So Very Dark

even for me, 2 pm is a bit late.

BUT…I was finishing my book.  It had hooks in my sensitive places and I couldn’t put it down.  You know how that goes.

The end did not leave me content or satisfied in the least, but I had not been expecting it to after the protagonist’s first prophetic dream.  Oh, and yeah…THE ENTIRE REST OF THE TRILOGY.

The Last Herald Mage is the story of Vanyel, a boy who has a difficult childhood as the firstborn of a minor noble who doesn’t think he’s manly enough (which is sort of accurate) and tries to force him into a mold he doesn’t fit.  After years of struggles of will, Van’s father sends him off  at 15 to live with his magically talented aunt in the country capital where SHE will be in charge of beating him into shape.

It doesn’t quite happen that way, however.  Van’s aunt Savil is too busy to be concerned with trying to force him into being an ale-swilling, bear-wrestling manly man…and also far too intelligent to try.  She can tell from the get-go that Van isn’t that kind of guy.  Of course, she is also far too busy to try and deal with his prissy and arrogant attitude, so she sends him to classes (where he is for once NOT the brightest star in the sky, not by a long way) and tells him to keep out of trouble.

He mostly does, but is still horribly lonely and unhappy, though for somewhat different reasons than when he was at home.  Until!  Luck and/or fate intervenes and he and one of his aunt’s apprentices fall in love!  And not just any love….they are soul mates, destined for each other, two parts of a whole.

For once…Van is…happy.  It’s amazing.

And then it all goes to hell.

This is the pattern of Vanyel’s life.  He gets a little respite, only so that he can hurt all the more when something else terrible happens.  By the beginning of the second book, he has become a legendary hero, which of course makes his life even worse…because everyone knows that true heroes have pretty miserable lives, especially those who are chosen, rather than those who choose.  Just ask Buffy or Harry Potter.  Everyone they care about is at risk, so caring about anyone too deeply is dangerous…no one can truly share their burden, and they are often reviled by friends for their distance, which is probably for the best anyway…they have to put the needs of the many before their own, time and time again.  They have to make huge sacrifices and see people they care about die.

That’s the meat of the Last Herald Mage trilogy…the long tragedy of Herald Mage Vanyel Ashkevron’s life as a legendary hero of the realm.  Don’t get me wrong — it isn’t the long story of a man getting tortured to death…it’s just much more pain and tragedy than joy.  I enjoyed this series for the most part.  I disliked the fact that each book began a number of years down the plot-line from the end of it’s predecessor…that’s just a plot device that I find annoying.  I want to be witness to all the inbetween as well as the important parts.  I am always worried I missed something.  I find a brief overview:

‘Over the next few years, blah blah learned much in the way of the eclair chef.  Her life was largely uneventful and she studied a lot’,

interspersed with important scenes preferable.  But that’s just me.

Also, the writing occasionally left something to be desired.  This is by no means a great literary triumph.  It’s just a straightforward fantasy fluff series full of magic and castles and politics and love and riding horsies.  If you like you some fantasy fluff and are okay with seeing your protagonist driven again and again past what any person should have to endure, I recommend this series.  It doesn’t hold a lot of surprises or plot twists that will leave you gasping in shock, but it will suck you into the world and make you cheer or boo for the characters, to cross your fingers for their success and cry for their losses.

I’m snuffly today.  I think I have a tiny cold. Blah.