Closer to Home / Mercedes Lackey

Closer to Home

(The Herald Spy #1 and Valdemar #6?)

by Mercedes Lackey

chicklit, fantasy

copyright 2014

read in December 2020

rated 7/10: well worth reading

The book starts with characters returning from an adventure... at least five books' worth of adventure. Doesn't matter, main characters are soon introduced. Though it took me a while to realize that one key character is a super-intelligent horse.

It's a very slow start. Gradually becoming more interesting, in a very chicklit way: home decoration, costumes, nice people doing nice things. I begin to wonder if anything serious will ever happen. I can see how this author could write five books a year: every room, every dress, every discussion... and more... are all described in full detail. No need to waste time on complex plots, just fully describe everything.

There's an obvious boy-meets-girl. Orphans are rescued from a life of crime. Match-making becomes the main theme...

Then life becomes more complicated. The plot twists... yet not unexpectedly. The author introduces doubt: surely that can't be right, I think. Then... the action becomes frenetic. Major threats are dealt with by personal effort. Once it starts there are no surprises -- by then I am hooked. I want to read the details of the obvious ending.

Followed by another slow patch as all loose ends are tied up. By now I am happy to have all loose ends tied up... though I would have liked it to be a bit quicker.

This book continues the history of Valdemar. It begins a new sub-series. It is enjoyable by itself. After the slow start... through the detailed descriptions of every... single... thing... I found the book to be surprisingly enjoyable.

I may not rush to find other Valdemar books but I will be quite happy if some do turn up.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===

"When someone does something wrong, don't forget all of the things they did right." ... anonymous