Her earlier works are quite good—very character driven. The morality is very black and white though, so you may not enjoy her universe if you didn’t get into them when you were young. Oh and stay away from the later ones, her characters have gradually gotten more and more Mary Sue-ish.
Her earlier works are quite good—very character driven. The morality is very black and white though, so you may not enjoy her universe if you didn’t get into them when you were young.
Thanks. I’ll take a look. I don’t necessarily mind black and white—up until the black and white presented is wrong (typically either enforcing naivety or valuing authority over justice). I have been known to go from loving a series to being completely disinterested in reading any further when I encounter a particularly intrusive objectionable goal or value in the protagonist. If a counterfactual me in the fictional world would not choose to aid the protagonist then the actual me has no vested interest in what happens to them either.
The naivety could be a problem, it’s been too long for me to remember though. Based on your preferences here I would probably recommend Trudi Canavan over Mercedes Lackey for stronger female protagonist and more ass-kickery.
Based on your preferences here I would probably recommend Trudi Canavan over Mercedes Lackey for stronger female protagonist and more ass-kickery.
I’ve read (and liked!) the Black Magician trilogy. I’ve just looked up Trudi and noticed that as well as having a whole other series out there she lives not just in my country, or even my city. She lives in my very suburb. I expect geographical loyalty will make the series that much more enjoyable. :)
I should note that I don’t actually mind male ass-kicking either, just with the former stipulations regarding naivety. The Eregion books, for example, were borderline. I cut them some slack because the author himself was a child. An awful lot of an author seeps through into their books.
I don’t think the morality should be particularly objectionable. It’s “black and white” because the heroes tend to be nice people and the villains are almost invariably dog-raping monsters.
I found Mercedes Lackey to be fun to read, but not particularly deep or profound; they seem to have a bit of the romance novel in them. If you have some free time and want some feel-good entertainment, they’re fine, but don’t expect anything amazing; Mercedes Lackey is no Jacqueline Carey.
Her earlier works are quite good—very character driven. The morality is very black and white though, so you may not enjoy her universe if you didn’t get into them when you were young. Oh and stay away from the later ones, her characters have gradually gotten more and more Mary Sue-ish.
Thanks. I’ll take a look. I don’t necessarily mind black and white—up until the black and white presented is wrong (typically either enforcing naivety or valuing authority over justice). I have been known to go from loving a series to being completely disinterested in reading any further when I encounter a particularly intrusive objectionable goal or value in the protagonist. If a counterfactual me in the fictional world would not choose to aid the protagonist then the actual me has no vested interest in what happens to them either.
The naivety could be a problem, it’s been too long for me to remember though. Based on your preferences here I would probably recommend Trudi Canavan over Mercedes Lackey for stronger female protagonist and more ass-kickery.
I’ve read (and liked!) the Black Magician trilogy. I’ve just looked up Trudi and noticed that as well as having a whole other series out there she lives not just in my country, or even my city. She lives in my very suburb. I expect geographical loyalty will make the series that much more enjoyable. :)
I should note that I don’t actually mind male ass-kicking either, just with the former stipulations regarding naivety. The Eregion books, for example, were borderline. I cut them some slack because the author himself was a child. An awful lot of an author seeps through into their books.
I don’t think the morality should be particularly objectionable. It’s “black and white” because the heroes tend to be nice people and the villains are almost invariably dog-raping monsters.
I found Mercedes Lackey to be fun to read, but not particularly deep or profound; they seem to have a bit of the romance novel in them. If you have some free time and want some feel-good entertainment, they’re fine, but don’t expect anything amazing; Mercedes Lackey is no Jacqueline Carey.
Worse than Louise Lawrence? I don’t think I can take something more moralising than that.