Winds of Fate

Mercedes Lackey

Elspeth must find a way to bring magery back to Valdemar. Instead of following the convenient plan set out for her, she chooses to ride a different path – much to the consternation of her traveling companions.

Honestly, I found Darkwind’s sections boring, and often found myself skipping through them impatiently. The best part of those were the griffins!

I don’t see the same character faults in Elspeth that she sees in herself. Nevermind. I’m not sure if it’s a character inconsistency or something else wrong with the writing.

There were some inconsistencies with Skif’s characters. Elspeth says that Skif’s uncle was a thief, and Skif followed in his footsteps, but if you’ve read ‘Take a Thief’, you’ll know this isn’t the case. Also, the ending, I felt that what he might be planning to do would be outside what was required of him as a herald.

This is a great refresher on magic in Valdemar if you’ve forgotten all about it since Vanyel’s time. Lots of useful history and other good things.

I’m positive there are some redeeming factors for this book – I’ve certainly read them more than once. But I’m hardly ever attracted to them when they sit on my shelf ready to read, so that must say something as well.