Customer Reviews

Arrow's Flight

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Talia has finally achieved the rank of Herald, and must now prove herself in the field for a year-and-a-half. She is partnered with Kris, a handsome young Herald. As she sets out, seeds of self-doubt are sown in Talia's mind when Kris talks to her about her unusual Heraldic Gift of Empathy (the ability to sense emotions and even manipulate them) as a favor to his power-hungry uncle. The doubt eats away at her, slowly eroding her control over her Gift, and unleashing a dangerous force that Talia must learn to control if she is to assume her place as Queen's Own Herald...

"Arrow's Flight" is the second book in Mercedes Lackey's The Heralds of Valdemar Trilogy. I greatly enjoyed this book. It wasn't quite as good as the first and third books in this trilogy, but I think it sets up the stunning conclusion in "Arrow's Fall" absolutely perfectly. I found "Arrow's Flight" to be a much more emotional journey than its predecessor, "Arrows of the Queen." It's a wonderful tale of a growing friendship. Talia and Kris's interactions are realistic and entertaining.

However, I would not recommend this book to younger readers that might be uncomfortable reading about sex. The sex is minimal (one or two scenes), but I was almost taken aback by its presence. Be forewarned. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience reading this book.

This is volume two of the story of Talia, a young girl who becomes the Queen's Own Herald in the land of Valdemar. In the first volume, we leared of Talia's history in an abusive home and her being Chosen by a Companion and her training at the Herald Collegium. In this volume that story continues from the point where she receives her Whites as a full fledged Herald and must set out on her 18 month internship under the tutelage of a qualified Herald.

The beauty of this volume is that it is really all about the coming of age of Talia. The poor abused girl who is still very unsure of herself, has to deal with many challenges along the border's frontier. Most of her troubles are really internal as she has a unique Gift (Empathy) for which there are no existing rules or precedents. It does not help her that her hold on her Gift is actually quite tenuous. Throughout the book she struggles with herself.

The book is a wonderful story of how this insecure young woman becomes a mature and secure woman who is comfortable with her unique gifts, is comfortable with who she is, and sheds her inhibitions and fear of men as she spends the 18 months with Kris. While all of this is going on, she is also starting to realize that her true love is another man and we get to watch and observe her feelings for Dirk develop steadily even though Dirk is never present in the book itself.

This volume has restored my faith in this series. The first volume can now be seen as setting the context and filling in the history of this fascinating character. While I was not totally happy with the first volume - essentially its almost direct copying of an earlier trilogy - this second volume has gone in a totally different direction and was a wonderfully engrossing read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

Although this book was well-written, I couldn't help but be a bit bored with it.

This is the second installment of the Heralds of Valdemar series, and it feels like the middle chapter of a longer, more interesting story. This book lags quite a bit, and becomes down right boring in many sections. I found myself getting really frustrated, with Talia holding in her emotions, trying to gain control of her Gift, her odd love-hate relationship with Kris. For every step Talia took forward, she was taking a step back in the next paragraph. The scenes where she and Kris were doing their Heraldic duties were great, but an over-long "snowed in" sequence and too many incidences of Talia "holding it all in" just made the book too long.

The typos were annoying, too. Is Talia's friend and blood brother's name spelled "Skif" or "Skiff"? There are several incidences of both.

I love the characters, the world they live in and the Companions, and I think Misty's writing skill is fab, but
ultimitely, I felt this book could have been about 75 to 100 pages shorter and been more effective.

I am still enjoying this series, though, and look forward to completing this trilogy, and I can't wait to see what else Valdemar has in store.

Finally, after years of training, Talia has finally earned her whites. Now all that stands before her is a year and a half intership with Kris as her advisor. The 1 1/2 year goes by slowly. Monay things happen that try both her strength and will. Through snow and feelings of doubt, Talia finds new friends, confidence, control, and most importantly, the lessons she has learned.

In Arrows Flight, the second book in the Heralds of Valdemar Series, Talia has finally become a Herald. And like all other Heralds, she has to go through her year and a half training on the field. She's very nervous about this but is relieved when she is put with the kind Kris. Unfortunately for Talia she faces more challenges than she expects. Not only does she have the normal responsibilities of a herald but she's starting to doubt her gifts. Rumors are circulating in court that she's using them in unethical ways, and Talia isn't sure what's they consider to be ethical. No one has ever had gifts like hers before so there's no one to show her how to use them. To top it off Talia and Kris are forced to work for survival during a dangerous storm unlike one they've ever seen.

Although I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as Arrows of the Queen, the first in the series, Arrows Flight is still an amazing book about friendship, self discovery, and control. If you're a fan of the series, I recommend this book. Although it's not as suspenseful as the first book, It's very good.

How can a publisher of an almost 25 year book ask the same price for the Kindle ebook edition as a brand-new paperback?

This book is an excellent addition to the Valdemar series. It mixes seriousness with humor while making every character true-to-life.

I have read all three books of Heralds of Valdemar in a week. As one reader commented ,This is second book of a Trilogy and it shows. Talia becomes a full herald and starts normal internship for one and half year journey. She lost her control of gift.

Most of the story resolves around them going from town to town and lost of control of gift. Character build up is very well written. Learning more about typical herald duties help to understand World of Valdemar. Being a Dungeon Master myself, I liked these parts of story.

But there were some points, I disliked. A battle against brigands where 15 to 2 (well 4 with companions). Unrealistic combat.
Also when a healer understand that she lost her shields, she only tell them get your shields instead of helping her.

Overall trilogy was good.

I have to say that out of all of the books I have read by science-fiction and fantasy writers I think that Mercedes Lackey is one of the best. Her books never lose their excitement throughout the story. There is always another hidden story line that you will never notice until she comes out with her next book. I think that I have become rather addicted to her work and I am vigorously trying to get all of the books that involve the Heralds of Valdemar. I you like fantasy, you'll love this series of books

I've read this book several times, and it's worth reading. It's the second book in the "Arrows" series, and has a rather middle-book feel to it. The first and second books were pretty good, though -- and this one was just average.

There's no real climax to this book, in the plot. It stretches over Herald Talia's 1.5-year internship as a Herald, and pretty much just describes her "adventures" as they happen. It doesn't end with a bang -- the internship just is over, and she goes home. The main plot seemed to center on Talia controlling her Empathic gift -- and that really could have been skipped without detracting from the Arrows series. The trilogy really could have just consisted of two slightly longer books -- this one wasn't necessary for the overall Arrows plot.

There were a few things that irked me. The lack of a climax was the main thing. Also, there was one 'battle' scene, that seemed horrible to me. In it, Talia and Herald Kris -- just the two of them -- fight raiders. Ten to fifteen raiders. So, they're outnumbered at least five to one. Neither of them are spectacular fighters -- in fact, Talia doesn't do that well in her fighting classes. So why does she tell Kris that ten to fifteen are enough for them to handle? They succeed, of course, without even a serious, Healer-needing injury. Ms. Lackey needs to realize that the good guys don't always have the advantage in the battle just because they're...well, the good guys.

Overall, it was a decent book. I liked the character Kris, and if you go straight to Arrow's Fall (the best book in the series), it won't make any sense. Read it if you plan on finishing the series -- but not on it's own.