In March 1987, a young author from Oklahoma published her first novel, Arrows of the Queen. This modest book about a magical land called Valdemar was the beginning of a fantasy masterwork series that would span decades and include more than two dozen titles. Now readers can travel to the world of Valdemar with Tanya Huff, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Fiona Patton, Rosemary Edghill, Judith Tarr, and others in these original stories, including an all-new novella from Mercedes Lackey.
Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar
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About the Author
Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the best-selling Heralds Of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly mediocre; C minus,
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This review is from: Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar (Kindle Edition)
Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar is the seventh anthology of short fiction set in Velgarth (not just Valdemar). It is the weakest of the seven. Several stories are further episodes in the lives of characters introduced in earlier anthologies, and invariably the newer stories are less interesting than the older ones.Most of the stories are okay at best, and most could have taken place in any world, not necessarily even a fantasy one. Lackey's own The Simple Gifts is an amusing tale of a man finding his vocation, competently written, having a few bits of Valdemaran local color. Edghill and McCune's Catch Fire, Draw Flame is undeveloped. Vaughan's In an Instant is inconsequential; it reads like an outtake from one of Lackey's own books (By the Sword). Cooper's Slow and Steady was good; it's hard to bring this sort of character off, and Cooper does it well. Story could've taken place in any pre-industrial setting (in which women are on a more-or-less equal footing with men). Paulk and Hoyt each have a further episode in the life of one of the change creatures, Ree, which have the virtue at least of belonging in the Velgarthian milieu. But the characters and situations are losing steam. The Bride's Task by Williamson and Sanders was interesting; I'd like to see the characters and situations developed further in a longer form (novella or novel, depending). Ohlander's Fog of War was the best story, with characters worthy of greater development to add dimension. I wanted to know more about them, where they're going and how they got there. Patton's Watchmen's Ball is essentially Irish cops in Haven. The story could just as easily have taken place in New York City or Boston around 1900. It has its moments, but it's pretty obvious where it's going. The other stories are mostly competently written, bland, and without a strong sense of place. There's a longish backgrounder at the end of the book by Larry Dixon. I read the first few pages and skimmed the rest. It's essentially the underpinnings of the world developed in the series published from the early 1990s on. Some may enjoy it. The book could've used one last edit and proofreading. This is more apparent in some stories than in others. These aren't OCR-conversion errors; it's just plain sloppy editing.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
First Book I've considered deleting from Kindle,
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This review is from: Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar (Mass Market Paperback)
Thoroughly disappointing. This string and the collegium books are a tired old rehash by her and Larry Dixon. I own 45 books by Mercedes and probably won't buy any more.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 stars pretty good but not great,
This review is from: Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a collection of shorts which are very variable in quality. If you are familiar with the Valdemar series this has some good reads but overall is not great. The last section on the world of Valdemar is a ery good read if you like the nuts and bolts of the story creation.This is not the place to start this series!
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