Magic's Price

Although Valdemar fans already know Vanyel's end and dreaded it to start with, this book really gut-punches the reader. Sometimes humorous, filled with love, and heartbreakingly tragic by turns, it's a page-turner that the reader won't be able to put down until they finish. I won't give the storyline away - but keep the tissues close by!

I love this book and my heart is still aching 3 hours after I finished it. I thought being as old as I am no book would be able to move me to so much tears least of all a fantasy. But I was wrong as my eyes just blurred with tears towards the last part of Magic Price. This book is invaluable. Not because of the magic or the style of writing because I have read better ones. It is Vanyel, his Life-bond and his Companion which makes Magic Price and the series itself so special and priceless. I will always love Vanyel and remember Vanyel for his struggles to find himself, his vulnerability, his sensitivity, his inherent goodness and his sacrifice for those he loves. The Last Herald-Mage Series will always be one of my favorites to be treasured always. It is definitely not only for young adults as some claim. It is for all of us with love in our hearts.

I don't think I've cried over a book in years, that all changed when I picked up "Magic's Pawn" I believe I got the lump in the throat four times with that book!I read the first two in days, but I hesitated on the third. I just didn't want this trilogy to end! Besides a friend told me bluntly: "If you cried over the first, the third will knock you flat."But all of you who has read this series know the pull of it.Gods! It was fantastic! Vanyel, Savil, the army that is their family have all grown so much since the begining (I did how ever miss Jerivis, he grew on me in Magic's Promise)And some old favorites make a guest spot, The Hawkbrothers among them! This was the first set of Lackey's books I've read so I didn't accept Stefen right off (I'm an old romantic and there's no one for Vanyel except Tylendel) but because of one thing or another (not telling your gonna have to read) I loved him by the middle of the book.Vanyel is an enigma, and the character plays with the emotions so well. One second you understand why he's building walls, the next you want to beat him over the head and tell him to stop being such a jerk! (of course Yfandes will do that for you) but that's one of the reasons why I love him! In so many ways Vanyel is an unlikely hero, he tries to make his head drown out his heart, but he's ruled by his emotions, even if he *doesn't* want to listen to them, and that leads to confusion (which is his compainion as much as Yfandes) and then to doubt. Vanyel is rarely sure of himself, no matter how he sounds. He loses his temper, he does stupid things (often many in a row) He's human You just don't see that very much in Fantasy heroes.If you've read the first two, you have a good idea of what's coming in some aspects of the plot, but no matter how you steel yourself up for the coming blow it will do no good. I was crying like a baby by the end of this book, and could still get choked up by thinking about it a couple of days later.This Trilogy is a must read for any one who has no problems falling in love with fictional characters (it *will* happen) and enjoys books that will make you laugh, cry, and cuss all at once. (this'll happen too)Any one who calls themselves a Fantasy fan must have The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy in their personal Library.

With things calming down on the border, Vanyel has returned to Haven to assume the responsibility of keeping things in order for the dying King Randale. Amidst the stresses he must face, Vanyel finds an unexpected friend in a Bard named Stefen who has the uncanny ability to sing away pain.But a dark power is haunting the edges of Valdemar, slowly eliminating the Herald-Mages in an attempt to make an evil magical assault unstoppable. Vanyel vows to stop this dark power at all costs. Will he be able to fulfill his quest with the help of Stefen and his Companion, Yfandes?"Magic's Price" is the final book in Mercedes Lackey's The Last Herald-Mage trilogy. It was an excellent conclusion to the trilogy. I never cease to be amazed at Lackey's gift of writing the perfect trilogy ending. I was left satisfied and extremely pleased for the main characters.As with "Magic's Pawn" and "Magic's Promise," Lackey does an admirable job with her treatment of homosexuality. It's subtle and not thrown at the reader in a preachy way, which I feel may encourage readers to be more tolerant of gays and lesbians.Bottom Line: An AMAZING conclusion with wonderful characters that I will truly miss reading about. Try to read the last ten pages without crying!

I don't know exactly what it is about these books, but every time I read Magic's Price, I get this overwhelming urge to cry. I NEVER cry for books, 'cos I'm generally not the crying kind. The feeling of this book is bittersweet melancholy, but that doesn't totally explain my inclination to tears. As one might realize from reading all the other reviews concerning the Last Herald Mage trilogy, perhaps its greatest virtue is the amount of empathy and identification that the reader feels with its main character, Vanyel. He is just a really, really, incredibly great character. Long-suffering, honorable, HUMAN, filled with pain and loneliness, he is a perfectly perfect character. I first discovered Lackey when I was eleven, or twelve, with the Arrows of the Queen series. I liked Talia and her story, but now, years later, I can't quite get into it quite the same way I did when I was younger. I first read this series right after Arrows, and still, today at nineteen, I enjoy Magic's Price with almost the same fervor and sighing sadness. I read it now with an eye to the things I didn't notice the first time around; the writing is occasionally awkward, sometimes lacking polish and panache, the humor's kinda corny, etc. But still, the force of the story, Vanyel's story, grabs me by the throat with the same power. This is Lackey's greatest work, no question. Her other Valdemaran books pale in comparison, her Heraldic trilogies wilt. I whole-heartedly recommend this book, which is the best one of the series. But begin with Pawn, which is one long dirge on alienation, loneliness and suffering (great for all adolescent-kind!), and Promise, which is a sort of a lull in which we see the grown up Vanyel in action and have an adventure. Go forth and read these books and get hooked.