Arrows of the Queen

Farm girl becomes a wizard. This is and old book, not much its fault for being a cliche, but I hate this particular one. I hated in Harry Potter, I hate it here.

Talia is a 13 year old living in a The Handmaiden type of world where she expected to be a breeder in a house with many other wives. She is supposed to be treated as an object, a property of her husband to be. But one day a magical horse comers along and rescue her, taking her to see the world and fulfill her destiny to become a powerful Herald.

Read: 01:32/09:19 17%

This book is fantasy in two senses: first, it's a book about people in cloaks and magical powers. Second, it is clearly someone's daydream. Our main character goes from a sexually repressive, religiously constricting polygamist society where women are abused all the time, to a magic school where not only is everyone nice to each other, but there's free love, music, running water, and birth control. Seriously, the MC daydreams and reads books about Herald Mages, and then just as her family is about to sell her into marriage...guess what? She gets picked up by a telepathic horse and taken to magic school where she finds out she's the most important person in the entire kingdom.

I'm not kidding. This is what people mean when they say “eighties fantasy.” Strangely enough, even though Mercedes Lackey was (arguably) the most popular fantasy author immediately pre-Wheel of Time, I don't think this kind of thing was typical, not even from the same publisher (DAW). It's certainly not the best. If you want good “eighties fantasy” I recommend Tiger and Del (Book 1: Sword Dancer) by Jennifer Roberson or The Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn. No disrespect to Mercedes Lackey, but I have yet to find one of her books I could really get into; this one is just wish fulfillment.

It feels like forever since I read any Mercedes Lackey, so thanks Sword and Laser for bringing me back. This book transported me right back to my 14 year old self, idolizing strong female protagonists on horseback whom nobody understands at first but gradually grow into their own and find a true circle of friendship. Sigh. Oh, and one of those friends is a horse.

I've never read the Heralds books (14 year old me was partial to the Bardic series), but I definitely enjoyed visiting the universe. The plot is a bit formulaic and it's an extremely obvious Book I of III (or more depending on how you count the Herald books), but I still found myself emotionally moved by the sad parts and cheering at the heroic parts. Also, Lackey's writing (in everything I've read from her) has a really great attitude toward sex and sexuality that I think is important for young girls to read. It was unique at the time she wrote this series, and maybe it still is. For me, that's what elevates Lackey above a lot of YA fantasy from my generation.

It's a quick read, and after I get a couple of the graphic novels I've just got in read, I plan on finishing up the trilogy.

I found [b:Arrows of the Queen 13986 Arrows of the Queen (Heralds of Valdemar, #1) Mercedes Lackey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1296358547s/13986.jpg 834071] to be a quick and fairly enjoyable read. I think I would have liked it more, however, if I had read it as a young man. It had less impact on the old fart I have become. (I had a bit of a feeling of, “Meh, another coming of age fantasy. Whatever.”)

Executive Summary: This book is super trope-heavy and not always the best written, but I found it a light, fun, quick read that seemed to suit my current mood. 3.5 stars.

Full Review
I've heard of Mercedes Lackey, but none of her books had made it onto my to ever growing to read pile. If not for Sword & Laser I probably never would have read this.

This is one of those books that read at a different point, I might have been bored by. I've been a bit burnt out on reading lately and this seemed to hit the spot. This is the classic chosen one trope mixed with the magic school trope. I'm a complete sucker for the Magic school trope.

It was obvious at times that this was Ms. Lackey's first book. The writing was decent, but could use some more polish.

The biggest surprise for me were all the social issues casually woven into the story, especially given the time this was published. It seems like only recently that books are dealing with things like gender equality, homosexuality or casual sex without negative connotations are more commonplace. This book covers all of those things, but in subtle ways. It could simply be that my own personal reading selection in the 80s and 90s simply neglected other works covering these kinds of things.

This certainly seems to be a book aimed at young women more than boys. Much of my reading was stuff my mom brought home for me. I doubt the cover with the girl on the magic horse was something I'd have been willing to give a try in my teens. That said, who wouldn't want a magic horse as your companion? If you don't, you might be dead inside!

If this book was published today, it'd be put in the YA section and might be lost in vast array of fantasy aimed at young girls. In many ways this book feels like it could be a prototype for those books. However, as I don't read a lot of YA anymore I could be wrong there.

The book ends in a pretty good place. The major issues seem to be wrapped up (albeit a bit too quickly and neatly). I feel like I might be up for reading more, but could be perfectly content to stop here.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue on with the series. I'll probably have to be in the right mood for it. Maybe this time next year.

A very whimsical YA fantasy that sometimes feels closer to middle grade. My biggest criticism is that issues are solved too quickly and conveniently. It's still a lovely, light read. Nothing gritty. The bleakest part of this world is the religious commune she escapes from. Think fundamentalist compound where women are abused and married off in polygamist fashion.

Obviously, this story is a 1980's horse girl fantasy. Exactly as the cover suggests. If this sounds corny to you, it's best to stay away.

I'll be continuing Valdemar as occasional pallet cleanser reads.

I never heard of the Valdemer series growing up, but I'm pretty sure this would have been a favorite if I had read it. It's a preteen or teen appropriate tale of a young girl in a magic school essentially. If it were released now I don't think it would be stand out YA, but still one that I can see many young readers gobbling up.