Customer Reviews

The Valdemar Companion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Valdemar Companion has many details that would excite any fans of Misty. From the new short story about an "ordinary" herald, interviews with Mercedes and the editor Betsy, a discussion of how the works become music, a description of the online Valdemar where you can become a Herald, the "traveler's guide" where you get a better picture of the landscape, the summaries of all the Velgarth books up to Take a Thief, a discography of all the albums, and a concordance of virtually every character in her books, up to Take a Thief.

Even with all this wonderful information, I wanted more... Other than the wonderful cover art of Vanyel, the only artwork in the Valdemar Companion was the detailed maps of Velgarth. This from the series that would have a picture of the characters every chapter. I wanted more on the myths and legends of Velgarth and how it shaped that world. Perhaps even descriptions of all the different beings in Velgarth (with pictures) like the Companions, gryphons, kree, firecats, bondbirds, etc. Ha! Even a list of Shin'a'in proverbs! In short, I wanted more details of Velgarth, how it was put together, to learn all the details that makes it unique that you can't glean from the novels.

For those who have not read all her books, there will be spoilers. And for those of us who have read all her books, it's nice to have as a reference as you are rereading her books. Though, is it worth the price of a hardback? I suppose it depends on how great your need to have a complete collection...

All in all, I would have preferred if the Companion came out a little later (maybe after Exile's Honor so it could have included any info from that), with more thought on what the readers want.

I am not impressed with The Valdemar Companion. It starts off OK, with a general overview of how the concept of Valdemar came to be and a novella about a
young Herald Trainee, but after that it broke down.

The next chapter was an interview with Mecerdes Lackey, there was nothing there that any fan here doesn't already know. THen followed a long and wordy
description of every region of Valdemar. Rather than the descriptive but interesting way Jody Lynn Nye handled the Pern information, it was really dry, like a college
textbook.

After that was a map of Velgarth, I was rather confused if Velgarth is the world or simply a continent on that world, ther is no indication of oceans, only a couple
small seas, not enough to generate a decent weather pattern. In addition there was little or no indication of how the two maps fit together.

The last chapter was an index of places, characters and words that is useful to a newbie to Valdemar but to a veteran of the series it was just a little blurb.

All in all I was rather disappointed and I'm considering returning the book. The only reason to keep it is the novella at the beginning.

Best purchased by fans who have bought any of the Gryphon books, the Herald books, or the Oath books. The Novella is good. The Traveler's guide is humorous (and like any travel guide contains a few errors!). I found the interview with Ms. Wollheim a bit interesting. (She would like to see more of Vanyel too.) The story excerpts are good - I had to be careful not to read the ones for the few books I have yet to read. The maps were too few, and not area/city maps like I'd hoped. And necessarily the concordance is a little dry (they mention ALMOST every character mentioned in the books, even though some of those characters were NEVER fleshed out).
If you want to be able to quickly refresh about a particular Valdemar novel, or find a certain character, THIS is the book for you. (No, you can't have my copy. It may not be a 5, but it's still mine.)

After much hesitation, I finally picked up The Valdemar Companion with a Christmas gift certificate. If you have read and enjoyed the Valdemar series, please DO NOT bother with this book. The novella was dull and tried to cram the training of a Herald (from age 12 to 20) in less than forty pages, a task which the author used to devote an entire trilogy. While perhaps, this 'average' Herald doesn't have enough importance to rate a series, I would have preferred to read a well developed story, with some character development rather than trite anecdotes. The interviews, travel section, and music section read as though they were slapped together in a hurry, if you really want to know about this series, ask someone who has read them instead. The music section listed only the ballad titles, I would have appreciated a re-print of the lyrics (which are found in the last book of the Arrow's, Oath, and Magic trilogies). Finally, the concordance, (a glossary of people and things) was incomplete at best, and inaccurate at worst. Minor walk on characters were given as much space as major players, there was no organization or cross reference of Heralds with their companions.
As a fan of the author I have been disapointed with her latest books (although I do recommend Exile's Honor, its probably the best released in the last five years) The concordance is not worth your money

I picked this book up in a bargin bin, and I've actually found it fairly useful.

As a casual fan of the series, I don't have an exhaustive mental index of who's who, where's where, and what's what. This book has been useful as a quick reminder to keep things straight, especially as things in the most recent books seem to slide away from earlier details.

I thought the included novella was cute if somewhat incomplete given Lackey's usual eye for details.

For me this was well worth the bargin price, and perhaps even worth the cost of a paperback, although I don't know that I'd have thought it worth the original hardback price.

This compendium of 497 pages contains a short bio of Mercedes Lackey, an interview, a new novella, maps, essays on the lyrics she has written, websites, and, best of all, a Concordance of the Valdemar/Velgrath volumes. If you are rereading a book and can't place a reference to another volume the concordance will help solve the puzzle. For readers who are new to this fantasy world, the concordance can help clarify relationships or define "world words."

If you are already of fan of Lackey's this book gives you background material that is fascinating.

Okay so this was not absolutely perfect. Who cares? If you want perfect make your own. What this book does is give us (the fans) a place to look up any terms that might be unknown, maps the show the world of Velgarth, and a new short story of Ms. Lackeys. I think it is worth it. Thank you Misty. Without you this book would not have been possible.

THE VALDEMAR COMPANION is exactly what the title says it is, a complete reference book for fans of the series not different than many other similar tomes. It contains a glossary of names and places important to the Valdemar world as well as a synopsis of each book. Besides the standard articles on culture and people, this book also includes the unique element of a well-written novella by Mercedes Lackey, author of the eighteen Valdemar novels. Though clearly for the Valdemar mythos audience, fantasy readers in general will enjoy this companion volume.

Harriet Klausner

Valdemar Companion provides an authorized guide to Valdemar, includes an original novella by Mercedes Lackey, and is a recommended pick for readers who have followed Lackey's Valdemar fantasy kingdom over the extent of her writings. Valdemar Companion provides a reader's guide to her world, from an overview of its fantasy history to insights on the various races and peoples who inhabit it. Highly recommended for avid fans of Mercedes Lackey's fantasy writing.

This is, without a doubt, the most thorough reference you're going to find on Velgarth, the world where Valdemar exists. There's a novella about an ordinary Herald (rather than the 'extraordinary' ones that Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon tend to write about in their epic trilogies) and how he's trained, and how the field trials go.

There's also a fairly complete concordance of names and concepts; however, there's no index-by-topic to it (for example, I would have preferred to see a reference of characters by time period, various idioms of speech, different phrases associated with the various types of speech, and so on), which means you pretty much already have to know what you're looking for to find it.

A spoiler-free synopsis of all the books published up until this book's printing is also in there, designed to jog readers' memory as opposed to give away the whole plot in one parcel. (You'll have to read them all. Which is good, since they're on the whole well-written and well-thought-out.)

Information on Queen's Own, the official Valdemar fan club, is also included.

On the whole, I would suggest this for any fan of the series -- though people who aren't already fans will not get much out of it.