be.
Rating: 
Summary: The flame of my passion is quenched.
Review: The flame of my passion for Valdemaran books was quenched by this series. The series started off quite well, but as it progressed, there seemed to be less and less of what I regard as Ms. Lackey's style. I thought we were going to see a heterosexual male come out as a pretty cool guy - not entirely unheard of in Ms. Lackey's books, but not standard fare by any means. I liked much of the story of the books except the way Gen. Tremane was portrayed. It seemed to me that alot of effort was put into Tremane in the first book and to a smaller degree the second book and then he was just abandoned. He grew in the first book, but by the third book, all of that growth was thrown away as if it had never happened. This also highlights the vast difference between the first book and the third book where in the first book all of the events were necessary and tied together well whereas in the third book everything was just kind of thrown into a salad bowl and not tied together very well. just kinda disappointed I guess. Ms. Lackey wrote some of the first great fiction I ever read.
Rating:
Summary: The flame of my passion is quenched.
Review: The flame of my passion for Valdemaran books was quenched by this series. The series started off quite well, but as it progressed, there seemed to be less and less of what I regard as Ms. Lackey's style. I thought we were going to see a heterosexual male come out as a pretty cool guy - not entirely unheard of in Ms. Lackey's books, but not standard fare by any means. I liked much of the story of the books except the way Gen. Tremane was portrayed. It seemed to me that alot of effort was put into Tremane in the first book and to a smaller degree the second book and then he was just abandoned. He grew in the first book, but by the third book, all of that growth was thrown away as if it had never happened. This also highlights the vast difference between the first book and the third book where in the first book all of the events were necessary and tied together well whereas in the third book everything was just kind of thrown into a salad bowl and not tied together very well. just kinda disappointed I guess. Ms. Lackey wrote some of the first great fiction I ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Lackey is goin' down in flames...
Review: These novels are sappy gunk with irritating stereotypes of homosexuals as eternally forlorn victims of unrequited love that lust for nothing but nice clothes. Add in the pervasive use of sappy, apostrophe laden froo-froo fantasy words and you get a series of novels that are monumentally obnoxious. Somewhere in these books is the nugget of a good story, but Lackey's blown her chance with this series. Her earlier work was much better. This series and the "Gryphon" series are fairly disposable.
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