[Book review] Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar, edited by Mercedes Lackey

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December means that it’s time for another Valdemar anthology—or at least, what passes for one.  I’ve been critical of these volumes in the past because I felt that too many of the stories really weren’t tied to Valdemar as strongly as they could have been.  I’m quite thankful to notice a difference in the most recent collection, and a small and narcissistic part of me wonders if someone read my comments and took them to heart.

Opening the book is the Lackey and Dixon novella “Finding the Way”.  I have mixed feelings about this story.  On the one hand, I’m always glad to see new material by Valdemar’s creator.  On the other hand, I’m not sure that this novella was thought through very well.  The main character is Sherra, a hertasi who guides people through a nearly impassable swamp.  She guides a Companion named Vesily through to help her reach her Chosen.  But although Sherra is the main character and the tale is from her viewpoint, the story is really about Vesily.  Even the title is the clue to that: Sherra undergoes no real growth or character change during this story, while Vesily is forced to confront her own impatience and mistaken notions and find a way to a more mature worldview.  Also, I have to question the identity of the Chosen, as I think it’s a person who wouldn’t have drawn a Companion at that point in their life, but I don’t want to give too much away here.

The next story is “In Burning Zones We Build Against the Sun” by Rosemary Edgehill and Denise McCune. It follows a Healer on the verge of Gift burnout and a mindblind Herald and his Companion.  It’s an interesting relationship between a man who’s driving himself too far and a man who has already done just that.  The two eventually form a friendship and, in essence, save each other from a worse fate.  It’s a good story, although there’s a slightly bewildering jump in the action near the tale’s end.  It seems to skip a significant period of time and adds in a few new characters that are only there for a few pages.

Up next is “Unintended Consequences” by Elizabeth A. Vaughan.  Although this is one of the shorter entries—less than eight pages—I found it to be one of the better ones.  It shows the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Queen Selenay, but it’s from the point of view of someone only peripherally involved.  Not only does it show that innocent people can be caught up in the aftermath of great events, but it takes the opportunity to build on Selenay’s compassion.  I like that Selenay figures in this story, as so much of the later novel sequence is taken up with her daughter, Elspeth.

The volume continues with Mickey Zucker Reichert’s “The Education of Evita”.  So many times in the novels the Heralds are portrayed as being happy to be Chosen.  This story addresses the problem of what happens when someone doesn’t want to be partnered to a Companion.  Evita’s Companion, Camayo, tailors their journey to Haven to show her the virtues of being a Herald and teaching her their importance to Valdemar.  It could have been heavy-handed, but thankfully it isn’t. 

Next is “A Charm of Finches” by Elisabeth Waters.  I found this one really enjoyable.  It features a character named Maia with one of the rarer Gifts (Animal Mindspeech), it delves a little into Valdemar’s culture and court life, and it deals out some sweet revenge to a character who’s painted as vile and deserving of what he gets.  This was one of my favorite tales, and it’s the second tale about Maia.

Moving right along, we come to Kristin Schwengel’s “Healing in White”.  This too is a sequel to a story from the preceding volume, Changing the World.  In this tale, newly Chosen Shia arrive at the Collegium to begin her Herald training, but she finds just as much to do with the Healers and must learn to balance the various callings.  Shia gets to put her skills to the test in the field during an emergency, and the story is gripping and realistic.

Brenda Cooper’s “Songs of a Certain Sort” picks up the tale of Bard Rhiannon and Healer Dionne, wandering Valdemar so that Rhiannon can create a song for the ages.  Unfortunately, they stumble into a situation where they may just become a tale instead of writing one.  Cooper spins a good action story with some suspense thrown in for good measure.

Another sequel, Stephanie Shaver’s “Otherwise Engaged” picks up the tale of Bard Lelia and her lover Grier during the time period right before Talia arrives in Selenay’s court.  Lelia is not only trying to hone her Bardic Gift, but dealing with some personal obstacles that will color her entire life.  It’s a low key but ultimately touching story, made better by being set among familiar characters from the novels.

Kate Paulk’s “Heart’s Choice” and Sarah A. Hoyt’s “Heart’s Own” both follow human Jem and Changechild Ree.  They’re lifemates and, after these stories, surrogate parent to an infant Changechild.  All of the Jem and Ree tales from the various volumes deal with tolerance: tolerance between partners, tolerance within family, and tolerance within a community.  I always enjoy them.

Tanya Huff’s “The Time We Have” continues the story of Herald Jors and his Companion Gervais.  Although I’ve previously enjoyed their stories for Gervais’s dry wit, this story is heartbreaking in its intensity.  When Jors lifebonds to a bandit woman, he’s conflicted about his duty to bring her to justice.  But an unthinkable situation forces Jors to come to terms with his feelings with brutal suddenness.  I look forward to Huff’s next story, because I want to see how Jors handles the aftermath of these events.

Fionna Patton’s “A Bard by Any Other Name” follows a family working in Haven’s version of the City Watch.  And yes, they do put me in mind of Discworld’s City Watch, but with less slapstick.  This tale is a light and innocuous mystery that’s fun to read, and it concerns a rash of graffiti that consists of doggerel love poems sprayed onto buildings.  It’s amusing without being too challenging.

Next is Judith Tarr’s “Change of Life”, in which middle-aged Marlys prepares for her daughter’s wedding and dreams of a life that she thinks has passed her by.  The coming of a Companion changes all of that, but can Marlys abandon those who seem to need her so much?  This is a sweet, charming story of someone getting what they want in life, against all apparent odds.

Nancy Asire’s “Lack of Vision” is a solid mystery story in which Herald Perran presides over a murder investigation with some tricky twists and turns.  Much like “A Charm of Finches”, readers will have the satisfaction of seeing someone get the justice they so richly deserve, and the story unwinds with an appropriate level of suspense and intrigue.  This story is one of the strongest offerings in the volume.

And finally, Michael Z. Williamson and Gail Sanders contribute “The Groom’s Price”, a story of a young Shin’a’in warrior who has bonded to a Companion.  As he complete a guard job for Mage Quenten (friend of well known character Kerowyn from the novels), he learns to understand and accept how he can be both Shin’a’in and Herald, balancing the two parts of his life.  Since Shin’a’in characters aren’t often seen, I enjoyed this brief glimpse of this unique horse nomad culture.

A fairly large portion of the anthologies has morphed into something like an ongoing series of novels.  So many of the authors are writing continuing stories with characters that they’ve established in the Valdemar universe that it’s just about worth it to pick up the volumes just to keep up with characters that are now several years established.  While it’s a little unusual, I’ve enjoyed being able to get to know Valdemar at length through the eyes of other authors and their creations.

While these volumes aren’t good starting points for new readers of Lackey’s Valdemar universe, they make nice little treats for us longtime readers.  And with the stories adhering more closely to the types of people and situations that you’d find in the novels, this book has pleased me more than the series has in a few years.  This one is worth a look, and may just draw you into the other anthologies if you haven’t yet discovered them.