This novel is an excellent addition to the Valdemaar/Herald series by Mercedes Lackey. This novel could actually stand alone away from the series--you need no knowledge of the previous novels to read this one. This novel has a good plot, good character development and good style.

Lackey's series takes place mostly in a country known as Valdemaar. The head of state is a Queen that has a council to advise her. She is also aided by Heralds. Heralds are sort of a peace keeping unit that can be warriors, diplomats or spies--whatever the crown needs that is what they do. Each Herald is selected by a Companion which is a pure white horse that has thinking and feeling capabilities on a human level. They can also mindspeak with each other and their Herald. They bond with the Herald they select and they always select people whose skills are needed and who are inherently good people. The bond is so close that if either the Herald or Companion is killed the other usually follows. The newly selected Heralds are trained at a school for heralds--they are educated in all subjects and in weaponry. When they become full fledged Heralds they travel the country side in a circuit--parts of the country are very rural--and act as a justice system for people who cannot come to the capital city of Haven to consult the Queen for justice. They also watch the borders for war (Valdemaar is not exactly on friendly terms with some of its neighbors).

This particular novel is the story of Skif. If you have read the other Valdemaar novels you will remember Skif as being a friend to Talia from the Arrows of the Queen trilogy. He was an interesting character in that trilogy, and he proves to have an interesting history. He is the only thief to become a Herald. Skif has a hard life growing up. His parents have both passed away and he is in the hands of his uncle, who works him terribly and does not feed him adequately. Skif begins his career as a thief by stealing food from the rich (who never miss it) so that he might have enough to eat. He later runs away from his uncle and is taken in by Bazie who teaches how to become a good thief. They live in the poor/hard section of Haven--where only the strong survive. They only steal enough to live and never steal from anyone who cannot afford it. Skif gets caught up in a series of events that change his hard life and cause the boy to grow up entirely too fast.

Skif is a great character full of life and spirit. He even has a sense of humor. He also has a boy sense of mischief, but a man's sense of honor and justice. We also get more background on another familiar character from the series, weapon master Alberich. He also is a very interesting character. He is a general from an enemy country and therefore can relate to Skif in the fact that they are outsiders to most of these people, but are still accepted by the Heralds and the Companions. Lackey is very good at creating likable characters that you can relate to. There are even changes in speech patterns. Alberich and Skif both have unique speech patterns, Skif's from the bad part of town complete with missing vowels and Alberich's speech has a unique sentence structure. Both Skif and Alberich are presented as very strong and wary characters.

Lackey style is very easy to read and is simply captivating. She is one of my favorite authors and I have read all of the Valdemaar series. Her plots are always good, her books always move well--you will never be bored. She is wonderful at characterization. I always feel as if I know her characters, personally. This would be a very good introduction to the Valdemaar series--or a nice addition if you have read some of them. I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a good fantasy novel.

Recommended: Yes