BookGirl's BookNook: Valdemar: The Hills Have Spies

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Valdemar: The Hills Have Spies - Review

Title: The Hills Have Spies

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Series: Valdemar: Family Spies #1

Synopsis: “Mags, Herald Spy of Valdemar, and his wife, Amily, the King’s Own Herald, are happily married with three kids. The oldest, Peregrine, has the Gift of Animal Mindspeech – he can talk to animals and persuade them to act as he wishes. Perry’s dream is to follow in his father’s footsteps as Herald Spy, but he has yet to be Chosen by a Companion.

“Mags is more than happy to teach Perry all he knows. He regularly trains his children, including Perry, with tests and exercises, preparing them for the complicated and dangerous lives they will likely lead. Perry has already held positions in the Royal Palace as a runner and in the kitchen, useful places where he can learn to listen and collect information.

“But there is growing rural unrest in a community on the border of Valdemar. A report filled with tales of strange disappearances and missing peddlers is sent to Haven by a Herald from the Pelagirs. To let Perry experience life away from home and out in the world, Mags proposes that his son accompany him on an expedition to discover what is really going on.

During their travels, Perry’s Animal Mindspeech allows him to communicate with the local wildlife of the Pelagirs, whose connection to the land aids in their investigation. But the details he gleans from the creatures only deepen the mystery. As Perry, Mags, and their animal companions draw closer to the heart of the danger, they must discover the truth behind the disappearances at the border – before those disappearances turn deadly.”

Review: Valdemar is my favorite series of books of all time. I talked about that in an earlier post (see that post here) so I won’t go into much detail about that in this review, but suffice to say that it helped me get through some hard times and was my first introduction to fantasy written for adults.

The Hills Have Spies is the first book in a new Valdemar series (Valdemar: Family Spies) which is pretty much a continuation of the series before it (Valdemar: The Herald Spy), which is about Mags, Amily and their friends. This new series is about Mags, Amily and their children. I love Mags so I was really excited for another series about him! This book focused a lot on Perry, Mags and Amily’s oldest child. He has the gift of animal mindspeech, which I think sounds amazing! There is a Kyree character that I absolutely love and made me nostalgic for The Vows and Honor series, I may have to go back and read that series after I finish book 2 in this series Eye Spy which comes out on Tuesday 7/9/19.

The Pelagirs have always fascinated me and I don’t feel like we have had enough stories about it during our travels through Valdemar, so I was excited to get to explore a little bit more. We got to meet quite a few new characters in The Hills Have Spies, and I found the interactions between Mags and Perry heartwarming and real feeling. The story is entertaining and the big bad is believably big, bad and scary. Returning to Valdemar is always a treat for me. I can’t wait for the next installment!

Publisher: DAW

If you like this book you may want to read:

If you haven’t read any Valdemar novels and want to start I recommend you start with one of these:

Vows and Honor Series (The Oathbound, Oathbreaker, Oathblood)