# Mercedes Lackey



## SeverinR (May 31, 2011)

I love every book I have read by Mecedes Lackey.

Currently reading:
Dragon Jouster's series.
Just beginning Sanctuary.

I think the reason I like her books, they don't start out epic.  

--The igorant little guy stumbles on a quest to save the world and no one else can do it for no other reason than "its in the script".---

1st book-slave trying to find freedom.
2nd book-dragon boy trying to find a home
3rd book-jouster trainee tries to fight an unjust national goverment
4th book(not sure, just recently found it wasn't a trilogy.)


----------



## JoanofArch (Jun 16, 2011)

I keep seeing her books in the library and telling myself I'm going to try them out...and then I forget. But I definitely need to get on it, I keep hearing great things.


----------



## SeverinR (Jun 28, 2011)

I would not recomend "Phoenix and the ashes" as a first book.

It is Cinderella in WWII with secret mages.  I liked it, but would seem kind of cliche for a first book.
I would recommend:

Dragon jouster series(Joust is the first)
The mage wars(The black Griffon is the first)
Obsidian triology (Outstretched shadow)


----------



## Map the Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

I almost feel guiltly for the lack of Mercedes Lackey in my personal library of thousands. I promise I am not being sexist; I have many female, even feminist, authors in my collection that crosses genres, but no Lackey. 

So, for her fans...is she ranked among the greats (Jordan, Tolkien, etc.) or below them. I've read some of her shorts in various collections, but none of her true works. If you all had to pick one...just one for now, what should I read?


----------



## CicadaGrrl (Jul 17, 2011)

I would pick "Arrows of the Queen."  I love that book and read it about once a year.

That said, that is the only Lackey book I like.  The rest of them--she sets up pretty good situations but just isn't that great of a writer.  One of her sex scenes made me swear, swear at twelve years old, how I would never write a sex scene.  So I guess she's been an influence in that sense.


----------



## Ravana (Jul 17, 2011)

I read _The Last Herald Mage_ trilogy; while I liked it, I think she would get old quickly if taken in large amounts. (I encountered the same problem with Katherine Kurtz, who managed to hold my interest _just_ enough to make it to the end of one of her trilogies.) At any rate, it didn't inspire me to seek out the rest of her works.


----------



## Telcontar (Jul 17, 2011)

I read The Black Gryphon early on, and it is a wonderful book. She co-wrote it with someone else, though their name escapes me. 

When I went to read the sequel, though, it wasn't particularly good, and I never finished it. Haven't sought out any more from her.


----------



## SeverinR (Jul 18, 2011)

I just finished...wait was there an ending? "Foundation."
She breaks to many rules in this one.
The book ends with the only conclusion being a small sub-plot that was unrelated to the rest of the story. (at least within the confines of this book.)
I looked online and many people had the same feelings.
I liked the book, but it was not the normal stand alone book.  I would even say it is a weak trilogy ending.

So this would be another book I would not recommend.  But she does have a large number of books out there.


----------



## Amanita (Jan 24, 2012)

I've started reading the first book of "Arrows of the Queen" and I'm not quite sure what to think about it at the moment. I like stories about girls discovering that they have secret powers and I like horses  but still... 
The story fails to grip me at the moment. It's no problem for me whatsoever to put the book down after reading one chapter which clearly indicates that it's lacking in suspense. Besides that, she's making some of the same mistakes that have made me become frustrated with my own story at the moment: Way too much description of people, rooms and schedules at the magical academy without anything interesting happening. 
I also dislike the frequent jumping between points of view, a few sentences from the MC, a few from the teacher, a few from another girl and so on. If the main character is scared of that stranger she's just met, I don't want to know that he's worried about her being so shy and caring for her just now. It's a problem Trudy Canavan has as well in her own writing. If a protagonist is scared of someone, letting the reader know that there's no reason for it, isn't a good idea.

I'll probably read this trilogy though, maybe something is going to happen soon.


----------



## Steerpike (Jan 24, 2012)

The only book I've read by Mercedes Lackey is _Magic's Pawn_. I liked it, but it didn't entice me to buying the next book in the series. I will have to give her work another try.


----------



## ThinkerX (Jan 30, 2012)

I've read a fair number of her books - probably most of the 'Valdemar' ones, but also some others.  I became tired of certain issues cropping up over and over again, and finally stopped reading her books.

First off, she has very few developed 'evil' characters.  There are a few that are very well done, but most of the others are either 'misunderstood' or walking plot devices - they show up because the protagonist needs a challenge, have no future, and leave no footprints.

Also, quite a number of her books have conspiracies as the 'antagonists'...but except for the big reveal at the end, these also have no future and leave no footprints.  No mention as to why dozens of powerful people would sign up with such an organization.  Nobody turning up in the next book or the book after trying to clear their parents name, or former conspirator trying to redeem himself or herself, and so on and so forth.


----------



## Amanita (Mar 4, 2012)

I've finally finished the first book of the Arrows series. I'm quite fond of the main character and of some of the others, therefore I'm going to read the sequels, but I probably wouldn't have bought them, if they weren't as inexpensive as they are. 
The plot is severely lacking in my opinion, there are only a few moments of suspense and no mounting tension or anything of the sort at all. The most dangerous thing happening to the main character is being tossed into an icy river, a scene which lasts for about a chapter. 
Besides that, she only finds out about important events from others and tries to comfort them, we never find out who the people tossing her into the river where and why they did it and the magic parts aren't detailed enough to create a plot either. 
The love story doesn't really work out either, she keeps falling asleep before she can go down to business with her supposed boyfriend. Not that I'm into pornographic descriptions but the repetition of this got on my nerves after a few times.. Lackey surely could have found another way of showing that they're only seeing each other as friends.


----------



## ThinkerX (Mar 5, 2012)

As memory serves, 'Arrows of the Queen' was one of the first written 'Valdemar' novels.


----------



## Aravelle (Oct 22, 2012)

SeverinR said:


> I would not recomend "Phoenix and the ashes" as a first book.
> 
> It is Cinderella in WWII with secret mages.  I liked it, but would seem kind of cliche for a first book.



I tried reading it, and just couldn't. I liked the idea enough, but I hated the soldier's last name.. Fenyx. It was just tacky, and there was something about the writing overall I didn't like. I'm willing to give the Dragon Jousting series a try though.


----------



## dangit (Oct 25, 2012)

I've read quite a few of her novels and I have to say arrows of the queen isn't the best but it does pick up in the second book and it's also her debut from the 80's. The best Valdemar book I've read was probably to take a thief it's about Skiff (you know her boyfriend). My favorite's of hers are the Dragon jousters series or the Elemental Masters series. Hope that helps.


----------

