Foundation: Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles, Book 1

Engaging story and amazing character development.
I love this series and all of the clever curves and turns of plot. I look forward to reading the next books in the series. Mags is growing into who he is, but not so quickly that it would be unbelievable. I look forward to seeing how his life develops.

Good start to a decent series
I recently read Mercedes Lackey’s five-volume series “The Collegium Chronicles.” The books, in order, are:FoundationIntriguesChangesRedoubtBastionHere, why don’t I jot down a few words about the entire series, and not just the first book (no plot spoilers).Lackey is perhaps best known for her long-running series about the fantasy kingdom Valdemar, and this set of five books are her most recent addition to the saga. The Valdemar books overall don’t have to be read in any particular order; the series is made up of both sets of books (usually trilogies) and individual titles that are semi-independent of one another. However, it perhaps makes the most sense to read the stories in chronological order according to the history of the kingdom. The Collegium Chronicles , while the most recently written about Valdemar, take place fairly early in the history of the country.It’s been quite some time since I visited Valdemar, and I was quite happy to go back again. I’ve enjoyed the previous stories I’ve read very much, and had been thinking of doing a complete reading of the entire series in chronological order, so I had no problem in jumping in with these, since they detail an earlier portion of the country’s time-line.And—in general, I found the books to be quite enjoyable. I liked the main character and found his adventures to be quite interesting. While reviews for the series were mixed, this was in large part due to the leisurely pace of the stories, with unfinished plot points left hanging at the end of each of the first four volumes. Since these were published at a rate of about one book per year, some readers were very frustrated about all these loose ends regarding the primary plot, which dealt with the mystery of where Mags came from, who he was, and why strangers were hunting him down.However, since I had the entire stack of books at hand, this wasn’t an issue for me—as soon as I finished one I was able to jump right into the next.Now, Lackey does have quite a knack for getting into her characters’ heads, and imagining in complete detail the running commentary that fills their minds as they go about their daily tasks. In one sense this is a plus—we really get to see how these characters think. Problem is—she writes it all down, whether it has anything to do with advancing the plot or not! And this does tend to pad out her books to a certain degree.I love the stories and fantasy realms Mercedes comes up with—I can only wish I had such an imagination. But I think she suffers from the same problem as a number of other very popular and prolific authors, in that her publisher doesn’t seem to edit her any more, and as a result there’s a LOT in her books that could be trimmed to make for a much tighter story.Oh, I don’t mind getting a moderate amount of unnecessary detail—I enjoy losing myself in these fantasy worlds. But I do have to admit that when we’re talking about the mechanics of quality, first-rate writing, her books would be better with a strong editor at the helm.For instance—in one of these books, there was a passage written about how the villains were able to hide their wagon from the eyes of the good guys. The description went on in detail for an entire page, but—we simply don’t need to know this! It had nothing to do with the plot—just two or three sentences about this would have been quite sufficient.Now—while each book was of a reasonable length, averaging out to 330 pages or so, all together this story did NOT need five volumes to be told. The text could have been edited and tightened down to four volumes. Heck, the complete tale could probably even have been knocked down to three 400-page books.So, that is my primary reservation about the stories. But on the other hand, I enjoyed them despite problems in pacing, so I’ll happily recommend these for those who enjoy Mercedes’ work. There are still a lot of Valdemar books I haven’t read yet, and I fully intend to continue on with the series.

new for young readers
With a main character who starts out as a slave and then is going through the Collegium, this is definately aimed at the younger readers BUT unlike a lot of Ms Lackey’s long term readers I enjoyed this story. Too many out there seem to expect too much out of a book. It was a fun read, especially for someone home in bed sick. No it wasn’t the greatest book of all time but I dont expect the total dry and tastlessness of a so called “greatest work of fiction” from her. I expect a good read that for a time takes me out of the room. While she may lose points in continuity with some, after so many books I find it on one hand amusing and on the other amazing she kept it as well as she did. As a writer myself I would rather build up a writer who has talent than tear them down for piddling mistakes. If you are like me and read more books than the public library carries, enjoy the paperback and lose yourself in another tale of good over evil.

Lackey always brings me joy, especially the valdemar series. It’s like curling up with warmth on a nasty winter day.

社会の底辺から選ばれて使徒になる…という王道のストーリー。軽く読めて、面白くないわけではないのですが、Magic’s Pawn (Last Herald-Mage)で書かれているヴァニエルの頃から60年ぐらいしか経っていないという時代なのに（本の冒頭の年表ではそうなっている）ヴァニエルはすでに伝説。ヴァニエルの本の設定ではまだ生きているはずのステフェンも遠い過去の人になっていて、とても5-60年前のこととは思えないぐらい。200から300年ぐらいは少なくとも経っていそうな書かれ方。ヴァニエルのころにはあったはずの学院が「建てはじめられたころ」みたいな時代設定の逆転が起こっていて、時々違和感がある箇所があります。このシリーズを読破しているファンだったら誰だってわかるようなミスをどうしてそのままにして出版したのか、ちょっとわかりませんね。事件も起きるのですが、どうも解決を見ないままに終わってしまって、これは続きがあるだろうなー。という感じのエンディング。というか、これで続きがなかったら、悲しい。2-3箇所、あれ？と思う時代のずれさえ気にしなければ、楽しめます。Brightly Burning (Daw Books Collectors)は商人の息子が選ばれる話でしたが、これが楽しめたのなら、こっちも大丈夫。久しぶりのヴァルデマールシリーズの新作、折角なのでこのシリーズのファンならやっぱり、お勧めです。このシリーズを読んだことのない人だったら、先に新訳 女王の矢―ヴァルデマールの使者 (C・NOVELSファンタジア)をおすすめします。

Firstly and most importantly for an audio product, it was well read, no annoying voices! Very easy to listen to. As a book the story was another great tale from the herald-chronicler of Valdemar, I was not disappointed. If you have not read any books from this series this might well be a good place to start, it’s a stand alone book about the central features of the series, and for those established fans listening for the new snippets of local colour in the familiar sequence of lonely child, Choosing and becoming a herald is an oasis for those thirsting for more tales of shining white horse-shaped companions with those sparkling blue eyes.