Cheap Winds of Fury (The Mage Winds, Book 3) (Book) (Mercedes Lackey) Price

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Customer Reviews of Winds of Fury (The Mage Winds, Book 3)

A FANTASTIC read!
I've heard a lot of Valdemar fans, when making a review, compare other books to the Mage Winds ones and say that it was 'disappointing.' But I certainly didn't! I thought the characters were imaginative and seemingly come to life, the plotline continuously leaving you breathless and wanting to know what happens next, and the archvillain, Falconsbane, thrilling and shocking! I loved these books! I couldn't put them down! Darkwind and Elspeth were incredible, well-rounded characters, and I loved the huge part magic played in these books. In fact I think pretty much all the characters were well done; I understood them, and felt like I knew them. I haven't as of yet read any of the books from earlier time periods in the world of Valdemar, but I think either the Vanyel books or the Gryphon ones are next on my list, as soon as I finish the Mage Storms (I just need the last 1 of that), since both play a role in these books. People also criticize these books by saying that there are too many questions left unanswered. Well, that's what the Mage Storms book are for! If Lackey had tried to answer some of these questions in this trilogy, it would've taken away from the story too much. I'd rather be able to wait and find out a little later than destroy a great storyline! So, once again, I loved these books (their characters, plot, setting, etc.) and wish that one day I could visit a Tayledras Vale. Maybe I will, in my dreams... ^_

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Three and a half star fantasy trilogy
"Winds of Fate" is a very good finish to the "Mage Winds" trilogy, yet there's something missing from this book. It's very hard to explain. I'm not sure I can, but here goes.

Elspeth and Darkwind matured a whole lot in book two, coming to work together and fall in love. I believed in that love story, and I believed in how well they worked together. I also believed in the destruction of Mornelithe Falconsbane, the more or less eternal enemy (from the "Gryphon" trilogy to the "Mage Storms" trilogy) who's set most of the overarching plot in motion.

However, in this book, "Winds of Fury," Falconsbane comes back to life, and we now find out he's had a Shin'a'in apprentice-shaman sitting in his head the whole time. (Well, An'desha had run off to learn magecraft, but if he'd have stayed in his clan, he'd have been a shaman.) I can't totally buy that, even though Ms. Lackey did it well and I like An'desha very much as a character.

Same with Nyara, Skif and Need (Nyara's new sword). They meet up with Vanyel and Stefen in the Forest of Sorrows (along with Elspeth, Darkwind, Firesong, and their Companions), which is very nice -- but it definitely came out of the blue. And although I loved seeing Vanyel and especially Stefen again (Stefen was one of my all-time favorite characters), I am just uncertain if they totally fit in here.

Finally, when Elspeth steps away from the throne of Valdemar to become the head of the Herald-mages, that makes sense. But having Queen Selenay take the news so calmly isn't; Selenay was close to tears at her "baby" leaving the nest in book one, "Winds of Fate." So, why the difference now? More Companion pressure? And if so, why wasn't it shown?

I agree that every mother finds a moment when they realize their child is now an adult, but I still find it hard to believe in this particular moment for that revelation.

The rest of the plot, where they take on Ancar (who holds Falconsbane, thus also holding the captive An'desha), I don't want to get into; that's for you to discover. And I think you'll enjoy it; it's very quick paced, funny in spots (Ms. Lackey does gallows-humor rather well), and the romances of Darkwind/Elspeth, Skif/Nyara and Treyvan/Hydona (the gryphons) work extremely well.

So, despite the somewhat off-true "Winds of Fate," I'd recommend this trilogy (even including that book, or the rest of it makes no sense at all), even though I do not feel it's Ms. Lackey's best work. To find better reads penned by Ms. Lackey, read "Oathbreakers," "By the Sword," Exile's Honor," or the Last Herald-mage trilogy about Vanyel Ashkevron. Those are deeper, richer and more realistic reads, which is why I give this book 3.5 stars out of five, as well as 3 stars overall for the trilogy. (The others all rated five stars.)

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romantic and suspenseful
This was clearly the best of the three in this triology.

It had lovely, leisurely romantic interludes plus fast paced action. I was absolutely glued to it.

This trilogy is quite liberal socially. The women are effective warriors and often the leaders while the men typically follow. Gay relationships are accepted as equal with straight ones. One of the lead good guys is gay.

It's really neat how Elspeth and Darkwind work together as a team romantically, magically, and militarily. Sigh. I wish I had a relationship like that. Of course, it's probably just as unrealistic as the magic. Probably the ending is unrealistically happy as well, but then you sort of expect that in this type of book. At least it's not depressing.

I still think there are entirely too many super-powerful mages and adepts running around in the world of these books. You sort of get to the point where you think adepts (the most powerful of the magical people) are normal and everyone else is stunted.

I liked all the beautiful, powerful animals and animal-like sentient characters. They are very rich and diverse.