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Avg. Rating: 4
likeable but flawed
This is an easy read and decent addition to the Valdemar canon, however, there are a few problems. It tells the tale of Skif, an orphan and pickpocket, who in Dickens-fashion, is apprenticed to a slovenly and corrupt uncle, then a humane and kind-hearted thief, and finally Chosen and brought to the Herald Collegium to train. Needless to say, he has difficulty adjusting to a place where just about everyone is kind and unselfish.
A conflict arises when Skif's Faginish mentor's house is burned and he is killed. Skif sets out for revenge, and as the man's misdeeds extend far beyond his imagination, he eventually gets aid from the Heralds, who wish to wipe out such a scourge in their city.
I was annoyed by the page after page of indecipherable dialect, and how one character's speech was grammatically correct half the time, and transposed English the other half. It seemed random and sloppy, and detracted from the impact of the character, especially since we were never given any good reason why this should occur. Other than that though, the book was fine.
Take a Thief
Skif was a thief, and a herald, the first thief-herald, But he wasn't always a thief-herald, Take a thief by Mercedes Lackey, is the story of how Skif became a thief-herald. I didn't find this to be one of Mercedes best books, However I enjoyed this book very much. on a scale of 1 to 5 I would give this book a 4
Worthy addition to the Valdemar world.
This book explores the early life of Herald Skif. The story, though written after Mercedes Lackey's Arrows series, is set before his debut in those books, and illustrates his earlier experiences as a thief in training.
Skif grows up under his Uncle's thumb, an orphan with a debt to pay to a cheap, conniving relative. After some dealings of his uncle goes wrong Skif takes the oppurtunity to escape to the street and to a gang who teaches him the intricasies of thievery. They soon become like the family he never had.
The story is sweet and endearing, as we follow Skif through the streets of the capital. It does lack a bit of substance though. The time he spends as an initial herald in training is not as flushed out as I normally like. And his quest for revenge, though deserved, felt rushed and awkward. It is still a great addition to the world of Valdemar though, one I would recommend reading in concert with the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy (Arrow's of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, and Arrow's Fall.)
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