Well, I’ve finally found my first Valdemar anthology that I can’t say I universally enjoyed. Up until now, I was pretty happy with the story selection, but this is the first one where I have to say eh.
In the first place, the actual Mercedes Lackey novella is just ok. It features no regular, or even background characters from the other stories, so I found it just ok.
But my least favorite was “The Education of Evita” – which was about a newly Chosen who seemed so completely not Herald material that I had to stop reading the story. It was just so silly, I couldn’t complete it.
This is not say the book isn’t worth checking out – there are some enjoyable stories. I think my favorite was “Change of Life”, which features an unconventional, and delightful, newly Chosen. A good balance to the stinker, really.
So I guess I’d say seek this out if you’re a Valdemar completest, but don’t feel like you have to read the whole thing.