Brightly Burning (Valdemar Book 1150)

Lan’s story is poignant and ultimately devastating, yet it seems vital to the tale of Valdemar and Karse as a whole.

This is one of the saddest books in the overall Valdemar saga, perhaps even more so than those of Herald Vanyel. But is also one of my favorites. The book is one of the few standalones within the saga, too.Lan has been uprooted from his country home and friends, moved to Haven, the capital of Valdemar. His parents are artisan Guildmasters who seek to rise in their fields, but he’s left feeling as if he has no place. Even his siblings are following in their parents’ footsteps, but Lan wants nothing to do with either family business. All he wants is to be a member of the Guard, which his parents forbid, feeling it to be “beneath” them. It has left Lan an outlier in his own family. To make it worse, they decide to send him to a school, one in which the headmaster leaves all the discipline and order to a group of older students who love nothing more than to cruely bully the younger students. One thing leads to another, and a terrible accident occurs. But there’s a silver lining… he finally finds his path, even if he will probably always remain an outlier, this time from those who fear him.The author laudably runs the gamut of relationships in this series, those that aren’t quite as “status quo.” She wrote of same-sex relationships, even throuples, long before those became more mainstream. But this one created a lifebond, a soul mate bond between people, between Lan and his Companion. A completely nonsexual lifebond, but one based on the purest of love and trust.It truly is a beautiful read!

You get a vast view of the Valdemaran world from this one "story". It picks you up, slows down & then picks you up again. Recommended for new folk who don't normally read Fantasy. Will either make you jump in to read all, or set aside as not your style. After all these years, this one is STILL a favorite (read when it 1st came out in PB).

I've read this particular valdemar novel at least 4 times by now. It is one of the best. Very heart-rending.

I feel like this author is a hit-and-miss, and Brightly Burning walked a line between the two. The beginning was a little slow and it took a long time for the story to seem to move, but you spend that time getting to learn about Lavan and sympathize with his emotional state and how his life got turned around. Things begin to pick up afterwards, though towards the end it startles to muddle every so slightly once more.Some spoilers in this paragraph, read at your own discretion. The characters themselves seem to be all over the place. I lost my respect for Healers in this one. One character was blindly in love with Lavan despite it being impossible for him to return her feelings because he was lifebonded to his Companion, and no matter how often she was told such or how right-before-her-eyes the evidence of this was, she kept pursuing it to the point where it was upsetting herself and Lavan. Then another Healer (the mother of the blindly-in-love one) starts off as this rational person, but when her husband gets attacked and blinded she turns into this hysterical mess who blames herself that she can't heal him right then and there. It was just annoying. I wasn't too fond of the royalty in this book either. Thankfully the rest of the characters were better written, so those were the only real blights in my enjoyment.

I Love story, great build up. tells adventure from beginning to end. Very hard to put down.

Taking a trip to the land of Valdemar via one of Lacky's books is a real pleasure, and such was the case this time as well, even though I knew from the start (having read many other stories in this 'Verse) that the story would end in a glorious tragedy for the main characters. Valdemar is a land that never seems to develop technology and science much, likely because some people have magic, mind powers, and specially skilled "spirit animals" like Companions and Firecats and Bond Birds instead...so you can pick up any book in a series of stories that covers about 2000 years of Valdmaran "history" and still find the same horses-and-swords character driven fantasy adventure stories. I like the Valdemaran principle that "there is no one right way" at the foundations of their governance...and could see where such a thing could be a real boon in the real world.

I've read the entire series multiple times, and I have to say that Brightly Burning is my least favorite. It makes me wonder if other reviewers have read some of Lackey's much better other Valdemar works.For one, the story of Lavan Firestarter - clearly such a focal point in Heraldic lore - would seem to me to need at least two novels to really tell it. Brightly Burning seems shallow and under-developed. I can't get myself to believe in his character. Things happen far too quickly without enough development in the middle.For another, there's a considerable amount of telling rather than showing. Satiran just announces that Lavan and Kalira are lifebonded? Even if I could let that go as a poorly written scene - there are no concerns from the Heraldic Circle and their Companions about such an odd pairing? And the relationship between Lavan and Kalira seems trite - there are none of the unique undertones that Lackey has shown with some of the better pairs, such as Alberich & Kantor or Vanyel & Yfandes. Even Talia and Rolan have a more solidly developed relationship - and they can't "talk" to each other.Also, what's the deal with young Herald-Trainee Malken, who clearly ForeSees Lavan's firestorm, but then disappears entirely from the story?Then there's referring to Lavan's gift as a "dragon"? Lackey has described magical/Heraldic gifts far better.All-in-all, this reads like an unfinished draft with a significant number of chapters missing from it. It's like a rough outline that still needs to be filled in appropriately.

これも、読まないわけには行かないでしょう。商人の息子だった主人公が、突然の能力に目覚め、使徒として育って行きます。魔法と剣と友情のビルドゥングス・ロマン！創元推理文庫「女神の誓い」「裁きの門」「運命の剣」あたりを先に読んでおくと、世界観になじみがある分、取り掛かりやすいと思います。

I loved this tale. Full of great characters, good and bad. No one deserved such awful parents! Anyone who has read the Valdemar stories has already met the main character and so knows what the ending will be. It is still well worth reading as the details and other characters really enhance the main thread.

This is the second time I have read this book and I would read it again. It makes you laugh and cheer and cry then leaves you heartbroken. I will never be able to forget this story. I recommend it whole heartedly. Well done Mercedes.

Another well told Valdemar history. I read this when first published. Well worth having on my Kindle.

I love all the Valdemar books and this was one I hadn't read before. Full of drama and emotion. Great.