'The refugees from the Empire have established a thriving city called Haven with the help of the Tayledras and their allies. But the Tayledras have begun a slow withdrawal to the dangerous lands known as the Pelagirs, leaving the humans of Haven to find their own way.
'But even with Haven settled, the lands around Haven are not without danger. Most of the danger comes in the form of magicians: magicians taking advantage of the abundant magical energy in the lands the Tayledras have cleansed; magicians who have no compunction about allying themselves with dark powers and enslaving magical beasts and the Elementals themselves.
'Kordas, his family, and his people will need all the help they can get. But when a prayer to every god he has ever heard of brings Kordas a very specific and unexpected form of help, the new kingdom of Valdemar is set on a path like nothing else the world has ever seen.'
The Valdemar series has been going for a long while now, with the very first book having been published back in 1987 (making the series as old as me). And whilst I have come to it very, very late there are fans who have been reading along with it since the very beginning. As such, depending on your own experience with the series you're going to have a very different time reading Valdemar, the third and final novel in the Founding of Valdemar trilogy. For those like myself, every new development in the story is a surprise, something new to be discovered, but for those who have read all of the other books it's more a game of waiting, as fan favourite characters, locations, and creatures slowly make their appearances.
Valdemar has a very big, very important one, something that fans have likely been waiting since the first book in this trilogy to finally make it's appearance. The Companions. As a new reader to the series, I'd heard a little bit about these creatures, but knew next to nothing, as such, their introduction here made for a truly interesting new experience.
The people of Haven have built their new city, having settled in a new land at the end of the last book. However, just because they've found a new home it doesn't mean that things are perfectly safe for them. There were hints of monsters and dangers in the last book with twisted creatures and living forests, and Kordas and his people were given a warning that their new home wasn't completely safe. But those warnings perhaps didn't quite prepare for what would be discovered in this volume, as dark magicians and cruel magic users stalk the borders of Haven.
It's with these new dangers looming that Kordas, now a king to his people, prays to all of the gods he's ever heard of for help. A prayer that is soon answered. The scene in which the Companions first appear is a fantastic one, and contains a great deal of wonder and awe that had almost been missing up to now. So far most of the larger than life events and wonders have been connected to danger in some way, so having those feelings linked to something like the Companions instead was the shot of hope that the people of Valdemar, and the readers, needed.
But, this is a Founding of Valdemar novel, which means that it's not just high fantasy and magic that take centre stage, but the smaller details too. This book deals a lot with how Valdemar functions, how the young nation governs itself, the way they make their decisions, what the people think of it. All of the stuff that's either going to be hugely interesting to you or will put you off. However, this is nothing new to the series, and if you're on book three it's likely that these details are something that interest you, and have been parts of the first two books that won you over to the series.
With things having moved on around a decade since the last book it's interesting to jump back into this world and see how things have changed, especially for the characters that we've spent a great deal of time with. I loved seeing how Kordas had settled into his new position as King, something that should have been easy for his considering his past leadership positions, but has still been a challenge for him; especially when it comes to his own son.
Having only really dipped my toe into this world recently I'm glad that I took a chance with the first book in this trilogy, and that my first experience with the world of Valdemar was with the founding prequels. I got to experience things brand new, the same way that the characters did, with no expectations of what was to come or informed guesses as to where the future would lead. It was a wonderful experience that has resulted in me being eager to read more of this world, and to easily making this trilogy a recommendation to any fantasy fan.
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