The third instalment of the 'winds' trilogy starts out better than the other two. For awhile there, I was starting to worry I'd actually LIKE a book with Elspeth as the protagonist.Elspeth has finally matured to the point where she's bearable, I'll give the book that. The plot is also more interesting than the plot of the first two books, probably because it brings us back to Valdemar and the previously dangling plot. Unfortunately, upon the characters' return the reader discovers they've missed an entire subplot wherein good characters do actually interesting things that I'd have rather read about than some of the events which appeared in the earlier 'winds' books.In any case, while the book starts strong, it quickly gets repetitive. For some reason facts established by one half of the cast are always repeated by the characters in the other half of the plot. IE; Firesong explains to Elspeth that magic disturbs the weather if it isn't managed properly and a chapter or two later Falconsbane and Ancar have a similar conversation. I'm not sure why the author felt it was constantly necessary to remind the reader what she'd already established in earlier scenes, since the reader seems more capable of recalling the details about this world than she does.Unfortunately the last few chapters of the book are disappointing. That's where you find the aforementioned inconstancy in the plot (it was well established in earlier books that Hulda was an adept so why this came as a surprise to anyone is beyond me). Even more unfortunately, the final confrontation is woefully disappointing. For once it would be nice if the main characters won because they were clever and resourceful rather than because their opponents turned out to be drooling idiots.It does at least wrap up the plots from the first two books and bring everything full circle rather nicely. The book is probably only actually worth 2.5 stars, but I'm probably giving it nostalgia points for the Vanyel appearance. By far the worst trilogy in the series thus far.
Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series provides one of the cornerstones of my reading history. After discovering her when quite young, I still follow new additions to the series - nearly twenty years later! I read and re-read these books over and over again throughout my youth, but I haven't re-read this series in its entirety in a long time - and never as an adult. There are some new books added to the series since the last time I read them, so this re-reading project is pretty exciting for me since it will include these new volumes, and will be in a new order. These books really just remind me of being young, reading them in the back seat of the car on family road trips... I think I was in 4th or 5th grade when I first started reading them, and they've always been a pleasure to re-read - and I am sure this will continue to be the case! The Valdemar series is broken up into (for the most part) separate trilogies. In my re-reading project, I am going to try to read them chronologically - not by publication date, but by their timeline within the series.Of the Mage Winds trilogy, this is probably the strongest book. It has a much more satisfactory and complete ending - couples neatly paired off, Ma’ar/Falconsbane finally dealt with... The next trilogy is what I always thought of as the complete series ending, but I have to admit, as far as lasting impressions go, this one makes much more of an impact. So I am looking forward to re-reading the next trilogy in the series - the Mage Storms trilogy. But as the end to my re-reading project looms, I must admit to feeling a bit bittersweet... I really adore this series, and I remember well my excitement when I bought this book in hardcover and read it for the first time. But this has been a lot of fun re-reading the series - particularly so for this volume! It’s so exciting!
What do You think about Winds Of Fury (1994)?
Aw, this one left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. I think Lackey's storytelling skills are getting stronger. In this book we meet a character who has previously been hidden inside another character's mind, which is pretty cool. And there's a lot of comic relief and light moments, to balance out the ~pure evil~ of the three malicious villains. I think the balance works. I especially enjoyed the romance between Darkwind and Elspeth in this one, which is sweet without being too sappy.Everything works out in the end, which is convenient and tropey, but I don't care because I like that trope. Better than randomly killing characters just to make the story Darker And Edgier.There are seeds of another story being set up here, which I assume will continue in the next group of books, as we meet the dreaded ~Eastern Empire~ that caused the Kingdom of Valdemar to be formed all those years ago.These books don't reach into my soul and change me, but they're fun and have lots of magical talking animals.
—Sophie
Poor, broken Rethwellan. Hold tight. Help will come.
—Dragon
Elspeth, Darkwind, Firesong, Skif, Nyara, Treyvan, Hydona and the Companions are in the Forest of Sorrows and have encountered Vanyel & his husband/lifemate Stefan as ghosts. Vanyel tells dis descendant, Elspeth that her Companion Gwyna is Grove-born. Her reaction is lol." "An'desha is a fascinating character. Watch out Valdemar Elspeth is bringing Darkwind, Nyara, Rrriss, Treyvan and Hydona as well as Firesong and his firebird." Plan to secretly send group in to eliminate Ancar, Hulda & Falconsbane. Plan is a success. They return to Valdemar and announce their engagement/pairings.
—Susan Pola Staples
