Valdemar: The Herald Spy by Mercedes Lackey

Valdemar saga (in chronological order of the world, not order of publication)
The Mage Wars
The Last Herald-Mage
Collegium Chronicles

Okay, I'm well and truly entrenched in the world of Valdemar now. So, this is the world where there are these super smart horse-type creatures named Companions who choose people, called Heralds, who then become the law-enforcement arm of Valdemar. In The Collegium Chronicles, we meet Mags, a poor orphan boy who was abused in gemstone mines until he was Chosen by his Companion Dallon. At school, he meets friends, but he is soon recruited to be a spy for the King.  In The Herald Spy, Mags is back at spying. 

Whew. 

That's the backstory of where we where are.

Closer to Home is the first in this trilogy. Amily has an interesting Gift in which she can see through the eyes of non-human animals. The King's Own Herald Nikolas is in an accident and briefly dies and his Companion Chooses Amily in those brief moments, making her the King's Own Herald. Meanwhile, Mags resuscitates Nikolas and a new Companion Chooses him. While Nikolas is laid up, Mags takes over all his duties of recruiting spies, Amily settles into her role advising the King, and the Court is all in a tizzy because two feuding families are coming to Haven at the same time. Hijinks ensure.

I wish...I wish Mags and Amily made mistakes once in a while. Lackey is more than willing to point out everyone else's mistakes (poor naive Violetta gets treated horribly in this book), but Mags and Amily never do anything wrong and always end up coming out like heroes. So when Mags and Amily have conversations like "I'd never do that," it's kind of frustrating because of course they wouldn't do that - they're both essentially political and social experts who work hard and never err.  It's actually a really frustrating reading experience.

That being said, I like the world of Valdemar and I'm just hanging out with these two annoying suck-ups because the setting is so interesting. I like to see how Lackey will make use of particular gifts and I really like to check in with the Companions. I'm in for the rest of this trilogy.

3.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

But a boy that knew how to read and write - well, he could get himself another respectable sort of job when he outgrew being a messenger. He could work at a shop, or in a tavern. He could work for a stall-keeper who was himself illiterate. There were scores of things he could do as long as he was literate. A boy that knew how to read and write would never go hungry again. (page 104-105)

I like the peeks into the non-royal, non-Heraldic world.

:You always have to do things before you think you are ready.: Rolan observed. :That's just life.: (page 212)

Sometimes Lackey gets accused of preachiness and I'll be honest, this was the first time I was really taken aback by it. 

Thing I looked up:

virago (page 345) - a domineering, violent, or bad-tempered woman

Hat mention: 

"And tell your foolish masters that if they want any more tending for you idiots, they had better come hat in hand and prepared to grovel for it." (page 208)

****************

Closer to the Heart is the next book in the series. Let's see how it shakes out. 

Huh. Mags and Amily get married. It seems like someone is trying to set up Valdemar to go to war with their neighbor, so Mags sets off to make sure it happens. There's more dumb kirball. Look, here's the thing. These two characters, Mags and Amily? They're boring. They never do anything wrong. They make a plan and the plan comes to fruition. This is the same author who was willy-nilly killing off main characters in The Last Herald-Mage and here these two can do no wrong. I am continuing on because I know Lackey can do better. Oh, well. One more book in this trilogy and then the next trilogy is about the children Mags and Amily have, so at least it won't be all about the dynamic duo.

3/5 stars

Lines of note:

Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. (page 26)

This is part of Mags and Amily's wedding vows. I thought it was super sweet.

Amily's odd form of Animal Mindspeech allowed her to see and hear through the eyes and ears of any animal and most birds. (page 158)

Wait...aren't birds animals? What is this nonsense?

Thing I looked up:

ramie (page 242) - Fiber yielding plant native to China. The fiber it produces is pure white in color, lustrous, moisture-absorbent, and readily dyed. It's also stronger than cotton, wool, or flax. 

Hat mentions:

None

****************

We finish with Closer to the Chest. 

Now we are talking! Someone is sending very mean notes to women in power, vandalizing stores owned by women, and destroying churches of female-dominated religious denominations. Mags and Amily have got to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it. 

Look, I liked this book way more than the other two in this trilogy. It seems so prophetic to be reading about incels in a book written in 2015. Yes, it's heteronormative, Mags and Amily continue to be perfect and never make mistakes, the writing is occasionally preachy, and we knew as readers who the bad guy was long before anyone else did, which ruined the pacing. But, still. How did Lackey know that this would be the state of these United States in just a few short years? Also, there are Companions and lots of pocket pies and a takedown of Christianity and I just really like being in Valdemar.

Lines of note:

Women, it seemed, should "know their place," and that place was to be told what to do by men. Evidently, some god had created men in his image, and women were an afterthought, created to serve men. Women should be pretty, serve, and provide sex, and not be heard, or think for themselves. A women's duty was to make sure she was always attractive and pliant, and do everything a man told her...She must get a man as soon as she was able - "the younger, the better," growled one. (page 6)

Fanatics only held firmer to their beliefs, the more they were proven wrong. (page 375)

Thing I looked up:

gnomon (page 304) - the part of a sundial that casts a shadow (this seems like very niche vocabulary to me!)

Hat mentions:

...wearing an enormous hat to keep the exposed parts of her from getting sunburned. (page 223)

Same hat, on the next page:

Unless it's lust for my cooler clothing and my hat. (page 224)