Customer Reviews

Exile's Valor: A Novel of Valdemar

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I should start out by saying that I may have given this book more stars than it deserved, and was highly tempted to give it only three--the reason I didn't is that three seemed too low, just as four seems too high. This is a difficult book to rate, because I believe how well a reader will enjoy it depends quite a bit on just how familiar they are with the world of Valdemar and with Mercedes Lackey fandom in general.

Like several recent Valdemar books (and its own prequel, _Exile's Honor_), this one is set in a space of history which was alluded to in the early novels; now we have a chance to see just how the events unfolded, and get to know some characters--Selenay, Alberich, and Talamir, among others--in greater depth than ever before. This can be a fun experience for the Valdemar fan. I enjoyed seeing Selenay as a young Queen, and Talamir as he is after the tragedy he suffered in _Exile's Honor_; the glimpse of Karathanelan and exploration of Selenay's doomed marriage were also worthwhile. Alberich remains a colorful and interesting character. I did think more space was spent on the game of Hurlee than it needed or deserved, which could have been better spent on plot... but then, I'm not a sports fan.

These are the good aspects, and if you concentrate on those the book deserves four stars. I should also mention that this wouldn't be a bad book for those new to the Valdemar series (though I'd suggest reading _Exile's Honor_ first if nothing else): it's a light, engaging romp, and a decent introduction to Valdemaran governance--and if you haven't read many of the other books, you're less likely to be bothered by the many and myriad consistency errors here.

This was one of my two main quibbles with _Exile's Valor_. It appears that Lackey really, *really* skimped on her homework, and that no editor made any effort to clean up the mess. As far as external consistency goes: what happened to Karathanelan's nickname (previously 'Thanel,' not 'Karath') and eye color (Elspeth, whose eyes are brown, was previously said to have her father's eyes)? And how exactly are two blue-eyed parents supposed to have produced a brown-eyed daughter anyway? My erstwhile Genetics professor would probably have something interesting to say about that. Also, _By the Sword_ clearly states that Karathanelan's father died *after* his son's antics in Valdemar and subsequent death--in fact, Thanel's hijinks were what caused his father's collapse. So it's rather confusing to see Megrarthon kicking the bucket months in advance of the entire episode here. Internal consistency doesn't fare much better; Lackey can't seem to make up her mind which of a pair of troublemaking students is a Herald-Trainee and which a Bard, and switches their roles twice! First Mical was the Herald, then Adain, and then Mical again. Shouldn't some editor have caught that? Having so many errors makes the book look sloppy (IMHO) and causes some points of confusion where it openly conflicts with other volumes.

The second quibble is another one which may be less apt to bother those who aren't so familiar with Lackey fandom: the existence and predominance of the character Myste. As other reviewers have mentioned and as Lackey has herself confirmed in the short story "After Midnight" (which appears in a DAW anniversary anthology), Myste is Misty Lackey herself. She appears to go so far as to share not only the author's name, but also her physical build and possibly her general personality. In fanfic this would be called a 'Mary Sue,' and probably looked down upon as self-indulgent. I find it, if anything, even more self-indulgent here. At least in _Exile's Honor_ and _Take a Thief_, Myste wasn't always at the forefront--but in _Exile's Valor_, she has the solution for *everything*! Everyone relies on Myste to solve all their problems! She's one of the heroes of the entire Karathanelan affair, never mind that this makes the lack of any mention of her up until the preface of _Winds of Change_ awfully hard to explain! And she gets the male lead as her love interest! Good gods, but that gets old. I firmly believe this book would have been much, *much* better if Myste had not been in it, or at the very least if her role had been seriously downplayed. Come on, ML--Selenay has a lot of scholars and Collegium Heralds at her disposal. I found it hard to swallow that she or anyone else would really think to themselves that *only Myste* could possibly be able to untangle any of the knotty intellectual problems facing Our Heroes. Jeeze.

In short, this isn't the strongest Valdemar novel, and is unfortunately plagued by a host of minor problems. However, it may be a fun read despite that--it depends on what the reader is looking for, and how much the errors bug him or her. They bugged me a *lot* (obviously ;) but I still liked the novel enough that I look forward to rereading it in time. My advice: get this one in paperback or from the library if you like the sound of its story, but don't expect it to be either the best or the worst work that Lackey's ever done. And if you decide to make this your first Valdemar novel, you may want to give the series another try by reading an earlier book (I would recommend the Last Herald-Mage trilogy) should you find this one not to your taste.

Exile's Valor is the second novel in the Exile's subseries, following Exile's Honor. In the previous volume, the Valdemarans have decisively defeated the Tedrels and Alberich has led a raid to recover captive children from the Tedrel main camp. King Sendar and his companion have been killed in the engagement and Talamir's companion has also been killed. After the battle, Selenay is proclaimed as Queen and leads the combined funeral and victory march back to Haven.

In this novel, six months later, Alberich is now highly regarded by most Valdemarans for his exploits during the war against the Tedrel. As Weaponsmaster, he is finding his students less reluctant and better behaved. As internal security chief, he is finding less interest in buying intelligence about Valdemar and more in buying intelligence about her neighbors and trading partners. The economy is picking up and trade is becoming more important than warfare.

However, boys will be boys and a couple of high-spirited and high-energy scamps manage to break one of the wall mirrors in the salle by using a theatrical fighting style. The boys are sent to work in the glassworks for a while to give them an appreciation of the value of the mirror and Alberich learns where the boys had been observing this flamboyant style of fighting. Out of curiosity, he attends a performance of the acting troop and happens to notice that papers were passed covertly during the performance. Alberich quickly determines the name of the actor, but has little luck in identifying the young aristocrat.

Meanwhile, Alberich accidently creates a new sport, Hurlee, that becomes a overnight success. The various trainees are strong enamored with the new sport, either as players or spectator. At least, the threat of being barred from participation is a potent goad toward better behavior and scholarship.

Selenay is having problems with her council. They are pressing her to marry and she is not ready yet. Besides, none of the candidates presented by the council are suitable, much less desireable. Then the Rethwellan ambassador introduces her to Prince Karathanelan.

This story shows the continued assimilation of Alberich into the Heralds and Valdemar itself. He has gained respect and power as Weaponsmaster and war hero. He has two jobs that are both significant and satifying. And he has found love with Myste, the Herald Chronicler.

Highly recommended for Lackey fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of court intrigue and adventure in a fantasy setting.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Some may accuse me of being picky, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped. I've been a longtime reader of the Valdemar books, but this book was sloppy and there was insufficient attention paid to the essential themes of the book. Alberich and Selenay have virtually no interaction, despite the close relationship they built in Exile's Honor. This seems at odds with the way they had worked together in the past-- that Selenary looked to Alberich for advice and trusted him as someone to confide in-- and yet here, she is never seen to interact with him, and he never does anything to address his own concerns about her situation with her. I'd have thought that Alberich would be more interested in protecting Selenay by having straight talks with her about what needed to be done, but in EV, he backs off of any interaction with her, and develops a discomfort with women that is cited as the reason why he doesn't tell Selenay his concerns. He comes across as a weaker person for all that.

Selenay, for the purposes of continuity with the stories later on, where she admits to being infatuated with her prince and making a bad decision in marrying him, nonetheless comes across as more of a whiner than I think was intentional. It's one thing to mourn your lost father and want romance like any other girl, but Selenay turns into a mopey, whiny, self-absorbed git which bears no relationship (or any point of departure) from the self-possessed and likable young Heir in Exile's Honor.

There are a lot of distracting elements to the story which are built up as if the character is going to be of great import, and which draw away from the main thrust of the story. Sure, it's nice that there's a Tedrel orphan/heraldic trainee who idolizes Alberich, but the deviation adds nothing to the story. We already know Alberich knows how to be nice to scared little kids, from Talia's interactions with him later on. There are several subplots and story elements in the story like this, which make the overall narrative disconnected and distracting. Likewise, much as it's nice that (SPOILER) Alberich has a potential love interest, the scenes are awkwardly written and not believable in terms of the way that Alberich reacts in those situations. He's not Don Juan, and I don't think any Lackey fan expects him to be, but he's portrayed as more awkward than he should be, and it detracts from his character.

Given Lackey's penchant for bringing characters and themes back in other stories, this all _might_ have had a point if she hadn't already written the books in which none of these side characters or issues play any role whatsoever, but since she's pretty much "filled" the stories of Selenay's reign in already, all the extra characters distract from the flow of the book, and contribute to the impression that this was something that Lackey pushed out the door without sufficient editing. And many of the resolutions are too pat, with not enough build-up-- we're told something might happen, then the focus shifts to another story line, and then all of a sudden the suspicious thing occurs, without any real denoument or climax. Not one of the worst Lackey books, but not up to the quality of some of the other books in the series.

To think, long, long ago (back when the Mage Winds books were being released), I used to rush out to the bookstore whenver a new Mercedes Lackey book was released, and buy it in hardback. And that was when I was a college student, and didn't have a lot of money. Now, I will occasionally check one of her books out of the library. In case anyone is interested, it was the Mage Storms trilogy that cured me of hardback buying. I still enjoy a few of her books (I admit to a sneaking fondness for the Elemental Masters series and Bedlam's Bard), but I've been so disappointed in so many of her books, that I often don't bother to read the new ones.

If only this book was one that I decided to skip! Even though I didn't spend any money on this book, due to the aforesaid policy of checking her books out of the library, I still am sorry that I read it, since it wasted valuable time that I might have more profitably employed in more rewarding activities such as mopping the kitchen floor. The burning question I have is did Ms. Lackey even bother to reread her earlier books before writing this one so as to keep her basic timeline straight? But then, there's no need to ask Ms. Lackey such a question, because the answer is clearly a resounding NO.

Most of the other reviewers have mentioned this as well, so I don't need to spend a lot of time on it, but it is incredibly annoying. It shows a sloppiness which an author of Ms. Lackey's experience certainly should not be engaging in, as well as disrespect for the fans who loved the earlier books and eagerly anticipate the release of each new installment in the series. Does she think that the fans are so stupid that they wouldn't notice? And it's not just one or two minor incidents, it's practically the whole timeline of the book. The marriage of Selenay and Karath, and his plot to seize the throne from her, is described as developing over several years in the Arrows of the Queen trilogy, but it's all compressed into a few months in this book.

As for the character of Myste... It seems like she is included only as a chance for Ms. Lackey to share some of her fantasy life with everyone. Sorry, I really didn't need to know that. And not only that, the character is just so annoying! Smug, self-righteous and an intolerable know-it-all.

Which rather segues into my next complaint, which is the nauseating preaching that Ms. Lackey can't seem to produce a book without these days. Yes, Misty, everyone agrees that child abuse is bad, and that tolerance for different beliefs is good, and that everyone should be treated equally. But we don't need to be beat over the head with it when we are reading a fantasy novel. While her earlier books certainly hit upon these themes, she used to not let it get in the way of the story. In most of her recent books, the story is subordinated to pages and pages of blatant sermonizing. Again, does she think her readers are stupid, or that they will rush out to commit heinous crimes without the benefit of her preaching?

And then, as if everything else weren't enough to spoil the book, there's just the overall poor writing quality. This book, like so many of her others, reads like she rushed to produce a first draft, and sent the first draft to the publisher without even taking the time for a little basic editing and proof-reading.

All in all, a poor book which demonstrates the decline of an author I used to whole-heartedly enjoy.

Exile's Valor is the follow up to Lackey's recent Exile's Honor. It is the continuing story of Herald Albereich and gives us a look into the young Queen Seleny's life after the death of her father and leading up to the birth of Elspeth.
While it is nice to have prequel material to the Arrows of the Queen series provided to us die hard Valdemar fans, I am dismayed that the minor "vanity" character Lackey created in previous Valedemar works has been given a major role in this book *there is no doubt about this, given the character's name is Myste*. Exile's Valor seems to be more about Lackey's indulging in private fantasies than in really telling a story that is a good addition to the Valdemar Canon. If a third book in the Valor series is forthcoming I will most likely check it out at the library rather than buy it. By all means pick up "Joust", "Alta" and "The Fairy Godmother" by Lackey however. All 3 are cracking good and should be added to any fantasy library!!

I have been reading and rereading the Heralds of Valdemar series since I was Talia's age in 'Arrows of the Queen,' so I was very excited to pick up 'Exile's Valor.' But then I read it. This book actually made me angry - there are so many gross errors in it that I cannot possibly believe that Mercedes Lackey wrote it - there had to be a ghost writer. I had to go back and read the 'Arrows of the Queen' series to cleanse my palate! And who the heck edited this thing? He or she should be fired! HOW could the mix-up between the bardic and the heraldic trainee have occurred? Who is in charge of story continuity? Your ghost writer ought to read The Valdemar Companion, Misty. It might help. There was also too much coincidence - just as one character though of something, another character would come in and say the exact same thing the first character was thinking. Or, "There's a problem here only X can solve - well, looky here, it's X!" How convenient!
I read the reviews here on Amazon before I actually bought the book, and now I wish I had taken the advice of one reviewer who said to check it out from the library, or at least waited until the paperback version came out. If you are a huge fan and have everything Lackey has written about Valdemar, do yourself a favor and wait for paperback - trust me! If you are just getting started with Lackey (and you should - she's really a very good writer), I recommend reading these books in the order they were published, not necessarily in order of the Valdemar timeline.

worth reading if you want to find out how the story continues from Exile's Honor. What bugged me about this book was all the filler - the details about daily life in Valdemar. While it was nice, it read like a Jean M. Auel book (the Clan of the Cave Bear series) with all the pages upon pages of description that did nothing to move the plot along. I enjoy Lackey's books because their plots usually move along quickly. That doesn't happen here. I would have preferred a shorter book without all the stuffing. I had to plough through a lot of this one; usually I inhale her Valedmar books.

It doesn't bother me that she had a character that was obviously based on herself - I thought Myste was interesting, and it was, I thought, pretty cool to have a Herald who was heroic in a different way from what we're used to seeing from Heralds. I also liked seeing Alberich have a little romance - it rounds him out as a character.

I have no doubt that some sad fate will befall Myste in the next book. I imagine the next one will take us right up to the events of Arows of the Queen, which means that longtime fans already have some idea of what will happen in the next book. That's fine with me. I just hope that the next one isn't so hard to get through.

EXILE'S VALOR is impossible for me to rate outright, as there are several continuity errors that cause problems in the Heralds of Valdemar series.

But as a stand-alone book, or as a sequel to the superlative EXILE'S HONOR, it's quite good.

Which makes it tough to review, but I'll give it my best.

In EXILE'S HONOR, Alberich of Karse finds a new home, a new job, and many new friends. He also finds out most of what he thought he knew about Valdemar was dead wrong; the Companions are not demons (as the priests of Karse had said), the people of Valdemar are much like his own people of Karse (which also certainly wasn't what the priests believed).

And EXILE'S VALOR continues to show Alberich as he gets more settled with his new job, his new home, and his new friends. Along the way, he tries to help the young Queen Selenay cement her rule, and helps to train many young people in the art of war -- praying the whole time that they'll never be needed.

Alberich, his Companion Kantor, his lover Myste (whether she's based on Ms. Lackey or not), and the other Heralds, Bards and people-at-large are real, vivid and extremely interesting to read about.

But then, there's the downward side, which is that this is a book that has an already well-established backstory, and EXILE'S VALOR doesn't seem to adhere to that backstory as well as one might wish. In addition, I don't understand how the mixup from the Bardic trainee to the Heraldic trainee (and then not being certain afterward, either) could have happened; this should have been caught by someone in editing.

The story -- if taken alone, or in sequence only with EXILE'S HONOR -- would be a four star story; very good, and recommended. As it stands, I still recommend the book for the writing, the believability of the characters, and the intricate weave-through of plots.

But I feel I can only give it three stars (and at that, I'm rounding up considerably because of my respect for the writing and the writer) because there are just too many continuity errors with stories written far earlier (especially the "Arrows" trilogy and the stand-alone "By the Sword").

The bottom line here is, do you want the quality of the writing, or do you want the continuity? If you get very upset by continuity errors, skip this book for now; if you don't care much about continuity errors (after all, MZB made quite a few, and told people who complained to just live with it), get it now. The writing is exemplary, and Alberich is a great character.

But it's really too bad we can't have both things, as in other, earlier, books, Ms. Lackey has been able to remember her own backstory.

Barb Caffrey

Although Valdemar defeated the Tedrel invaders, the nation is still troubled, providing plenty of work for weapons master and spymaster Alberich. Selenay, the young queen, misses her father and dreams of romance--to the point where she is unwilling to listen to reason. Not that anyone bothers trying to reason with her. She is the Queen, after all, and the country needs an heir.

EXILE'S VALOR follows shortly after the events described in EXILE'S HONOR. VALOR is a smaller story--one of court intrigue, spies, and attempts to gain political advantage through love. For me, the plot seemed to barely get off the ground for the first two hundred pages. Excruciating detail of Selenay's unhappiness might seem necessary to justify her rash decision to fall in love with the first handsome man to pay attention to her, but it is still excruciating for the reader. Similarly, details of Alberich's shopping trip for new disguises are the type of information that could only appeal to the most avid Valdemar fan.

In EXILE'S HONOR, author Mercedes Lackey dug deep into character goals and motivation. In VALOR, she focusses more on the surface. For me, the result was not up to Lackey's usual teriffic example. Fans will want to read this one and stay current, but it isn't Lackey's best.

Lackey writes a great story which talks about the weaponsmaster Alberich and his history leading up to the other books in this great series. Every time I see a new lackey book dealing with Valdemar I buy it. Alberich is not a weak person in this book despite what some people have said. He lets her deal with her own problems. He protects her by going under cover to find out what might harm his Queen. Lackey makes great connections to what is only referred as history in her other books. I hope she keeps on writing more Valdemar books because I know I will keep on buying them.