Intrigues

Mercedes Lackey

Mags seems to be finally settling down in the Collegium. He has his great friends, Lena and Bear to look after him, but suddenly they are both in danger of being snatched away.To top that off, Mags is being accused of injuring the king. Hit the jump for more…

Much of ‘Intrigues’ is about Mags finding out his history, although it turns out to be something like he really was ‘Bad Blood’. Mag’s friends are being accused by their families, and it makes for an uncomfortable situation. When Dallen gets into an accident, Mags’ world is thrown upside down, and he feels like there will never be light at the end of the tunnel.

In this novel, Mags is almost certainly suffering from depression. Because that is my own personal area of interest, it draws me to him. I found myself crying occasionally, because the situation just seemed so hopeless. I guess that’s a mark of how much I empathized with him. His recovery though was swift and painless – he of course has a Companion, when the rest of us don’t have a mythical horse to pull us out of the pit.

The settings are familiar to those who have read the other books. I agree with other reviewers that it seems very choppy, with some obvious errors in spelling and grammar. In other books, I have even noted where the publisher has changed a character’s name to something else, such as an article of speech! It’s still an ok novel, but it isn’t the best she has even written. It feels a little like as Lackey has gotten older, her attempts of pushing books out onto the market quickly have destroyed the flow she had in the earlier novels.

Although it could be done, I wouldn’t recommend reading ‘Intrigues’ without having first read ‘Foundation’. It really is a trilogy – or I thought it was! Again, I didn’t reread this book before reviewing it because I wanted to read the next one! Surprisingly, although this says it is a trilogy, the Mercedes Lackey website lists it as having a fourth book to come out. I find that a little disappointing – I love Mags, but I’d love to have a new character just as much!

I’d still recommend this book for teens and adults, although the themes are far darker than before. Blood, betrayal, fire and corruption – they’re all here, but they are dealt with sensitively and not gratuitously.