I received this book for free from Netgalley, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Valdemar by Mercedes LackeySeries: Founding of Valdemar #3
Published by DAW on December 26, 2023
Genres: fantasy
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Netgalley, Publisher
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The long-awaited story of the founding of Valdemar comes to life in this 3rd book of a trilogy from a New York Times bestselling author and beloved fantasist.
The refugees from the Empire have established a thriving city called Haven with the help of the Tayledras and their allies. But the Tayledras have begun a slow withdrawal to the dangerous lands known as the Pelagirs, leaving the humans of Haven to find their own way.
But even with Haven settled, the lands around Haven are not without danger. Most of the danger comes in the form of magicians: magicians taking advantage of the abundant magical energy in the lands the Tayledras have cleansed; magicians who have no compunction about allying themselves with dark powers and enslaving magical beasts and the Elementals themselves.
Kordas, his family, and his people will need all the help they can get. But when a prayer to every god he has ever heard of brings Kordas a very specific and unexpected form of help, the new kingdom of Valdemar is set on a path like nothing else the world has ever seen.
Perfect for longtime fans of Valdemar or readers diving into the world for the first time, the Founding of Valdemar trilogy will delight and enchant readers with the origin story of this beloved fantasy realm.
Finally, in this volume, we get all the gory details of how Valdemar was gifted with their mythical Companions. I won’t spoil it for you, especially not with how long it’s been since this series started.
The infant kingdom of Valdemar is led by a good man, but he is still just a man, as is his eldest son. Kordas, former Duke and current King of Valdemar, is desperate to find a solution to keep his baby kingdom from eventually growing up to be the Empire he despised and fled. In a world without gods and magic, we must rely on history and law and our collective wisdom to do this… And anyone living in this our twenty-first century should be well aware how precarious that line is. It is difficult to raise a country to be a responsible adult, and I’m not sure any of us have succeeded in the real world.
Thankfully, Valdemar has access to magic, and gods, and the collective wisdom of what amounts to a hive-mind of horses playing Jiminy Cricket. It is probably easier to keep a civilization further from evil when the people’s conscience is held in trust by a series of semi-divine beings with magic powers and telepathy. If only, right?
If you are a Valdemar fan, I think you are hardly going to skip this volume. If you aren’t yet a Valdemar fan, I suggest starting at the beginning with Arrows of the Queen so that this magic horse nonsense will make sense. The worst part of this story is how truly far we are ourselves from being led by wise and benevolent people, ones who mean well and care for their people more than for their own wealth or power. As a measure, looking at Valdemar can be depressing. As an inspiration, I find that perhaps I haven’t lost all hope.
