Fifteen new stories are presented here, many of them revisiting established storylines. So if you met a favorite character in the anthologies Crossroads, Moving Targets or Changing the World, as I did, odds are you’ll find them again here. Maia, the non-Herald who can mindspeak with animals, returns in Elizabeth Waters’ “A Charm of Finches.” Fiona Patton gives another glimpse into the lives of the Dann clan, hereditary guards in the Haven City Watch, coping with an outbreak of bad poetic graffiti by love-smitten youth in “A Bard by Any Other Name.” Kate Paulk and Sarah A. Hoyt tackle tough themes of social alienation and acceptance, responsibility, and personal choice in the lives of Ree and his life-partner Jem in “Heart’s Choice” and “Heart’s Own.” “Healing in White” follows up some of the loose ends of “Waiting to Belong,” proving that Kristin Schwengel has a serious story arc in hand. Clearly, Mercedes Lackey is doing for other writers what Marion Zimmer Bradley did for so many authors in her Sword and Sorceress anthologies, providing a venue for serial publications. Lackey’s S&S contributions coalesced into her splendid, picaresque novel Oathbound; I sincerely hope as much from her contributors to the Valdemar realm.
Mercedes and her husband, Larry Dixon, co-author the title story about a Hertasi (a magically evolved form of intelligent lizard) who guides an impatient Herald. “In Burning Zones We Build Against the Sun,” by Rosemary Edghill and Denise McCune, is a historical tale of the border defense against demon magic sent by agents of the Karse Sunlord. Very well written, this is one of the best. Elizabeth A. Vaughan’s “Unintended Consequences” takes place in the wake of the assassination attempt on Queen Selenay. And “Otherwise Engaged,” by Stephanie Shaver, includes glimpses of eight-year-old Elsbeth as Spoiled Brat.
Some of these wonderful stories respond to popular questions that fans have posed over the years. Are there ever Chosen ones who do not want to be Heralds? Yes. “The Education of Evita” tells about one such, and Mickey Zucker Reichert has fun with it. Are old people ever Chosen? ‘Really old’, not just twenty-something adults like Alberich or Kerowyn. Yes again; witness “Change of Life,” by the inestimable Judith Tarr. Do Heralds ever fall in love with the bad guy? That is, a real bad person, not just a noble enemy, like Kerowyn did. (Kerowyn is the exception to ALL the rules.) To answer that one, Tanya Huff wrote the heart-tearing “The Time We Have.” And to answer the clamor for more stories about Tarma and Kethry, or AT LEAST Kethry’s descendants, we get “The Groom’s Price.” Valdemar readers have every reason to be thrilled with this collection, so put heart into the publishers at DAW, buy this book, and with luck we’ll get another anthology in 2011. – Chris Paige
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