Grab the Lapels

Plans and Deadlines: How to Follow Along with #ReadingValdemar

Hello, there! Today I’m writing to give you an organized schedule of reading deadlines and some plans that Jackie @ Death By Tsundoku and I have for #ReadingValdemar. Originally, we planned a buddy read, meaning we would be accountable to each other, almost like a two-person book club. But when we announced our buddy read, we had a surprising reaction: loads of people want in on it! We decided to get more organized and think of #ReadingValdemar more like a read-along than a buddy read.

This morning, a friend on Facebook wrote, “Ooh, please tell me you’re reading the Vows & Honor series.” Uhhh, wat? I knew there were other Valdemar books in the Mercedes Lackey universe, but couldn’t think of this trilogy. After some quick research, I found that Lackey currently has 43 Valdemar universe books published! Jackie and I are reading 15. I knew there were more than 15, but hadn’t realized there were so many.

I’m okay with our 15 books, though. Some of the others are short story collections or take place thousands of years before what we’re reading, typically known as the “Herald Series.” I don’t need all that. The 15 I choose are clearly linked: a young girl who becomes the Queen’s own Herald kicks us off, then we go back to a legend of the universe, followed by books that move forward from the Heralds stories.

If you want to join us, you’ll find the schedule Jackie and I are following below. The dates are when we will post something about the book: a review, reading diary, YouTube video, etc. We hope you will do the same! At the end of each month, Jackie and I will share a “conversation” post. We welcome your thoughts in the comments.

Around June will we have a giveaway open to international bloggers. Jackie is organizing the details on how to enter. At the end of the year, we’ll host another giveaway for U.S. bloggers. The prize: a new Valdemar trilogy (not one of the 15 books — you should already have those) shipped right to your door. We want to encourage you to keep #ReadingValdamar! Did you know Mercedes Lackey is still publishing Valdemar books?

Happy reading, friends! And be sure to follow Jackie’s blog. We both have different blogger friends, strengths in book blogging (she knows stuff about BookTubing and BookInstagramming (Bookstagram?), linking up, etc.), and information about the read-along.

34 comments

  1. Hallo, Hallo *waves!*

    I was just leaving a note on Jackie’s blog to let you know I’ll be following in your stead – I’m borrowing the first novel on audiobook via my library, however, I am hoping to get my script back to Scribd at some point this month or early next; I found they have the next two in sequence plus the Owl trilogy – the rest I’ll have to hunt down at my library in print. Should be quite the adventure! I’ve been wanting to read more Fantasy – so this fits in perfectly with that particular goal!

    I’m going to try to keep to the dates/weeks you’ve outlined but if I’m running a bit behind its because I had to wait to get a copy of the novels. I couldn’t think of the title I had read previously by this author but it was Fairy Godmother novel she had written? I believe it was a Luna title. This also fits in well as I wanted to read a wider selection of Fantasy before moving into @WyrdAndWonder this coming May (an event I co-host with Lisa & Imyril) for Fantasy lovers.

    Speaking of #WyrdAndWonder – maybe I can interview you and Jackie about your reading takeaways about this series as a co-blogger feature? Hmm. That would rock!!

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    • Hi, Jorie! Thanks for joining us. Because Mercedes Lackey is so popular, many of her books are at libraries, so I wish you luck in your search! I’m happy to do an interview at the end of the year, and I’m sure Jackie is, too.

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      • Since I posted this comment – I found out one of my libraries has nearly ALL of the books on your RAL in print; I was so shocked because generally SpecLit isn’t that popular locally and I have to do a lot of inter-library loans – thankful this time round it is not the case!! Top cheers!

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          • Yes, I should be able to. The only thing I can’t sort out is I am 1 of 1 hold on the first book “Arrows of the Queen” — I’ll be listening to that on audiobook, then I’ll read the print of “Arrow’s Flight” and I can get the audiobook of “Arrows Fall”… from there I’ll most likely go back to requesting the print copies til we reach the Owls which I can get in audiobook. I’m hoping the audiobook will check-out this week as generally those holds go rather quickly; unsure what the issue is for that?! And, then, from there I should be alright.

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            • I often do digital downloads of audiobooks from my library. When you’re due date comes up, the book is simply removed from your phone. I remember one time I was in the middle of a highly engaging audiobook when it suddenly disappeared on my due date and I couldn’t check it out again. That must mean someone was in line to have it.

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  3. Thanks Melanie and Jackie for organising it. I’ll be definitely reading Arrows of the Queen but may not meet the 14th January date. If that happens, I’ll link my post to yours once my review is up. I’m looking forward to reading both of your posts.

    Happy reading and thanks again for organising. 🙂

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  5. My local library seems to have the Owl books, so I will probably join in with that bit of your readalong – I look forward to reading your posts about it as well. These books sound like a lot of fun.

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  7. Wowza this author writes alot of books! Fantasy writers seem to be extra prolific no? It’s like their audience is insatiable, and just needs to know what happens next. Although I won’t be reading the books, I will enjoy following along on your readathon!

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    • You’re welcome! Now, don’t eyeball her books for too long. We’re posting about Arrows of the Queen on Jan 14th! If you don’t want to do a whole readalong with us, the books are broken into trilogies that you can read. I would recommend the Magic trilogy, which starts at the end of February.

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    • The 15 we’re reading for #ReadingValdemar are all about heralds, except the Magic (Promise, Price, Pawn) books, which are all about the last herald-mage. Heralds have Gifts, bur mages were magicians. The Magic books are the end of magic. Then, Lackey decided to write what happened back when people did use magic and how Valdemar (the kingdom) was established and the collegium set up. More recently, she wrote books about where Skif came from. There’s also a trilogy about two women that’s somewhere between mages and heralds that’s supposed to be amazing.

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  14. […] Magic’s Pawn by Mercedes Lackey: The first book in The Last Herald Mage trilogy introduces us to Vanyel. Unlike The Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, Vanyel is not Chosen until near the very end, giving more time for background on him as a person before life as a Herald. Though Lackey doesn’t clarify the time period in Magic’s Pawn, we know it’s hundreds of years before The Heralds of Valdemar trilogy because Vanyel is a legend in the books Talia reads. My review is coming on Monday! […]

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