Valdemar series

by Mercedes Lackey. I was introduced to this series by my daughter and every couple of years I re-read it. This time, I started with Arrows of the Queen which is really in the middle.

Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight & Arrow's Fall all deal with Queen Selenay and her daughter. The problem is that the main character is NOT Selenay or her daughter, it is Herald Thalia. In order to read about Selanay before she became Queen, you need to read Exile's Honor & Exile's Valor. Which is about Alberich! Confused? Let me see if I can walk you through it....

In the beginning, Baron Valdemar choose exile rather than face the wrath of a selfish and cruel monarch. Many of his people went with him. The monarchs of Valdemar welcomed fugitives and fellow exiles along with the customs and habits of its people. The one rule which all monarch's ruled over their people was that "there is no one true way".

Baron, now King, Valdemar, knew himself to be a good and righteous and that his son was also but what of those that followed. What can he do now to protect his people when he is gone. The King went into the forest at night and prayed to every god he knew for help. His son went with him, and his best friend, the Kingdom Herald. Then three "horses" appeared before them. There was a mental bond between Companion (not a horse at all) and rider. There can only be one King, and only one Heir but there can be many Heralds.

So the Heralds came to be. The heir shall not truly be the Heir until chosen by a Companion who only chose those who were patient, unselfish, responsible and capable of heroic devotion to duty; plus had at least a trace of psychic ability. In this way the country will always be ruled by a patient & unselfish King.

It is possible to enjoy, even understand, a grouping of books without reading the whole thing but things that happen in the last group, are because of things that happened in the first group!

If you were to tell me that you didn't want to read all of them, only three, I'd say the Arrows trilogy. However, if you're willing to read more, start with Exile's Honor and then down the list. For a truly unique world, start at the beginning and enjoy.

Chronological Order
The Black Gryphon
The White Gryphon
The Silver Gryphon

Magic's Pawn
Magic's Promise
Magic's Price

Brightly Burning

The Oathbound
Oathbreakers
Oathblood

Exile's Honor
Exile's Valor
Take a Thief

Arrows of the Queen
Arrow's Flight
Arrow's Fall

By the Sword

Winds of Fate
Winds of Change
(there is a main happening in between books two and three but I can't find the book it's in and it helps so much in book three that it should be read here!)
Winds of Fury

Storm Warning
Storm Rising
Storm Breaking

Owlflight
Owlsight
Owlknight

I've read the Arrow's trilogy and Exile's Honor this month and will be starting Exile's Valor later this week. I hope to re-read AND review the whole series this year.