Magic's Pawn

Valdemar: The Last Herald Mage, Book 1

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Gregory St. John

Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In Magic's Pawn, an ancient age in the history of Valdemar comes to life - an age when the kingdom was ravaged by the ungoverned fury of bandit warlords, ferocious ice dragons, and the wild magic of wizards. A new addition to Lackey's Valdemar kingdom - and her most powerful series to date!

©1991 Mercedes R. Lackey (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Simply one of my favorite coming of age stories!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was a great fantasy and by an author with real knowledge of psychic and magical abilities!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Vanyel. He was the main character and it is his story.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Vanyel is healed by the Tayledres.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Just beautifully written.

Reader Starts Off Bad

I've read this book several times. The reader, however, takes a while to actually get into the book. There is not enough emotion and the breaks do not time well with the sentences. I almost gave up on listening to the audiobook, but since I knew what happened, I decided to keep going.

Eventually, the reader does get better. Not enough to make up for the poor beginning, but at least it finally felt like he got into the swing of the book

Still GREAT!

I first read this book many, many years back and fell in love with the series as a whole. And, it is still just as amazing now as it was then. Yes, there are a couple of problematic phrasing found in it. But, understanding the characters, they tend to add to the story. highly recommend.

Great overall

last 2 chapters glitched and kept repeating sections 2 & 3 times very annoying

Good Story, horrible voice acting

I got this book to introduce my guy to one of my favorite Lackey trilogies. It is an amazing story and he's actually enjoying it far more than I thought he would. However... The narrator. He mispronounces any word he can get away with, such as "bow." There aren't breaks or any clues for scene shifts, the voices are pretty much all the same, and he seems just plain out flat to me. Luckily I have read the books a few times so I know what is going on so I can just pause and tell him what's happening. So many times he just turns to me and has to know what just happened, as he just switched scenes multiple times in rapid succession. Even I would have been lost without previous readings and a handy copy.

Great Story, Horrible Narrator

The story is great filled with nuanced struggles of youth, being gay in a society that is not accepting of it, and then being more powerful that the main character knows what to do with.

The biggest issue I had was the NARRATOR. AWFUL would be an understatement. He's slow, pauses at the weirdest times, and has a jarring cadence and voices that make no sense at all. I finally put it on 1.5 speed to minimize the dramatic pauses and glacial speaking pace.

pawn of magic

I have listened to this book many times and each time I enjoy it more it brings tears and laughter and the story is worth listening to I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the valdemar series. but even if you've never heard of the series and this is your first book it is definitely worth it.

This book (this series) is outstanding!!!

The emotion, the story, the rite of passage it holds is amazing! I truly wish they would make this into a movie. I want so desperately to see it on the big screen. LGBTQIA perwons would be impressed by what Mercedes Lackey has created here and she did it for her own child who is a member of the community. I haven't seen a hero like Vanyel and on-screen before and it's high time we all see it as told from these pages. If you ever want to know the mind of closeted person suffering in isolation and from the cruelty of world around them, this book does that with great sensitivity and empathy.

Not one of her strongest, and poor performance

I've long held that Vanyel just was not a very relatable character, or at least not as likeable as many of Lackey's other protagonists. Very whiny, and a lot of the plot seems weirdly paced. But the performance was by far one of the weakest I've heard for her novels.

The narrator often puts weird emphasis on certain words, as if he is reading the sentences by seconds instead of in one long flow. several times, it's meant that I have to play catch up in my mind when his pronunciation of a sentence doesn't match what it's trying to get at. He also pronounces many of her names, foreign language words, and place names in what I would have thought to be the LEAST likely manner when I was reading it versus listening. maybe that's just me, but overall the performance was awkward, inconsistent, and distracting.

Solid read. :)

Would you listen to Magic's Pawn again? Why?

I would read it again before the next part.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The female teacher (aunt of the protagonist) is may favorite, because she was very likable. Almost like the aunt you wish you had.