Winds of Change

Valdemar: The Mage Winds, Book 2

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Karen White

In The Mage Winds trilogy, which began with the best-selling novel Winds of Fate, author Mercedes Lackey continues the epic that started with her first published book. Arrows of the Queen introduced listeners to the remarkable land of Valdemar, the kingdom protected by its Heralds - men and women gifted with extraordinary mind powers - aided and served by their mysterious Companions - horselike beings who know the many secrets of Valdemar's magical heritage. None but the Companions remember the long-ago age when high magic was lost to Valdemar as the last Herald-Mage gave his life to protect his kingdom from destruction by dark sorceries.

But now the protective barrier set so long ago over Valdemar is crumbling, and with the realm imperiled by the dark magic of Ancar of Hardorn, Princess Elspeth, Herald and heir to the throne, has gone on a desperate quest in search of a mentor who can teach her to wield her fledgling mage-powers and help her to defend her threatened kingdom.

©1993 Mercedes R. Lackey (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Elspeth & Darkwind

A wonderful second part in the saga of Elspeth, Darkwind, Skif, and Nyara. Their training continues and the threat of Falconsbane remains.

Can barely stand the narrator

Fantastic story, but the narrator mispronounced basic words like "repertoire," "err," and "Talia." I've been reading/listening to the whole series and can't wait to move on to a new narrator. I don't know if she wasn't allowed to correct typos or what but it doesn't excuse the fact that most of her voices are bad fits for the characters, and the women all sound very similar. Some of the fictional names and races Karen White chooses to pronounce in wildly different ways than the narrators of the rest of the series. Wouldn't seek her out again.

Decent

3.5 stars.

The plot here isn't bad. Lots of training, some light action, and then the climactic action. The pacing is good and the resolution works well. There is more of both deus ex machina and diabolus ex machina than I would prefer in a novel. <spoiler>And the dead enemy from the previous book returning without either foreshadowing or a good explanation here is jarring.</spoiler>

The book has multiple POVs, with the majority being in Elspeth's head. There are enough excursions into other characters to break the narrative flow without being enough to support a strong subplot. The various bits do tell a coherent story.

The supporting character work is good, with solid growth for Nyara and Need, and a bit of work for Skif.

The protagonist work is better. In the first book in this trilogy, Elspeth acted like a spoiled brat (again). Here, she is more mature. (The change was a bit abrupt, but since the previous personality didn't really match the maturation she had undergone in previous Valdemar books, I'm going to take that as a correction rather than an error.) Her power increase is abrupt here, but there are decent reasons, and there is good character growth.

The antagonist is the worst sort of evil for evil's sake, though there is a bit more justification presented about his background here. I still find him unconvincing.

The narrator seems to have a problem with consistency of pronunciation in ways that are disruptive to the listening experience. Other than that, she does narrate the book well.

This is better than the first book in the series, but it's not one of Lackey's better books in Valdemar.

Love love love

I really haven’t found anything in this book I haven’t liked! Karen white is amazing with her voices!!

Very enjoyable

I like this one so much better than the first, although the narrator still pronounces characters from the Arrows of the Queen book series names wrong.