The Complete Arrows Trilogy

This is a collection of Arrow's of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall. This fantasy series is a strong one.Arrows of the Queen: Talia's struggles during her trainee days resonated with me. People have dinged the book because it isn't action-packed, gritty fantasy. The book is a gentle fantasy, focused on characters who are mostly likable. The Heralds are mostly good; their Companions (white, blue-eyed "horses" with at least human intelligence) wouldn't choose them to be Heralds if they weren't. This is the original introduction to Valdemar and has aged gracefully. (It was published in 1987.)Arrow's Flight: It seems that many times the middle book of a trilogy is a bit weaker; this one is just as strong as its predecessor. There are problems to be overcome; people grow and change in this story. There is foreshadowing for the next book and you'll find yourself saying "So that's what it meant!"Arrow's Fall: This book brings the series to a strong finish. All the hints in earlier books are made clear. Do plan on having tissues handy as I cried both in sorrow and joy.If you are a fantasy fan and haven't read the series, go ahead and do it. I don't think you will be disappointed.

Ms. Lackey creates a world that is consistent. Heralds, Companions, national relationships, somehow believable. Good character development, fabulous plots, The Gifts, called “mind magic,”are variations on ESP concepts rather than being “true magic.” Although, what we would consider magic does come into the stories. I liked the pace, the people, and the plot. Ms. Lackey delivers great reading. Again.

I loved this books heroine, Talia, but this second book about her was hard to read, as she's faced with the direst circumstances a young woman can face. She came out of it with mental and emotional scars to accompany the physical damage from capture by Valdemar's enemy. The other heroes in this book are the magical companion horses; they're all so special that Valdemar is somewhere I'd like to live if it was real, lol. This whole series made me also fall in love with the author, Mercedes Lackey. Pretty much everything she's written is a favorite of mine. Only a very, very few other authors I can say that about, frankly. I'm finally putting my money where my mouth is and buying digital copies of all her books a little at a time to squeeze into my budget. Mercedes Lackey is worth every penny!!! If only I could get a digital autograph on every book, lol.

Leaves a lot for imagination but I like it and read this inordinately fast because of it. I wanted to see where Mercedes took it though I had many different ideas.

I read this series when I was a teen. Just found them again. There are some really amazing characters and the plot is well executed. Keeping the thread all through the series. I have to say that although there is a HEA the ending left me sad.

I won't give a synopsis of the story as the publishers do a better job of it then I can. This is the beginning of her highly popular Valdemar series. If you are a fan of fantasy novels you should definitely read this one.I first read The Arrows Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey many years ago and periodically revisit it so was thrilled to find them in one volume for my Kindle. I immediately pre-ordered it and eagerly waited for it to come out. The Kindle edition was very well done. If there were any errors they did not stand out in my memory so they weren't glaring ones.Ms. Lackey knows how to develop characters that you come to care about. You feel their angst as well as their joy (at least I do). Even though I have read these books many times, the emotions brought forth in them were just as strong this reading as they were the first time I read them. Her Valdemar series is one of my top all time favorites and I usually pre-order every one of them.

This was my first Valdemar book, and the three stories were both thrilling and captivating as they simply set out the rules of the world and told a great story at the same time.This isn’t a perfect work, but it’s extremely well crafted and executed. I bought the next series before I finished this one - which should tell you everything that you need to know.

I read everything of Mercedes Lackey's work that I could get my hands on in my 20's . It was lovely to dive back into this world and have it so familiar after so many years. Her books were the first time I came across any stories about same gender pairs and the way that she wrote about them really made me think about the fact the their love for each other was no different. I plan on working my way back through all of the Valdemar books now that it is so easy to find all of her work. So a great story and a lesson on acceptance all rolled up together. A perfect escape from reality

Great story! I bought this book mostly to better undestand the genre of romantic fantasy and it's tropes. And I have to confess that I really like what i have read!!

Arrived on date stated and in excellent condition.

This trilogy left me a bit dissatisfied. Although it started as a classical epic fantasy with the young woman/child coming from some backwater's place and going on a hero's path from there, it never really gained momentum in the story or even character development. I liked Talia, the girl from the Borderlands who so desperately wants to be a Herald, a fighter for the kingdom and the queen. She manages to leave her bad past behind, when finally she really is Chosen to become a Herald, although it takes some time. But that actually made it all feel pretty real. Everything Talia is and does and grows into makes absolute sense. The whole first book is about Talia's training to become a Herald and I liked it so much that I forgave the at times slow pacing.But then, with the beginning of book two, I thought it to be the start of Talia's exciting time as a Herald and sadly, it was not. She is on her internship and when I heard it was in the inhospitable north, I thought there would be battle and mystery and stuff. But the whole book mostly consists of Talia and her assigned Herald being cloistered in some waystation in the snow. Wow. Not exciting. And to make things worse, the whole character development that happened in book one was just wiped away and there is a constantly worrying and angsting Talia just sitting around. I'd say something about Kris, the Herald she is interned with, but he is just a prop, he never feels like a real character.When I thought the second book in the trilogy oftentimes is the filler with issues, I learned here that book three sadly didn't raise the bar any further. I disliked the plotline, the black and white villains, the stuff happening to Talia that have no real consequences whatsoever and the overall pacing.So I'm afraid that this trilogy started out pretty good and went on a slow decline from there. I won't read any other books of that author, I'm sorry to say. Just not as good as other authors write about the theme.

A great idea for the begining introduction to an amazing world.

Reading good books in goo condition ffastdelivery good condition