The Mage Storms - Mercedes Lackey

Karse and Valdemar have long been enemy kingdoms, until they are forced into an uneasy alliance to defend their lands from the armies of Eastern Empire, which is ruled by a monarch whose magical tactics may be beyond any sorcery known to the Western kingdoms. Forced to combat this dire foe, the Companions of Valdemar may, at last, have to reveal secrets which they have kept hidden for centuries... even from their beloved Heralds. 

My thoughts:

This is an omnibus with 3 books from the obvious trilogy that it is.

First up we have Storm Warning.

In this one I realised that there has been 2 trilogies before this one, my bad. So yes some people and events are totally new to me. But what was good is that it's from the pov of Karal. A priest from another country. So we meet everyone through his eyes, and I am saved that way. This book was mostly build up. 2 countries wants to make peace. An empire wants to destroy them all, and storms are coming with devastating effects.

Storm Rising is book 2

This book mostly deals with the aftermath of the first storms and more storms, and people talking about what to do with the storms.

On personal fronts Karal is dealing with what his God wants of him.

His friend is having love issues

And the most interesting part. The Empire sent a man to a neighboring country to take over. They had been ruled by an idiot so they were happy about it. I liked how he came in and understood that he had to care for his new subjects. Now if he can get that he should not take over more countries, than all will be good.

Storm breaking book 3

It's a fact. Duke Tremane is the best character in this book. I found myself reading his passages fast. I like what he is doing in the country he is meant to conquer.

So, all 3 books then. Book 1 was the best. Book 2 the weakest. Book 3 has the best character arc. So for that book 3 was the best, but only when it was about Tremane. He was interesting to read about.

Still I do feel like to really understand this world, those 2 other trilogies should be read first. It took a lot of the pleasure from me when I had not read them. Also the end, yes it was an ending, people are happy. But I felt more could come. Then again I need to check that if there is more...

For Lackey lovers this is a must.

Paperback, 1000 pages
Published September 4th 2015 by Titan Books
Fantasy
For review