Thursday, June 11, 2020

Valdemar: Spy, Spy Again - Review


Title: Spy, Spy Again

Author: Mercedes Lackey

Series:  Valdemar: Family Spies #3

Synopsis:  “In this third novel of the Family Spies series, set in the bestselling world of Valdemar, Herald Mags and Amily’s youngest child must follow in his parents’ footsteps to protect both his family and the realm.

     “Thirteen year old Prince Kyril and Mags and Amily’s fourteen-year-old son Tory “share” the Gift of Farsight – although neither of them are Chosen.  They are self-trained, though currently, their shared Gift only allows them to see what is happening with their immediate family members.

     “After much debate, the Herald’s Collegium has decided to test and train them anyway.  That’s when the surprises start.  They do not share a single Gift; they have two complementary Gifts working together in a way that the Heralds have never seen before.  Tory is the Farseer – Kee’s Gift is to extend his range beyond a few dozen feet.

     “Their Gifts become crucial when Mags gets a desperate message from his cousin Bey, the head of the enigmatic assassin-tribe, the Sleepgivers.  Bey’s eldest daughter has been kidnapped, but he doesn’t know why or by whom.  He’s calling in the debt Mags owes him to find his daughter before it’s too late.

     “Tory is certain that if anyone can find her, he can.  But that will mean traveling out of Valdemar into an unknown, dangerous country.

     “And it will mean taking a Royal Prince with him.”

Review:  I loved this novel.  This should come as no surprise to most of you.  In case you don’t already know Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors and her Valdemar series is my Favorite series.  You can read about my emotional attachment to Valdemar in a previous post here.  But just know that if I were told I could leave this world and go to Valdemar, but I would have to leave everyone and everything behind, I would go.  I know in my heart that I am a herald of Valdemar and that I belong there. 

     Mercedes Lackey does some of the best world building and character development out of all of the different authors that I read.  This novel is no exception.  We get to learn a lot more about the Sleepgivers and Rethwellan.  As always our main characters face some trials and have to make some hard choices.  There are some new elemental characters that we haven’t experienced before, and some startling revelations about our characters that may open up new possibilities for future novels. I am a little bit sad that this is the third book in the series, and Mags and Amily’s youngest child, so I am assuming it concludes the Family Spies series.  Valdemar novels are all about how hard work, choosing the right friends, and making the right choice instead of the easy choice, are always worth it in the end.  They are about doing the right thing, and that is how I live my life.  I hope that there are new Valdemar novels in the works, because I love having them to look forward to.

***I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Publisher:  DAW

If you like this book you may want to read:

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

 

The Arrows Trilogy (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow’s Flight, Arrow’s Fall)

 



OR


The Collegium Chronicles (Foundation, Intrigues, Changes, Redoubt, Bastion)

 





If you’ve read the Valdemar novels and are looking for something similar:

 


The Quarters Quartet by Tanya Huff


The Green Rider Series by Kristen Britain


The Chronicles of the Necromancer by Gail Z. Martin


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