Beyond by Mercedes Lackey

I have loved Mercedes Lackey’s books for thirty years. As I said in my review of her last book, I still have the SFBC omnibus of the Last Herald Mage trilogy on my shelf and Ican’t tell you how many times I read it.

I haven’t read many of her Valdemar books in the last few years. I listened to the audiobooks of the Collegium Chronicles series, which was fun, but I felt it dragged on too long, with too many kidnappings, and Mags’s accent drove me bananas. I lost touch with the series when my library stopped buying the ebooks of the Herald Spy series after Closer to Home, and I was disappointed in Spy, Spy Again, the third volume in the series focusing on Mags’s kids.

Last year, when I reviewed that book, I said that I hoped that Mercedes Lackey kept on writing Valdemar books. Well, my hopes were answered! I just finished reading her newest novel, Beyond, the first part in a trilogy? series? about the founding of Valdemar. It was so much fun! (BTW, Thanks again to NetGalley and DAW for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.)

This book goes way back to before the founding of Valdemar the country, when the Duke of Valdemar the region of an evil soul crushing empire dreams of escaping with his people to a new land. In this book, the characters pop, the story flies, and the FUN is back. I loved seeing little tidbits that help connect the dots to the books we know and have loved for years. And this book is a lot less rapey than the last one. All I can say without spoiling things too much is Vrondi!!!!!

If you like the Valdemar books of old, you’ll enjoy this. Can’t wait for the next one!

Time flies whether you’re having fun or not. Come to think of it, that kind of applies in the story, too, as there are certainly times when Kordas Valdemar is not having any fun at all, but time is flying because he and his duchy have way, way, way too much to do to get the hell out of, not exactly Dodge, but out of the corrupt Eastern Empire before it either wipes them out or topples from within under the weight of its own corruption.

I read what became the first book in the very long running Valdemar series, Arrows of the Queen, when it first came out back in 1987. My initial paperback copies crumbled to dust long ago, but I still have the Science Fiction Book Club hardcover omnibus edition of that original trilogy. It feels like that was a lifetime ago and very far away.

I remember the series fondly, because at the time it was published there wasn’t much like it at the time. It was female-centered, it was a heroine’s journey, the worldbuilding was deep and fascinating and felt like a place that one would want to live. It all just worked and I loved the whole thing and seem to have read the first 30 books or so before it fell under the wheels of “so many books, so little time”.

So it had been a long time since I traveled to Valdemar, but remembered it so fondly, that when the eARC for Beyond popped up I was, well, beyond interested. I love foundational stories anyway, and here was a foundational story for a world I still sorta/kinda knew. That it was set at a time in that world’s history that hadn’t really been touched on before meant that I could pick back up here and not feel the compulsion to go back and read the 15 or so books in the series that I missed before reading this one.

Not that I might not take a look at them afterwards! But events later don’t usually impact events before – and Beyond was certainly before pretty much everything else.

So here we are, in the far past, before Arrows of the Queen or Magic’s Pawn, and, as it turns out, headed beyond the borders of the Eastern Empire that Valdemar and his people came from. This story is the story of the leave-taking, and very much the story of why they left.

And it’s a doozy. If you have fond memories of Valdemar, as I very much did, Beyond is a fantastic way to go back. If you’ve never been, it’s a terrific time, and place, to start.

Escape Rating A-: One of the things that I remember from my previous reading is that, in spite of more than a few crises along the way, Valdemar as a place felt livable. Like Pern and Celta and Harmony but surprisingly few other fantasy (or fantasy-ish) realms, the world seems to be functional. Not that humans aren’t more than occasionally idiots – because we are – but the foundations seem to be solid and the place seems to work, more or less, most of the time.

The story in Beyond is the beginning of the story of why Valdemar mostly works. The Eastern Empire is the horrible warning of what happens when bad follows worse in endless succession for centuries. At the point we meet Kordas Valdemar, it’s not a matter of if the empire will fall, its when – and how much collateral damage that fall will do.

What we have, in a way, is kind of a fix-it fic. Not that Kordas can “fix” the empire, because it is way too late, the corruption is much too thorough. There have been too many generations trained and “nurtured” in the belief that all the corruption is the way that things are supposed to be.

Rather, this is the story of a whole bunch of people from all walks of life who have said, “enough” and have the means and the method to find a way out. Beyond is the story of a PLAN, definitely all caps on plan, and the implementation of that plan. It’s about the last coming together, of the getting of all the ducks in their rows, and of all the things and people and events that conspire to make it happen AND that get in the way.

And I loved the two-steps forward, one-step back of the whole thing. The meticulous organization running headlong into the desperate measures. And I especially loved the people making it happen in spite of the odds and the risks and the strong possibility that it will all go pear-shaped.

Which it kind of does, but in the best way possible.

So if you enjoy watching a plan coming together, if you like watching people work hard and sweat much in order to bring off the work of decades, if you don’t mind just a bit of villain monologuing and love a story of unlikely heroes, Beyond is a delight.

Especially if you’ve never been to Valdemar or are, as I was, looking for an excuse to go back.

The one thing I missed in Beyond that was part of the magic of the original series are the magical, fascinating, horse like Companions. I kept waiting for them to appear because they were such a marvelous part of the original stories. There are beautiful and intelligent horses, because that’s what Valdemar-as-a-duchy was famous for, but no Companions – at least not yet.

Therefore, it made me very, very happy to learn that Beyond is the first book in The Founding of Valdemar trilogy. The Companions are coming, and I can’t wait for them to get here!

This is an excellent novel. The beginning of Valdemar, readers have wondered and now we have some of the answers. The world building is the best and the characters reach out and touch the reader with their thoughts an actions Highly recommended.

The story of Valdemar’s founding has been mentioned in more than one of Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar books: Once upon a time, Baron Valdemar led his people into the wilderness to escape an empire and find freedom. There, in their new land, the first Companions emerged from a sacred grove and Chose the first Heralds to help maintain and defend the fledgling kingdom as its people fought to survive and thrive in the wildlands. But just who was Baron Valdemar, and what were his people like? What conditions did they flee, and how did things get so bad in the empire that they all felt like a life in the wilderness was preferable? More than thirty years after the publication of the first Valdemar book (Arrows of the Queen, 1987) Mercedes Lackey is finally telling the story of Valdemar’s founding.

Kordas Valdemar is a clever man who wants nothing more than to raise his horses in peace, protect his people, and be ignored by the Emperor. For the majority of his life, he’s been able to do all three, but keeping out of the Emperor’s sight is easier said than done, and if Kordas makes the slightest misstep, he could be turned out of his own home and see his land and its people put under the authority of one of the Emperor’s sycophants. So for the past two generations, the Valdemar family has been preparing to leave the empire for a land far to the west where the Emperor can’t find them. There, they will build a new country where they can live as they choose without having to fear for their lives, homes, or freedom. But getting to this new land is easier said than done, and when the Emperor summons Kordas to the imperial court for no apparent reason, Kordas fears that decades of planning will be for nothing. But no matter the danger, they have to take the chance.

Though the quality of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books has varied over the past thirty years (and some of the earlier ones have not aged particularly well), they have been perennial favorites for many fantasy readers thanks to lovable characters and fast-paced stories that blend action and adventure with stories of everyday life in a magical kingdom. The good guys are very good, and the bad guys are very bad– and they always get what’s coming to them in the end. These books are pure escapism in the best sense of the word, and for many readers, the Valdemar books have served as the first example of LGBTQIA characters portrayed in a positive light. The cover art of beautiful teenagers riding pretty white horses provided cover for the darker stories inside– after all, what close-minded adult who judged a book by its cover would think twice about handing a book about a girl and her horse to their teenager? And so, through the years, the magical land of Valdemar and its capital city of Haven became a real haven for many kids who questioned their identity or sexuality thanks to Valdemar’s most basic edict: There is no one true way.

In Beyond, we discover that this motto has been baked into Valdemar’s identity from the beginning. Kordas has created a safe haven for quirky people whose ways of life, love, and happiness don’t fit into the strict and closed-minded norms of the empire they live within. Fleeing the empire doesn’t just mean that Kordas and his family will have the power to do what they want, it means that all the ‘different’ people who live within his domain will be free to seek happiness as they choose. The apparently gender-fluid mage can find happiness with the man he loves; a mother will be able to raise her sons without a veil of secrecy; magic-wielding people can live in peace and practice their art without being conscripted into the army to have their powers drained in an endless war.

Though some of Lackey’s previous Valdemar books have suffered from a lack of focus, Beyond is an example of Lackey at the height of her powers. It features engaging and lovable characters doing their best, pastoral slice of life scenes blending with a tense main plotline, and enough political intrigue to keep everyone on their toes. And while we might know what’s going to happen in the end– the Kingdom of Valdemar comes into being and lasts for hundreds of years, after all– the question of ‘how did they do it?’ is what keeps pages turning. There’s plenty of both fun and suspense in Beyond, and some sly meta-textual commentary for sharp-eyed readers. And while plenty of questions are answered by the last page, there are still some left unanswered with the main one being, “When does the next book come out?”.

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Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion.

Lackey's world of Valdemar gets yet another origin story treatment with a wonderfully realized backstory of the whole kingdom (previous origins have been for individual characters or regions such as Alberich, Talia, Vanyel, Kerowyn, and the Pelagirs). This iteration is a consistent example of Lackey's world-building and writing style although I agree with those who said it was a little darker than some of the other entries into the world. My one major complaint is that the over-all conflict seems too diffused. Although we hear about the horrors of the Empire and the Emperor repeatedly we don't meet the 'monster' who is behind it until far too late in the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW books for the advanced reading copy provided in exchange for an honest review. If you are a Valdemar lover, this is a must-read. If you've never checked out her Valdemar books before, I wouldn't recommend starting with this one; try either Arrows of the Queen or Magic's Pawn.

Review (4.5 stars): This is the 1st book of the Founding of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey and serves as a prequel series to all of the Valdemar series. Since this is a prequel, it could easily be read as a standalone book. Those of us who already love and read all of the Valdemar series were just excited to see all of the backstory!

The Empire is the setting, which is an alternate world with a different sort of dark magic. Kordas, the Duke of Valdemar, has a tiny Duchy that is unlike the rest of the Empire. Their goal is to focus on horse breeding and give the appearance of a backwards, tiny area that is far beneath the value of all the other lands, at least in the eyes of the Emperor. In reality, Kordas is part of a several-generations plan to find a way to escape the reaches of the Emperor and his constant war. There’s finally a breakthrough, thanks to one of Kordas’ secret mages, and it looks like it’s almost time for the plan to come to a head. Unfortunately, Kordas receives a summons to court and there’s a chance the Emperor could destroy their plan before anyone is able to evacuate. Will Kordas be able to save his people, along with those others he’s found along the way?

Note: I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is my own. #Beyond #NetGalley

If you, like me, grew up on Mercedes Lackey stories, the tale of the founding of Valdemar has been a long time coming. And this opening volume did not disappoint.

Duke Kordas Valdemar leads a tiny, bucolic Duchy most known for breeding the famous Valdemar Gold horses. After generations of dealing with an exploitative and evil emperor, the Valdemar dukes and their families have been developing The Plan, a way to escape the Empire and protect their people. With things getting continuously worse, Kordas is constantly stressed and trying to find ways to trick the Emperor’s spies into ignoring his Duchy. Then one of their mages has a breakthrough and they finally have a way to place a Gate so far from the Empire that it’s unlikely the Emperor can follow them. To add another layer of complication, Kordas gets called to court and has to try to act the country bumpkin long enough to let the people of Valdemar flee before they get dragged into the Imperial wars.

Mercedes Lackey was one of the first adult fantasy authors that I read while growing up, and her books were definitely where I found my love of the genre. Especially fantasy romance, not that I knew that that was its own sub-genre at the time (check out the Bardic Voices trilogy if you haven’t already). As an adult, my reading has gone in a different direction, but getting back into the world of Valdemar (or at least its creation) felt very nostalgic. I enjoyed the dual perspectives of seeing the story from the eyes of both Kordas and Delia, his sister-in-law. We got to feel the maturity and world-weariness of Kordas and the young, sometimes immature thoughts of Delia. Admittedly, she’s 16, so she is immature; I liked that we actually saw that. We also get to see The Plan really come to fruition across the Empire. There’s a diverse cast of characters we get to know as well (can we have Hakkon and Jonaton’s story please?).

As a whole, there was a bit of tell-not-show situation going on in terms of the world-building, but that’s not atypical for a Mercedes Lackey book. Having information frequently get conveyed from “elders” makes it feel more natural than some books that have too much info dumping. I think my only hang-up is that it seems like The Plan goes too well. Shouldn’t more things go wrong? Shouldn’t there be more danger? Given what we know of the developed world of Valdemar of previous books, though, I think the rest of this series will definitely bring in more of these struggles.

Obviously, if you love Mercedes Lackey, you have to read this book. It fits so well into the overall world of her backlist. However, I don’t recommend starting with this story if you’ve never read anything by this author before, as it might feel a bit incomplete without the backstory of knowing where everything is ultimately going. In that case, check out a couple of her other books and then give this one a try!

Finally, Valdemar’s origin story!

I have been a huge fan of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books since the first trilogy came out in 1988-89. And I have been waiting for the story of Valdemar’s founding for nearly as long. So I was over the moon when I found out that she was finally writing Valdemar’s origin story as a trilogy. I went into Beyond with very high expectations.

It didn’t entirely live up to those expectations—it’s not quite as gripping or well-paced as the best of her earlier books—but it satisfied many of them, and left me eager for the rest of the story.

In Beyond, we get to know Kordas, Duke of Valdemar (not Baron, a fact which gets explained later in the book): a conscientious, intelligent, compassionate leader of a backwater dukedom, who is both idealistic and pragmatic. We get an in-depth look at the Empire about 1000 years after the Cataclysm: both its politics and the ways it relies on magic. We find out why Kordas plans to take his people into a (not entirely) untamed wilderness. And we get rather more than some readers will want about the logistics involved in planning and executing that escape. (Personally, I found those sections interesting; I always like to know how things work.)

Beyond offers intrigue, danger, and suspense, but also plenty of moments of humor, friendship, and compassion. Kordas is the main POV character, but there are also a number of scenes from his young sister-in-law Delia’s perspective. (Both are presented in third-person limited.) Other important secondary characters are Kordas’s wife, Isla; his seneschal, Hakkon; and his herald, Beltran; fans of the series will recognize Beltran’s name from the origin story as related to Talia in Arrows of the Queen. There are other Easter eggs for fans, but some involve spoilers, so I’ll let you discover them on your own.

There is a lot going on in this book, and some of it was completely unexpected—which is both good from the perspective of telling a good story, and logical from a “historical” point of view. The origin story as we know it from several of the earlier books had undoubtedly changed and been simplified as it morphed from history into legend, so it’s not surprising that not all the details match up, and much occurs in the “true” tale that is not remembered in those origin myths. In Arrows of the Queen, Davan says “There was a whole lot about all the hardships they went through, and I can’t remember that part too good,” which gives Ms. Lackey plenty of scope for expanding the story… and there was already enough in the two-or-three-page tale Davan relates to expand into a whole trilogy.

One of Ms. Lackey’s strong points as a writer, besides her ability to tell a compelling story, is her skill at portraying everyday life as well as the big, important events. Some readers may find this an annoyance and a distraction from the action of the story, but for me, it makes it easier to immerse myself in the world of the story, to feel and hear and see and even smell the details of the world in which the characters (and I with them) live and move. In Beyond, many of these details are centered around just how you prepare to move thousands of people into the wilderness and keep them safe when you get them there—those “logistics” I alluded to earlier. If Duke Kordas is “idealistic and pragmatic,” this novel is imaginative and pragmatic: Lackey imagines a great migration, then works out and explains exactly how such a thing could be worked. For some, this may come across as “padding;” for me, those details make the entire premise of the novel more real and believable.

That said, there are a few things that could have done with a bit more explication, particularly the guns. Fans have been speculating about those ever since the cover reveal, because there are no post-Cataclysm projectile weapons in any of the novels, other than bows; there are no cannon in the canon. (Sorry; I couldn’t resist!) Something like pistols and rifles or mortars do exist in the Empire, but the explanation of how they work is a bit vague, and one can only extrapolate the reason why they no longer exist. As for why no one, in all the long history since, has reinvented something similar… that point is completely ignored, at least so far.

Ms. Lackey is not given to cliffhanger endings, so although the trilogy still has two books to go, Beyond does end at a relatively satisfying point in the story arc. Nonetheless, I’m going to be waiting impatiently for the second and third books! If you’re already a fan of the series, I think you’re going to really enjoy it… and the potential is there to love it as the trilogy goes on.

If you aren’t already familiar with Valdemar, though, I don’t recommend Beyond as a starting place. While the story and characters are interesting for their own sake, a lot of the fun for me was in spotting the links and resonances with the later Valdemar and Empire I know from all the previous books. To get the most out of Beyond, at a minimum you should be familiar with the Arrows trilogy, the Mage Winds trilogy, the Mage Storms trilogy (which is where you’ll learn about the Empire), and The Black Gryphon. You might also want to read By the Sword between the Arrows and Mage Winds trilogies, since its latter third sets up the situation in the Mage Winds trilogy. Luckily, you’ve got two years to catch up on the series before this trilogy is complete. And, wow, have you got a treat in store!

Man, I honestly don't even know where to start with this review, I mean, where do you start with a review for a story that you've probably been waiting 20 years to read? I've been a fan of Mercedes Lackey's since I was first introduced to Arrows of the Queen by the librarian at the library across the street from my house. Since then I've read every book Misty has written as well as all her short stories and shorty story collections. In all that time the one story I wanted to read the most was the one I thought we would never get -- the foundind of Valdemar and the creation of the Heralds.

Now, for anyone who doesn't know much about the Valdemar (the country) or Velgarth (the world) books, they span something like a 2,500-year time span, from the "pre-history" Blak Gryphon trilogy which were set around 1,000 years before the founding of Valdemar to Darians Tale which takes place 1,400ish years after the founding. So while there are a lot of different stories told over the course of that 2,500 years, the one story that I think most fans wanted but never expected to get was the founding of Valdemar. Misty has always insisted that it was a story better left untold, so I don't know if I have words to properly convey just how fucking excited I was to find out that we were finally going to get a book or trilogy about the founding of Valdemar.

Normally when I start a book I've been waiting this long for or that I'm this excited for I'm a little bit hesitant to start it out of fear it won't meet my expectations but honestly I had no doubt at all it was going to be fantastic. Beyond by Mercedes Lackey is not only everything I expected or wanted from a story about the founding, but it was so much better than I ever expected. Over the last 30+ Valdemar/Velgarth books we've gotten a lot of information about Baron Valdemar and the events leading up to the founding so I really didn't think there would be a lot in this book that surprised me, but boy was I wrong.

Like always I don't want to spoil things for people but let me tell you that no matter how excited you are for this book, you aren't excited enough. I found Beyond to be absolutely amazing and I feel like every chapter had something new and surprising in it. I can't tell you how many times I was so certain that I knew what was going to happen next only to be completely surprised by what actually happens. Please just trust me when I say that Beyond is the story about the founding of Valdemar that we've all been wanting and waiting so long for and that it is completely worth the money and time.

One of the nice things about this book is that despite being something like the 30th book set on Velgarth, I think it is the perfect spot for new readers to jump in. I loved Beyond and I can't wait for the next book in the series to find out exactly how we get from where Beyond started to the Valdemar I love so much.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mercedes Lackey has done it again! This book sucked me in with engaging characters and political drama. This book is a little darker than the other Valdemar books but that could be because Kordas and his people were living under the emperors thumb. This is a tale of new beginnings and tough decisions. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” could be the theme of this book. I can’t wait for the next installment

What a fascinating story! The characters and storyline grabbed my attention from the beginning. Valdemar stories are some of my favorites. The concept of the Heralds and Companions is quite intriguing. I am so glad author Mercedes Lackey has decided to treat Valdemar readers to the story of the founding of Valdemar. I really enjoyed reading the surprises at the end of the book. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Beyond takes Mercedes Lackey back to the founding of Valdemar by Duke Kordas. A complex long plot by the Dukes of Valdemar comes to fruition as the Duke sews chaos in the Empire and plots to save all his subjects. Wonderful fantasy, the first of a trilogy in which Kordas and company escape through the gates to what will become the Kindom of Valdemar. This foundation story has been long in coming so enjoy it. Highly recommended.

I have to start with this - I cannot get enough Mercedes Lackey, and especially of her Valdemar books! So, as soon as I got my hands on this one, I put aside the other books I was reading and jumped in - and I wasn't disappointed!

Throughout other Valdemar books, we have had tantalizing references to the existence of an Empire that isn't particularly known in Valdemar, and passing references to the founding of Valdemar and the history of Companions. Now we get to find out about the Empire and what drove Kordas of Valdemar (a small duchy in the Empire) to take action to implement the Plan that his family had been working on for generations to escape the Empire. The good characters are satisfyingly good, evil is evil, and there are a few characters who are not what they seem! Another satisfying element of this book is that we finally get to learn about the vrondi - who have been present in the most of the Valdemar books, but as somewhat mysterious presences.

This is just plain fun to read. If you've never read a Valdemar book before, this is a great place to jump into the multiple Valdemar series, since it doesn't include any references that will be hard to understand if this is your first Valdemar book. There are references to the Mage Wars, but not in any way that is necessary to understand and enjoy this book.

A good read - interesting, fun, and satisfying. I can't wait for #2 in the series!

Praise Ghu! After Lackey's simply dreadful EYE SPY with its carbon-copy instantly-recognizable avatar for a Certain Public Figure—a true plot cheat—I was afraid she'd forgotten how to write a good book.

If you, too, suffered through EYE SPY (or part of EYE SPY, as I did; I couldn't finish the awful thing), please note she has not forgotten how to write a great book. Here she gives fans of her Valdemar universe what we have wanted for years: the story of the Kingdom of Valdemar and its founder, Duke Kordas Valdemar. Kordas' duchy is a rural community of mostly yeoman farmers and livestock breeders; Kordas himself loves and breeds horses, including the stunning "Valdemar Gold." As the story opens, a new Gold filly is born and given as a gift to Delia, Kordas' sister-in-law (who harbors a secret crush on him after he saved her life).

Behind this bucolic facade, Kordas is a worried man. Like all his contemporaries, he was "fostered" (read: held hostage) at the court of the Emperor at a young age and then sent home expected to obey the avaricious and self-absorbed commands of his liege lord. But Kordas' father has taught him to expect that some day the Empire will try to invade Valdemar, lay waste to its beautiful lands, and take all that they need, including the beloved horses. So for years his father, and now Kordas, have gathered mages and made preparations for the population and the livestock of Valdemar to escape via magical Gates to lands far in the west where the Empire cannot encroach on them. Their plans are set to come to fruition during the upcoming annual Empire Regatta. Then Kordas is summoned to the Capital for a meeting of the heads of all the principalities, dukedoms, baronies, etc. Kordas goes, leaving his capable wife Isla, Delia, and his mages in charge, but what he finds at the Capital—including Air Elementals enslaved in scarecrow-like artificial bodies and "foster" children toed into line with obedience spells—so horrifies him that he finds he must help more than just the people of Valdemar.

A whopping great tale, with memorable characters, including "the Dolls" (whose secret will make you squirm), and a constantly moving plot. There are still avatars for Certain Public Figures (and their actions), but they are well disguised in the plot and not at all smack-in-the-face smirkingly obvious. Lackey hasn't written such a good adventure in several volumes. Definitely looking forward to the next two books and the definitive story of how the Companions came to be.

If I had one quibble, it's that we're told how special the Valdemar Golds are, but...why? Is it just their color? We almost learn more about the Chargers (including the two sent the Emperor who are "fake" Valdemar Golds), the Tow-Beasts, the Sweetfoots (riding horses), and the Fleetfoots (race horses) than we do about the Golds.

This may be one of the best books in the Valdemar series, and you can certainly tell that the story has been floating around in Lackey's mind for quite a while. The writing is extremely detailed and the characters are well-drawn. I loved the story of a man trying to make the right decisions for himself, his family, and his people. There are many books that are my favorites in the series, and this made the list one book longer.

Okay, I’m totally rounding up instead of down because a new Valdemar book is my happy place. I liked this one very well. Because it’s set at the foundation of Valdemar it would be a book a new reader of the series could easily follow. This volume does definitely feel like a set up for the story of getting the new kingdom going in the next book. I have a poster on my wall (signed by Larry Dixon and Mercedes Lackey because yes, I am that nerd) of a map of Valdemar and the surrounding countries that I’ve probably had 20 years or so. I was able to find the starting point in Valdemar where the refugees started from as they fled from the (I can’t help calling it this!) Evil Empire. So, for other long term readers I think we’ll want our maps for this series as we watch the refugees spread out.
There were a few cutesy pop culture references but they were fleeting and forgivable. They were actually my least favorite part of this book. The good guys were suitably heroic, the villains clearly evil. The virtues of hard work, courage and team work are rewarded. It also felt like the author is ready to go back to writing in this world. It was a good entry in the books of this world. Seriously, if you are a new reader to the series the Valdemar books are totally comfort reading. Things may get dark, but with help from friends the heroes generally save the day. And when they don’t make it to the other side their sacrifice is honored and worthwhile. Read these books if you need things to be ok for a while.

I received an ARC of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

OVERALL:
Beyond, Book 1 in the Founding of Valdemar series, is a solid classic fantasy and great series opener. High stakes and clever characters keep the reader engaged as the Valdemar we know and love slowly takes shape. For anyone who is interested in how Valdemar, the Heralds, and Companions came to be, this is a must-read.

SUMMARY:
In Beyond we meet Kordas, Duke of Valdemar, and his people as they try to institute The Plan to escape the evil Empire. Generations in the making, The Plan consists of gathering enough supplies and Gating the entire duchy, including their famed horses, far beyond the reach of the Emperor and constantly scrying mages. When Kordas is summoned to the Palace, a place he has loathed since he was a hostage there in his youth, he learns that the situation is far more dire than he knew and there are more innocents he must save.

CHARACTERS:
Our main POV characters are Kordas and his young sister-in-law, Delia. Both are well-rounded with clear motivations and flaws to overcome. Kordas is kind despite his upbringing and willing to make hard choices to save his people. Lackey implies heavily that Kordas struggles with a past he is not proud of, the details of which will likely be exposed in forthcoming titles. Delia is portrayed as naïve but competent. Her Fetching Gift makes her a valuable asset in The Plan, but as a pampered young noble she is unused to hard work. She is infatuated with Kordas, the brother-in-law who rode in on a shining horse to save her from the cruelty of the Emperor, but the inevitable conflict of this subplot has yet to surface.
There is also a decent amount of representation (as expected from Lackey). There are gay and cross-dressing characters, as well as characters who are imprisoned by the Empire for being “criminalized lovers.” A point is made that Valdemar is accepting of all, in sharp contrast to the rest of the Empire.

WORLDBUILDING:
Lackey does an excellent job establishing and describing the Empire, and how it fits into the world of Valdemar that readers are already familiar with. Because the duchy of Valdemar is so different from the rest of the Empire, much of the Empire’s evils are told to the reader instead of shown, but this works in the interest of keeping the plot moving. The story is established within the world’s history as being post-Mage Wars when magic has been depleted and mages have turned to harnessing Elemental or Abyssal forces. While the abilities of the Dolls, the possessed mannequin servants of the Palace, seemed a little too convenient and “makes-it-easy,” the limits and consequences of the magic system were otherwise well-defined.

PLOT:
As this is a series opener, there is a lot of set up in this novel that will not be paid off until future books. The plot moves slowly at first as little pieces of The Plan are activated, then rushes to a conclusion as Valdemar makes its escape. The story isn’t over, however, as establishing a new community in a new land will be far more difficult than getting there.

Valdemar, full of magic people, birds, horses yet there is no story of the foundation of the place. This is the beginning of that part. Kordas the Duke of Valdemar to all outward appearances is a man or rural interests, he takes care of his lands, takes care of his people and raises horses. Beautiful golden Valdemar horses. He's married to Isla and his sister in law Delia has come to live with them since the death of their father. Underneath all of this bucolic setting is a seething undertone of unease and danger. The current Emperor is a tyrant the next in a line of tyrants and the Duke of Valdemar wants away from the dangers of the empire. What unfolds is a tale of magic, danger, change and ingenuity. There are alliances made, deceptions and terror of discovery. I enjoyed every second and I cannot wait for the next book to find out how things progress.

Beyond is the origin story for the kingdom of Valdemar. It gives the basis for how the Valdemarans came to the area and some of the background on the ongoing dislike of the Empire. A fun "must read" for fans of the universe. It establishes the original Duke's love of horses and outstanding moral character that leads to the future creation of the Heralds and Companions.

While this story doesn't have Companions it has the same flavor as the rest of the books in the universe and I think could stand alone for someone who hasn't previously read books by M. Lackey. It had less teen angst than some of the recent books in the series (the main character is an adult) which I found a pleasure to read. Plenty of horses activity for equine lovers.

My biggest complaint was that the ending felt rushed. In fact, I wondered at first if my copy had left out a chapter. Kordas states that an action must be taken, and literally in the next sentence that action has been completed and we see the results. Huh? Why did we not get to read on how that action was accomplished (hard to be more specific without a major spoiler). I also felt the ultimate solution to the problem made most of the action in the first 7/8 of the book to become pointless.

Overall I enjoyed the book.

Thanks to #Netgalley and DAW Books for providing me a digital ARC of #Beyond in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond by Mercedes Lackey is a fantastic look at pre-Valdemar history. The book follows Kordas Valdemar, a Duke in the eastern empire, as he tries to escape the warmongering empire with his people. Of course, nothing is easy under a tyrannical Emperor who has no qualms about using everything and everyone for his own power-hungry benefit. As Kordas' generational plan comes to fruition, the Emperor calls him back to the capital. Kordas will have to be cunning and daring if he wants to escape without being found out.

Much like the Mage Wars series by Mercedes Lackey, this book does not include the ever beautiful and majestic white horse-like Companions. Instead, we are given normal horses, specifically the Valdemar Gold, a stunning gold horse that Kordas and his family have bred. Through these horses, you can begin to see Kordas' love of horses, and I can't help but believe we are seeing why the companions turned out the way they did.

Overall I found this a fantastic addition to the overarching series, and I am already craving more. For new fans, I would say it might not be the best place to start because they don't go into the same detail on the magic system as some of the other books (please look at the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, The Last Herald Mage trilogy, and Mage Winds trilogy for that.) Long-term fans, however, will find plenty of callbacks to things only mention briefly in other novels of the series. I enjoyed returning to Valdemar and can't wait for more.