The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey

I have never considered myself to be the type to read fantasy. And by THIS kind of fantasy, I mean the ones with knights, magic, kingdoms,etc. A couple of years ago I was introduced to Tamora Pierce. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tamora Pierce and, as a result, I now love...THIS kind of fantasy book. I spoke with a former co-worker one day and she told me if I like Pierce (who writes teen books) that I would enjoy Mercedes Lackey. I checked out her books and felt a bit overwhelmed because she has a ton of trilogies and I had no idea where to start. This is the trilogy Courtney recommended I start with. The Heralds of Valdemar.

I absolutely LOVED this trilogy. I love to see the rise of the fallen, and I love main characters who are strong, yet are riddled with self-doubt.Talia is a phenomenal character who is easy to get to know, easy to relate to, and fun to watch grow. She had never even heard of the Heralds before and now she finds herself among them. And when she becomes one of them, she finds herself to be facing some unexpected challenges. I found I loved all of the characters who Lackey placed beside Talia, and kept having conflicting ideas of where I hoped the books would go.

This trilogy, once I picked it up, was very hard to put down. Over the years I have become horrible for not reading trilogies one book after the other. This trilogy converted me back to reading a series in order, one after the other. It was not even a conscious decision, I just could not get enough and HAD to know what was going to happen! I was actually quite sad when it ended and almost wish she had written more for these specific characters. I do not know if, like with Pierce, I will be reintroduced to some of the characters from this trilogy in future trilogies, but I sure hope so!

I am looking forward to my next Lackey reads, Exile's Honor and Exile's Valor, which are set in the same kingdom, so fingers crossed for some repeat appearances! I hope you will give Mercedes Lackey a try or recommend it to someone you know.

As always, thank you for reading my blog and HAPPY READING!