Mercedes Lackey

[Demeter]

His overwhelming stupidity was a serious problem in a book that had so many good ideas going for it.

Unfortunately there are A LOT of stupid characters in those Obsidian books!

And yet, I still read them...   Partly because I am rather intrigued by the portrayal of the Endarkened.

[Grey Drakkon]

That's what ticked me off so badly!  There were so many interesting things about the story, but it felt like I was getting whacked on the head with a brick every time that dope opened his mouth. 

[Demeter]

And we couldn't whack him back on the head with the brick!!

What he needed was a 2x4 upside his head to knock some sense in to him... for a while it seemed like his sister might be able to do it, and then she needed the brick.  :

[dsgholam]

Any one read the new 500 Kingdoms book, The Snow Queen? There's a character that I think you would like Patti L.- it's a librarian dragon.  She (the dragon) only became fierce at the thought that perhaps the books being borrowed would not be returned.

I like all the Herald books except the Elspeth ones. I don't know why, but those didn't really interest me. I liked the first Alta book, but couldn't get into the others. The only books I haven't even been able to start are the ones about the elves in modern times. I did like the Diane Tregard trilogy, except that the second one was so sad and depressing.

My favorite books so far have been the retellings of fairy tales set in England, the Elemental Masters. There is one that is not set in England, but instead San Francisco. That one is my favorite, it's a retelling of Beauty and the Beast and it's called "The Fire Rose" I think. But that book is also an Elemental Masters, and was in fact the first one.

[e_booklover]

I am trying to wait for that one The Snow Queen in paperback...we will see how well my willpower holds out.  I think I have most of her other books including her collaborations.  I actually liked the modern day Elves better then her current Elizabethian era so I haven't been adding those to my collection.  While I agree that the hero in the Obsidian books was a bit thick at times I enjoyed their descriptions and wanted to see how it would all end so I enjoyed them.  Not as sure with the newest one in that series though.  My favorite collaborations are Shadows of the Lion and This Rough Magic.   



edited to fix confusing part.  Thanks Patti L.

[Zealith]

I just read those two, they're great for making you stretch your memory to remember all the connections between the characters.

[Patti L.]

I am trying to wait for that one is paperback...we will see how well my willpower holds out.  I think I have most of her other books including her collaborations.  I actually liked the modern day Elves better then her current Elizabethian era so I haven't been adding those to my collection.  While I agree that the hero in the Obsidian books was a bit thick at times I enjoyed their descriptions and wanted to see how it would all end so I enjoyed them.  Not as sure with the newest one in that series though.  My favorite collaborations are Shadows of the Lion and This Rough Magic.  

Do you mean you're waiting for the "Snow Queen" one?  The way you put it, it sounded/looked as though you meant 'the Fire Rose' which, to the best of my knowledge, has only been out in the one paperback edition.
I liked that one, but not most of the rest of that series, so far. 
The Alta books, to some extent I agree, first good, later ones, not so anxious to read them.
I'll have to see about the librarian dragon in the "500 Kingdoms" book, I seem to recall that one or more of the dragons from the "One Good Knight" (is that the title?  I've forgotten) were of that ilk.

[Demeter]

Yes, the dragons in One Good Knight (one especially) were Book Wyrms, and their hoards were books


I've decided that I'm going to break down and buy the Snow Queen in hard back... I got a 30% off coupon for Borders and I can send it to my mom who collects big hard back Lackey books.

I want the Reserved for the Cat too... but my coupon is only good for one item

I'll just have to keep my peepers open for another coupon in my inbox!

[cherdabear]

I just finished Snow Queen and enjoyed it.  I was a little disappointed in the conflict at the end it seemed like everything was too easy for the amount of build up it had. I mean the last 20 pages of the book to wrap up everything.

It was still good though and I did like all the characters.

I really enjoyed her joust books, and the one elemental one I have read.  I have to get some more of her books they seem to always be good ones. 

[Demeter]

I, too, was a little disappointed in how quickly The Snow Queen resolved.  As much as I enjoy Lackey, I think this is a failing in many of her books - especially with the last couple of 500 Kingdom books (Snow Queen being the latest) but it's happened before.

Still, I enjoy the premise of most of her books and she has some wonderful ideas. Generally great characters too.  Of the Elemental Mage series, Phoenix and Ashes and Shadow of the Serpent were my favorites.  Wizard of London was good, but went too quickly for me.  Fire Rose (which you hardly ever see listed with the elemental mage books, but clearly belongs there - it was published in the 90's) was also pretty good.  And especially interesting as I live so near San Francisco

I have had a lot of fun with the Valdemar series.  You can start a lot of different places, but I think it's worth starting with Arrows of the Queen.

[Zealith]

I recently got my hands on Fire Rose, and I think it is my favorite of the elemental series. But I do like all the other books in it.

[mdauben]

Mercedes Lackey's books have always been kind of hit-and-miss with me.  Some I really liked (the Heralds of Valdemar trillogy, for example) and others not so much (such as the the Heirs of Alexandria books).  I guess becuase of this I have kind of put off reading more of her books than I already have.   

[Patti L.]

I'm with you on this.  Basically, I don't like most of her co-written stuff.  Valdemar, yes.  The SERRAted edge, okay, although there's more dark stuff than I'm really comfortable with, as with the Eric Banyon stuff.  Alexandria, not at all, the Elizabethian, not at all, got tired of the Alta.  I'm waiting to see how/if she really brings Diana Tregarde back into the SERRAted edge world with the elves.  My understanding is that she figured that if she did that it would stop the people who thought they could use the dark magic system(s) in the Tregarde world, & were practicing the rituals she made up for it by mixing in the elves.

[mdauben]

The SERRAted edge, okay, although there's more dark stuff than I'm really comfortable with... 

Exactly!  The character of "Tania" and her situation in the first book, for example, really kept me from enjoying the story.   

I'm waiting to see how/if she really brings Diana Tregarde back into the SERRAted edge world with the elves.  My understanding is that she figured that if she did that it would stop the people who thought they could use the dark magic system(s) in the Tregarde world, & were practicing the rituals she made up for it by mixing in the elves.

I did enjoy the Diana Tregarde stories I have read (again with the hit-or-miss, eh?) and would not mind if she returned to that character, although she had shown a lot of reluctance to do so, for what ever reasons she has.  Those were much the best I thought of the Elves on the Road universe stories.   

[Patti L.]

What I read somewhere (don't remember, maybe Valdemar Companion?) was that she found there were people trying to do the dark rituals & achieve the results she made up, so she sent Diana on a vacation to Babylon 5, where she was last seen expelled from an ill-repaired airlock, clutching her teddy bear.  But if you look closely at "Jinx High", you'll notice the very young Tannim as a peripheral character.  She got the idea from that, I guess, of linking her {Diana} more closely to the world Tannim inhabits, that of the racing elves.  Then the would be black magicians would either have to give up and admit it's fantasy fiction, or believe the rest of it too.  Elves, Kitsune, ghosts, dragons, elementals, the whole nine yards.