I like the books Mercedes Lackey writes, she is good at creating a believable world and people to populate it. While her writing is not the strongest I do find it engaging ang and enjoyable. I like a series I can live inside of and her books are ones that have characters I feel invested in and a world I believe could exist. ( )

Lots of information and a good overview ( )

Consists primarily of a lengthy "concordance" of characters, locations, and other proper names; previously published maps; a previously unpublished novella; a couple of interviews (with Lackey and with Betsy Wollheim). Good for library collections to support die-hard fans, although there has been a lot of new material added in the 15 years or so since this was published. ( )

Good overview of the world, but up to this point. Would be happy to get an update edition integrating in new Valdemar mythology from the last decade or so. ( )

Ten years ago this would have been an invaluable reference - now, it's totally superceded by the internet. It's still an impressive collection of trivia, interviews, and ancillary fiction, though.

The short story is astonishingly unmemorable (which may have been the point - it's supposed to be a story of a totally average Herald, and I suppose it's a handy fill-your-name-in-here tool for dreaming about being Chosen) but the interviews, although not earthshaking, are neat, and the extensive concordance is the sort of thing I'd have happily memorized were I younger and had a shorter to-read list.

The funniest bit in the whole volume is the page or two on what websites to visit - good Lord, it wasn't published that long ago and it reads like utter ancient history. (This is a bit of a problem with the whole thing, really, since several more books have been written and it's hardly complete at this point.) ( )