I have mixed feelings about this book. I like Darkwind and Elspeth a lot, and I like the overall storyline about Elspeth bringing magic (and the knowledge of the Tayledras) back to Valdemar. I liked the whole thing with the ruined Heartstone and Darkwind's struggles with his father. All of this was good.But I don't like how casually Lackey uses rape to get her point across. (Yes, we get it, Falconsbane is evil. Really, really evil.) I also don't like how easily rape victims in her books recover

Let it be known: Before I was an elitist literary bitch, I utterly adored fantasy books. Mercedes Lackey was the greatest thing in my entire eleven-year-old life.

3.5 starsLackey definitely does better when she focuses on a single main plot. Going back and forth between the two sides here left it pretty obvious how and when they were going to merge - and made me wonder just how quickly those Companions can ride because Elspeth and Skif got down there way too fast. This was a tighter story and faster-paced, and getting all the aspects of this story and conflict without having to rely on second- or even third-hand information allowed it to flow better.I was...

http://bookslifewine.com/r-winds-of-f...This is it. The book that started it all. The beginning of my Mercedes Lackey habit and my Fantasy journey. For me, Everything Valdemar begins with Elspeth. From my review of By the Sword : I first met Mercedes Lackey while browsing the stacks at the public library in my home town. I don't remember what grade I was in but I was somewhere in the area that covers both Middle and High school. Regardless, before Mercedes Lackey, I'd mostly read a lot of

If you're new to Lackey and the Valdemir series, I wouldn't begin with this book: I don't think the book, or the trilogy it is a part of, is the strongest in this series, and it would be a spoiler for the earlier trilogy that starts with Arrows of the Queen. Go back and read those first, and if you like them, I think you'll enjoy this tale of Elspeth, a character in earlier books, coming into her own. I enjoy Lackey's "Vows and Honors" series as well with Tarma and Kethry, and in the precursor t...

Suffers greatly from Elspeth becoming insufferable halfway through the book, and the "Worf"ing of poor Skif, who is written completely against character to serve the purposes of Elspeth's perspective and story.

Q:Townsfolk can get downright touchy over the occasional earth-elemental in the scullery. Can’t imagine why.... (c)

3/3.5 - this is a tricky one to rate! Headline - i enjoyed it. So this is my first Mercedes Lackey story and although I know it’s probably not the best place to start in her Valdemar series, I didn’t feel at a disadvantage. I effortlessly fell into this world and so far, i like what i read. The world building is intricate and we’re introduced to several different peoples in this world but at no point is it ‘info-dumpy’ nor are there large portions of the story intended to catch us up with the gr...

I think Mercedes Lackey was at an awkward point when she wrote this trilogy, because this (and the stand-alone novel By The Sword) is where she merged a variety of her fantasy settings together, and the result is a bit clunky. Pluses: the Companions, the BondBirds, and other animals. Lackey obviously loves animals a lot and it comes through in her writing. Her worldbuilding skills are excellent. Her narrative skills are not, but again, she set herself a hard task by trying to merge divergent sto...

awful lot of Mary Sue's and Gary Sue's and that's usually expected in high fantasy but this is nearly ridiculous. Best parts involved Darkwind and the Hawkbrothers. the worst was obviously Elspeth and the near unrecognizable character of Skif (changing his layered character into 'grunt Misogyny' was lazy writing, Lackey). The 180° relationship seemed less like Elspeth was, rightfully, asserting independence and more as if Lackey was going 'look at my strong female character. watch as she acts un...

I ordinarily love Lackey's Valdemar books, but I had trouble with this one. I'm guessing it's because it was published in 1991 and Lackey's writing skills weren't what they became later on. The skipping of focus from one character to another was maddening. I knew the two storylines would come together at some point but I couldn't stand being wrenched from one to the other. So I started bookmarking the Darkwind chapters and only read Elspeth until finally there was mention of Darkwind in an Elspe...

It was a re-read; I read this novel the first time long ago. A good, solid fantasy novel, it is much lighter than many recent novels of the same genre. Although I didn’t like the heroine, Elspeth, much – she is such a brat and she treats her friend Skif like dirt – the story flows nicely and pulls the reader in. I always liked the Tayledras, and this is as much their book as it is Elspeth’s. And of course the gryphons are pure delight.Off to the next book in the series.

Well, that took me forever to read. There was absolutely nothing wrong with this book, I simply didn't have time to read this week, and when I did, my back ached so much I had no desire to read. Bloody work and it's eating into my time to read! :/Anywho, I quite enjoyed this tale, although it definitely has the old school feel of Valdemar before things were truly established. I enjoyed seeing Elspeth and Darkwind finally meet, and getting more backstory for the books I've read recently. I love t...

As a multiple-rereader of this series, do not read this until you've read at least the Arrows trilogy (starting with Arrows of the Queen) and By the Sword (the other Valdemar books published before Winds of Fate are a great idea, too, but I'm just talking about the minimum). Now with that out of the way...Following about seven years after By the Sword, we follow two main characters: Elspeth of Valdemar and Darkwind of k'Sheyna, both with their own concerns. It's definitely something of a setup b...

Elspeth--the legendary Brat from the Heralds of Valdemar--goes traveling with Skif to find someone to teach the Heralds magic. Skif gets a character rewrite as a chauvinist to allow Lackey to preach, which I don't like because he was such an awesome boy when he and Talia were not!dating. Elspeth is ranty and not very sympathetic. I do like Darkwind, the Griffins, and the Tayledras culture--it is a nice break from typical fantasy fare.

I wish you died somewhere in these books Elspeth. I hate you. I don't think the books themselves sucked quite enough to give a 2, but it wasn't from lack of your trying, you wench.

3 stars, a mostly fun adventure but with some deeply questionable writing choicesThis is a harder entry in the Valdemar world to rate because part of it are really great. I like Elspeth and Skif and their shared adventure is a lot of fun but this book also does the semi cliche epic fantasy thing of introducing multiple POVs that don't all connect until close to the end of the book and I'm never a fan of that. Once everything connects, it gets substantially better though one recurring annoyance I...

It’s funny how 20 years and re-reading can change the way you experience a book. I still enjoyed this romp, but I wanted it to be something more, something deeper. Regardless, Mercedes Lackey is a prolific and talented author and I’ll be re-reading book two shortly!

I loved how this story pulls Elspeth, Skif, and Need together. I did not love the narrator on the Audible version. Several pronunciation errors. I especially wish the narrators across the Valdemar series could decide on on set of pronunciations for the words specific to Lackey's books.

Daren and Selenay are now married and have had a set of twins. Keep is now helping as the weapons master second. Elspeth has decided she wants to go look for mages to work for Valdemar, but until she is attacked by an assassin while on the grounds of the castle nobody thinks it's a good idea.She heads out with Skif, first towards her relatives in Rethwellin and Kero's old mage friends. But she feels that the companions and Skif have their own plans for where she should go. Along with the sword n...

Out of all of the Valdemar books, the Mage Winds trilogy - of which this is the first volume - is my most favorite.The book takes place in the reign of Selenay, where war with a formerly friendly nation is taking its toll. Herald Elspeth, heir to the throne, rides off with her companion at her side to find the training key to winning the war. For those wondering precisely when in the chronology it falls, the book takes up after the end of the Arrows trilogy, which is linked to this one by the st...

The novel begins with Elspeth training with armsmaster Herald Kerowyn and Herald Skif. Her practice is worth it, as shortly thereafter an assassination attempt is made on her life. When the Heralds realize Prince Ancar, who has attacked Valdemar twice already, is able to magic in assassins, Elspeth realizes Valdemar needs its own mage. There hasn’t been one in Valdemar since Vanyel died hundreds of years ago, and he was so afraid a mage would attack Valdemar that he set a spell that drives any m...

This book earns 3.2 out of five stars. This author was recommended to me since I love to read fantasy, but if this book is a fair representation of her stories, I don't know if I'll be seeking another of her titles in the immediate future.The beginning really dragged with two characters narrating the story who had no apparent connection. In fact, the first 1/4 of the book felt like backstory and setup. I was more than halfway through before I finally was sold on the story (I skimmed much of the

I was a bit of a Mercedes Lackey fanatic back in the day. I still re-read them from time to time just because I really like the characters. This particular trilogy in Valdemar is my favorite for that very reason. Having read 20 other books all with their own separate plots and characters and legends, its fantastic to see them all come crashing together in this one. Before you read it, make sure you've read the black griffon trilogy, which is actually kind of crappy and I blame it on her husband

This is the first book of Elspeth’s story—she’s the daughter of the queen Talia serves, who was the “brat” in Talia’s stories. Elspeth heads off to see whether she has any mage talent and learn how to be a Herald Mage (since she’s already a mage) in company of a Herald friend. And there’s a Tayledras mage, Darkwind, who won’t use his power anymore because he believes he did something wrong. And there’s a gryphon family who are his friends. And—well, there’s just lots going on. Elspeth doesn’t li...

This is the first book I read. It was the launching pad of my love for reading. It is a good book very well writin, good plot, with just a hint of sexual tone to make the teen i was stay on it.

Re-read. And, okay, they aren't great literature, but they're awesome for when your brain is mushy. I just wish Lackey's idea of a Sexy Man didn't look quite so... 1980s.

Getting too long, and getting trashier.

Back in the heady days of 2016, when some of us thought there might be a chance of electing a woman as president of the US (and yes, it matters that it is the president of the US and not some other country; lovely as it is that countries like Iceland have had female presidents, they're not empires, are they? What we need to see are presidents of empires, and running down women who run for those kinds of positions of power as not being trailblazers is just another way of kowtowing to the patriarc...

Again this series was recommended by a friend who responded to my dislike of a Valdemar trilogy I read previously. Here we meet Skiff, a name I transcribe as heard because I listened to these books rather than reading them. Skiff is a theif, redeemed by the Heralds when he was Choosen and trained to be an assassin. The reader gave him a Cockney Scottish I don't know what guttersnipe voice that seemed like all the others to gain in confidence throughout the three novels. I appreciate the hands fr...