Rating: 
Summary: Decidedly mediocre
Review: "Owlflight" isn't the worst fantasy novel that I've ever read, it's just the most unnecessary one. Rebellious thirteen-year-old Darian is an apprentice wizard in the remote village of Emmond's Grove. One day the town is attacked by barbarians, and Darian barely manages to escape after his mentor, Justyn sacrifices himself to delay the approaching army. Fleeing into the woods, Darian meets a band known as the Hawkbrothers. They talk for awhile, there's a climactic battle, and, needless to say, Darian's courage and new magic powers turn out to be the key to defeating the bad guys, after which everybody lives happily until the sequel. The point is that we've seen this entire book before, countless times. The authors are utterly unable to dredge up as much as one unique element in the entire story. The characters, plot, settings, and everything else seem like they were borrowed from earlier works, and everything is completely predictable, to the point where you're almost able to predict exactly how many paragraphs will be spent on each blazingly obvious plot point before moving on to the next one.I'll admit that the authors do a reasonably good job of capturing the emotional turbulence of an teenager who's lost his parents, but other than that, the writing in "Owlflight" is embarrassingly bad. The dialogue never even comes close to sounding like normal conversational speech (how many thirteen-year-olds do you know who say 'intoxicated' rather than 'drunk'?) Also, the authors don't maintain a good balance between internal introspection and plot movement. "Owlflight" is 350 pages long and contains only three action scenes. Most of the space in between is spent on characters endlessly wondering what they should say or do, wondering how other people will react to what they say or do, wondering how people have reacted to what they just said or did, and inevitably taking ten pages to communicate even the simplest point. Some people might defend "Owlflight" on the grounds that it's aimed at a 'young adult' audience, and thus shouldn't be judged by the same standards as real fantasy novels. My response to this is that there are plenty of authors out there who are capable of writing books that appeal to all age groups. I've never understood why some people insist that anyone under the age of fifteen should be satisfied with inferior work. Readers in that age group are actually capable of distinguishing good and bad books. If they get fed only predictable, mediocre nonsense like "Owlflight", they're likely to quit the fantasy genre before they even have a chance to read some of the world's greatest books.
Rating: 
Summary: Could be Better
Review: "Owlflight" isn't the worst fantasy novel that I've ever read, it's just the most unnecessary one. Rebellious thirteen-year-old Darian is an apprentice wizard in the remote village of Emmond's Grove. One day the town is attacked by barbarians, and Darian barely manages to escape after his mentor, Justyn sacrifices himself to delay the approaching army. Fleeing into the woods, Darian meets a band known as the Hawkbrothers. They talk for awhile, there's a climactic battle, and, needless to say, Darian's courage and new magic powers turn out to be the key to defeating the bad guys, after which everybody lives happily until the sequel. The point is that we've seen this entire book before, countless times. The authors are utterly unable to dredge up as much as one unique element in the entire story. The characters, plot, settings, and everything else seem like they were borrowed from earlier works, and everything is completely predictable, to the point where you're almost able to predict exactly how many paragraphs will be spent on each blazingly obvious plot point before moving on to the next one. I'll admit that the authors do a reasonably good job of capturing the emotional turbulence of an teenager who's lost his parents, but other than that, the writing in "Owlflight" is embarrassingly bad. The dialogue never even comes close to sounding like normal conversational speech (how many thirteen-year-olds do you know who say 'intoxicated' rather than 'drunk'?) Also, the authors don't maintain a good balance between internal introspection and plot movement. "Owlflight" is 350 pages long and contains only three action scenes. Most of the space in between is spent on characters endlessly wondering what they should say or do, wondering how other people will react to what they say or do, wondering how people have reacted to what they just said or did, and inevitably taking ten pages to communicate even the simplest point. Some people might defend "Owlflight" on the grounds that it's aimed at a 'young adult' audience, and thus shouldn't be judged by the same standards as real fantasy novels. My response to this is that there are plenty of authors out there who are capable of writing books that appeal to all age groups. I've never understood why some people insist that anyone under the age of fifteen should be satisfied with inferior work. Readers in that age group are actually capable of distinguishing good and bad books. If they get fed only predictable, mediocre nonsense like "Owlflight", they're likely to quit the fantasy genre before they even have a chance to read some of the world's greatest books.
Rating:
Summary: Decidedly mediocre
Review: "Owlflight" isn't the worst fantasy novel that I've ever read, it's just the most unnecessary one. Rebellious thirteen-year-old Darian is an apprentice wizard in the remote village of Emmond's Grove. One day the town is attacked by barbarians, and Darian barely manages to escape after his mentor, Justyn sacrifices himself to delay the approaching army. Fleeing into the woods, Darian meets a band known as the Hawkbrothers. They talk for awhile, there's a climactic battle, and, needless to say, Darian's courage and new magic powers turn out to be the key to defeating the bad guys, after which everybody lives happily until the sequel. The point is that we've seen this entire book before, countless times. The authors are utterly unable to dredge up as much as one unique element in the entire story. The characters, plot, settings, and everything else seem like they were borrowed from earlier works, and everything is completely predictable, to the point where you're almost able to predict exactly how many paragraphs will be spent on each blazingly obvious plot point before moving on to the next one. I'll admit that the authors do a reasonably good job of capturing the emotional turbulence of an teenager who's lost his parents, but other than that, the writing in "Owlflight" is embarrassingly bad. The dialogue never even comes close to sounding like normal conversational speech (how many thirteen-year-olds do you know who say 'intoxicated' rather than 'drunk'?) Also, the authors don't maintain a good balance between internal introspection and plot movement. "Owlflight" is 350 pages long and contains only three action scenes. Most of the space in between is spent on characters endlessly wondering what they should say or do, wondering how other people will react to what they say or do, wondering how people have reacted to what they just said or did, and inevitably taking ten pages to communicate even the simplest point. Some people might defend "Owlflight" on the grounds that it's aimed at a 'young adult' audience, and thus shouldn't be judged by the same standards as real fantasy novels. My response to this is that there are plenty of authors out there who are capable of writing books that appeal to all age groups. I've never understood why some people insist that anyone under the age of fifteen should be satisfied with inferior work. Readers in that age group are actually capable of distinguishing good and bad books. If they get fed only predictable, mediocre nonsense like "Owlflight", they're likely to quit the fantasy genre before they even have a chance to read some of the world's greatest books.
Rating: 
Summary: Definitely a must read.
Review: A really good read. Had to stay up late to finish it. Another good start for a series??????
Rating:
Summary: Is This The End???
Review: After reading all except the very first couple of the 'Valdemar Series' books, I've come 2 love the tales woven by Mercedes with or w/out her husband, Larry. This one is reminiscent of Arrows Flight, wherein 'younglings' come of age & learn how 2 maximize upon the use of their 'Gifts'. Although I'm not finished w/the book at this writing, I felt compelled 2 do so just on the pure enjoyment I'm having so far & the surety that it keeps on getting better until the very end. I sincerely hope Ms. Lackey will continue in this vein & look 4ward 2 the next one! This CAN'T be the end, can it???!!!???
Rating:
Summary: Disapointingly average book seems padded for length.
Review: As a fan of the Valdemar series, I was surprised by the latest installment. The premise is interesting, but the plot is standard and extremely thin. The authors repeat the same scenes from two different perspectives, again and again, whether the action warrants it or not. It seems like a good start to a series, but if they didn't even have enough ideas for a full first book, maybe it should have been a short story or novella.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: As an owner of every one of Mercedes Lackey's books on the Valdemar Timeline, I must say that this and Owlsight rank up there with all the others! I give every one of her books five stars, and want to tell her that she has thousands of fans. I felt very connected to Darian and Keisha (Owlsight). I can't wait for Owlknight to come out so that I can snatch it off the shelf. Congrats on another winning trilogy, Ms. Lackey!
Rating:
Summary: I very much enjoyed this book.
Review: As I expected, I have had a GREAT time with my first read-through, and am currently relishing my first re-read. Mercedes Lackey has been one of my favorite authors for several years now. Only her collaboration with Piers Anthony (a fine, but incompatible author) and, to a lesser extent, her recent 'Firebird' have disappointed me. 'Owlflight' had a good mix of interesting protagonists and positive viewpoints. Although I would enjoy it if she should come up with a new idea about magic - whether in limitations or in adaptations - I found this to be a worthwhile addition to my carefully limited library, and to me well worth the hardcover price.
Rating:
Summary: Emotionally provoking
Review: Call me wimpy, but the book was quite touching, and made me pity the hero of the story, Darian. Or the more made me happy when he manages to forage a place of his own in the society. The cover illustration is very eye catching, I must say. Being a rather voracious reader of the Valdemar series, I strongly recommand this to all Mercedes Lackey fans. I find this better than her recent book, Oathblood and much more satisfying. I can't wait to read the next installment of Darian...
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, but not up to par
Review: I am a huge fan of Mercedes Lackey, especially the Valdemar novels, but I have no desire to continue this trilogy. I was entertained, yes, because I like the book's setting. However, I found myself not really caring what happened to the characters. (Very atypical of a Lackey novel. Including the Gryphon series, which was also co-written with Larry Dixon.) This might not be a bad place to start the Valdemar novels, but I would reccommend starting with "Arrows of the Queen."
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