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    Arrow's Fall
    Arrow's Fall
    Arrow's Fall
    Audiobook10 hours

    Arrow's Fall

    Written by Mercedes Lackey

    Narrated by Christa Lewis

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    With Elspeth, the heir to the throne of Valdemar, now of marriageable age, Talia, the Queen's Own Herald, returns to court. Here, she finds the Queen and heir beset by diplomatic intrigue as various forces vie for control of Elspeth's future.

    But just as Talia is about to uncover the traitor behind all these intrigues, she is sent off on a mission to the neighboring kingdom, chosen by the Queento investigate the worth of a marriage proposal from Prince Ancar. And, to her horror, Talia soon discovers there is far more going on at Prince Ancar's court than just preparation for a hoped-for royal wedding. For a different magic than that of the Heralds is loose in Ancar's realm-an evil and ancient sorcery that may destroy all of Valdemar unless Talia can send warning to her Queen in time.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 5, 2018
    ISBN9781977378040
    Arrow's Fall
    Author

    Mercedes Lackey

    Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music. Also known as Misty Lackey.

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    Reviews for Arrow's Fall

    4/5

    838 ratings19 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Mercedes Lackey completes Talia's trilogy. Kinda heartbreaking with what happens to Talia half way through but I do like the happy ending.
    • 5/5
      A real fight of love and battles of men & truth.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my favorite series. The books never has a boring moment.
    • 4/5
      I'm not going to re-rate it, but the four stars reflects a nostalgia rating, since I loved this book as a teenager. As an adult, I have serious reservations about many aspects of this one, from the interpersonal (a bunch of psychic adults can't manage to *communicate* with each other?) to the ethical (there's a lot of justification of violence in these books, and a lot of time when Lackey puts in a 'teaching moment', I came down on the other side of the argument). Some things are just outdated, like the overuse of "bitch" as both a friendly and unfriendly insult.

      There's still a lot of pleasure in revisiting old characters that I loved, but I don't know if I would like these books if I were coming to them for the first time now.
    • 5/5
      The final book in the Arrows trilogy sees Talia finished with internship and back in the capital to take her place by the Queen's side as a full voting member of the Council. Just in time, too! The Council has been debating a marriage proposal for Elspeth with the heir to the throne of Hardorn. Valdemar has a long history of friendship with King Alexander but doesn't know much about his heir Ancar. After turning down the Council's wish for an immediate betrothal and wedding, Selenay decides to send a couple of Heralds in advance of a State Visit to take a look at Ancar.Kris and Talia are chosen. Talia has the position of Queen's Own and Kris has a family background in Court politics. Besides, they worked well together during Talia's internship and are ready to go. However, since returning to the capital things are not going well between the two of them. Talia still feels that Kris's uncle Lord Othallan is trying to undermine her influence with the Queen. Kris is quite used to making excuses for his uncle and refuses to believe Talia. Besides that, Kris's best friend Dirk and Talia have formed a lifebond though neither of them is admitting it and Dirk is especially torn because he thinks Talia might have fallen in love with Kris. Both Talia and Kris are eager to go off on a mission to get away from all the drama. But they soon find that they have traveled into a danger they couldn't have expected. Ancar has plans to take over the throne of his country and of Valdemar too and has gathered an army made up of prison dregs along with magicians. Valdemar has its mind Gifts but real magic like that practiced in Hardorn is something out of legend to them. They need to get back to Valdemar to stop Selenay and the State Visit but Ancar has other plans.This story was filled with epic adventure, great sorrow, battles, and finally a happy ending.
    • 5/5
      The final book in the Arrows series 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.
    • 4/5
      This is the final story featuring Talia, now a full Herald and voting member of the Queen's council much to the disquiet of many of the councilors as she and the Queen fight off their attempts to get Elspeth married off to the heir of Hardorn, a bordering kingdom that would make Valdemar impregnable to their ancient enemies of Karse.As part of the negotiations, Talia and Kris get sent to Hardorn's capital to make sure that the situation was as advertised but they uncover a deeply laid plan for the heir to take over the Kingdom using dark magic. Now it becomes a race against time as to whether Talia and Kris can warn Selenay and Elspeth before Ancar's army would attack.This third book rounds off the series and while Talia is a bit player in later books, this is the last time she is so central to the plot.
    • 3/5
      This is the strongest book in the trilogy, I think - the stakes are raised significantly, and there is some resolution to the major plot threads. The writing is again better than before. It's still flawed, though. The not-talking-to-each-other problem takes up the first third of the book, and is tedious in the extreme. The rape and torture in the middle third feels a bit... not gratuitous, exactly, but cheap, like Lackey couldn't think of a non-obvious way to heighten the tension. And the pacing is super weird - the major resolution comes two thirds of the way through the book, and there's quite a bit of Return to the Shire-style resolution that makes the book trail off rather than come to a measured halt.

      I hate to sound like I really dislike these books, because I respect them in a lot of ways and they were the springboard for much better and more interesting work later on, but I would still not suggest them to adult readers without a lot of caveats.
    • 5/5
      This is the conclusion to Arrows of the Queen and Arrows Flight, which should be read first. I think this is a satisfying resolution to all the threads established in the first books. I like how Talia grew through all three novels and Lackey certainly made me feel for her characters. Well, the ones on the "good" side. This author's and series greatest flaw is arguably that she creates a very black and white world, with villains in the twirl-the-mustache mold, and this is no exception. Combined with the appealing characters, I loved the magical world Lackey created--a group of heroes of various backgrounds drawn together because they are the chosen of their companions--magical horses who are their full partners. What teenage girl wouldn't be enthralled by such a world? But I still enjoyed rereading this even as an adult: a good escapist read.
    • 5/5
      [I tried making this spoiler-free, but it ain’t working, so it’s a bit on the spoilerish side].I loved this last installment to the Heralds of Valdemar series. That’s pretty much all I have to say – it’s a tie for my favorite book out of all three (the tie being with the first).I think Mercedes Lackey read my previous reviews, because the pacing went up by a considerable amount. There were only a few places in the text where the plot lagged, and even when it did, I could see why it was written that way. Elspeth grew a lot this novel, I think, despite the meager amount that was written about her. You’d have thought she’d learned with the whole Hulda incident to not trust anyone wholeheartedly unless you were absolutely sure of them, but apparently she needed a second slap in the face before she learned her lesson. She came a long way from Arrows of the Queen, and I loved seeing the entire process from the Brat to Elspeth-in-the-third-book.About a fourth into the novel, the plot really picks up. Talia and Kris set out to Hardorn, and you get this feeling of foreboding from the very get-go. The trip there is actually interesting (I felt myself skip a bit of the in-between towns in the second book), and it didn’t take pages upon pages. Talia ends up getting captured – a seemingly hopeless situation – and we almost lose our main character. I love (albeit a very... twisted love) the way Lackey portrayed Talia’s captivity. As a writer, I would not want to write the vile things Talia endured, but Lackey did just that – not in a way that I’d want to throw the book into a wall, but rather in a way that made me sympathize with Talia and want to hold her until her hurt went away.The way she was rescued was... beyond awesome. I can’t even tell you all how much I was jumping up and down (yes, even after my 10th re-read!). The war... wasn’t that great, compared to other wars depicted through fantasy that I’ve read. It was just so-so; nothing totally epic. I have to admit that I loved how a side character that barely had any face time got the “glory” (and I loved him since book 1, anyway!).One thing about this book, though... is honestly... prepare some tissues or something. When I went through my first read of this third book, I sobbed my eyes out (I was 10, leave me alone D: ). This time around I didn’t sob, but I did get teary-eyed. No matter how many times I read this series/novel, the one thing that will never change is how I feel about... what made me cry. I felt like I lost a part of me (okay that may be over-dramatization). It was hard not to feel that way, when Lackey does such an amazing job of developing her characters that you feel like they’re your very personal friends.The wedding at the end was nice and simple (or so it seemed, compared to the lavish decorations Elspeth and the others came up with initially). I was so happy Talia and Dirk finally got together in the end, and I loved the way it led up to its inevitability: hope, confusion, misunderstandings, sickness, capture, reuniting, confessing, and absolute love. Kris’ gift at the end was what made the novel so awesome, and made me write a more hyped review. If you want someone to blame, blame him! :P I... loved that he didn’t back out on his promise.
    • 4/5
      The action really picks up in this conclusion to the first trilogy of Valdemar, as Orthallen's treachery is uncovered and Ancar's plans are revealed. There is war, death, love... It sounds so very cheesy to put it that way, but Mercedes Lackey pulls it off in a way that doesn't make the reader feel like they're being drowned in cliches.Most of the time, anyway. I have to admit that the revelation that Orthallen sent an assassin to kill Selenay's father in the heat of battle was just a little too corny for me.I'm not sure whether or not to class that one as one of the inconsistancies of the Valdemar timeline, really. In a later book, the one that deals with the Tedrel wars, it's revealed that Sendar was indeed killed in battle, but no mention of anything other than just a simple overpowering by an enemy force was even implied. Somebody could have sent an assassin in specifically to kill Sendar at that moment, I suppose, but it seems like coordinating that would have been far too complicated. It seems more like another little established thing that the author forgot about when she wrote later books.One thing that has always puzzled me about the Valdemar series is the arrow code, which plays a central part of this first trilogy. If it's ever mentioned again, I don't recall it. No other Herald seems to learn it or teach it in any book that takes place before or after the Arrows trilogy. The way it's presented here, that would be something akin to Herald never learning weaponswork: inconceivable. And yet...But all that aside, this was an enjoyable trilogy, even if it did start off rather slowly. You see the characters grow and change very realistically as the books progress, especially Talia and Elspeth. I think the author did a wonderful job of protraying people who are having to grow up in extraordinary circumstances. What makes them so believable is that although Heralds as a whole are presented as being immaculate and close to perfect to the general population, they are anything but. Dirk loses himself in angst and confusion and starts drinking himself to sleep at night. Elspeth is made a fool of and then makes a fool of herself. Mistakes are made, and sometimes rectified but sometimes not, and when you're writing a story about a group of heroes who are, in some sense, a gift from the gods, it can be so easy to write them as being infallible, perfectly sensible and with logical reasons behind everything they do. Instead, they are wonderfully portrayed as real people, with problems and emotions and quirks.I've always said that Mercedes Lackey's talent lies in characterization. If you're looking for fantasy books packed with epic battles and world-changing awesomeness... Well, read Lackey's Storms trilogy, honestly. But the rest of her books are driven more by characters, by people, than by great cataclysms, and that's what I enjoy about them.The trilogy ends with a positive event as a reprieve from negativity, rather than a negative event overshadowing anything positive that could happen. Talia's wedding to Dirk (and the supernatural gift from Kris at the very end) is a little bit of a twist to the usual formula. Plenty of people would have a wedding surrounded by apprehension over the inevitable war, or have the wedding come before the initial skirmish, to end the book on a much more powerful cliffhanger. Yes, I say powerful because such a thing might have drawn more readers if there had been more action to end the book with, a reason for them to go out and immediately buy the next book to see what happens next. On the other hand, what must be remembered is that this book isn't the story of a country. It's the story of a person, and people are very apt to cling to small moments of happiness in the middle of chaos.Not saying that's the best way to do it, but the happy -- or rather, happier -- ending can certainly be excused, as it follows the authors style and plays to her strengths very well.The book also ends with some of the songs of Valdemar, not just ones mentions in the trilogy but also ones written about characters or events that the books deal with, a taste of what Valdemar's Bards have been up to this whole time. It's a nice little treat for the musically-inclined, and I enjoy getting to read the lyrics. (And before I learned that music had already been put to those lyrics and released as CDs, I enjoyed making my own tunes for them!)
    • 4/5
      Since I decided to only review one book per 'miniseries' of Valdemar, I picked my favorite, though it's also the one I despise the most. My problem, I think, is my emotional attachment to characters. That's why I both love and hate Magic's Price. When a character you love dies in the end and you know it's going to happen...it's sad and painful, and maybe I shouldn't get so wrapped up in my books. But with Valdemar...it's so hard to stay apart from them!Another point of interest is Ancar's coup, which spans outwards in both directions, chronologically, back into the Exile duology and forward all the way to the Mage Storms. Which is too bad, because bad kings in literature get my fire up.
    • 5/5
      What can I say, Mercedes lackey is my favorite author. I have enjoyed her Vlademar stories multiple times. This is one of my favorite series. I love Talia's character. This is the third book in the trilogy. It was the best of the three. If you like excitement, adventure, and fantasy, this is a series you will not want to miss. Talia has finished her Herald's training and as the Queen's own herald she is sent on a diplomatic mission to a neighboring kingdom to investigate a marriage proposal from Prince Ancar to Elsbeth. Things are not what they seem.
    • 5/5
      This book both filled me with joy and broke my heart (as so many of Mercedes Lackey's books do). Talia truly comes into her own in this final instalation, and while some taumatic events unfold, she overcomes her fear and hurt to become a truly remarkable woman. The Arrows trilogy is one of my favorites.
    • 3/5
      As the final book in the Queen's Own trilogy, I'd say this one is more or less the same style as the others. It's a fitting conclusion, but the ending left me wanting more. It seemed a little too open-ended--satisfying, of course, but it wasn't the be-all-or-end-all ending I was hoping for. It's really great seeing Talia come in to her own and have some action. Dirk, on the other hand, was a bit of a baby at the beginning. But I'm glad it ended on a good note and I'm interested in starting to read some more Valdemar novels.
    • 5/5
      Conclusion of Talia's stint as a main character, although she does pop up again in later installments of the Valdemar books.The ominous overtones present in Arrows Flight all come home to roost. A marriage proposal for the Queen from the prince of a neighboring kingdom sends Talia and Kris on a diplomatic mission. All is not what it seems at Prince Ancor's palace, however, and an ancient and malicious evil threatens to overrun the Heralds.No spoilers, but you might want to have a box of Kleenex handy while reading this one. When you've finished, if you're interested in another perspective on events in this book, pick up By the Sword.
    • 4/5
      This book both filled me with joy and broke my heart (as so many of Mercedes Lackey's books do). Talia truly comes into her own in this final instalation, and while some taumatic events unfold, she overcomes her fear and hurt to become a truly remarkable woman. The Arrows trilogy is one of my favorites.
    • 3/5
      it comes together in this the third book of a trilogy Lackey's plot often seems rather linear which is what makes me think of them as suitable for young adults.. But I cant think of one that was marketed as such in this case I suspect it is because the conservative American market would find the implied message that its okay to have sex with people that you just think of as friends as dangerous.
    • 4/5
      This trilogy was one of my favorites in the Valdemar series although the first volume was my favorite of the three.