The Big Peat
Darth Buddha
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2016
- Messages
- 3,762
You have no idea how happy it makes me to write a review of one of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books where I don’t trash it.
In fact I’d go so far as to say that a lot of Gryphon In Light is just rather good.
This book follows Kelvren, the genially bombastic and bold gryphon who befriends Darian in the Owlknight trilogy. He gets himself into a number of scrapes in the borderline civil war going on in Valdemar, as a result of which he finds out his magical biology has been changed into something very different indeed. This leads to other scrapes.
Most of Gryphon In Light is a pleasant romp, with pleasant people facing difficult situations and mostly escaping them with the old out of the frying pan into the fire technique. I’m not sure Kelvren would have been my choice of protagonist from past Valdemar characters, as he was always rather monofocused, but Lackey and Dixon make the change work here by forcing Kelvren into a battle with his instincts. Some of the conversations Kelvren has about others with that, particularly Firesong, have as much philosophical depth and emotional impact as anything in the Valdemar series.
Incidentally, the return of Firesong has a lot to do with how much I enjoyed this book. Firesong is as witty, impatient, and caring as ever; he is excellent entertainment. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed reading about him, but I do.
There are gripes with this book. Yes, I did enjoy seeing some old friends as per above. The level of self-reference did get too much a few times. There was one set piece of Kelvren’s friends being mad at him that seemed a bit overwrought. There’s a draggy part towards the end where a planned expedition takes forever to come together as everyone gets involved. Everyone.
The big gripe – and this one is big, a straight up star off the rating there and then – comes at the end when the book ends right on a cliffhanger. It didn’t even feel all that momentous a cliffhanger either, just an unbelievably abrupt one. I think there’s meant to be some big reveal at the start of the next book, but they could have made it here and left a cliffhanger as to what it meant and I’d give that star right back. I might have even given a little more. This? Honestly, the moment I ended Gryphon In Light, I went online to find out if somehow they’d forgot the last chapter out of the arc.
That aside, this is a fun read. It grips the attention and rewards it with a number of good action scenes and caring moments. I’m a fan.
(this review was originally posted at Gryphon In Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon)
In fact I’d go so far as to say that a lot of Gryphon In Light is just rather good.
This book follows Kelvren, the genially bombastic and bold gryphon who befriends Darian in the Owlknight trilogy. He gets himself into a number of scrapes in the borderline civil war going on in Valdemar, as a result of which he finds out his magical biology has been changed into something very different indeed. This leads to other scrapes.
Most of Gryphon In Light is a pleasant romp, with pleasant people facing difficult situations and mostly escaping them with the old out of the frying pan into the fire technique. I’m not sure Kelvren would have been my choice of protagonist from past Valdemar characters, as he was always rather monofocused, but Lackey and Dixon make the change work here by forcing Kelvren into a battle with his instincts. Some of the conversations Kelvren has about others with that, particularly Firesong, have as much philosophical depth and emotional impact as anything in the Valdemar series.
Incidentally, the return of Firesong has a lot to do with how much I enjoyed this book. Firesong is as witty, impatient, and caring as ever; he is excellent entertainment. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed reading about him, but I do.
There are gripes with this book. Yes, I did enjoy seeing some old friends as per above. The level of self-reference did get too much a few times. There was one set piece of Kelvren’s friends being mad at him that seemed a bit overwrought. There’s a draggy part towards the end where a planned expedition takes forever to come together as everyone gets involved. Everyone.
The big gripe – and this one is big, a straight up star off the rating there and then – comes at the end when the book ends right on a cliffhanger. It didn’t even feel all that momentous a cliffhanger either, just an unbelievably abrupt one. I think there’s meant to be some big reveal at the start of the next book, but they could have made it here and left a cliffhanger as to what it meant and I’d give that star right back. I might have even given a little more. This? Honestly, the moment I ended Gryphon In Light, I went online to find out if somehow they’d forgot the last chapter out of the arc.
That aside, this is a fun read. It grips the attention and rewards it with a number of good action scenes and caring moments. I’m a fan.
(this review was originally posted at Gryphon In Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon)
