'The long-awaited founding of Valdemar comes to life in this new series from a New York Times bestselling author and beloved fantasist.
'Within the Eastern Empire, Duke Kordas Valdemar rules a tiny, bucolic Duchy that focuses mostly on horse breeding. Anticipating the day when the Empire’s exploitative and militant leaders would not be content to leave them alone, Korda’s father set out to gather magicians in the hopes of one day finding a way to escape and protect the people of the Duchy from tyranny.
'Kordas has lived his life looking over his shoulder. The signs in the Empire are increasingly dire. Under the direction of the Emperor, mages have begun to harness the power of dark magics, including blood magic, the powers of the Abyssal Planes, and the binding and "milking" of Elemental creatures.
'But then one of the Duchy’s mages has a breakthrough. There is a way to place a Gate at a distance so far from the Empire that it is unlikely the Emperor can find or follow them as they evacuate everyone that is willing to leave. But time is running out, and Kordas has been summoned to the Emperor's Court.
'Can his reputation as a country bumpkin and his acting skills buy him and his people the time they need to flee? Or will the Emperor lose patience, invade to strip Valdemar of everything of worth, and send its conscripted people into the front lines of the Imperial wars?'
My only experience of Mercedes Lackey's work have been a few of the entries in the Elemental Masters series, books that I really enjoyed as I love the way that she's able to mi interesting character development with intricate and accessible world-building. As such, when I saw Beyond: The Founding of Valdemar I was very excited to read more of her work, especially one in a purely fantasy setting, as I knew it would be something that she'd excel at. When I realised that this book was part of a much larger series, the 52nd story set in this particular world, I was a bit worried that I might not understand everything, that there would be some previous part of her work that I'd need to have read to understand and enjoy this. However, this being a prequel novel to much of those stories, and thanks to the accessible way Lackey writes, it was a brilliant experience to delve into this world.
The story begins in 'the Empire', an unnamed place where a cruel dictator rules over a vast empire where those who live there are constantly under the threat of their tyrannical leader coming in and taking everything away from them at a mere whim. With a war raging on the frontier, and magical beings and supplies being taken to the distant capital, those who have anything good are constantly afraid that they could lose whatever they have. It's in this world that we meet Kordas Valdemar, the Duke of a small region of the Empire, good for not much than the breeding of horses.
Thanks to the high quality of the horses that Valdemar produces the duchy has been left to do its own thing by the Empire, which has allowed Kordas to continue the daring plan put in place by his family before him. Having gathered as many mages and innovators as he can, hiding them away in secret chambers inside his manor, he's been trying to find a way to transport his people far away from the Empire, giving them the chance to live a life without fear. When one of the mages finds a way to open a teleportation gate to a distant land, one far beyond the reach of the Empire, Kordas believes the time has finally come to lead his people to freedom.
Unfortunately, this plan is suddenly put at risk when the Emperor summons Kordas to the capital shortly before the upcoming vast celebration that the people of Valdemar are planning to use as cover to escape. Forced to attend the Emperor, Kordas has to leave his people to tend to the plan without him, to establish a beachhead in their new home, and begin secretly transporting the population; but what he discovers in the capital will further complicate his plans, and he finds himself having to play the most dangerous game of his life.
I have to admit, I absolutely adored this book. Very quickly I found myself drawn into this story, of a persecuted and threatened population trying desperately to get out from under the heel of a despotic leader so that they could live in peace (I'm sure that there's nothing in the real world I can relate to this). Before I knew it the plight of Kordas and his people had hooked me, and for the first half of the book I was intrigued as to how the plan was going to unfold.
Mercedes Lackey did an amazing job at outlining the rules of the world, the way the society worked and how magic was a part of it, without it feeling like she was getting bogged down in the history or the details. As such, when the mages were discussing the science behind their magic, and how it was going to be used to escape the Empire it was something that made sense, that I was able to keep up with; and something that I found absolutely fascinating. The way that the plan was slowly revealed to the reader, seeing the people of Valdemar preparing to leave, keeping their movements and preparations secret, were great, and the exploration of their new home once they were able to establish a gateway was parts of the book that I'd have loved to have seen more of and gone into more detail.
The most engaging part of the book, however, was everything that happened once Kordas was to the capital. Suddenly those hints at how bad the Empire was, and how evil their leader is seemed to not be enough to describe what the reality was actually like. Kordas was thrust into a nest of vipers, having to play a very specific part, doing his best not just to survive, but to ensure that his people had the chance to play out the plan. To say it was tense would be an understatement. There were times I was expecting Kordas to be caught out, to be suddenly taken away to a prison cell. It was an engrossing read.
But we also got to discover so much once we reached the capital. It was a place that even Kordas was unfamiliar with, thanks to the changes that had taken place over the years, and we got to discover a lot of its wonder, and horrors, alongside him. The Capital also introduced what was, for myself, some of the best characters. The dolls. I won't go into detail about them so as not to spoil the book, but these magical servants created to run the Capital were so wonderfully intriguing, and developed so much over the course of the book that they're probably the thing I'm most excited to see more of in the book. I can't wait to see how they play out in what Lackey has set up for the next entry in the series, and how they'll further develop.
I really liked how Kordas was essentially a hero who doesn't think of himself as one. he doesn't see himself as standing up and doing the heroic deeds because he feels that doing so is simply his duty. It's not something brave to put the needs of his people first, it's simply the only decent and moral thing for him. He might be an outlier in regards to the other members of the leadership in the Empire, but to him, he's being the way everyone should be, the ideal that we should all strive towards. He doesn't look down on the people working the fields, he goes and talks to them to find out if there's anything that can be done to make things better for them; he doesn't expect others to do the dirty work for him, he goes and rolls his sleeves up and steps in to do it himself; and he doesn't persecute people for who they love, but tries to create a world where they're free and open to be themselves. He's a decent human being, and because of that he was a perfect lead character for this story; for this story of hope fighting against the worst of human nature.
This might have been my first experience reading a Valdemar novel, but it's definitely not going to be my last. After this one book I'm very much on board as a fan now. I'm going to be grabbing the next book as soon as i can, and I'll be going back to read the ones that came before. Mercedes Lackey created a world and characters that drew me in and enraptured me when I wasn't expecting it to. A perfect fantasy novel in every way.
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