Winds of Fate

Valdemar: The Mage Winds, Book 1

By: Mercedes Lackey

Narrated by: Karen White

Winds of Fate is the first book in the Mage Winds Trilogy.

High Magic has been lost to Valdemar centuries ago when the last Herald-Mage gave his life to save the kingdom from destruction by dark sorceries. Yet now the realm is at risk again. And Elspeth, Herald and heir to the throne, must take up the challenge, abandoning her home to find a mentor who can awaken her untrained mage abilities. But others, too, are being caught up in a war against sorcerous evil.

The Tayledras scout Darkwind is the first to stumble across the menace creeping forth from the "Uncleansed Lands." And as sorcery begins to take its toll, Darkwind may be forced to call upon powers he has sworn never to use again if he and his people are to survive an enemy able to wreak greater devastation with spells of destruction than with swords....

©1991 Mercedes R. Lackey (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Love this series

I just wanted to say that Audible needs to get the entire Valdamar collection! I have read them all & want to double my collection!

Great story, so-so narration

I’ve been a Mercedes Lackey fan since I first read Magic’s Promise years ago. I was really excited to see some of the Valdamir series on Audible. Unfortunately, Karen White is not an inspiring storyteller. Her narration made an exciting adventure story into a boring listen.

Good book

I almost passed on purchasing this audible book, given the poor reviews of the performance I'm glad I chose to try it out anyway. I didn't find the performance bad or poor. Although the accents weren't the ones I had envisioned when I read the book, they did not detract from the story. I might be biased due to my enjoyment of previously reading the series, but I would still recommend this version.

Names Pronounced Differently

The book is awesome, but it's frustrating that the names are not pronounced the same way as in the other books. I admit that I didn't check which one was recorded first, I just wish there was more consistency.

love the story - dont like the narrator

I am a fan of Mercedes Lackey. I am currently listening through her Valdemar series in order, chronically, (as of this review) so I already enjoy the stories. My review is on the narrator. She does not pronounce things correctly. Gwen (G'win'ah) is G'ween'ah, Talia (Tal'e'uh) is TaLeaha, merc is mere (this one completelybaffles me since she says mercenary correctly)... and so on. so be warned on this one.

Good reading, minor error grates

Good, but the reader repeatedly says "merc" as "mere". It's the abbreviation of "mercenary", not "merely" anything. Clearly, it's a usage the reader wasn't familiar with, so she replaced the "c" with an "e" to make the word familiar.

Other than that, a couple of names came out differently than were pronounced in older works. The Queen's Own is "Talia", whom this reader pronounces "tah-LEE-uh" instead of the usual "TAH-lee-uh". Fans of this author get very picky about things like that.

All that aside, it was a wonderful reading.

Really Feel the Story

Where does Winds of Fate rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's one of the better ones.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Elspeth. She grows as a character as the trilogy goes on.

What does Karen White bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The accents she gives to the main characters. I've read all of Lackey's Velgarth series, but hearing the characters gives a new depth to the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not really.

merc.

there are not three different ways to pronounce the word merc. every time the word merc is mispronounced it is jarring and I am once again pulled out of the experience

The Reader needed to do research

This book is awesome - the story is awesome - the characters are great - it is Mercedes Lackey at her finest. My complaint is the reader - I understand that not every reader pronounces the ‘foreign’ words the same, but this reader really needed to do some research. There were words I had to look up in print to reconcile them with other readers’ pronunciation. But the Worst by far is the name of Elspeth’s Companion - who would pronounce ‘Gwema’ as Gw’ee’ma?? How do you get a long ‘e’ in that name?? To make me even sadder - I will purchase the next 2 books in the series knowing that I’m going to have to listen to this reader read about Gweema for many many more hours 😞

Elspeth & Darkwind

Elspeth begins her journey to find magical assistance against their enemies. Darkwind is battling the loss of his clan, an evil adept, and a father he no longer recognizes. A great read and a great start to the trilogy.