Title: Foundation
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Series: The Collegium Chronicles #1, Valdemar #7
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, Fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Daw fantasy
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Outside the windows, the sun was setting.
THE BUILDING OF THE HERALDS’ COLLEGIUM
Mags has slaved at the gem mines for as long as he could remember, completely unaware of how unusual his paltry existence was – until some strangers on huge white horses forced their way past the mine owners and carried him away to Haven to become a Herald Trainee.
Suddenly the whole world opened up for him. He was warm and well fed for the first time in his life, and he had Dallen, his Companion, who seemed more miraculous than an angel. But the world of the Collegium was not all heavenly. there was political upheaval in Valdemar’s capital, for the ancient way of training Heralds – the system of one-on-one mentoring that had been successful for centuries – was failing. Many veteran Heralds had died in the wars, and there were too many Trainees to go around. A Heralds’ Collegium was being built, and many thought it was wrong to train Heralds in classrooms the same way the Bardic and Healer Trainees were schooled. But dissent among the Heralds was no the only discord in Haven, for the court had been infiltrated by foreign “diplomats,” who seemed to be more interested in seeding discontent than in actual diplomacy… and Mags seemed to be the only one who’d noticed…
Foundation was a really unique book in my eyes. Most books have a very specific plot line and journey through the chief protagonist’s life. Foundation, not so much. It’s almost like a huge introduction for the remaining three books in the series. Not that this is a bad thing. Of all of the Mercedes Lackey books I’ve had the pleasure of reading, it is Mags that I feel the most connected to. So much so that when I finished reading this series, I turned right around and started to read it again.
Lackey has this incredible ability to take real human tragedy and cruelty, and show you how it can affect a person’s sense of self, confidence and even physical well-being. Foundation is no different. Child slavery is still occurring throughout the world, and it is something that most of us don’t really want to think about. Especially when it is all too easy to imagine the same thing happening to your own loved and cherished ones. So, the telling of Mags’ journey from child slave (really no better than a wild animal) to Herald hit me hard. There is something especially terrifying about the corruption and destruction of childhood innocence. At least for me. Mags’ childhood and back story made me appreciate my own life and upbringing to a whole new level.
Foundation is the first book in my favourite Valdemar series thus far. The combination of the creation of the Collegium, Dallen’s humour and Mags’ gratefulness for the simple things in life bought these characters to life and made me turn the pages again and again and again. Combine that with the beauty and simplicity of Bear and Lena’s friendship, and this story was very sweet and enthralling in its every word.
Earth and Skye 