From /tmp/sf.3694 Sun Nov 8 23:03:48 1992 Path: isy!liuida!sunic!news.funet.fi!cc.tut.fi!fuug!mcsun!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!pacbell.com!pacbell!pbhyc!djdaneh From: sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu (Subrata Sircar) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Bardic Voices (Review) by Mercedes Lackey Message-ID: <1991Dec19.190422.10447@pbhyc.PacBell.COM> Date: 19 Dec 91 19:04:22 GMT Sender: djdaneh@pbhyc.PacBell.COM (Dan'l DanehyOakes) Reply-To: sksircar@phoenix.prinston.edu Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Pacific * Bell Lines: 67 Approved: djdaneh@pbhyc.pacbell.com I picked this book up with trepidation; I have greatly enjoyed Mercedes Lackey's writing in the past (particularly the Last Herald-Mage trilogy, which I preferred to the Arrows books), but she seems to be taking on new projects with ever-increasing frequency these days. This book is billed as Book I of The Lark and the Wren, and along with continuing her Valdemar books, coauthoring another set and the Diana Tregard books, she's going to be writing in her sleep for a while. The good news is twofold: a) this book is complete in and of itself (although the direction of future books seems pretty clear) b) this book isn't a drop in quality compared to previous works. I enjoyed this one, although it is far from her best. The plot is fairly standard; mistreated child with musical talent runs away from home to pursue her abilities and get away from misunderstanding parents (just as every other Mercedes Lackey main character does, it seems). Along the way, she fiddles for a ghost, learns about the evil and corrupt Church, and discovers that whores aren't always despicable. After discovering firsthand that Guild Bards aren't tolerant of women at all, she joins the Free Bards, where (of course) most of the talented musicians are. The main difficulty I have with the plot is despite the number of wicked and evil people in the world, Rune (the heroine) meets none of them. She fiddles for a ghost, who, instead of devouring her and sending her to Hell, give her enough silver to run away and start lessons. Upon entering the city, instead of being mugged, robbed or cheated, she finds a helpful innkeeper who gives her plenty of good advice. When she looks for a music teacher, she just happens to find someone who doesn't cheat her, finds her a place to stay *and* a good job. When she gets beaten up and kicked out by the Guild Bards, a kindly Free Bard just happens to pick her up and give her everything she wanted from the Guild Bards. And so on; Rune runs into nothing but nice people for the majority of the book, and generally solves her problems with the help of good friends and common sense. Despite the various storm clouds on the horizon, most of them stay away from Rune, as though she's walking on a safe path through a jungle. The books saving grace is strong characterization and a reasonable pace (which becomes forced at the end; the wrap-up is somewhat unrealistic, without enough background to really anchor it) which meanders through some nice descriptions of the culture and background. It flows nicely and the characters hold your interest; in some ways the lack of trouble for the heroine is nice as it allows her to meet lots of interesting and kind people. The book is populated with enough characters to set up a universe, which evidently Ms. Lackey is going to do. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book (although I would like more from this particular author, as some of her books have really impressed me) and will look out for the sequel. I would recommend this to readers who like Mercedes Lackey's books, but not to someone who hasn't read her stuff before. For you, I say "Go find the Last Herald-Mage books; they have all the strengths of this book and fewer weaknesses." Recommended: 6 out of 10. %A Mercedes Lackey %T Bardic Voices %D January 1992 %G ISBN 0-671-72099-6 %I Baen Books, Baen Publishing Enterprises %K Fantasy %O Paperback $4.99 %P 488 pages %S Book I of The Lark and the Wren -- Subrata Sircar |sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu|Prophet & SPAMIT Charter Member I don't speak for Princeton, and they don't speak for me. "I wish people wouldn't instantly assume that I am an idiot." (Valentine) "A restaurant is a whorehouse that does food instead of sex." (Roger Lustig) From rec.arts.sf.reviews Thu Sep 10 14:10:25 1992 Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:124 rec.arts.sf.written:11007 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!sun-barr!ames!ig!dont-reply-to-paths From: sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: _Wheels of Fire_, by Lackey and Shepherd (no spoilers!) Message-ID: <1992Sep08.095143.1061@kithrup.COM> Date: 9 Sep 92 17:57:58 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Lines: 74 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) My trip to the bookstore Friday was quite fruitful; I bought four books that I enjoyed reading, to various degrees, although I'm finished with all of them now. The second one I read was _Wheels of Fire_, by Mercedes Lackey and Mark Shepherd. This is a "sequel" to _Born to Run_, by Lackey and Larry Dixon. It is a "Novel of the SERRAted Edge," so-called because the SERRAted novels deal with elves living in the modern, human world through the South Eastern Road Racing Association. (As an aside, I didn't realize why they were called "Novels of the SERRAted Edge" until I read the "Also By" page of this book, where the SERRA were capitalized. I realize I'm slow, you don't need to tell me, okay? 8-)) I liked _Born to Run_; I thought it was typical Lackey writing and story, and was enjoyable to read. I can't really say the same of _Wheels of Fire_. First of all, it is not a "real" sequel to BtR, and the characters in WoF are mentioned only in passing a couple of times in the novel -- and not very well. That is, it felt forced, as if they had to put it in there to let the readers know that, yes, this is related to the other book. WoF read like some of Lackey's most recent works. While there are good things to be said about it, there are also bad things to be said about it. The main character is not as interesting, I think, as Tannim, in BtR, and his cause is also not as interesting, or well done. Parts of the book are *good*, I am glad to admit. There are some flashbacks into the main character's history, and they were interesting enough, and held enough potential, to make the way they were worked into the rest of the story livable. Parts of it, however, are *bad*. The main character could really use help at times, but doesn't get it, and the reasons given are... flat. A deus ex machina type of explanation, which I rarely like. The book is also thicker than BtR. Although I normally *like* thick books (since I read too quickly to make $4 or $5 for a 200-page book worthwhile, unless it's a De Lint or similar book), in this case, it worked against it. Largely because the quality of the story and writing doesn't justify the length. There is at least one other SERRAted book coming out, according to the "Also By" page; I'll buy it, and, with any luck, it will be at least as good as this one. If it is, I think it will be worth the money. But it will be marginal. All in all, I guess I'd have to say that, although I'm glad I read it, I'd have to recommend it as a used-book purchase for most people. But a lot of Lackey's recent works have been like that, and I keep hoping she'll come out with some outstanding works again. (Which I assume she will, since Chuq has said she is out of the crunch she was in.) Sorry for the length of this, and the rambling. I was, obviously, ambivalent about the book. %A Mercedes Lackey and Mark Shepherd %T Wheels of Fire %I Baen Fantasy %C New York %D 1992 %G ISBN 0-671-72138-0 %P 389 pp. %S Novels of the SERRAted Edge %V Book 2 %O paperback, US$4.99 ($5.99 CDN) -- Sean Eric Fagan | "You can't get lost in one room, no matter how sef@kithrup.COM | little effort you make to learn your way around." -----------------+ -- William E Davidsen (william@crd.GE.COM) Any opinions expressed are my own, and generally unpopular with others. From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Sep 23 22:59:25 1992 Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:130 rec.arts.sf.written:11872 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!stanford.edu!ames!ig!dont-reply-to-paths From: sef@kithrup.COM (Sean Eric Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Subject: _Winds of Change_ by Mercedes Lackey (no spoilers) Message-ID: <1992Sep22.111804.19418@kithrup.COM> Date: 22 Sep 92 22:36:55 GMT Sender: mcb@presto.ig.com Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Lines: 60 Approved: mcb@presto.ig.com (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Let's be honest: Mercedes Lackey's recent works have not been all that good, especially the collaborations. Even the stuff she wrote by herself, that has been published in the last year, hasn't been all that great. _Winds of Fate_, the first book in "The Mage Winds" trilogy, was, at the time, one of the worst things I'd read by her (although, at the time, her worst was still better than lots of other stuff I'd read). WoC is better -- but not always. The first three hundred pages or so are... not her typical writing. It is not engrossing at that point, and rather lacking in action. I want to say, however, that I *like* the concept, it's just the actual doing that I'm not too happy with. (Essentially, there is no major singular challenge, just her characters getting on with more-or-less normal lives. Which is *good*, because almost all books and stories only deal with the stressful times. It's nice to know what calmer times are like. I just don't know that three-hundred-odd pages were necessary to do it, and I'm not sure that how it was done was really worthwhile. To give you an idea, if/when I reread the book, I will probably either skim or skip that entire section.) After that, however, the tone of the book changes -- *drastically*. It reminded me a lot more of other Lackey books I enjoyed greatly. And the last sixty pages or so were so engrossing that I've stayed up until now to finish the book. Despite that, however, there are still more problems. The ending of the book is a bit sudden, and, of course, there is no real ending, just a fadeoff into the next book (which isn't out yet, of course). However, it was not unexpected, since it's been known since _By the Sword_ that the "Mage Winds" trilogy would be just that: a trilogy. So, with that in mind, where and how the book ends comes quite a bit more easily, and is, actually, probably a good ending for it. There are some other, minor problems (one of the Hawkbrothers swearing, "God!" was my favorite, since they worship a Goddess who takes a rather personal interest in them), especially the drawings, which have some of the characters pictured as a few years older than they should be (twenty, thirty, in some cases, it seems 8-)). It's good to see Mercedes Lackey writing *good* stuff again. Even if it is only the last third of the book. And it is good, good enough that I will reread it (I still haven't reread _Winds of Fate_, although I was tempted to, having run out of new books to read; fortunately, a new shipment of booksk came in at about the same time... 8-)). Hopefully, the trend will continue. %A Mercedes Lackey %T Winds of Change %I Daw Books, Inc. %C New York %D 1992 %G ISBN 0-886-770534-5 %O hardcover, US$20.00 %P 446 pages -- Sean Eric Fagan | "You can't get lost in one room, no matter how sef@kithrup.COM | little effort you make to learn your way around." -----------------+ -- William E Davidsen (william@crd.GE.COM) Any opinions expressed are my own, and generally unpopular with others. From rec.arts.sf.written Wed Jan 13 13:42:23 1993 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Lackey and Lisle: When the Bough Breaks Message-ID: <1993Jan11.230708.17822@netcom.com> Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:07:08 GMT Lines: 31 I suppose I keep trying, long past the point where I should know better, because I so enjoy Lackey's solo efforts. (Like the efforts of her latest coauthor, Piers Anthony, they're a guilty pleasure.) Past experience, however, shows that Lackey+junior_coauthor = coauthor -- and she doesn't have very good taste in junior coauthors. The first "Serrated Edge" novel wasn't bad, actually. (I guess you have to do a bit more when launching a series -- particularly if you have to live with the coauthor.) The second was trash. "When the Bough Breaks" is third -- and not quite as good as the second. "Serrated Edge" isn't really about Elves; it's about child abuse. The mix is approximately half a pot of plot to a quarter of a pot of characterization to one pot of message. The characters, Elf and Human alike, are caricatures. The reading list (of course there's a reading list) includes the SE books. It's not so much that the message gets in the way of the story, as that the importance of the message seems to have made the authors forget that they were also supposed to be writing a novel. Someone please let me know if Holly Lisles single-author books are any good. This book hasn't inspired me to find out the hard way. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com 'T is with our judgements as our watches, none Go alike, yet each believes his own --Alexander Pope From /tmp/sf.15692 Tue Mar 30 18:18:27 1993 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: lysator.liu.se!isy!liuida!sunic!mcsun!uunet!gatech!enterpoop.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu.!wex From: Sean Eric Fagan Subject: review for _When the Bough Breaks_ Message-ID: <9301192232.aa05430@kithrup.com> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.misc Sender: news@news.media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Organization: Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 16:37:38 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 46 _When the Bough Breaks_ by Mercedes Lackey and Holly Lisle. Review by Sean Eric Fagan WtBB is the third book in the SERRAted edge series (the other two being _Born to Run_, by Lackey and Larry Dixon, and _Wheels of Fire_, by Lackey and Mark Sheperd). I'm not really cut out to review this book impartially; all three books deal with children who are abused, one way or the other, and this one deals with sexual abuse, something I can't distance myself from enough. So I don't know if my reaction to this book is because of the topic, or because it was good writing. But I liked the book. The second book, WoF, was obviously written largely by Mark Sheperd, as the writing and story were not something Lackey would have written herself. This book, also, may have been largely written by the junior collaborator (Lisle, in this case), as there are large parts of it that do not have a "Lackey" feel to it. I would have to say that this is a recommended book, if you are a Lackey fan. It was well worth the few dollars I paid for it today. There were times when I could not put the book down; and other times when I *had* to, because I was getting too worked up. Like BtR, it's got humour (some subtle, some slapstick), battles, magic, elves (of course :)), human mages, fast cars, and chase scenes. And, of course, the helpful ghost. And a side note: the other two forms of child abuse in the previous two books were not as moving, at least for me, as this book's was, due to a lack of clarification and detail in the first book, and a lack of talent in the second book. This one, however, had me calling a local number for a teen shelter and donating money to it. So, in that respect, if no other, the authors succeeded in their goal. %T _When the Bough Breaks_ %A Mercedes Lackey and Holly Lisle %D 1993 %I Baen Books %P 279 pages %G ISBN 0-671-72154-2 -- --Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker and Cyberspace Bard Media Lab - Advanced Human Interface Group wex@media.mit.edu Voice: 617-258-9168, Pager: 617-945-1842 wexelblat.chi@xerox.com Bondage is just another form of packaging. From /tmp/sf.15145 Tue Jun 8 23:07:35 1993 Xref: lysator.liu.se sci.physics:15258 sci.space:14144 rec.arts.sf.written:12762 Newsgroups: sci.physics,sci.space,rec.arts.sf.written Path: lysator.liu.se!kth.se!sunic!pipex!doc.ic.ac.uk!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!netcomsv!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Lackey and Sherman: Bard's Tale Message-ID: Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1993 06:04:42 GMT Lines: 21 I finally found "The Bard's Tale: Castle of Deception", by Mercedes Lackey and Josepha Sherman, in a used book store. It's not often that I fail to finish a book, but in this case I couldn't get past page fifty. I've complained in the past that Lackey's collaborations tend to be bad -- but this was simply and unrelentingly *dull*. A blurb for the sequel describes "Castle of Deception" as a "highly successful genre bestseller". I suspect that whoever wrote that description subscribes to the Humpty-Dumpty school of English. Or maybe not: I was dumbfounded to read that Baen has contracted for five more sequels -- two by Lackey coauthors, one by Holly Lisle, and two by Lisle with coauthors not yet selected. I'd be interested in knowing who the prime contractor was. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com 'T is with our judgements as our watches, none Go alike, yet each believes his own --Alexander Pope From /tmp/sf.1110 Fri Jul 23 13:59:19 1993 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!uunet!psinntp!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: _Winds of Fury_, by Mercedes Lackey Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Message-ID: Date: 23 Jul 93 01:10:21 GMT Lines: 48 _Fury_ is the third book in _The Mage Winds Trilogy_; the first two were _Winds of Fate_ and _Winds of Change_. _Fate_ was, *I* think, pretty obviously written during the period when Lackey had overextended herself, and was writing, or collaborating, on too many books, most of which were not very good. _Fate_ was one of the "not very good" ones, so I was somewhat leery of _Change_. To my delight, however, _Change_ was a better book than _Fate_. It was not a *great* book, but it was, at least, a decent, or maybe even good, book. Happily, _Fury_ continues the progression. It *is* a good book, and much in the tradition of Lackey's original Valdemar novels, although a lot less depressing (read: we do not get such wonderful descriptions of rapings, and none of the characters mopes for the entire length of the book). I read _Fury_ in one sitting; even given that it is a relatively short book (I've been rereading Jordan's _Wheel of Time_ series again...), that is still a pretty good indicator. As I sit here writing this, parts of the book, I just realized, make me think of the recent song, "Hero" ("It was one of those great stories / That you can't put down at night: / The hero knew what he had to do, / And he wasn't afraid to fight"). If you are a Lacky fan, this is a *good* book, and worth the cost. If you've been disappointed by her books from a couple of years ago, this will probably do a lot to restore your faith in her. If you're not a Lackey fan, well, you shouldn't really get this book, as it's part three of a trilogy, and was set up by nine other books (_The Last Herald-Mage_, _Arrows of the Queen_, _Vows and Honor Duology_, and _By The Sword_, the first two being trilogies in and of themselves). If you've read the _Arrows_ trilogy, then you can read this trilogy right now (although reading the rest would help). Fortunately, the other two books in the series are now out in paperback. If I were to rate this, I would probably give it a +3 on a -5 to +5 scale. %T Winds of Fury %A Mercedes Lackey %C New York %D July 1993 %I DAW %O hardback US$20.00 %G ISBN 0-88677-562-0 %P 384pp From new Thu Jun 16 18:55:59 1994 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!swrinde!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!pacbell.com!amdahl!netcomsv!netcom.com!dani From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Subject: Lackey: Sacred Ground Message-ID: Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 21:09:28 GMT Lines: 32 "Sacred Ground" is vintage Lackey -- something which gets boring after a while. The confusion of people who thought it was a Diane Tregarde novel is understandable, as it recycles many of the themes and quirks. There are differences, of course: Jennifer Talldear is living in Oklahoma, rather than just visiting. She's a licensed investigator, rather than an unlicensed one. Her magic is shamanistic, rather than Wiccan. Her family has a tradition of hiding its origins, rather than (or more precisely, in addition to) its religion. Despite these differences and others, however, it reads like a standard Lackey novel. When a particularly slimy developer unearths what appears to be a native graveyard, and when what may be acts of sabotage follow, Talldear is hired to investigate the possibility of insurance fraud. It turns out quickly enough that in addition to whatever mundane wrong-doings may be afoot, the developer has opened the door to an Ancient Evil (TM) which it is up to Jennifer, her Old and Wise (TM) grandfather, and her Attractive but Obnoxious (do I have to say it?) quondam love interest to combat. Wisecracks aside, this *is* vintage Lackey, and I remember how much I enjoyed this books read-alikes when they first appeared. People who still feel that way about them will enjoy this one too. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com Who didn't melt down, but whose computer did. From /tmp/sf.4146 Tue Aug 9 01:43:14 1994 Xref: liuida rec.arts.sf.reviews:485 rec.arts.sf.written:50013 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!howland.reston.ans.net!wupost!udel!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: sef@kithrup.com (Sean Eric Fagan) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: _Sacred Ground_, by Mercedes Lackey Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd. Message-ID: Date: 20 Feb 94 22:03:46 GMT Lines: 51 In my mind, there are two parts of a review of a Mercedes Lackey (or any other established author, for that matter) book: the story, and the author. For a while, Lackey's writing was only barely acceptable, at best, and not worth reading, at worst. Fortunately, she seems to have gotten past that, and is now a decent writer again. If I were to ignore everything else Lackey has written, I would say that SG is a perfectly acceptable modern-day fantasy novel, and would recommend it to those who liked that sort of work. I would also recommend getting it in paperback, of course, not hardcover. However, since I have read almost every book she has written (I have ignored the Piers Anthony coauthored book, and I refuse to read any of the Bardic Tales after the first one, since that one was so bad), it is virtually impossible to ignore her previous writings. I thought about opening this review with: What would you have if Diana Trelgarde were a Native American Indian shaman, instead of a Guardian, and a private investigator instead of a romance novelist? You would probably get something that read exactly like Ground. _Sacred Ground_ is the story of a Medicine Woman, Kestrel, who works as a private investigator. In her spare time, she also tracks down and returns sacred Indian artifacts. The plot is very unique to all of this, and Diana Trelgarde would never run into something quite like this. But the book reads like one of her stories anyway. Mind you, it is much better than _Jinx High_, and possibly better than any of the Trelgarde novels. Although there is not less lecturing and preaching, it is better done, I thought (I only got annoyed at a couple of places, instead of the more usualy half dozen or so in other books). If you are a Lackey fan, then, as with the past couple of books of hers I've read, I'd have to say it's a definite recommendation. If you're a fan of modern-day-fantasy-with-investigation, then I'd also recommend it -- although I might also recommend that you get it in paperback, or find a used copy of the hardcover. If you've never read a Lackey before, this might not be a bad place to start. Except, again, for the fact that it's a hardcover book. (Maybe I'm being too cynical, but, while it's a good book, I don't think it's quite *that* good.) If I were to rate it on a -5 to +5 scale, I'd give it about +2.5. %T Sacred Ground %A Mercedes Lackey %I Tor Books %G ISBN 0-312-85281-9 %D March 1994 %P 381 pages From /tmp/sf.4191 Tue Aug 9 02:47:04 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!news.funet.fi!news.eunet.fi!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!convex!news.duke.edu!godot.cc.duq.edu!hudson.lm.com!epicycle.lm.com!not-for-mail From: dani@telerama.lm.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Lackey and Dixon: Chrome Circle Date: 20 Jul 1994 00:50:22 -0400 Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA USA Lines: 38 Message-ID: <30iaee$730@epicycle.lm.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: epicycle.lm.com I don't know why I do this to myself. The SERRAted Edge is something between a shared world and a coauthored series, consisting of novels written by Mercedes Lackey and assorted third-stringers, in a setting roughly consistent with the milieu/assumptions of Lackey's Tregarde novels. The quality of the writing has varied greatly with the skill of the coauthor, so it's doubtful that Lackey has been putting much time into these books. (Doubly doubtful, given her other writing commitments.) But Mercedes Lacky, on a good day, produces some of the best self-indulgence in the genre, and her previous work with Larry Dixon has shown more care and skill than her work with other junior coauthors, so I got "Chrome Circle". I think the series has well and truly run out of steam. The premise has promise: Tannim, whom we've met before, finally meets his destined love, about whom he's been dreaming for years, only she turns out to be a half- dragon-half-kitsune (fox-spirit) who is trying to kill him. The authors then proceed to make the most pedestrian use of their raw materials. The first half of the book is the setup: Boy meets girl, girl kidnaps boy, girl goes "oops" and gets him loose, boy and girl run for their lives. This isn't so bad, though it suffers from Lackey's usual tendency to push the plot where she wants it to go, no matter how improbably her characters have to behave to make it work. It's also somewhat weakened by an excessive and unnecessary reliance on earlier books in the series for background and atmosphere. The second half of the book is largely a sequence of small adventures as the two flee from one mythology's pocket world to the next, while their friends and enemies look for them. The sequence of adventures ends with everyone being in on the final climactic battle, which is resolved by the obligatory rabbit-out-of-a-hat. The book is cute in places -- but boring. ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com dani@telerama.lm.com 'T is with our judgements as our watches, none Go alike, yet each believes his own --Alexander Pope From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Nov 2 16:39:35 1998 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.news.gtei.net!netnews.com!ai-lab!news.media.mit.edu!not-for-mail From: hklaus6073@aol.com (HKlaus6073) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Owlsight - Lackey & Dixon Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 22 Oct 1998 16:34:45 -0400 Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Lines: 40 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2138 OWLSIGHT by Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon Review Copyright 1998 Harriet Klausner [May be considered a spoiler for the first volume in the series. --AW] Four years have passed since the Barbarians raided and plundered Errold's Grove (see Book I, OWLFLIGHT). The village has since recovered and actually is larger than it was before the disaster. Untrained talent, teenager Keisha Alder has become the town's unofficial healer. However, in spite of her immense innate skills, she struggles with helping others because she has never learned to block out her empathy towards the pain of her patients and their families. Even her own family, especially her sister Shandi is driving her crazy. Still, formal training is out of the question, at least for now, because the townsfolk have no one else to turn to for assistance. Four years ago, Darien left the village to receive healing training from the Hawkbrothers. He returns accompanied by his mentors to warn the villagers that the Barbarians are at the gate once again and razing Errold's Grove for the second time seems to be a foregone conclusion. The second novel in the Owl Fantasy trilogy, OWLSIGHT, is a well written tale as expected from the talented duo of Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. However, this time the story lacks the vigorous action of the debut novel or Ms. Lackey's VALDEMAR series (same setting). This novel is more introspective, providing much insight, mostly through the filter of how Keisha sees and reacts to the noises that appears to be overwhelming her at any given moment. Fans of the series and fantasy tales in general will take pleasure from this book that offers a quieter glimpse of the Valdemar universe and will look forward to the final story, OWLKNIGHT. Harriet Klausner %T OWLSIGHT %A Mercedes Lackey %A Larry Dixon %I Daw %D Oct 1998 %O $24.95 %P 400 pp. %G ISBN 0-88677-802-6 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue May 11 15:36:31 1999 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!news-peer-europe.sprintlink.net!news-peer1.sprintlink.net!news-in-central.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!rpi!gatech!18.181.0.27.MISMATCH!sipb-server-1.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!usenet From: Harriet Klausner Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: The Black Swan, Mercedes Lackey Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 07 May 1999 14:14:14 -0400 Organization: Netcom Lines: 33 Sender: wex@tinbergen.media.mit.edu Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2288 The Black Swan by Mercedes Lackey Review Copyright 1999 Harriet Klausner Sorcerer Baron von Rothbart has never forgiven women for the untimely death of his spouse. To avenge this affront, he begins to magically transform chosen females into beautiful swans. Only moonlight can temporarily alter his powerful spell and turn the swans back into human, but alas that does not last. The only female he has not changed into a bird is his daughter Odile, who minds his flock even as she desperately yearns for her father's approval. Prince Seigfried, a noted philanderer, notices the flock changing back and forth between swans and humans. He returns every night and soon falls in love with the most intrepid of the prisoners, Princess Odette. He plans to do what ever it takes to free his beloved. However, even as Odile begins to doubt her loyalties, Seigfried's mother turns to the Baron to help her keep her son from attaining the throne that is rightfully his. THE BLACK SWAN is a beautiful rewriting of the classic fairy tale, Swan Lake. The well-written story line is filled with enchantment, treachery, and love. The five prime characters are intelligently designed even as they stay close to the original story. Even when she writes about something fowl, Mercedes Lackey hits a home run. Harriet Klausner %T THE BLACK SWAN %A Mercedes Lackey I% Daw %D May 1999 %O $24.95 %P 376 pp. %G ISBN 0-88677-833-6