No True Way: All-New Tales of Valdemar

Tales of Valdemar Series, Book 8

De: Mercedes Lackey

Narrado por: Emily Morse-Lee, Phil Ho, Mauricio Rivero Borrell, Amber Calypso, Catherine Crimmins, Tren Sparks, Tiffany Perdue, Veronica Giguere

In March 1987, Mercedes Lackey, a young author from Oklahoma, published her first novel, Arrows of the Queen. No one could have envisioned that this modest book about a magical land called Valdemar would be the beginning of a fantasy masterwork series that would span decades and include more than two dozen titles.

Now the voices of other authors add their own special touches to the ancient land where Heralds “Chosen” from all walks of life by magical horse-like Companions patrol their ancient kingdom, dispensing justice, facing adversaries, and protecting their monarch and country from whatever threatens. Trained rigorously by the Herald’s Collegium, these special protectors each have extraordinary Gifts: Mindspeaking, FarSeeing, FarSpeaking, Empathy, Firestarting and ForeSeeing, and are bonded for life with their mysterious Companions.

Travel with these astounding adventurers in sixteen original stories.

Featuring the following stories:
"The Whitest Lie" by Stephanie D. Shaver
"Old Loom, New Tapestry" by Dayle A. Dermatis
"The Barest Gift" Brenda Cooper
"Consequences Unforseen" by Elizabeth A. Vaughan
"Written in the Wind by Jennifer Brozek
"Nwah" by Ron Collins
"Spun Magic" by Kristin Schwengel
"Weavings" by Diana L. Paxson
"A Wake of Vultures" by Elisabeth Waters
"Maiden’s Hope" by Michele Lang
"Ex Libris" by Fiona Patton
"A Dream Reborn" by Dylan Birtolo
"Forget Me Never" by Cedric Johnson
"Beyond the Fires" by Louisa Swann
"A Brand From the Burning" by Rosemary Edghill & Rebecca Fox
"Vixen" by Mercedes Lackey

©2014 Mercedes Lackey and Stonehenge Media (P)2025 Mercedes Lackey and Stonehenge Media

Some good and some bad

This is a compilation of stories. Each story is read by a different performer. Some of the readers are very very good, but more than half of them are not great. Some of the stories I couldn’t even listen to or understand because of the poor reading. The stories I was able to listen to were mostly great, as expected.

No True Way

I enjoy everything Ms Lackey creates. Valdemar is endlessly fascinating. I wish her other anthologies were available from Audible.

Slice of life

I loved all the little slices of life in this book. So many different points of view in the great world Mercedes Lackey has created.

I only gave 4 stars for Performance due to some of the voice actors talking too softly at points. But alas, take that with a grain of salt as it could be my hearing.

A long sought return

A welcome return to Valdemar after an extended absence. A collection of short stories that can stand alone or become part of a smaller isolated mini series there is sure to be something for a reader and I eagerly wait for more. As much as I enjoy the stories a couple of the performances leave something to be desired and could do with improvement. Thankfully there's more good performances then bad ones .

Mostly poor narrations, mostly mediocre writing

Difficult to listen to because most of the people who read the stories were stiff or awkward sounding. Most of the stories didn’t feel very connected to the other stories based in Valdemar. For instance, in one story the Hawk Brothers are feared by a benign creature from the Pelagirs.