Foundation: Book One of the Collegium Chronicles: A Valdemar Novel

Mmph... 2.5 stars. 😒

Maybe I'm spoiled? The first ML books I read were back in the early 90's. They had a different feel than this. A very different feel. They were grown up and the plot had a real goal fairly early on. In fact, this came off as ML doing Harry Potter, and... ew! Please no!

There isn't much character development, really, which actually confused me by the time I reached the end. I felt like I still didn't know much about the main character, his motives, and usually his feelings. He could've just as well been a dog or cat for as little opinion as he has to anything, and even then I've read books where the main characters are either animal and are still better developed.

I sincerely hope this book is a case of "book one syndrome", as I call it. Meaning the whole purpose of the book is to... well, basically do no more than be an intro. I hate when that happens because I have no real way to know if this is really the pace and style of the whole story or only the first of the series "introducing" the reader.

I seriously hope that's it, because I bought the whole series. Every book except 1 was full price. I hate it when I spend full price and get hosed by a crap story, especially when it's by an author I've otherwise enjoyed before and respect.

We'll see how this goes in the next book, and hopefully the meat of it doesn't get held back until the very end. Because that's lame.

This book was a great addition to the series, but unlike most of the other books, it is not a story in its own. Too many questions are left unanswered at the end. Great characters, and the story was intriguing, but it just didn't go far enough! The 2nd book in the series better fill in some more blanks.

I've been a long time fan of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar novels since I was twelve years old.

This one is the worst I've ever read.

None of the plot elements are ever fully explained, it's like the book just stops halfway through the story. The story itself is extremely boring until probably the last 1/4 of the book, where it picks up a bit. The entire first part of the book plods along, meandering back and forth between Mag's inner musings and the hum-drum of everyday life. Mags and his Companion, Dallen, never seem to really mesh well together, there's no chemistry there at all. The supporting characters seem trite and two-dimensional, just caricatures, really. The author frequently repeats herself, using three times the amount of words she actually needs to beat us over the head with whatever point she's trying to make. It's like she was just trying to reach a certain word count, or perhaps that she just sat down, slammed it out, and no one bothered to read or edit it before sending it to the printers.

I don't know if she's just burnt out on writing about Valdemar or what, but this book felt sloppy, thrown together and a total waste of my time as a reader. I wouldn't even recommend to long-time fans of Valdemar.

Let's face it... Once you starting reading Mercedes Lackey's books, you can't stop. Some of the more recent ones lacked the oomph of the classic trilogies, but this is a shift back towards the original couple of series. There is not, perhaps, as much conflict as one would normally expect to find in any novel, but it is a pleasant read nonetheless. I will happily read the rest of this series, when the opportunity arises.

Foundation chronicles the first year of training for Herald Trainee Mags, an orphan who was discovered working as an indentured servant in a gem mine. Mags makes for an entirely different sort of naif than Talia did, being no longer innocent, in spite of his lack of experience in the greater world. Watching people do the right things for the right reasons constitutes an awakening for him, and not an entirely comfortable one. Mags's coming of age takes place in a general atmosphere of change, as there are an unprecedented number of Trainees, too many for the available Heralds to take on as apprentices, and a Collegium is being built to accommodate the burgeoning group. Not all Heralds are in favor of the new training method, as Mags comes to find out. He quite unexpectedly finds his place among them after using skills he learned in the mine.

I enjoyed jumping back into this world. Valdemar is as enchanting as it ever was, and Mags is easy to root for. The supporting cast is also fun. Dallen the Companion is a treat, but I especially liked Herald Jakyr. His flaws made him interesting. Mags's buddies Lena the Bardic Trainee and Bear the Healer Trainee round out a trio that reminded me of another fantasy trio, and I have a hard time believing that was an accident. Still, Collegium is not really like Hogwarts, with its carefully negotiated sense of danger just held off, such an effective mirror of ordinary life. Far from reassurances of safety that is not really guaranteed, the instructors at Collegium are constantly reminding the Trainees that they are being trained for dangerous jobs. Depth is not the attraction of this particular book, however, so Collegium need not be a mirror for anything. Foundation has the cozy sense of everything in its place - even when the mysterious assassin turns up - that makes most of the Valdemar novels such good comfort reading.

It is curious that the timeline states the year as 850 AF, yet Stefan, Jisa and Treven are apparently all long dead, people barely remember vrondi and nobody seems to know what a mage is. I'm just going to pretend that was a typo and the year is really 950 AF. The plot makes better sense in the context of 950 AF.

Bottom line, if you like the Valdemar novels and aren't holding out for another entry of the caliber of The Last Herald Mage trilogy, this is well worth picking up. I'm probably going to continue the Collegium Chronicles myself, though I waited for Foundation to go into paperback and I'll probably do the same for Intrigues.

Ok, if your super picky and have to tear every thing you read apart step by step and are not capable of just enjoying a good story then maybe you shouldn't bother reading this book, but if you love Misty and enjoy a good read, then, by all means, read this book. I loved it!!!! I love everything Misty has written.

Foundation: Book One of the Collegium Chronicles by Mercedes Lackey, the latest addition to the Heralds of Valdemar series, takes place during the first year of the newly created Heralds' Collegium. The newest Chosen, Mags, was an orphan forced to work in a mine finding "sparklies" along with other unwanted children when his Companion, Dallen, forces his way onto the mine owner's property, with the help another Herald and Companion, to claim him. From there, Mags begins his new life as a trainee, trying to find his place in an unfamiliar world. Unused to being shown kindness or having friends, he feels like an outsider among the many trainees (Herald, Bard, and Healer) crammed together in one building while two others are under construction.

Mags becomes unlikely friends with two Bard and Healer trainees, children of famous parents, who live under the pressure of high expectations. He even inadvertently befriends a powerful councilman who decides to take an interest in Mags. Meanwhile, foreign princes have visited the city and have their guardsmen looking into Valdemar's weapons training.

I have not read all of the Heralds of Valdemar series, but I know what to expect of a Valdemar book from the ones I have read. Foundation seemed incomplete to me. The climatic scene had little to do with the rest of the book, though I am sure it will be important in the books to come. Having said that, I did enjoy the novel. Mags is likable and sympathetic. His suffering and later loneliness due to the lack of family made me cry. It was also interesting to see the conflicts and issues related to the creation of the Heralds' Collegium. I am definitely looking forward to more of Mags and the continuation of his story. Maybe some of the questions left open at the end of Foundation will finally be answered.

This is a wonderful series, engaging and interesting and well worth reading!

It was very good, interrsting and Lackeys characters are always fun to follow!

I'm a very big and long term fan of mercedes lackey and own many of her books.
I found mags character to be mildly interesting at best, not a lot happens, and it was hard to get through.
I was surprised to find she kept writing more and more about this character, usually she gives a character 1-3 books and moves on. But mags has over 5 books now I believe.
I pushed on and read the next two and it was seriously a struggle. Mags is probably the least interesting character she's ever written.
I wish vanyel had gotten that many books, I found him much more enjoyable to read about.
But that said, I look forward to her new series foundation in June.