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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
For the past three years early December marks the publication of a Valdemar anthology (the previous three were published in 1997, 2003 and 2005 respectively) and Finding the Way is the latest in the series. And it's at once one of the best and one of the more frustrating of the anthologies. To be honest however, the points that frustrated me most were mostly subjective and not tied to the writing itself, so it might not bother people not familiar with the other anthologies. The biggest niggle is that all the authors are returning contributors. There isn't one new author in this bunch of stories. On the one hand, this makes it possible to have recurring characters - which is great - but on the other hand, exploring new authors through familiar universes is one of the attractive side benefits of these kinds of anthologies. And while having recurring characters and storylines is great fun, for a die-hard Valdemar fan it is also an opportunity lost to explore a new corner of Velgarth or something new and unique to the universe. The last thing that really bugged me was the fact that there were some continuity mistakes and typo's that weren't caught before printing. I know mistakes happen, but it was distracting, because my eye kept snagging on the typo's and stopping me reading.
Any collection of stories will have duds and Finding the Way is no different. But, with only two stories out of the fifteen that really didn't click for me, the number of disappointments is very small. The stories that didn't work for me were Mickey Zucker Reichert's The Education of Evita and Michael Z. Williamson and Gail Sander's The Groom's Price. Zucker Reichert has had stories in all six anthologies and her stories are always rather 'hit or miss' for me and this time it was a miss. I just found the titular character of Evita annoying and I couldn't get past that. Williamson and Sanders' story just didn't do it for me, which was a shame because it was a Shina'in story and I've enjoyed Williamson's previous contributions a lot.
While all other thirteen stories were highly enjoyable, my favourites were the titular story by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, Finding the Way, Elisabeth Waters' A Charm of Finches, Kate Paulk's Heart's Choice and Sarah A. Hoyt's Heart's Own. The Lackey/Dixon story is a story about an Hertasi, the little lizard-like non-humans that live in the Pelagirs. They are one of my favourite non-human races in the Velgarth universe, so I enjoyed this closer look immensely. Waters' A Charm of Finches is a continuation of last year's A Storytelling of Crows and I adored this look at Gifted people not part of the Collegia. Paulk and Hoyt's stories were both great new Jem and Ree stories. I love these two characters and it's a unique view of life after the Mage Storms.
All in all, this was another fun addition to the Velgarth universe. I wouldn't recommend it to people new to the Valdemar books; I'd recommend starting with either the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy or the Last Herald-Mage series, but for any Valdemar fan, this will be a must-read regardless of any flaws. Some of the stories will benefit from having read the previous ones, but most stand solidly on their own. I enjoyed this quick visit to Valdemar and I can't wait to go back for a longer stay with Intrigues later this year.
Any collection of stories will have duds and Finding the Way is no different. But, with only two stories out of the fifteen that really didn't click for me, the number of disappointments is very small. The stories that didn't work for me were Mickey Zucker Reichert's The Education of Evita and Michael Z. Williamson and Gail Sander's The Groom's Price. Zucker Reichert has had stories in all six anthologies and her stories are always rather 'hit or miss' for me and this time it was a miss. I just found the titular character of Evita annoying and I couldn't get past that. Williamson and Sanders' story just didn't do it for me, which was a shame because it was a Shina'in story and I've enjoyed Williamson's previous contributions a lot.
While all other thirteen stories were highly enjoyable, my favourites were the titular story by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon, Finding the Way, Elisabeth Waters' A Charm of Finches, Kate Paulk's Heart's Choice and Sarah A. Hoyt's Heart's Own. The Lackey/Dixon story is a story about an Hertasi, the little lizard-like non-humans that live in the Pelagirs. They are one of my favourite non-human races in the Velgarth universe, so I enjoyed this closer look immensely. Waters' A Charm of Finches is a continuation of last year's A Storytelling of Crows and I adored this look at Gifted people not part of the Collegia. Paulk and Hoyt's stories were both great new Jem and Ree stories. I love these two characters and it's a unique view of life after the Mage Storms.
All in all, this was another fun addition to the Velgarth universe. I wouldn't recommend it to people new to the Valdemar books; I'd recommend starting with either the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy or the Last Herald-Mage series, but for any Valdemar fan, this will be a must-read regardless of any flaws. Some of the stories will benefit from having read the previous ones, but most stand solidly on their own. I enjoyed this quick visit to Valdemar and I can't wait to go back for a longer stay with Intrigues later this year.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
"Finding the Way" still lacks a few miles to getting there IMHO.
There are some nice stories, a few revisited characters, most notably two stories about Jem and Ree, one of which is really good, the other less so. Mercedes Lackey's own story, lending its title to the volume, is delightful. However several of the other stories appear disjointed to me. It may be a difference in writing style, since I'm not familiar with all the authors in this volume from their other work, but several of the stories seemed either roughly edited or lacking full narrative cohesion to me.
However, if you are still in love with Valdemar and related countries, you will spend a few enjoyable hours in the company of this volume.
There are some nice stories, a few revisited characters, most notably two stories about Jem and Ree, one of which is really good, the other less so. Mercedes Lackey's own story, lending its title to the volume, is delightful. However several of the other stories appear disjointed to me. It may be a difference in writing style, since I'm not familiar with all the authors in this volume from their other work, but several of the stories seemed either roughly edited or lacking full narrative cohesion to me.
However, if you are still in love with Valdemar and related countries, you will spend a few enjoyable hours in the company of this volume.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Having purchased all of the 'add ons' to the Valdemar universe by alternative writers I like to think I have an idea of the quality I expect from them.
In general I expect to find a couple of stories that I would class as Misty level (includig the one she does), half of the rest rather good and most of the remainder readable, occassionally one or two I find below par.
Sadly in this case most are below par, a couple are enjoyable and even Misty's story dragged a little.
I'm happy to have it in my collection but it's not up to the standard of the other collections.
In general I expect to find a couple of stories that I would class as Misty level (includig the one she does), half of the rest rather good and most of the remainder readable, occassionally one or two I find below par.
Sadly in this case most are below par, a couple are enjoyable and even Misty's story dragged a little.
I'm happy to have it in my collection but it's not up to the standard of the other collections.
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