The Valdemar books can be broken down into different series, with some standalone novels. This is a summary of the various books and how they fall into each series chronologically, in terms of the overall storyline. The books span approximately 3000 years of history. The year after each title indicates the year of the original publication of each individual book.
These are set in pre-history, some 1000 years before the founding of Valdemar. They describe the events which precipitate the Mage Storms, and heavily involve gryphons, creatures created by the Urtho, the Mage of Silence. Co-protagonists include Skandranon Rashkae, a princely but proud ebony gryphon, and Amberdrake, a spirit-healer, called a kestra'chern.
The series marked Lackey's novel-length return to Valdemar after a five-year hiatus, focusing on the founding of the Heralds' Collegium through the eyes of a former mine slave turned Herald-Trainee, Mags.
Mags was once an enslaved orphan living a harsh life in the mines, until the King's Own Herald discovered his talent and trained him as a spy. Now a Herald in his own right, at the newly established Heralds' Collegium, Mags has found a supportive family, including his Companion Dallen.
Spymaster Herald Mags and King's Own Herald Amily have raised the next generation of spies. Each of their three children comes of age in their own novel.
This is a stand-alone novel, set somewhere between the Family Spies and the Heralds books. It describes another tragic legendary character briefly referenced in the latter, Lavan Firestorm.
These precede the Heralds of Valdemar books, centering on the characters Tarma and Kethry. These characters appeared first in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series, and were revisited in subsequent short stories. Four of the short stories are woven into The Oathbound as part of a longer narrative.
Due to the pair's appearance in part one of By the Sword, the latter is sometimes grouped with the Vows books. The third volume, Oathblood, is made up entirely of short stories in place of a longer narrative. With its publication, nearly all of the Tarma and Kethry stories were available together in a single compiled volume for the first time.
The series includes the origin story of famous Weaponsmaster Alberich of Karse, his Choosing, and the Tedrel Wars. It also includes the story of Skif, a street orphan who eventually becomes an important Herald with unique gifts, magical and otherwise. The Skif Thief story was published first, but takes place chronologically after the Exiles stories.
This was the original trilogy that began it all. These center on Talia, who from the moment of being Chosen by her Companion Rolan becomes the very special and hard-working Queen's Own Herald.
This is a stand-alone novel which connects the Vows and Honor sub-series to the Heralds and other trilogies, introducing the famous mercenary Kerowyn. Kerowyn is the granddaughter of Kethry from the Vows and Honor sub-series.
These follow on from the original Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, centering on Princess Elspeth and her adventures as an adult, transforming from a Herald to the first Herald-Mage since Vanyel. Secondary protagonists include Skif and Tayledras adept mages Darkwind and Firesong.
These continue the saga, centering on the characters Karal and An'desha as all of Velgarth is threatened by a repetition of the Cataclysm described in the Mage Wars trilogy. This trilogy also focuses on the threat posed to Valdemar by the vast Eastern Empire and the development of the newly-formed Alliance between Valdemar and its surrounding nations.
Also known as the Owl Mage Trilogy, the series takes place several years after the events of the Mage Storms, and follows the character Darian. The story focuses on the repercussions of the Mage Storms on Valdemar's northern border, and centers on new tensions between the kingdom and invading barbarians from beyond the Ice Wall Mountains.
The anthologies include one novella by Mercedes Lackey accompanied by a dozen or more short stories written by other fantasy and science fiction authors. The stories are set within the world of Velgarth, and many of Lackey's stories make reference to characters featured previously in other Valdemar novels and series.
Many of the anthology stories follow one or more characters from one anthology to the next, forming a miniseries within the anthologies. The story, author and miniseries page are thoroughly linked. A list of miniseries can be found on the Miniseries category page.
Miscellaneous works[]
There are also a few miscellaneous Valdemar works, including a novella and some short stories, that have not been collected into an anthology as yet. These include:
"Stolen Silver" in Horse Fantastic edited by Martin Harry and Rosalind M. Greenberg (1991) (this story is included as the Prologue in some editions ofExile's Honor)
