Valiant

A Modern Tale of Faerie

By: Holly Black

Narrated by: Renee Raudman

When 17-year-old Valerie Russell runs away to New York City, she's trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city's labyrinthine subway system.

But there's something eerily beguiling about Val's new friends. Impulsive Lolli talks of monsters in the subway tunnels they call home and shoots up a shimmery amber-colored powder that makes the shadows around her dance. Severe Luis claims he can make deals with creatures that no one else can see. And then there's Luis' brother, timid and sensitive Dave, who makes the mistake of letting Val tag along as he makes a delivery to a woman who turns out to have goat hooves instead of feet.

When a bewildered Val allows Lolli to talk her into tracking down the hidden lair of the creature for whom Luis and Dave have been dealing, Val finds herself bound into service by a troll named Ravus. He is as hideous as he is honorable. And as Val grows to know him, she finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

Best-selling author Holly Black follows her breakout debut, Tithe, with a rich, harrowing, and compulsively readable parable of betrayal, abuse, friendship, and love.

©2005 Holly Black (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Listening Library, an imprint of the Random House Audio Publishing Company

Critic reviews

"Beneath its darkness, readers find well-rendered characters, a gripping plot, and pure magic." (School Library Journal)

"Exotic, sexy undercurrents....deliciously overripe writing, and [an] intoxicating, urban-gothic setting." (Booklist)

Val Story

earlier work from Holly Black the Queen of all Fairy nice to go back in time and relearn about this series next Ironside after finishing about Val Story

One of her best

Out of this trilogy, this is my favorite. It might be my favorite of all HBs books. It just magical.

love the story, the narrator was not for me.

This is one of my all time favorite book series (Tithe, Valiant and Ironside) and really wish all three were here for listening. Unfortunately I can not stand the Narrator. I hate to frame it like that, I'm really not trying to be mean, but it was not good. The voices she puts on for the characters are the worst part. really broke the story for me. But if you can get past that this really is a story worth listening too.

horrible narrator, lovely story

this series has been one of my favorites since I was a kid. it blows that there's so much erasure of Irish and Scottish culture where the fairies are concerned but it's not as bad in this one as in the first. a more relatable story about being a teenager than anything else I was reading at 15, it helped me feel seen and still does

valiant

not long enough . this book was my treat to myself and I listened to it every time I get in the car and every time I had a free moment

best subway reread for 30 somethings in NYC

If your into ya fantasy and nostalgic for something from your youth this is always a solid Subway read it's short and it's got some great visuals for New Yorkers.

A gritty magic story with a tough female lead

The book is very gritty and has a lot of dark themes. I enjoyed it up until the end when it got a bit cliched

Love the story, not the voice acting.

Another forever favorite by Holly Black. However, the voice acting was a bit off for me. The voices did not quite fit the characters and their personality. Otherwise it was perfect!

love

great improvement on voice actress-
I've always loved the stories, though I feel like some of it is still missing.

excellent story of rebellious youth

really enjoyed this tale of runaways living on NYCs subway tunnels, while actually being a tale of betrayal, magic, family, fear, courage, venality, mystery, thrilling derring-do, and unexpected romantic love.