terrafyd's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
venusbloo's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Gryphon in Light takes place in Valdemar during the aftermath of the Mage Storms which caused widespread destruction and discord across the entire continent of Velgarth. Some of this discord was magical, but with the Heralds and mages spread thin across Valdemar, some of the discord is also opportunistic. With less oversight, some nobles have decided to seize control of the town of Deedun by force using both local Valdemaran Guards and hired mercenaries.
With the increasing threat of civil war, loyal Guardsmen are sent in to lay siege to the town while those in charge try to decide a course of action. Meanwhile, K'Valdemar Vale sends their gryphon Wingleader Kelvren to investigate the situation. Kelvren arrives to the loyal Guards under attack and takes heroic action to save them. In the process, Kelvren is mortally wounded, and it is unclear if he will survive. Only a drastic magical experiment by a more powerful gryphon saves Kelvren from the brink of death.
However, now Kelvren has power he doesn't understand, and the actions he took at Deedun have caused a political uproar. The Tayledras leaders of K'Valdemar Vale decide it's best for Kelvren to leave Valdemar for a while, and they propose an expedition to Lake Evendim as a solution. Dark energies are coalescing in the area around the lake, and Lake Evendim's past could be the cause. Now, Kelvren, magic Adept Firesong, and others must get to the bottom of the mystery before something worse than the Mage Storms is unleased.
Thus, much of the story in this book is very character focused. Kelvren first has to learn how to deal with his increasingly possible death and what that means for his legacy. Then, he has to learn to deal with his newfound power. The very power that saved him also has the ability to kill him, and anyone nearby, if he can't keep it under control. Finally, he has to learn to hold a different place amongst his friends and people than the one he expected to have, and all of this is explored throughout the book.
I really enjoyed how much this books explored gryphons and magic in general. In fact, I feel like I can tell Larry Dixon had more to do with the explanations about magic and how gryphon biology is magical while Mercedes Lackey wrote a lot of the characterization and slice of life moments. The way magic and gryphon biology is explained is almost scientific, and I like when authors attempt to inject characteristics from one genre into another like that. It was definitely interesting, but a lot of it also made me wish I had read some previous books Lackey has written revolving around the gryphons.
That being said, if you're new to the world of Valdemar at all, I don't recommend starting with this book. First of all, while this is the first book in a new trilogy and it is technically its own story, I would recommend reading at least five other trilogies in the Valdemar universe before reading this one. If you're not in it for the long haul, then you can get away with only reading the Owlknight Trilogy, also known as Darian's Tale (Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight). This trilogy takes place in the years before Gryphon in Light and introduces Kelvren and several other characters that appear in the book.
However, if you're like me and want to read all the Valdemar you can get your hands on, I would recommend reading the following series in this order before starting Gryphon in Light:
• The Mage Wars - this trilogy takes place many years in the past during a major conflict between two very powerful mages and explains the creation of several magical species including the gryphons. It consists of The Black Gryphon, The White Gryphon, and The Silver Gryphon.
• The Arrows Trilogy - this is the first trilogy Lackey wrote about Valdemar, and it tells the story of Tallia becoming the Queen's Own and the development of Elspeth as the heir to the throne. It consists of Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall.
• The Mage Winds - this trilogy takes place after the Arrows Trilogy, and it focuses on Elspeth as the heir to the throne as she searches for magic which has been absent from Valdemar for centuries. It consists of Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury.
• The Mage Storms - this trilogy follows the events of the Mage Winds Trilogy and sees Valdemar caught up in war and magical upheaval. It consists of Storm Warning, Storm Rising, and Storm Breaking.
• The Owlknight Trilogy - this trilogy introduces Darian and follows his training as a mage and role in helping establish K'Valdemar Vale. It also introduces Kelvren and some important Tayledras characters. It consists of Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight.
This is a lot to read to be sure, but if you do read all of those books then some of the references and some of the characters in Gryphon in Light will make more sense. So, I would say that is one thing working against this book. Without a lot of commitment to learning the background, especially of Kelvren as he's the main character, some of the events in this book might not make as much sense.
The only other negative thing I have to say about this book is the lack of action. There was much more focus on characters and how they felt and what was going on inside their heads as opposed to plot taking place. There were maybe three points in the book that I felt did anything to move the plot forward. Subsequently, the ending of the book felt very anticlimactic. I won't give anything away, but the ending didn't feel like a conclusion to anything so much as a convenient place to end the book to pick up the story in the next entry in the trilogy.
I gave Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon three out of five stars. I really enjoyed reading more about the technicalities of magic and how it works. I also like learning more about gryphons and their biology, and of course I love Kelvren. He was one of my favorite characters in Darian's books, but I feel like he took a beating in this story. I also felt like there's a lot of homework to understand all the significance of the events and characters in this book, and it will be a difficult entry point into the world of Valdemar for a lot of readers. I would still recommend anyone who is caught up on Valdemar or who plans to read all of trilogies leading up to this story to read this book.
With the increasing threat of civil war, loyal Guardsmen are sent in to lay siege to the town while those in charge try to decide a course of action. Meanwhile, K'Valdemar Vale sends their gryphon Wingleader Kelvren to investigate the situation. Kelvren arrives to the loyal Guards under attack and takes heroic action to save them. In the process, Kelvren is mortally wounded, and it is unclear if he will survive. Only a drastic magical experiment by a more powerful gryphon saves Kelvren from the brink of death.
However, now Kelvren has power he doesn't understand, and the actions he took at Deedun have caused a political uproar. The Tayledras leaders of K'Valdemar Vale decide it's best for Kelvren to leave Valdemar for a while, and they propose an expedition to Lake Evendim as a solution. Dark energies are coalescing in the area around the lake, and Lake Evendim's past could be the cause. Now, Kelvren, magic Adept Firesong, and others must get to the bottom of the mystery before something worse than the Mage Storms is unleased.
Thus, much of the story in this book is very character focused. Kelvren first has to learn how to deal with his increasingly possible death and what that means for his legacy. Then, he has to learn to deal with his newfound power. The very power that saved him also has the ability to kill him, and anyone nearby, if he can't keep it under control. Finally, he has to learn to hold a different place amongst his friends and people than the one he expected to have, and all of this is explored throughout the book.
I really enjoyed how much this books explored gryphons and magic in general. In fact, I feel like I can tell Larry Dixon had more to do with the explanations about magic and how gryphon biology is magical while Mercedes Lackey wrote a lot of the characterization and slice of life moments. The way magic and gryphon biology is explained is almost scientific, and I like when authors attempt to inject characteristics from one genre into another like that. It was definitely interesting, but a lot of it also made me wish I had read some previous books Lackey has written revolving around the gryphons.
That being said, if you're new to the world of Valdemar at all, I don't recommend starting with this book. First of all, while this is the first book in a new trilogy and it is technically its own story, I would recommend reading at least five other trilogies in the Valdemar universe before reading this one. If you're not in it for the long haul, then you can get away with only reading the Owlknight Trilogy, also known as Darian's Tale (Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight). This trilogy takes place in the years before Gryphon in Light and introduces Kelvren and several other characters that appear in the book.
However, if you're like me and want to read all the Valdemar you can get your hands on, I would recommend reading the following series in this order before starting Gryphon in Light:
• The Mage Wars - this trilogy takes place many years in the past during a major conflict between two very powerful mages and explains the creation of several magical species including the gryphons. It consists of The Black Gryphon, The White Gryphon, and The Silver Gryphon.
• The Arrows Trilogy - this is the first trilogy Lackey wrote about Valdemar, and it tells the story of Tallia becoming the Queen's Own and the development of Elspeth as the heir to the throne. It consists of Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall.
• The Mage Winds - this trilogy takes place after the Arrows Trilogy, and it focuses on Elspeth as the heir to the throne as she searches for magic which has been absent from Valdemar for centuries. It consists of Winds of Fate, Winds of Change, and Winds of Fury.
• The Mage Storms - this trilogy follows the events of the Mage Winds Trilogy and sees Valdemar caught up in war and magical upheaval. It consists of Storm Warning, Storm Rising, and Storm Breaking.
• The Owlknight Trilogy - this trilogy introduces Darian and follows his training as a mage and role in helping establish K'Valdemar Vale. It also introduces Kelvren and some important Tayledras characters. It consists of Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight.
This is a lot to read to be sure, but if you do read all of those books then some of the references and some of the characters in Gryphon in Light will make more sense. So, I would say that is one thing working against this book. Without a lot of commitment to learning the background, especially of Kelvren as he's the main character, some of the events in this book might not make as much sense.
The only other negative thing I have to say about this book is the lack of action. There was much more focus on characters and how they felt and what was going on inside their heads as opposed to plot taking place. There were maybe three points in the book that I felt did anything to move the plot forward. Subsequently, the ending of the book felt very anticlimactic. I won't give anything away, but the ending didn't feel like a conclusion to anything so much as a convenient place to end the book to pick up the story in the next entry in the trilogy.
I gave Gryphon in Light by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon three out of five stars. I really enjoyed reading more about the technicalities of magic and how it works. I also like learning more about gryphons and their biology, and of course I love Kelvren. He was one of my favorite characters in Darian's books, but I feel like he took a beating in this story. I also felt like there's a lot of homework to understand all the significance of the events and characters in this book, and it will be a difficult entry point into the world of Valdemar for a lot of readers. I would still recommend anyone who is caught up on Valdemar or who plans to read all of trilogies leading up to this story to read this book.
kiaras's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
syringa's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This entire book is exposition, I enjoyed it on the whole but the pacing was off. There's also a character who is called two different names without explanation, so maybe a mistake not caught by edit? Also creating a diverse character pool does not happen by simply retconning one of your existing characters into being trans, that ain't the way chief. A pretty disappointing entry in the world of Valdemar (and I've read them all)
Spoiler
Tutack is called a different name in two chapters then Tutack againkatrinahaines's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I love Valdemar, but, tbh, this book is mid. It's a somewhat disjointed very slow setup to an actual plot, except we don't get any actual plot in the book. Also, I feel like we're sort of jumping the shark here, but maybe it will get better, idk
saunteringvaguelydownward's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
alwaysarchery's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
kytkat's review against another edition
5.0
Suck on that, doubters.
KEL i LOVE YOU SO MUCH AHHHHHHHHHH! What a delightful new series, filled with so many awesome characters. i can't wait for the next.
msjb22's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75