Anything with Nothing

For Valdemar fans, this is a perfectly good anthology. What I particularly like about these is that the stories fit in between the books – filling in other little bits of background. Fiona Patton’s Watchmen stories are a prime example, there are 14 of the stories now and I (for one) would love to see either a collection or a novel.

But I digress. As with any anthology, you probably won’t love all the stories, but I did enjoy them all and will be dipping back in and out as my fancy takes me. Might be a little confusing to start here, but it wouldn’t be too bad, I don’t think. (As usual, I think you should start at the beginning of a series, but YMMV)

I received a free copy from NetGalley for my unbiased opinion.


#AnythingWithNothing #NetGalley

A collection of short stories, edited and compiled by the author of the Valdemar books. These were cute, and if you are a fan of the Valdemar books, I highly recommend reading this. Because the stories aren't all by the original author, a few of them feel less authentic than others, but each of them left me wishing they'd just been a few pages longer. Like, 50-250 more, please? I think this would be a harder read if you don't know much about the Valdemar universe, but then again, maybe they'd be a good way to dip your toes in? 4 stars, because there were some consistency issues with the main universe, and I'm a stickler for that.

I was provided an ARC copy of this book through Netgalley. My thanks to the publisher and the author for providing it to me.

Anything with Nothing is a wonderful collection of stories that truly give you insight into this world of Valdemar. When authors are advised to show and not tell, this is exactly what is meant. If you have never read any of the tales of Valdemar, these little short stories will give you a hint of what to expect. These stories introduce the people, the politics, and the magic of the world. This was a wonderful read. You can read these and enjoy them without ever reading the full stories. Or, you can revisit the world with these little snippets like telling warm memories around a fire at holiday time. This was a wonderful anthology and each story was rich in its own right.

A wonderful set of short stories set in the fabulous world of Mercedes Lackeys Valdimar, A must read for fans of the series.

Anything With Nothing is a delightful collection of short stories set in the well established world of Valdemar. As a long time fan of basically every story set in this world I was thrilled to be granted early access to this wonderful title and after reading it can confidently say I will be adding a physical copy to my collection as soon as I can.
The stories present here are a particularly nice treat for long time fans but also would work well as a entry point to the world for new readers.

I have long been a fan of Valdemar, I can still recall borrowing the first trilogy I read and have since replaced several times. However, I had never picked up the anthologies. Anything with Nothing is filled with small snap shots of people’s lives. The ones I read were not great tales of heroism but what a normal person could rise up to in a time of need. They were hopeful, insightful, and human. I especially enjoyed Suffering Knows no Borders by Dylan Birtole. It follows a young soldier turned healer and his quest to help those most in need. I would love to find out what came next. I found pieces of myself in every story, and a feeling of kinship with the authors. Seeing a world, I fell in love with as a young woman from new perspectives was heartwarming. The title story guardsman in the watch turned herald. Tad has the mind speaking ability and little else in the time of great herald mages. He tends to the people, and gets the job done and done well with a sense of pride in his work. It shows a tiny sliver of his job helping towns folk, but its just the right sliver. Anything with Nothing is a light up lifting read great for new comers and longtime fans alike.
I received an arc of this and am leaving this review of my own volition.

Set in an established world of Valdemar and the travelling Heralds who have gifts which help defend these lands and monarch. A collection of very short stories paying tribute to this world by various authors brings with it good and bad interpretations. Some stories make you want to seek out the full-length books about Valdemar, but some readers may feel a bit lost if they have never visited Valdemar before. I would still recommend seeking out those full stories set in the Valdemar world you will not regret it.
Thank you NetGalley and (publisher, DAW) for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

So disappointed ..... The Author's world of Valdemar has been written over many years and has kept me enthralled throughout . But this latest compilation has left me quite frustrated - whilst many of the stories ( written by 'other' Authors ) reference this brilliant world , for me they could have been written about any other world .
I will say there are 3 or 4 books that I enjoyed which held my attention but the others did not .
I usually add any book written by Ms Lackey to my TBR pile as shown by her latest return to this world 'Gryphon in Light' - which was outstanding BUT I will no longer buy or read future compilations sold under her name .

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I love Mercedes Lackey world and this is no different however as with all of these compilations it can be rough to read as they aren't all the same calibre or have characters I really care about.

All over this is a solid book with many stories that I truly liked and thing could have been extended to be a full length novel.

I have been reading Valdemar books for over 30 years. The series is still fresh and wonderful. As with all anthologies, some stories are fantastic, and some are less so. This was overall great! The few stories I really wanted to read were fantastic, There were others by new to me authors I might pick up.

Wow, yes, thumbs-up!

Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar is one of my favorite fantasy series and I was very eager to read this anthology.

I found this collection of 21 stories to be a excellent addition to the world of Valdemar with a few excursions to other well-known locations.

While I missed seeing a few old friends, met in previous anthologies and novels from the series itself, there were new stories and friends to take their place.

The authors Ms. Lackey invited to be part of this collection seemed overall well versed in the cannon of the world that is Valdemar with only a couple times that had me thinking 'hmmm?' but not enough to take me out of the story.

I find myself going to past anthologies and following the miniseries some authors have created as they unfold, giving us their particular view of the wonderfully luscious world Ms. Lackey created.

Thank-you to DAW and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh to be back in Valdemar! This was a solid collection of stories set in Lackey’s best selling universe. As with any anthology collecting multiple authors, some were hits for me and others weren’t so much. Lackey’s own story at the end acting as linchpin was the real gem, but this was still a great collection.

As with any anthology, there are variations in quality of story as well as general editing. It is worthy of note that some have elected to use specific existing characters or reference and errors in this are particularly jarring (as opposed to stories with a new or minimally described town). However, the stories are generally solid and well-written and many are a continuation of stories started in previous volumes of the anthologies. As always, Lackey's story at the end is the gem that holds the book together, but overall a good collection.