#valdemar: mage wars

[book--brackets]

Valdemar: Mage Wars by Mercedes Lackey (1994-1996)

It is an age when Valdemar is yet unfounded, its organization of Heralds yet unformed, and magic is still a wild and uncontrolled force.

Skandranon Rashkae is perhaps the finest specimen of his race, with gleaming ebony feathers, majestic wingspan, keen magesight and sharp intelligence. Courageous, bold, and crafty, Skan is everything a gryphon should be. He is the fulfillment of everything that the Mage of Silence, the human sorcerer called Urtho, intended to achieve when he created these magical beings to be his champions, the defenders of his realm--a verdant plain long coveted by the evil mage Maar.

Now Maar is once again advancing on Urtho's Keep, this time with a huge force spearheaded by magical constructs of his own--cruel birds of prey ready to perform any evil their creator may demand of them. And when one of Urtho's Seers wakes from a horrifying vision in which she sees a devastating magical weapon being placed in the hands of Maar's common soldiers, Skandrannon is sent to spy across enemy lines, cloaked in the protective of Urtho's powerful Spell of Silence.

Sorcerer Royal by Zen Cho (2015-2019)

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

Valdemar: Vows and Honor by Mercedes Lackey (1988-1998)

She was Tarma. Born to the Clan of the Hawk of the nomadic Shin'a'in people, she saw her entire clan slain by brigands. Vowing blood revenge upon the murderers, she became one of the sword-sworn, the most elite of all warriors. And trained in all the forms of death-dealing combat, she took to the road in search of her enemies.

She was Kethry. Born to a noble house, sold into a hateful "marriage", she fled life's harshness for the sanctuary of the White Winds, a powerful school of sorcery. Becoming an adept, she pledged to use her talents for the greatest good. Yet unlike other sorcerers, Kethry could use worldly weapons as well as magical skills. And when she became the bearer of a uniquely magical sword that drew her to those in need, Kethry was led to a fateful meeting with Tarma.

United by sword-spell and the will of the Goddess, Tarma and Kethry swore a blood oath to carry on their mutual fight against evil. And together, swordsmaster and sorceress set forth to fulfill their destiny....

The Kingston Cycle by C. L. Polk (2018-2021)

In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own. 

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn't leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can't hide what he truly is. 

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles' healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient's murder. To find the truth he'll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he's ever seen.

The Faerie Wars Chronicles by Harbie Brennan (2003-2011)

When Henry Atherton helps Mr. Fogarty clean up around his house, he expects to find a mess and a cranky old man; what he doesn't expect to find is Pyrgus Malvae, crown prince of the Faerie realm, who has escaped the treacherous Faeries of the Night by traveling to the human world through a portal powered by trapped lightning. An egomaniacal demon prince, greedy glue factory owners Brimstone and Chalkhill, and the nefarious Lord Hairstreak, leader of the Faeries of the Night, all dream of ruling the Faerie realm and are out to kill Pyrgus.

Enlisting the help of his sister, Holly Blue, and his new friend, Henry, Pyrgus must get back to the Faerie world alive before one of his many enemies gets to him instead. But how many portals are open, and can Pyrgus find the right one before it falls into the wrong hands?

The Ordinary Princess by M. M. Kaye (1980)

Along with Wit, Charm, Health, and Courage, Princess Amy of Phantasmorania receives a special fairy christening gift: Ordinariness. Unlike her six beautiful sisters, she has brown hair and freckles, and would rather have adventures than play the harp, embroider tapestries . . . or become a Queen. When her royal parents try to marry her off, Amy runs away and, because she's so ordinary, easily becomes the fourteenth assistant kitchen maid at a neighboring palace. And there . . . much to everyone's surprise . . . she meets a prince just as ordinary (and special) as she is 

The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge (1946)

When orphaned young Maria Merryweather arrives at Moonacre Manor, she feels as if she's entered Paradise. Her new guardian, her uncle Sir Benjamin, is kind and funny; the Manor itself feels like home right away; and every person and animal she meets is like an old friend. But there is something incredibly sad beneath all of this beauty and comfort--a tragedy that happened years ago, shadowing Moonacre Manor and the town around it--and Maria is determined to learn about it, change it, and give her own life story a happy ending. But what can one solitary girl do?

Dr. Greta Helsing by Vivian Shaw (2017-2024)

Meet Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead. After inheriting a highly specialised, and highly peculiar, medical practice, Dr Helsing spends her days treating London’s undead for a host of ills: vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta’s dreamed of since childhood.

But when a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human undead and alike, Greta must use all her unusual skills to keep her supernatural clients – and the rest of London – safe.

Of Mermaids and Orisa by Natasha Bowen (2021-2022)

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata—a mermaid—collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home.

But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi does the unthinkable—she saves his life, going against an ancient decree. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy it.

To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But something is amiss. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. . . .

Danger lurks at every turn, and as Simi draws closer, she must brave vengeful gods, treacherous lands, and legendary creatures. Because if she doesn’t, then she risks not only the fate of all Mami Wata, but also the world as she knows it.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (2017)

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone--has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do--and who to be--to win back the only mother she's ever known...or else defeat her once and for all.

[meat-loving-meat]

I want to write a Vanyel/Stefen modern-with-magic AU soooo bad but I don’t know Valdemar lore like at all. There are six books standing between me and feeling comfortable enough in the lore to imagine what Valdemar might look like with the internet and planes

[random-bookquotes]

If it took more effort to produce a child than the exercise of a moment’s lust, perhaps there might be less misery in this world.

Mercedes Lackey, The Black Gryphon (Valdemar: Mage Wars, #1)

[beyondthisdarkhouse]

Having read some of your older posts on Mercedes Lackey (and thus going in with mostly-full knowledge of Everything), I want to give her books a try…but there are so many of them. Any you recommend as a starting point?

Hmmm. I've probably only read one-fifth of her bibliography, so other people might have different suggestions. Speaking personally, the series of hers I think holds up best is the Tarma&Kethry&Kerowyn arc - Oathbound, Oathbreakers, Oathblood, and By the Sword. The last one technically stands alone, but it's fun to know the backstory.

I think they're some of Lackey at her best - a blend of worldly cynicism and deep moral ideals, willing to let her characters be a bit messy and interesting.

If you want to get into the Heralds of Valdemar... God knows. There was originally a trilogy of trilogies that had the big plot (OG Heralds of Valdemar/Arrows of the Queen, Mage Winds, Mage Wars) but now there are so many prequels and sequels and tie-ins, I think you could potentially pick a series that sounds interesting and dive in there. I personally don't like anything she's written in the last 20 years, but her new books still have an audience.

Other series I know people still love after all this time are Elemental Masters and Bedlam's Bard, though I haven't read them myself.

Other people will, of course, have their own opinions to contribute. That's what we do on Tumblr. Do hot takes and piss on the poor.

[griseldagimpel]

Media Recommendations for Harry Potter Fans

Alright. So you’re a Harry Potter fan. You’re a Harry Potter fan because you love Harry Potter and you love the community you’ve built with your fellow fans, but J. K. Rowling is using her vast fortune to harm people and she says asinine shit about how anyone who likes Harry Potter agrees with her transphobia, and you know that’s not true, but maybe you’re wondering if there’s a different fandom you and your friends could go to, where if nothing else the creator isn’t using a massive platform and massive amounts of money to harm transgender people. This is a guide for you.

You really wish you could have a Harry Potter that’s just not Harry Potter. You want a magical school and aerial sports games and fighting a tyrant and the equivalent of Hogwarts Houses.

Check out The Owl House. It’s about a girl named Luz who wanders into another world and attends a magic school.

You can watch it on YouTube: Link.

You like the idea of a modern-ish fantasy book series (British, pre-Smart Phone technology age) with a big, rambling world to play around in.

Check out The Chronicles of Chestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones. It’s set across a multiverse and follows the lives and trials of young magicians.

Start with Charmed Life, which can be purchased on Amazon: Link.

You want a fantasy series with chosen ones, suffering, and sacrifice where anyone can die. Also, you like magical animal companions.

Check out The Last Herald Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey, which is part of the broader Valdemar series. It’s about the life of Valdemar’s greatest – and last – Herald-mage.

You can find it on Amazon: Link.

You love Harry Potter for the mysteries. You’d be fine with something for a bit of an older demographic, and you love supernatural horror and angst. You want to see the protagonist go through it. But you’d also love it if there was something akin to the Hogwarts Houses that you could define yourself by.

Check out The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir or The Magnus Archives. The Locked Tomb series is science-fantasy set in the far-flung future and has necromancy. The Magnus Archives is a podcast about an institute in London that takes down statements from people who have had encounters with the paranormal.

The Locked Tomb series begins with Gideon the Ninth: Link.

The Magnus Archives can be listened to on YouTube: Link.

Your favorite part of the Harry Potter series is the wizarding war, and your favorite house is Slytherin.

Check out The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It’s about a necromancer who’s been resurrected. The necromancer in question is like 95% brat-turned-cool-uncle and 5% evil-necromancer.

The volumes are numbered and can be found on Amazon: Link.

There is also an adaptation entitled The Untamed that I have not watched yet, but it can be found on Netflix.

You really enjoy the social satire aspect of Harry Potter and think Hermione was right about House Elf liberation. Also, you’re okay with science fiction instead of fantasy.

Check out The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. It’s about an enslaved cyborg finding freedom, making friends, and healing from trauma.

The first book is All Systems Red: Link.

You like Harry Potter because it’s comfort media. Life is rough, and you want a piece of media that’s engaging but gentle.

Check out the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. It’s presented as the community radio broadcast out of a small, deeply weird town in the American southwest.

You can listen to it on YouTube: Link.

If you want something in print form, there’s The Lord of the Rings: Link.

If you like movies, there’s Jupiter Ascending: Link.

Don’t hesitate to ask if you want more information (such as content warnings) for any of the above.

[emarie-stone]

Another book becomes a tidying casualty. This one is The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon.

It's an older fantasy book, released in 1994, and I loved this book in highschool, as you may be able to tell by how worn my copy is. I decided to read it again, and unfortunately, it just doesn't hold the same spark as it once did.

I can tell why I liked it - there's a few romances with no physical contact and happy endings, which appealed to me as a closeted asexual. The world-building around the gryphons is also fun and very detailed, sometimes seeming almost scientific. But the plot drags a bit, and this book, while being the first chronologically, is the 13th book that Mercedes Lackey wrote for the fictional empire Valdemar. I've never read anything beyond The Mage Wars trilogy, and I would bet there's lots of references I still don't get.

It was a fun book that was very important to me when I was young, but I just don't feel compelled to keep it now that I've reread it. Maybe another teenager will find it and love it as I once did. Though the Japanese cover of the book is kind of awesome

[kalira]

Hi! I noticed you're a Valdemar fan, so I wanted to ask: If you were to write a Valdemar/Naruto crossover, what would you include?

(Personally, I'd drop Kakashi into the Pelagirs and give him a kyree.)

(Also, feel free to ignore this if you want.)

Hiya! Oh goodness, a thought I've never considered . . . if I were placing Kakashi I would definitely think he belongs in the Pelagirs, agreed. (Although honestly, he'd fit right in with the Heralds working himself to collapse and past it for his Duty and to help people, too. . .)

If I were to try such a crossover I might do something with the Founders in the Mage Wars era, though! The titanic figures they make would fit excellently in that landscape and happenings, I think. . . Possibly also with the Sannin gen growing up/serving in it/later as well.

I've actually been tempted to dive into reading Valdemar again recently (and listening to the music a ton), but I definitely hadn't thought about crossovers in general before, thank you for the intriguing contemplation. *ponderponder*

[shadowsong26fic]

for A-Z OC meme, L.

Okay!

::pulls out mental list::

So, the obvious choice would be Lavinia, but I've talked about her here enough before so moving on XD

I did have an AtLA OC back in the day named Li-Hua; I don't remember much about her other than she was like the generation after the gaang; she was a firebender but barely used it, and she managed a theatre. She also ended up hopping timelines and getting written into a LOK RP at one point. (there were probably others; i had a lot of OCs in this fandom in particular, but most of the ones i'm coming up with do not have names starting with L)

Lariel is cheating because even though she was Kind Of a Supernatural OC she was really from another canon who was named for crossover purposes and then stuck around and became an Easter egg character (and I never actually wrote her into anything, just her demon counterpart Tesriel).

When we get to my original stuff--there's Lonura; mistress/girlfriend/paramour of a main character's older sister; is a sound-mage which mostly works out to be like Bardic Gift in Valdemar, but can also be things like mimicry and Directly Manipulating Sound (i.e., she can turn sound inward on itself, so something that should make a noise doesn't; also things like ventriloquism are Much easeir lol). She's sweet and steady and very much in love with Nolani; very aware of the potential pitfalls of her magic and rarely uses it.

Lif, from the same canon, is the youngest sister of two other major characters; she's an air-mage and a dancer, sometimes a prostitute. Her sisters are a War Hero and the eventual Clan Head respectively, but she's much happier with a quieter life. There's also some stuff tied into her story about the way Unthreaded mages (meaning mages with powers that are not the dominant/native element for that area) are treated in their culture.

Lux is. Well. She's Lucifer. A bunch of Our Angels Are Different tied into how this story works.

Laura Sanchez, from the same canon, is married to the Guardian, who keeps track of the family of humans who descend from Simon, an immortal (nephil) who keeps getting his memory erased. She ends up basically bullying the Archangel Gabriel into helping her track down her husband after the Horsemen (distant cousins of his) kidnap him. She's a reporter, the daughter of a diplomat, and she and her husband have two or three kids and a handful of grandchildren.

Larien is an extremely cold, calculating person--except where his wife is concerned. He's the king of a nation with a history of war with one of its neighbors; there was a treaty in his parents' generation that tried to solve it (basically, the then-kings; Larien's father and uncle; exchanged sisters as brides. It didn't work). Everything he does, he does for at least three reasons and he's thought it through (again, except for marrying Metanrye). He does love his brothers (half-brother Tahnrin and full-brother Idan; Idan is currently Missing) and his two daughters, but is mostly focused on winning the game, so to speak.

Landelye is the elder of Larien's two daughters. Elanhean succession follows essentially Salic law, meaning that she can't inherit, but she's aware her father is Considering changing the law--if she proves she's worth upending centuries of tradition. Her bastard uncle Tahnrin is the other candidate; they are having a very subtle war for the throne in the background of the wider political complications. Which include possible war with Nandere and some impending Major Drama with the Church. ...also, she and her uncle are both in love with/sleeping with the same main character. They like him (and the potential political advantages he could bring) enough to share, despite cordially despising one another.

...I think that's everyone whose name starts with an L, at least when it comes to Significant characters (or characters with close ties to Significant characters, lol). Though it's entirely possible I've missed someone...

Ask me about my OCs!

[daidi-dragan-glas]

Gryphons run a close second to dragons for me.

If you love magic, and gryphons and wonderful epic story telling... Read the Valdemar series of books by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. The first to read is a trilogy called the Mage wars, first book is The Black Gryphon. Wonderful wonderful series.

We heard you also like gryphons 🥰

Light Gryphon, Brightshine Jubilee 2024

[darkcloud-kcalifornia]

Well, I think it’s Valdemar time again. The thought has occurred to me that there’s something I really should get to. No, not the Mage Wars trilogy (much as I love Skan). It has occurred to me that I haven’t done anything with Oathblood. Because, well, I only read it once many years ago and don’t really remember much besides not being impressed at the time. Still, that may have been due to other factors, and as I don’t remember thing one about it, what the heck? Next up on the reading docket is Oathblood.

[book--brackets]

Thank you for your response. Not sure which Valdemar books you already have, but I would like to add whichever of these haven't been submitted yet.

The Last Herald-Mage trilogy

The Mage Winds trilogy

By the Sword (Kerowyn's Tale)

The Heralds of Valdemar (the original Queens Own trilogy, not the prequels)

I'd like to submit just the first 2 books of the Mage Wars trilogy if possible (the third is such a departure, with new protagonists). If not, you can leave it off or do the whole trilogy. Either way.

Same request for Vows and Honor (1st 2 books came out together. The 3rd, being just a collection of short stories, was added almost 10 years later).

Thank you so much.

Ok, I added the ones that weren't already there! All series are submitted as a whole, so they're just listed as Valdemar: Mage Wars and Valdemar: Vows and Honor

[darklingichor]

Into the West by Mercedes Lackey

I really wanted to like this one. I liked Beyond, the first in the Founding of Valdemar series. I liked the idea of the legends sprinkled throught out the series being filled in. The characters are great, I really enjoy the mages that make up the magical core of these particular books, Baron Kordas Valdemar is complex and a throughly likeable character and it is really cool to see the "There is No One, True Way" and "Valdemar is the People, not the Land" concepts take shape.

But the story is really slow.

I couldn't get into Lord of the Rings because, to paraphrase Clerks II: All they do is walk. Even the fucking trees walked.

And there is *a lot of walking* in this book. I get what's trying to be done here, Kordas literally packed up the people of his Barony with the plan of fleeing a tyrannical rule.

The plan was to prepare (which his grandfather and Father started) figure out a way to travel large distances very fast (enter the mages) and get anyone who wanted to go, the hell away from the Empire that thrived on treating its people like so much cattle.

However, the idea was to magic themselves away and settle on the other side.

The issue, of course, is one that every exposition has run into - there were already people where they landed.

Kordas, refuses to be like the empire he escaped, and is commited to not causing more suffering. So, their convoy moves on, determined to find a vacant area to settle.

Along the way, they encounter many a weird thing, because the area they ran to had been affected by the Mage Wars which corrupted the landscape.

All of this us good stuff, a group of people trying to find freedom and do it the right way.

But it feels like every step is chronicled, and it takes until halfway through the book for anything to really happen. I just had the hardest time getting into this one.

[random-bookquotes]

You are human and mortal; we are the sum of our weak moments and our strong. Everyone has a moment at which he must break; this one was yours. It is no shame to need help and know it.

Mercedes Lackey, The Black Gryphon (Valdemar: Mage Wars, #1)

[catmint1]

I believe that I shall become a curmudgeon. Then at least I can complain, and it will be expected of me.

Mercedes Lackey, The Silver Gryphon (Valdemar: Mage Wars #3)

[griseldagimpel]

Valdemar Series: The Mage Wars Trilogy

So you’ve heard there’s going to be a Valdemar television series, and you’re thinking of checking out the books. But then you look and see that, um, there’s a lot of them. Welcome then to the first in a series of tumblr posts I’m going to do, where I talk about different parts of the series, although I will be avoiding major spoilers. Where to start, things to be forewarned about, etc. 

Like everything, the Valdemar Series has its shortcomings as well as its virtues. There's also potentially triggering content. Plus, sometimes you're in the mood for a tragedy and sometimes you're not, you knowing? I’m going to try to hit the “big” stuff, but I can’t promise this is going to be comprehensive. It’s going to be subject to flawed memory, personal preference, my own blind spots, etc. Think of it as an informal guide, with the goal of hopefully allowing readers to make an informed decision and to prevent them from being caught off guard by something.

Alright, so first up is The Mage Wars trilogy. This is The Black Gryphon, The White Gryphon, and The Silver Gryphon. Chronologically, these are the [thus far] earliest books in the series, dealing with the Mage Wars, which was the multi-pronged conflict that basically broke the continent and shapes a lot of the world building.

The Black Gryphon is a war story, The White Gryphon is court intrigue, and The Silver Gryphon is a survival in wilderness story.

Overall, I really liked these. Amberdrake is great, as is Silverblade. As you’d might expect, lots of gryphons in this trilogy, if you’re a gryphon fanatic.

In terms of stuff I’d forewarn a reader about, The White Gryphon has a king of the Haighlei Empire (Fantasy Unified Never Colonized Africa) falling for not one, but two white women. Which is literally two-thirds of the white women that appear in the book.

There’s also a character with a mental disability who’s treated as an eternal child. The character features most prominently in The Black Gryphon.

If you don’t want to start with The Mage Wars, you don’t have to, as there are multiple good starting points in the series. However, some stuff established in The Mage Wars trilogy comes back later, so if you want to read it, I’d recommend reading it before The Mage Winds trilogy.

[coollovebibliophilethings]

The Silver Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon

The Silver Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon

Title: The Silver GryphonAuthor: Mercedes Lackey & Larry DixonSeries: The Mage Wars #3, Valdemar #3Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)My Bookshelves: Fantasy, Mages, Magic, Medieval fantasyPace: SlowFormat: NovelYear: 1996 I found this whole Valdemar trilogy a bit of a hard whack. I just didn’t feel emotionally connected with the characters like the other books. And it was even…