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Burning Brightly by Mercedes Lackey 
Take an adolescent misfit, uproot him from beloved
surroundings and place him in a situation where he’s bullied and harassed
mercilessly, throw in a latent psychic "Gift" and you’ve got a
recipe for disaster that’s been written about many times over. Despite the
familiar plot, Lackey takes this story and gives it some twists and turns that
keep it from becoming too trite.
This is one of Lackey’s most recent additions to
the multitude of stories she’s written about various eras of the kingdom of
Valdemar. If you haven’t read any of her earlier work, you may find some of
the story difficult to follow, since Lackey assumes you know and understand the
history of Valdemar; including their long-standing enmity with their neighbors,
the Karsites, and the mystical link between Herald and Companion. This doesn’t
mean the concepts are completely unclear, she just doesn’t go into in-depth,
step-by-step descriptions of everything she discusses. In fact, this book is
actually a return to a character referred to in stories set later in Valdemar’s
history. The awkward adolescent is Lavan Chitward, destined to be become the
legendary Herald Lavan Firestorm.
All that Lavan wants is to leave the capital city
of Haven and return to the countryside he loves. Instead, he is sent to a trade
guild school to help him sort out what he should do with his life. Rather than
being the help he longs for, school becomes a nightmare of torture and sadistic
bullying by older students. One day he is pushed too far and his latent talent
erupts with devastating consequences. Fortunately for Lavan, his Gift is
recognized as such, a Companion steps forward to claim him as her Chosen, and an
experienced Herald takes him on as student and trainee. Beset by guilt and
horror, Lavan gradually learns to control his Gift and accept the responsibility
of its awesome power. He also discovers love and friendship, as well as a sense
of purpose in his life.
Lackey’s writing is always interesting. This
story is no exception. The plot was well executed and Lackey’s descriptions
are thorough without being tiring. The cover art and interior artwork at the
beginning of each chapter was quite striking and related well to the story also.
Her main characters are well drawn and very realistic. The reader can relate to
Lavan’s troubles and doubts, since they are common to many during adolescence
and even beyond. I would have liked to have seen a bit more character
development in some of the minor characters but Lackey’s focus is almost
entirely on Lavan throughout the tale. There were some points in the story that
seemed rushed, almost as if the author was hurrying towards the conclusion, but
overall the pacing wasn’t too bad. However, the publisher and/or editor does
get some rather low marks for the errors strewn throughout the book. I found
numerous typos and even one occasion where several lines were repeated within
the same paragraph. Such errors weren’t sufficient to detract from a good
story, but I still find them to be an annoyance and disappointment.
Reviewed by Diane
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The Black Swan
by Mercedes Lackey 
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This was easily one of the best books I’ve read in a long time! Anyone who
has ever enjoyed the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm will be immediately drawn
into The Black Swan. Lackey is known for her strong heroines. In this
story she has two of them, along with an evil sorcerer, a wicked queen,
enchanted maidens and a handsome prince.
Baron von Rothbart, for reasons only partially explained, has taken it upon
himself to punish unfaithful maidens. The faithless women are forced to spend
most of their time as swans, only returning to their human form during the light
of the moon. The Baron’s daughter, Odile, is charged with tending to the
flock, led by the Swan Queen Odette. Odile is a sorceress in her own right, but
has yet to gain her father’s praise and approval, attention she desperately
craves.
During one of his journeys, the Baron strikes a dark bargain with a queen
obsessed with retaining rulership of her lands, no matter what the cost. When
the Baron announces that Odile and the flock will be travelling with him, she
believes this will be her chance to prove to her father just how responsible and
reliable she has become. Instead, it becomes a journey of enlightenment and
Odile begins to see her father and the flock, especially Odette, in a new light.
This novel is not as one-dimensional or moralistic as a fairy tale; rather it
is full of twists and turns. There is still a lesson to be learned, but in
Lackey’s tale the world is never black and white. The main characters are well
defined and the plot moves at a brisk pace. There were a few spots where Lackey
seemed to wander, hinting at another direction and then letting it drop, but for
the most part this didn’t detract from the storyline. Lackey has taken all the
elements of the fairy tales I knew and loved as a child, added lots of new
details and insights and woven it all into a wonderful, entertaining story. Make
sure to read it — your inner child will thank you!
Reviewed by: Diane
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The Serpent's Shadow
by Mercedes Lackey 
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This latest effort from Mercedes Lackey is set in
post-Victorian England, right around the turn of the century (last century, that
is!) when England was still a force to be reckoned with in India. Maya
Witherspoon is the intelligent, well-bred daughter of an English doctor and a
high-caste Indian sorceress. Forced to flee India after her parents’
mysterious and tragic deaths, Maya is trying to establish a new life for herself
in London. Trained as a physician by her father, her talents are augmented by
the strange and untrained magic running through her blood.
Maya faces a number of hurdles as she tries to
establish herself in this new land, not the least of which is her gender and
mixed blood. While not insurmountable, things become even more difficult when it
becomes clear that the enemy responsible for her parents’ deaths is now
pursuing Maya. Fortunately, Maya is supported by a number of friends and allies.
While some of the allies are the trusted servants she has brought with her from
India, others come in the guise of the unusual "pets" that were her
mother’s, and still others come from a secret and mystical brotherhood located
in England.
There’s a lot of "East meets West" in
this novel and a huge dollop of romance. I’m not sure what Lackey was actually
trying to do, but I found this book to be vaguely unsatisfying. She introduces a
lot of different elements — racism and prejudice, the women’s suffrage
movement, aristocracy vs. the common man, and Elemental magic, among others and
then tries to tie them all together with a love story on top of it all. The
story would have been better if she had narrowed her focus and concentrated on
just one or two of these themes. It’s not that I didn’t like the story or
the characters, but this novel just seemed rather shallow, as if Lackey was only
skimming the surface. The character development could have been more thorough
and the enemy is strictly a cardboard baddie. Some of the best scenes involve
Maya’s struggles to be taken seriously as a woman physician and her
involvement with the poorer class of patients. Lackey has explored the ideas
about Elemental magic and Masters of Earth, Air, Fire and Water in some of her
previous novels, including Fire Rose, and done a much better job of it.
In The Serpent’s Shadow, she tells you just enough to be intriguing,
but never really fleshes it out. Personally, I’d like to see a follow up novel
featuring some of the main and secondary characters and a more in-depth
examination of the magical forces she barely touches on here. All in all, this
wasn’t a bad story, but if you’re looking for something along the lines of
Lackey’s signature Valdemar series, you may be disappointed.
Reviewed by: Diane
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