Foundation (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles, #1)

Foundation (Valdemar: Collegium Chronicles, #1)

Mercedes Lackey

Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

Mags had been working at the Pieters’s mine, slaving in the dark, cold seams, looking for sparklies, for as long as he could remember. The children who worked the mine were orphans, kids who had been abandoned, who had lost their parents, or were generally unwanted. But Mags was different. Mags was “Bad Blood,” because his parents were bandits who had been killed in a raid by the Royal Guard. “Bad Blood” because he’d been found in a cradle in the bandits’s camp. Blood so bad that no one had wanted to take him in except Cole Pieters. When he was big enough to see over the sides of the sluices he had gone to work at the mine. Mags knew nothing of the world beyond the mine, and was unaware of how unusual his paltry existence was. Then some strangers on huge white horses forced their way past the Pieters family and carried him away to Haven to become a Herald Trainee. Suddenly the whole world opened up for him. He was warm and well fed for the first time in his life, and he had Dallen, his Companion, who seemed more miraculous than an angel. But the world of the Collegium was not all heavenly. There was political upheaval in Valdemar’s capital, for the court had been infiltrated by foreign “diplomats,” who seemed to be more interested in seeding discontent than in actual diplomacy…and Mags seemed to be the only one who’d noticed.…


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  • diarythebookwyrm
    Mar 10, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

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  • FeministPinko
    Mar 11, 2025
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  • Hyzie
    Apr 07, 2025
    Enjoyment: Quality: Characters: Plot:

    Not one of my favorite from this universe, but not one of my least favorite, either.

    The timeframe is a rather compelling one in terms of Valdemar history--just after The Last Herald Mage, but before most of the "main" story. It was interesting to see Vanyel just barely out of reach, and to see the process of forgetting the knowledge that is gone by the time the Arrows of the Queen series starts.

    Mags' accent grated after about the halfway point, though I found him at least interesting. The plot crawled, possibly to allow for it to be five books instead of three. I've sometimes felt myself wishing a little more time was spent at the Collegium in previous books, but I think I may take that back now that I've seen what that can do to the pacing.

    The ending did not feel terribly well-done. I was expecting more exposition than we got. Everything was wrapped up kind of suddenly and it all felt a bit out-of-the-blue.

    I'll pick up the rest of the series, partly because it is Valdemar and those books are a type of comfort food for the soul and partly because I am intrigued by Mags' background and where they are going to go with his story arc. It might be nowhere, but it will be full of Companions and I know, in the end, the good guys will win. Sometimes that's all you need.

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