Intrigues – Mercedes Lackey

This is the second book of the Herald’s Collegium series. Mags is settling into life at the Collegium, learning to fit into this world he find himself in, but also developing the gifts that will eventually make him into a spy.

Things seem to be going well until every Foreseer in the kingdom sees Mags, near the King, who is covered in blood. And everyone assumes the worst of him. I’ll admit, I didn’t like the culmination of this story very much, because it felt extremely overblown. Mags gets completely abandoned, even by his best friends, and everything you think you know about Heralds makes this feel false. The side details are fine, but here’s hoping Lackey doesn’t go that low again in this series – she’s a better writer than that.