Storm Warning

Valdemar: Mage Storms #1

by Mercedes Lackey

With her phenomenal Mage Winds trilogy, bestselling author Mercedes Lackey captivated fans across the country. Now in the first volume of the series sequel, she continues the same storyline, returning readers to a war-torn Valdemar in preparation to confront an ancient Eastern Empire--ruled by a monarch whose magical tactics by be beyond any sorcery known to the western kingdoms.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Adult

428 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.

"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.

"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.

"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:

"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."

Also writes as Misty Lackey

Author's website

Reviews

[TXGAL1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Empire is moving across the land with its “hungry” conquering arm outstretched. War is being waged and those kingdoms not yet involved are meeting to form an Alliance and discuss how best to put a stop to Emperor Charless and his unquenched appetite. We follow Ulrich, a Karse Mage-Priest and his acolyte, Karal, as they travel to Valdemar..a country previously feared for all manner of foul ways of their people. There’s a varied cast of characters such as Companions, Chosen, Heralds, Firecats, Mages, Engineers and Mathematicians to name a few.

STORM WARNING is the first book in the Mage Storm trilogy. It is also my first Mercedes Lackey read. Published in 1994, it’s a solid story with great characters. Unfortunately this book was not the 4 or 5 star read I was expecting. I found it very wordy and oftentimes, 🙄, slow as I would experience awakening from a short nap. I’m aware that my experience is outside of the realm of the majority but it is.

I did enjoy the themes of honor, service, empathy and patience—just not enough to keep me awake and rate higher than 3 stars.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm really excited about this series. I liked this first one a lot, especially the "strangers in a strange land" aspect, with the protagonists both being new to Valdemar. I like Karal a lot, too. And there are ENGINEERS, and they figure magic out using MATH, which is awesome, and there are FIRECATS, which are like Companions only instead of horses they are KITTIES. Also there are sheep eyeing things dubiously. I don't know why I find it so hilarious, but I think "sheep eyed it dubiously" is the funniest sentence Mercedes Lackey ever wrote.

The only problem is this book is so obviously the first in a series. There's a lot of setup before the mage-storms actually happen, and the book ends rather abruptly. Fortunately, these books came out 20 years ago, so I can just start reading the next one right away.

Nobody gets raped in this book, which is good, but it doesn't escape my notice that the first series without any rape is the one with only male points of view. I am eyeing you dubiously, Lackey. Like the sheep.

[Agnieszka na grzbietowisku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie byłam do końca pewna czy czytałam tę książkę czy nie i wyszło mi, że tak, ale ponad 25 lat temu, i zapamiętałam z niej jedno: wrzucanie kamieni do basenu i kręgi na wodzie (co pojawia się w jednym zdaniu pod koniec książki)...
Kontynuacja wydarzeń z poprzedniej trylogii, nowy bohater spoza Valdemaru, radzenie sobie z samotnością i obcością, wytrwałość i obowiązkowość. No i mnóstwo nowych kłopotów do rozwiązania. Niczego mi w tym tomie nie brakuje i nie mogę się doczekać kolejnej części, bo Karal nasz główny bohater wzbudził we mnie sympatię.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I've been reading a lot of Valdemar books recently, mainly through downloading them on Kindle. I have to wait for payday tomorrow to pick up where I left off in other series, so I jumped ahead and read this on out of order. I really should have tried Winds first, but this was still understandable because I've been reading these books out of order for years! Hopefully one day they will be a comprehensible timeline in my mind!

I really loved Karal <3 His friendship with An'desha is just adorable! I love reading from his unique perspective, since Karse is one of the little explored areas up until this point. His relationship with his mentor is awesome too, because it makes the faceless enemies of Karse seem so different.

I've always adored the Valdemar books, but still haven't read all of them. This was my first time reading through this one, and I can't wait to pick up more of them. I FINALLY get paid tonight...but which books to read first? Wahhhh. And I only have one more shift until my four days off. Hopefully I have more time to read! Four stars for this book, can't wait to see where this goes!

[Dawn Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read the book after 5 years and also my review. Wow, was I harsh in my review. I don't disagree with most of it though I don't feel nearly as strong in my disapproval. I enjoyed the book so I'm bumping up my rating to four stars instead of two (1/2).

I wasn't bored. There was a good deal of suspense and lots of interesting characters. I'll read the rest of the trilogy as soon as I can get my hands on them, so within the week or so. Enjoyable book, interesting characters.

*****

My rating is more like 2 1/2 stars, halfway between it was okay and I liked it. I certainly didn't enjoy the book as much as I did the "Winds of" series's first book with Elspeth.

I liked Karal, at least in the beginning. I related to him, he wasn't one of the "elite" of anything, like Firesong, Elspeth, An'desha. But eventually he got to be too perfect toward the end of the book.

It didn't work for me that the Heralds, Valdemars leaders, who in other books were so creative, innovative can't figure things out for themselves, it takes Karal and An'desha.

On page 325, "Even those fancy mages, they don't have the training or the organization - they can't look at this problem logically. I don't think they can solve it!"

This is said by one of the characters so I understand it's their perspective, but the same sentiment is repeated multiple times and my thought was, "What?!" All the books go out of their way to show that Heralds are rational, very intelligent, often innovative individuals. But they're not logical?

"logical" was just a poor choice of words? It would have been better to say that others were not as likely or as practiced in studying things to the highest degree without using magic, by using their minds. Logical might have been the best word, in a sense, but it needed explaining. This whole idea of Heralds, etc. not being logical did not work because it was not explained except in repeating the word. It was really kind of aggravating.

Also, after awhile I got tired of the aspects of religion. The author clearly believes all religions are equally good and everyone else should believe that too and if they don't, well they're not very smart. But then that seems to be the attitude of multiple characters about multiple things.

The author comes across as very PC. In this book in particular and with all her Valdemar books in particular. It's not super heavy handed but in this book it's a bit too much.

Page 334, "Oh, do stop feeling sorry for yourself!" I'm tired of characters telling others to stop being this way or that way, verbal slaps in the face. It's really kind of grating and annoying. And of course whenever a character gets verbal slap in the face they deserved it and accept it as deserved. Yes, thank you for pointing out that I'm being human and putting me in my place. There is a lot of people being put in their place and I really notice after reading several of her books.

Page 387, "No longer the retiring little secretary". That's what Firesong says to Karal. I knew Firesong was arrogant, but until then I didn't realize how distastefully arrogant and snobby he was. So, in the books you can be as much of an @$$ as you want as long as you're PC and necessary to the salvation of whomever, whatever. Got it.

Yeah, I know I'm probably nitpicking, but this book really got under my skin.

On the plus side, I did related better to An'desha and Karal (in the beginning) though I'm sure I'm in the minority because I've read several reviews that found them bland or annoying.

I liked hearing about the ways in which the different countries think, are run. I liked viewing Valdemar through the eyes of Karal for whom all of it is new.

I really enjoyed viewing things through the eyes of Duke Tremane, his working through problems, his though processes molded by living in such a distinctively different environment from Valdemar.I liked Duke Tremane, a man who I could see doing well in Valdemar had be been born there. I like him, he's a sympathetic and interesting character. Probably the best man in his circle of society, morally speaking. I really would like for him somehow to flee to Valdemar and join them. I think he would have some trouble adjusting, and maybe couldn't (killing your rivals would be frowned on, don't you think?), but if he could...

Unfortunately I don't think Tremane ends up doing well, and that's probably the only real and reasonable outcome. Again, unfortunately. I really rooted for him, even after the evil he does.

So, I liked it and really didn't like aspects of this book, hence a rating of 2 1/2 stars.

I will stick with it and read the other two books in the trilogy but I don't expect it to get better and my guess is that the trilogy with Elspeth will be a clear favorite between the two. At least so far, I intend to read as many of the other trilogies as I can as well as the anthologies.

I did read all the collegium series, and I would put them above the Storm series with Karal but below the ones with Elspeth so far, but not something I expect to change.

[Cara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read once that Lackey's ambition is to be the most prolific writer of the 20th Century; it shows in this trilogy. The storyline is dull, as are the characters. Karal is generic in the first book and becomes increasingly perfect in the following books. Lackey has always had a tendency to create Mary Sue's for main characters; her best protagonist, Vanyel, is not entirely free of this fault. But Karal takes the cake for blandness. And the explanation for how Karse became Valdemar's ally is also quite facile. Lackey's theology is supposedly that gods only intervene after humans have tried everything, but Solaris' rise to power is a true deus ex machina moment. And any subsequent difficulties she may have had to consolidate power are routinely smoothed over by having V'kandis manifest himself.

Elspeth was hardly my favorite character, but I missed the meaningful presence of Heralds. In this book, Valdemar's leaders--who were so creative and visionary in previous books--can't figure anything out for themselves. If not for Karal and An'desha, they wouldn't even think to value the contributions of the "artificers." Which is bizarre, as it's pretty clear that the "artificers" are taught at the Collegium and receive patronage from the nobles, and possibly grants from the government. Yet no Heralds or Valdemaran leaders even consider them as a resource.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. We suddenly get an outside view of Valdemar, and I love the way it makes you think about how we are indoctrinated into believing propaganda and how hard it is to let go of. Karal is a great medium to show us how difficult this is. He is young enough to not be directly connected to previous events, but old enough that he has heard the lies of the corrupted officials for most of his life.

At first, I was really annoyed with Andesha. The only reason I could ignore most of his whining was because...it made sense for his character . He was, mentally, still a young child trying to come to grips with everything that happened. Really, my greatest anger was directed at FireSong. I just wanted to slap him silly. I bet he gets worse in the next book!

This book is really does emphasize how the need for fresh eyes and perspective can be essential in solving many problems. Working together is a key to development---for ourselves and society. I really enjoyed that message as well.

[Teleseparatist · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am interested in the conclusion of the Valdemar story, and how they'll cope with the (creepy and innovative) supernatural danger the whole world is facing in this last trilogy, but the characters' individual storylines and personalities are not quite there, the shifting of focus from Heralds is a disservice to the world. I mean, let's be real, magic horses and brave girls that ride them are a core joy here. (The firecat Altra is fine, but not as cat-like as I would have liked it to be, and less interesting than magic birds were in the winds trilogy.)

[Jackie B. - Death by Tsundoku · Rating 4 out of 5]

Storm Warning starts off with completely new characters and complications! How thrilling. I'm glad to migrate away from Elspeth and her Tayledras crew. I was tiring of them. It's nice to get some fresh perspectives. The primary protagonist of this novel is a young man named Karal. He is the secretary to the envoy from Karse to Valdemar. An'desha, the former body-host to Falconsbane, also takes a central narrative perspective. Both of these characters are trying to find their place in a foreign world to them. They are meek, uncertain, and have a lot of room to grow. I already enjoy their progress, and I expect we will see even more from them in future books.

This made me realize how refreshing it is to hear about Valdemar from exclusively outside perspectives. Where we saw how traditionally "fantasy" Valdemar was from the Tayledras perspective, now we see how traditionally "western" Valdemar is from An'desha and Karal's perspectives. I did miss hearing from the Heralds, but I was shocked at how indoctrinated I was to love everything Valdemar has ever done. This new perspective makes me wonder if my favorite country in this universe Lackey created is not Valdemar…

Since the beginning, religion has been on the periphery of the Valdemar books. Sure, Gates are often made in chapel doorframes and other countries have had religion ceremonies. But not Valdemar. In my experience, this is common in fantasy novels where magic of any variety plays a dominant role. But that doesn't remove my curiosity. Finally, Lackey confronts religion head-on in Storm Warning. In Winds of Fury, the Star-Eyed Goddess took a side role, potentially manipulating things from the wings. In Storm Warning, Karal explains to the Valdemarians about Vkandis, the religion of the Karsites which drives everything they do, and how magic is tied into the whole system. It's fascinating. I love that deities are coming out of the woodwork as active participants elsewhere in the world. It's been hinted that perhaps Companions are also forms of deities-- I cannot wait to learn more. And I know we will in this trilogy!

GUYS! THIS BOOK HAS NO RAPE! YAY! In fact, Storm Warning contains no sexual abuse or assault of any variety. This is only the second of Lackey's books without rape as a plot point. By the Sword doesn't have rape as a direct plot point, but it is mentioned many times as a previous plot point or a potential outcome for our protagonists if they aren't careful. Barf. I'm so over rape as a plot point, so I couldn't be more excited about the lack of rape in Storm Warming.

As someone who enjoys character-driven stories, Storm Warning really spoke to me. Many moments of Karal's introspection remind me of Vanyel's inability to come to terms with who he is and what decisions to make regarding his life. I love the parallels, even though these two characters couldn't be further from each other personality-wise. But if you are into plots more than characters, this might feel a bit lacking. Particularly the first third of the novel. But once the storms start to come, you won't be able to stop reading.

[Férial · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not 4 because I liked Elspeth's story more (and I've given it a 4 stars).

I love the way Ms Lackey "develops" her characters. Karal is a good example (Talia, Kero and Elspeth were good ones either). You think that nothing is actually happening but then you realize that you have learned a lot of things about Valdemar and her allies and ennemies : the politics, the theology, the peoples, the lands...

And many answers are given. Answers to questions you must have had when 1st reading the Queen's Arrow, answers about the Companions, about the magic and how the Mage War that happened so long ago still have bad effects/repercussions.

I'm really enjoying this whole Valdemar thing.

[Meagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This trilogy is one of my least favorite. It's like Lackey forgot what her damn characters were like. There's this big thing about how the craftsmen are the only people who do logic right. Excuse me but whaaaaaaaat the fuck are you talking about? The heralds have always some of the best goddamned educated people in the country, and the mages are pretty much required to be logical to do magic. The sudden need for a billionty more characters baffles and annoys me. Plus I'm not a huge fan of the increased screen time for An'desha, or the main character Karal. Blah, I can't believe there are two more of these before I get to the lovely Owl series.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This series was given to me as a gift. I was a little hesitant based on the covers, but thought I'd give it a try (don't judge a book by it's cover, right?). It started out okay, built up a couple of interesting characters, but I kept expecting something to happen and nothing did. I finally gave up after about 2/3 through. Too much introspection by the characters, almost teenage angst by some of them, and I just started losing interest in them.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this, I was completely new to the writings of Mercedes Lackey, but I understood the story moderately well nonetheless. However, nothing about Storm Warning was particularly spectacular. The story was good, and the writing was adequate, but it just didn't have much "wow" factor. Unless some of Ms. Lackey's other novels are much better than this, I doubt she will join my list of favorite authors.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I forget that, while some of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books are exactly the kind of light summer reading I enjoy, I find others of them vaguely tedious. This is one of the tedious ones, much to my dismay.

[Megan Lillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It felt like the entire book was filler. Not sure I am a fan of the central character in this trio either.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like all of Lackey's books I have read, this follows the same set-up ... a lot of talking, a lot of scenery and chapters full of character based details ... all leading to a handful of explosive chapters as everyone races around.

In this instance, it's to protect the land from magical storms that although hit regularly, are almost impossible to fight. Mages are left powerless, spells fail and anything trapped in the focal points are transformed, and usually not for the better. Against all this is a an invading force that believe the storms are just another weapon, when in fact they are backlash for something that happened way in the past before Valdemar was formed.

The action mainly revolves around Karal, a young secretary in the Sun-priesthood, who is still not entirely sure that the people of Valdemar aren't the baby-eating demons he's been brought up believing.

A good story, a bit long-winded in places, but with a nice ending that leads neatly into the next volume.

[Kevin James · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, a welcome addition to the Valdemar world with some new perspectives.

With Valdemar and its surrounding countries being ravaged by seeming unstoppable mage storms, the famous Heralds have no choice but to team up with their longtime enemies, the Sun Priests of Karse, to figure out how to stop the storms. It was refreshing getting another Karsite perspective after the Alberrich books and to focus on an unrepentant Karsite who slowly learns to trust the Valdemarans and learn to overcome his xenophobia was great. I do think Karal is a tiny bit bland as a character and wish more of the focus was shifted on to An'desha healing from being possessed by a villain but it's still an engaging read.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karse is sending representatives to the court of Queen Selenay and consort Daren. But things aren't quite normal. Andensa is having premonitions of danger he can't figure out and can't explain. He thinks it's a link back to Falconsbane so he refuses to delve into them.
Hardorn has been invaded by the Emperial army of emperor Charliss who's representative has the idea that his problems are linked to Valdemar.
But when everyone in Valdemar starts getting things together and working well with each other they all are struck by the beginning of mage storms repeating back from centuries ago when Ma'ar and Uthro battled each other and now they must figure out a way to stop them before all the countries are torn apart.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will review at www.fantasyliterature.com.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/4/19-9/23/2019 Re-read 4-4.5 stars

Misty is my 2nd fav author. Misty's Valdemar is one of my fav series. I read this book a very long time ago. This was my 1st Re-read of the book. I remember being shocked and excited during my 1st read. I liked getting to know the new characters. I loved meeting and learning about Firecats, which are like Companions. Misty surprised me with Companion secrets just as planned. It was a thrill. The Re-read was nice. I laughed and cried. I enjoyed meeting the Blues again and seeing the artificers and engineers figure magic out using math. =0]
I felt the feelings of the characters were on point and they made sense to me. I liked the romance too.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spoilers:
Note to Self:
An'desha shena Jor'ethan(15yo,Sorcerer-Mage,half Shin'a'in,run away,former host to Ma'ar,pal)+ Firesong k'Treva(Tayledras envoy,Healing Adept,Vanyel's descendant) & Aya(Firebird, bondbird)
Karal Austreben(16yo,Karsite temple novice,now priest & envoy,channel,ex-protege, ex-secretary, son of chief stableman,ex-stable sweeper,pal)
Ulrich(Karsite envoy, Priest Adept-Mage Black Robe,master,Solaris aid & assistant,scholar,died, pal1)
Altra(Firecat,mage,Karal's advisor,ex-Sun of the Sun,god's avatar)
Florian(Companion,Mage,unpartnered,Karal's advisor)
Elspeth(Herald to Outlanders,ex-heir,Princess,Vanyel's descendant) & Gwena(Companion)+ Darkwind(Adept Mage,k'Sheyna Hawkbrother,ex-scout) & Vree (bondbird)
Skif (Herald,spy,assassin,mate) & Cymry(Companion ?)+Nyara(mate,carrier of Need,daughter of Ma'ar(An'desha daughter kinda)) & Need(mage,spirit-sword,sorceress)
Treyvan(Gryphon envoy,ambassador,mage,dad,pal1)+Hydona(Gryphon envoy,mage,mom)
Kerowyn(Kero,Herald, Capt.,ex-merc) & Sayvil(Companion?)
Alberich(Herald, Karsite,weaponsmaster)
Lady Talia(Queen's Own Herald,Empath,Holderkin,honorary Sunpriest)& Rolan(Companion)+ Dirk(Herald,mate)
Natoli(Rubrik's daughter,Blue, artificer,pal)
Rubrik(Herald,Valdemar escort,paralyzed,dad) & Laylan(Companion)
Rris(kyree,historian)
Queen Seleney(Herald,mom)+ Daren(Prince-Consort,Herald,step-dad,ex-Rethwellan Lord Martial)
Quenten(White Winds rep., freelance mage,Kero's pal)
Querna shena Tale'sedrin(Shin'a'in envoy,ambassador,killed)
Master Magister Henlin(craftsman,Blue)
Master Tam(she,Blue)
Master Levy(mathematician,Blue)
Master Norten(engineer,Blue)
Master Bret(teacher,Blue)
High Priest Solaris(Son of the Sun,Karsite,prophet,Black Robe Adept Mage) & Hansa(Firecat,ex-Sun of the Sun,god's avatar)
Vkandis(Karsite god,Sunlord)
Star-Eyed Kal'enel(Shin'a'in goddess)
Tre'valen(Shin'a'in avatar)
Dawnfire(Shin'a'in avatar)
Sigfrid(Red Robe Priest,Karse,pal1)
Lord Palinor(Seneschal of Valdemar)
Kyril(Seneschal's Herald)
Herald Teren(Dean of Collegium)
Griffon(Lord Marshal's Herald)
Arnod(Herald trainee,17yo)
Johen(Herald trainee)
Lysee(Herald trainee)
Semon(Blues trainee)

[Rosu Aquabutts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the Valdemar books though I recognize their many weaknesses. I first read this book nearly fifteen years ago, so while I remembered the basic plot structure, some of the characters, and a scene here and there, a lot of it was practically new to me.

I found on reread that this was one of the less enjoyable books in the series. I really wasn't crazy about how long it took for anything to start happening. Compare the start of the Mage Storms -- over 100 pages of wandering in the countryside -- to the start of the Mage Winds, which picks up on both Elspeth and Darkwind in medias res before establishing their lifestyles that are about to change. It's about 200 pages into Storm Warning before anything dramatically solid happens. Karal himself takes a long time to become more than a generic lead. An'desha is definitely the more unique and compelling of the two characters, and his character arc is considerably stronger in this book. I think Misty could have benefited from splitting focus between the two of them more evenly, the way she did in Winds of Fate with Elspeth and Darkwind.

Once things pick up, though, it's easy to forgive the early boring stuff. The Mage Storms books are the culmination of everything that's been building since Arrows of the Queen. It all leads up to this, the event that we've been gathering people and resources together all along to stand against. And once the storms themselves arrive and start wrecking their havoc, it's pretty easy to fall into the rhythm of things and forget about how long and uneventful the first half of the book was.

I'd rate this 2.5 if we could, but I tend to go by the goodreads definition for each star rating, and my opinion does fall closer to "I liked it" than "it was okay." I really enjoyed the character of An'desha, Karal eventually endeared himself to me, and I enjoyed watching the cast of the earlier series, especially the Mage Winds characters, making their appearances here and there. I found myself really getting invested in the Firesong/An'desha relationship, too -- which, remembering mostly how that ends, is a bad move on my part. I hope that the next two books in the trilogy don't suffer from the same slooooooooow burn. I have a lot of tolerance for people sitting around talking, and this shit was still bananas.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The enemy in this book is the not!Roman Empire, but while they attack from the east, they are not the problem. Magic is going wonky all over the world. Luckily, Elspeth recently brought Darkwind, the Griffins, and Firesong to Valdemar to start training mages. Surely they well be able to work together with An'desha--formerly Mornlithe Falconsbane--and the young Karse cleric Karal to battle the mage storm that makes mage-work impossible, destroys the local weather, and changes plants and animals into monsters.

Karal is an interesting character of a type we have not seen in this series, at least not in the forefront. He is from Karse, Valdemar's ancient enemy-turned-ally to fight Hardorn and now the Eastern Empire. He has no magic, no fighting ability, and is not magically bonded to a Companion. Instead, Karal is a scholar who makes his Valdemar friends among the engineers and other 'blue robes' that we have heard of but never met in previous books. He approaches the problem of the Mage Storm with logic and his greatest difficulty is helping one of the college masters convince Firesong that it can be described with math. I like him, and because he is likable, he gets a magic cat to be his best friend--because he's an envoy from Karse, he could hardly get one of the Valdemar ponies!

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're trying to decide to buy this book, I think it comes down to two questions. If you're new to Lackey or the Valdemar books, should you start here? For me that's a decisive no. Go back and at try Arrows of the Queen, and if you like that, finish Talia's trilogy and move on to Elspeth's story beginning in Winds of Fate.

OK, so you've read those two trilogies? Then the question becomes, do you want to continue on and invest in this trilogy? I'd say yes. I didn't like this trilogy as much as the other Valdemar books published before this one: the two trilogies spoken of above and Vanyel's story, my favorite, that begins with Magic's Pawn. But if you've come this far, yes, this is like visiting with old friends and making new ones.

I liked seeing Valdemar from an outside, and particularly Karsite perspective, that of their traditional enemies. Karal provides that outside perspective, and he's an appealing character that propelled me nicely through the book.

[Ria Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another rather dull synopsis from GoodReads, and something of a misleading one. Selenay isn’t so much struggling to bring about an alliance with Karse as she already has one, as evidenced by the envoy, Ulrich, and his secretary, Karal, staying at the palace. Better to say that the story actually revolves around the Karsite envoy’s secretary for the most part, while everybody tries to figure out what to do about Hardorn now that Ancar is dead and the Eastern Empire seems to be making a move toward them all.

Oh yes, and let’s not forget that there are now catastrophic waves of magic circling the world, distorting the land and warping animals into rabid carnivorous monsters. Can’t forget that.

This book was actually released about half a year after The Black Gryphon, which ties in well with this book, since while The Black Gryphon deals with the events leading up to the destruction of Ma’ar (we all remember him, don’t we?) and the magical cataclysm that reshaped the world, Storm Warning deals with the temporal echoes of that cataclysm, the waves of magic coming back and doing ever-increasing damage.

The key to discovering all this, and a way to help keep some of the damage to a minimum, is hidden in An’desha’s memories of Falconsbane and his previous incarnations, and understandably, delving into those memories is no easy task for someone who’s terrified that merely having the memories at all is a sign that Falconsbane is still lurking in his mind. While An’desha does spend a good chunk of the book being rather whiny about the whole thing, I think some of that whininess and fear can be forgiven, even if it did make for annoying reading at times.

Through Karal, we get an insider’s perspective on Karsites and Karsite religion, previous villified in just about all of the Valdemar novels. Mostly we get to see all this through comparisons, as now Solaris is the religious leader of the country and she’s made some sweeping reforms. Or it might be more accurate to say “returns”, since a lot of what Solaris did was take the religion back to its less terrifying and political roots, making the religion into what it apparently was supposed to have been for generations. It’s through the now/then comparisons that we see what happens when power-hungry politicians control religion (and vice versa), an oppressive past regime versus a more lenient current regime.

Happily (at least from a reader’s standpoint on realism), this didn’t mean that everyone now views Karsites and inherently good. Generations of prejudice die hard on both sides of the border. The Valdemar novels are known somewhat for their idealism, but it’s good to thrown in some nice sobering reality now and then. Keeps things believable, keeps people acting like people instead of actors in a moral play.

We also get to see another cultural perspective from Tremane’s point of view as part of the Eastern Empire. The Empire is expansive and hard, but in its way, not really cruel or unjust. It takes over turbulent lands and brings order to them, brings employment and safety and security to the populace. Whether they want it or not. Hardorn’s citizens, no matter how much they were beaten down by Ancar’s regime, seem bound and determined to fight against the Eastern invasion of their land, to the point where it seems to make no sense to Duke Tremane. Isn’t he offering them a chance to rebuild their homes and improve them? Isn’t he bringing with them a better justice system that has proved well for other lands? It’s a real treat to get to see so many variying cultural standpoints here, which of course thrills the amateur anthropologist in me.

Also interesting in this book is the attempt to apply the rules of physics to magic. I have a friend who disdains most fantasy because she says that magic is all too often used as a McGuffin. It can do anything, it has no rules attached to it, and it’s entire unbelievable. (I always reply that she must be reading some truly crappy fantasy, because not all fantasy contains magic, and most of the stuff that does has clearly defined rules attached to it…) In Storm Warning, we get to see two opposing viewpoints, one stating that magic is entirely intuitive and its use is limited only by what the caster can imagine, and the other stating that magic must conform to the rules that the entire rest of the world has to go by, like physics. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that magic’s real function is a mix of the two sides of the debate, but it was certainly nice to see Lackey lay down some really solid rules about how magic can and cannot work in relation to the more mundane aspects of the world.

This book loses a few marks for being very repetitive, however. Fascinating story, and Lackey does have something of a talent for being able to make characters essentially have the same discussion numerous times without it getting too boring, but there were times where it felt like all the recap discussions were little more than padding. Sometimes they brought something new and interesting to the mix, but other times it was entirely for the sake of characters catching up on what had happened, and could have been avoided and shortened by just stating that so-and-so gave a run-down of the situation to another character.

Still, a good beginning to what promises to be a very interesting trilogy. Magic and politics all rolled into one fascinating and multi-layered story, pieces of the familiar combined with the strange and new. It’s classic Lackey work that explores her world in greater detail than ever before, fleshing out not only characters but an entire planet of people and cultures, that will leave you hungry for the next book. Highly recommended to Valdemar fans, though I recommend if you haven’t already read the Mage Winds trilogy, do so before tackling this. Not doing so might leave you pretty confused as to who everyone is and what they’re doing there in the first place.

[Jeremy Preacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I dislike the Mage Winds trilogy, I like the Mage Storms trilogy. Karal is a great viewpoint character - foreign enough to bring some interesting background and insight into the familiar Valdemar court, naive enough to grow and change in satisfying ways, but neither self-pitying nor ineffectual. Not all of the others are quite as successful, but in this book they pretty much don't come into play.

Just like Valdemar is an idealized fantasy of liberal politics, the "true" Vkandis faith is an ideal of liberal religion. A character at one point actually pretty much quotes Aslan's "naming of Names" speech from the Last Battle. It meshes well with the rest of the series's worldview, and adds a little more depth to the otherwise militantly agnostic setup.

[Bee (Meribiaa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loooove The Mage Storms and rereading them is so satisfying.

I love Karal and Tremane so much as characters. It's so satisfying to follow their arcs through these books.

This book isn't as exciting as the later volumes, but it has a buildup that's quite enjoyable.

The way Lackey transforms characters within the series is masterful, and we see the starting point for those transformations here. Lackey doesn't shy away from making people temporarily unlikeable so she can bring us through that transformation.

[Dwer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of a triology. An interesting story of magic and science, the interaction of different (magical) societies, not always smoothly, and their struggles to meet a potentially overwhelming physical challenge. The good guys are interesting and engaging. The real bady, as I said, is a thing, not people. But there are some bad guys as well. But even they are interesting, and I don't find them to be truely evil, just ruthless and ambitious.

[Rowyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 'review' for people who have read most of the Valdemar series.

I give it a 3 because for me personally I don't want to feel charitable to "The Enemy"! I have spent the entire series until now hating Karse and am not ready to have a story from 'their' point of view especially this kids. He just really annoys me. Maybe it's because his god is Vkandis and he is a priest. I really don't know but this trilogy is my least favorite in the Valdemar series.

[Linda Malcor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This follows directly on the heels of the Winds series.

The most frequently asked question we get at Queen's Own is what order the books should be read in. Pick up the most recent Valdemar publication and follow the timeline. It makes more sense than trying to follow the order of publication.

Should've remembered to buy stock in Kleenex before rereading that one.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

First story in Mage Storms—Karal comes to Valdemar from Karse as secretary for the new ambassador, his mentor Ulrich. He starts to learn about Valdemar and the mage storms. The Iron Emperor sends his potential heir to take over Hardorn. Lots of stuff going on.