Finally, in this volume, we get all the gory details of how Valdemar was gifted with their mythical Companions. I won't spoil it for you, especially not with how long it's been since this series started.

The infant kingdom of Valdemar is led by a good man, but he is still just a man, as is his eldest son. Kordas, former Duke and current King of Valdemar, is desperate to find a solution to keep his baby kingdom from eventually growing up to be the Empire he despised and fled. In a world without gods and magic, we must rely on history and law and our collective wisdom to do this... And anyone living in this our twenty-first century should be well aware how precarious that line is. It is difficult to raise a country to be a responsible adult, and I'm not sure any of us have succeeded in the real world.

Thankfully, Valdemar has access to magic, and gods, and the collective wisdom of what amounts to a hive-mind of horses playing Jiminy Cricket. It is probably easier to keep a civilization further from evil when the people's conscience is held in trust by a series of semi-divine beings with magic powers and telepathy. If only, right?

If you are a Valdemar fan, I think you are hardly going to skip this volume. If you aren't yet a Valdemar fan, I suggest starting at the beginning with Arrows of the Queen so that this magic horse nonsense will make sense. The worst part of this story is how truly far we are ourselves from being led by wise and benevolent people, ones who mean well and care for their people more than for their own wealth or power. As a measure, looking at Valdemar can be depressing. As an inspiration, I find that perhaps I haven't lost all hope.

In book 3 of The Founding of Valdemar, Valdemar, Mercedes Lackey has created a wonderful origin story. Whether you are new to the series or have followed along since the beginning, you will find book three of the founding of Valdemar engaging. 

The story itself is solidly written with enough details and elements from the other novels to keep readers intrigued as we not only get the origins of Valdemar but also Bardic tales from other novels that offer explanations of Windrider, Shadowdancer and Sunsinger. I also really like how the novel gives us Kordas’ point of view but also the next generation in Restil, his son. We finally also get the origins of the Companions which is just as mystical and magical as I’d hoped. 

As a long time reader of the stories, I did find some of the origins a bit more prosaic than expected but real life quite frequently is and I like the realism that Mercedes Lackey infuses into the novel. She continually stresses that real people create the works of magic and heroism in her books much like firefighters and emergency rescue workers in our modern world. I love the conclusion of the novel and actually hope we might get more about the founding of Valdemar. 

If you love Mercedes Lackey and the world of Valdemar, you will want to read this novel. The characters are engaging and she has created a truly wonderful origin story that is both magical and realistic at the same time. I loved it so much I had to read some of my other Valdemar books and truly hope for more about this time period.

This is the book long-time readers of Lackey's Valdemar series have been waiting for since discovering she was writing the Founding trilogy. 10 years after the previous two books, Valdemar has settled into semi-stability and getting down to the 'how-to-do-things-for-all-time" instead of pure survival mode. Which means Kordas (now King, despite not wanting to be) is obsessing over how to ensure that the kingdom will always be the vision of hope and peace he has for it and his people, no matter how many generations in the future. Long story short, the answer arrives in the form of the Companions, and the Heralds (and Valdemar as we know it) begin!

Overall the pacing is good, mostly steady, and focuses on the development of the kingdom and the Heralds through Kordas and his son Restil's eyes. The Hawkbrothers get sidelined to a few brief glimpses since Valdemar is supposed to stand on its' own, and Lackey does some tapdancing to explain why there are no mentions of them in the 'future' books about the founding of the kingdom. There is also the "true" story behind Windrider, Shadowdancer and Sunsinger here. So if you know the songs you'll get the references and if you don't, you are still ok to read the book. The ending picked up a lot and until the last I wasn't sure if it was going to be a cliffhanger or a real ending- spoiler alert: not a cliffhanger. Which was good.

I definitely recommend making sure you've read the first two books in the Founding series before this one so you follow the characters and some of the references, as well as the stakes. It's a lot of fun for those who know the later books, but not necessary to have read them before this trilogy.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I love reading this series. I have so enjoyed reading about the founding of Valdemar. I started reading these books in 1990s and I'm so glad they are still being published.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review

I’ve loved the Valdemar books since I first picked up Arrows of the Queen as a young teen. So, when she finally started this series on the founding of Valdemar, I was so excited. Does it live up to the hype? Yes, it mostly does. Do I wish it was a tad bit more adventurous? Also yes.

This series is definitely for fans who already know and love Valdemar. With little Easter eggs hidden around for things that we might remember from other books, to understanding how Haven came to be, and how the Companions arrived. I can’t say more without spoiling, but I was so so very happy to have a chance to read this as an ARC book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for my chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

This final book in the Founding of Valdemar trilogy is the one that every fan of the series, both new and old, has been waiting for, not just since the first book in this trilogy, Beyond, came out in 2021, but frankly since the very first book in the very first series, Arrows of the Queen, was published back in 1987.

Because we finally get to see the advent of the beautiful, intelligent, beacons of light and conscience that have kept Valdemar the marvelous and marvelously liveable country it has been since that first book nearly 40 years ago.

It wouldn’t be Valdemar without the Companions, and it wouldn’t have been fair to title this book Valdemar unless it really was Valdemar as it should be. Fair however is very fair indeed, and Kordas Valdemar’s prayers (and ours), are answered.

That the Companions appear in the midst of a reluctant King Valdemar’s dark night of the soul is not a surprise when we get there. One of the things that has made Kordas such a terrific character to follow is that he thinks deeply, feels much and fears often that even if he is doing his best it just isn’t enough.

And he’s not wrong. His kingdom has barely begun. He’s a good man who has done his best but he’s made a few mistakes, as humans do. He’s seen the depths to which an empire and its rulers can sink in the Eastern Empire that he and his people fled from. He’s discovered tiny seeds of those same privileged attitudes in some of his own people, including his younger son.

He fears, rightly so, that no matter how good and fair and just a legacy he leaves, both in the laws being created and the standard of behavior he exhibits, that over time his descendants will fall prey to the same forces that eventually brought the empire to destruction.

So he hopes and he prays and he cries out for a way to keep his kingdom in the light. And he’s answered by the Powers with the galloping hooves of the first Companions.

Now he just has to figure out what comes next. For himself, for his heir, for his kingdom and for his people.

As an implacable enemy marches towards his borders.

Escape Rating A: Valdemar has always been a bit of an anomaly as far as fantasy worlds go. Most epic fantasies are set at times and in places that are in so much turmoil that that are just no nice places to visit and you really wouldn’t want to live there. There are a few exceptions, like Pern, Celta and Harmony, but for the most part, by the time that an epic fantasy series gets written about a place – or epic space opera or a combination thereof – the situation has gotten so FUBAR that liveability is a long way off even by the series’ end.

Which, in a way, means that the Valdemar series, at least the books that are set after the Founding of Valdemar, were cozy fantasy before it was cool. All the problems are human-scale even when they’re not precisely human-shaped, and those problems are not entrenched because the Companions keep them from reaching that point at least within Valdemar’s borders.

The Founding of Valdemar series has been the story of how Valdemar got to be that liveable place we’ve come to know and love, and it’s a humdinger of a start.

Things are never easy. At this point in the Kingdom’s history, they’re barely ten years into what will be a long and storied future. But the situation is neither long nor storied yet. They’re still at the point where the traditions that will sustain them haven’t been created, let alone settled, and Valdemar, both the person and the kingdom, are still figuring out how things are going to go.

Which means that a chunk of the story is involved with literally how the sausage of government gets made, as they have very little to go by. So the rules are being created as a combination of what the Duchy of Valdemar used to do that was good, not doing the things that the Eastern Empire did that were bad, and altering those ideas to fit their new circumstances.

It is generally a two-steps forward, one-step back proposition. We know that sausage is going to be fairly tasty by the time it reaches Queen Selenay in Arrows of the Queen, but making it is hard and frustrating work.

Work that’s hindered by nobles who think that normal means they can go back to some of their more self-indulgent ways, while it’s helped by those who have grown up in the new ways of doing things, like Crown Prince Restil has, and who are now adults and can pick up some of the reins of their own power.

And of course there’s an external threat on the horizon, and much of the action of this entry in the series shows how all those plans and new procedures both help and hinder the preparations for what they hope will be a small-scale war. Emphasis on small with fears focused on war.

To make a long but still beloved story short, Valdemar is a lot of fun to read, especially if you enjoy books where intelligent and competent people do their level best to make good things happen. If you liked L.E. Modesitt’s Imager Portfolio, The Founding of Valdemar trilogy has the same feel to it as that series did after Scholar.

If you read Valdemar back in the day but not recently, Beyond is a great place to get back into the series as it is so “foundational” to what happened later that you don’t need to remember what happened later to get back in there. I would not recommend starting here with Valdemar, as this is very definitely an ending of a chapter, even if it is a beginning for everything we already know.

One final note, and it’s a bit of a trigger warning. As part of the monumental events that bring the Companions to Valdemar, the mages’ beloved, and surprisingly long-lived cat, Sydney-You-Asshole – and yes, that moniker is the cat’s name and he’s EARNED it over the course of this series – choses to go off into the woods on his last journey in the moment the Companions arrive.

The tributes to Sydney-You-Asshole’s death were many and heartfelt, particularly deeply touching to the heart of any reader who has a beloved companion animal that is gone. There is still dust in this review as I write about it – so be prepared.

However, considering that the method of Sydney’s passing was to leave his friends and family as the gate to the Powers was open, I have to wonder if he didn’t turn out to be the archetype for the Firecats of Vkandis. Not that Sydney was a flame point – he was, in fact, a void – but learning at some later point that his attitude was passed down in some fashion to the firecats would not be a surprise. At all. Sydney-You-Asshole certainly had all the cattitude required to become the progenitor of a god’s avatar – but then again, most cats do.

Returning to Valdemar through this Founding series has been a joy and a delight, and has provided the opportunity to slip back into a series that I’ve always loved. Which means I have yet more trips to Valdemar to look forward to, starting with Gryphon’s Valor, the forthcoming follow up to this year’s marvelous Gryphon in Light.

Some people grew up on Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar epics. Others, like me, are learning on the fly. For those who don't know, the storied high fantasy setting is watched over by Heralds: people specially Chosen by this world's horse-like Companions to watch over the kingdom and its people. Lackey's latest book, simply titled Valdemar, concludes the Founding of Valdemar trilogy—bringing to life historical events heard only in passing throughout the series's long run.

We join the kingdom's first king just before his (reluctant) coronation, and much of the book is spent handling the concerns of a burgeoning kingdom at an easy pace. But this isn't simply a story of overseeing trade and education. Kordas is aware that this new kingdom needs guidance, and his prayers for that guidance are answered in the form of the first Companions. However, their wondrous arrival comes at a cost—and that cost is tied to a looming threat that could bring the kingdom down just as it's being born.

As someone relatively new to these books, I can't say how they'll read for a long-time fan. However, as someone just wading into the stories, I found it (and last month's anthology Anything with Nothing) an intriguing and alluring start. Even without the decades of homework others have done, I could tell that Rothas Sunsinger and Lythe Shadowdancer (two major characters in the story) are likely the stuff of legend to long-time readers. The pacing is interesting, keeping a relatively steady and productive gait throughout the kingdom's construction and ramping up in its final chapter. I would recommend starting from the beginning of the trilogy, naturally; but for fantasy fans, it's a fun read.

this was the conclusion to this trilogy that i needed.I loved every moment. great character development, I wanted more Delia. I have to go re-read the trilogy over again right now, it was that good!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC of Valdemar in exchange for an honest review! I am always so fond of Mercedes Lackey and Valdemar does not disappoint! This book is the final one in a trilogy about the founding of Valdemar. It's a prequel trilogy to Lackey's earlier Valdemar works. I was already a fan of the first two books of this trilogy, and I think this final one might just be my favorite out of them all. It really elevates the whole trilogy for me personally! This was a very enjoyable book, especially for people who have questions they want answered about Valdemar! I just love this world & the characters, and I'm always happy for the chance to return here! I absolutely recommend that people who have been following the founding of Valdemar continue with this great conclusion!

Just to be clear, I'm saying I don't think this book should be anyone's first book by Lackey or about Valdemar. I'm not sure why someone would want to start here, but I'm clarifying my opinion on that just in case. It's the third in a trilogy for a reason and should be read after reading the first two. But, again in my opinion, I absolutely think anyone new to Valdemar can start with this trilogy without having read any of Lackey's other books. After all it's called the Founding of Valdemar, surely that's a good enough starting place as any. That's not where I started, but everything will make sense if you do so. And then you'll get to read this book, which I do think is a worthwhile experience!

I’ve been enjoying The Founding of Valdemar story, so I looked forward to the third book. It turned out to be my favorite of the trilogy! The book picks up ten years after book two. The capital, Haven, is being built and permanent settlements are established. A magical mystery arises, and then another…and a powerful enemy has their sights on the fledgling kingdom.

The books are an origin story of the realm, so you don’t have to know anything about any other Valdemar books to read these. Also, we get to see the origin of the Companions- talking horses/magical beings- and the Heralds, who keep order. The characters are mostly good people doing their best to forge a new life for themselves after escaping a brutal empire.

This was a fun book, and fans of Valdemar won’t want to miss the story of its founding. It comes out December 26! Thank you to DAW and NetGalley for the eARC.

A satisfying conclusion to the Founding of Valdemar series, in which readers finally learn the origins of Valdemar's Heralds and Companions. A must-read for fans of Lackey's Valdemar universe!

This novel jumps 10 years into the future from the end of Into the West and introduces Kordas' son Restil as a POV character. I found Restil to be a distinct, likeable character and a great addition to the POV structure. He offered a welcome change from Kordas' constant self-doubt and worry (though he had plenty of his own worries and concerns, as all fully-realized characters do) and even interjected a smidge of romance to the storyline.

This series read like a prose version of a civilization building simulator, but with the addition of so much heart from Lackey's loveable characters and world. It was incredibly satisfying to see the familiar Valdemar elements settle into their recognizable places in the series universe. If I had to nitpick, I would say the final battle felt a tad rushed in comparison to the rest of the story, but it felt less important to the overall arc of Valdemar's founding than the appearance of the Companions, so I was glad the word count was spent where it was. Great series overall!

So I’ve had a soft spot for Valdemar since the beginning, this is a five star book for me. I was 13 and so very much the target audience for Talia’s story. All these many years later I still love the wholesomeness of these books. Work hard, be brave, do the right thing! Surely the good guys will win the day, good will prevail and evil vanquished even though there will be a terrible cost. I also always loved her message of wholesome loving relationships are great and that she had a message of hey, some people are gay and don’t be an ass to them for being the way they were born long before that was a common message in our society.
You could start with this series as it’s the founding of the kingdom but there are so many many years of books and if you’re looking for light fairly cozy fantasy this would be an excellent author to try. You’ll have plenty to read!

Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey serves as a fantastic conclusion for the long awaited foundations of Valdemar trilogy.

What I loved

1. Good follow through on story lines set up in the previous two installments
2.Great pacing
3. Expert usage of dialogue and character interaction for world building and plot progression.

Who I recommend this title for

Valdemar by its nature as a trilogy conclusion is written for the fans of the previous two installments.

This book is everything for fans of the Valdemar series. It’s been hinted at in previous books but in this book we finally get to see where the companions come from. There is a lot of detail to the world building but for those like me the characters make the story and this is a truly fabulous story. I enjoyed every page and will re-read time and again.

Returning back to the beginning of how Valdemar first was settled is a wonderful experience. This book introduces the Companions and my questions over the years about these amazing horse shaped creatures are answered. This book can be read as a standalone. I recommend reading the first two books in this series for a better experiences. This is a spin off of other series and can be read as a standalone series. I might postulate to read this series before reading any of the other series involving Valdemar.

What I liked about this series is the pioneer feel of it. This is a group of thousands fleeing a land and finding a new open land to settle. Whilst it isn't the cowboys and indians wild west style, it is similar in survivor tactics. I love seeing the beginning of a new homestead and how everyone has to pull their weight. There is a certain type of egalitarianism that is required in order for the whole community to survive. It is only when there is too much time and excess goods that people start moving toward entitlement and laziness. Sometimes, when people have to work hard for the basic needs - like shelter, clothing and food, it really shows who are the contributors and who are the takers. As a person who is rarely ever idle, I love this clear delineation.

This story takes place 10 years after the fleeing of their homelands. We start to see a bit of easing in labor as people have a little bit more time and do not have to fight so hard to survive the elements and predators. Yet there are new threats on the horizon. Anytime a community becomes prosperous, those who rather steal than work for it, will show up. Which is why the Heralds and Companions come into play. I love the world building and society Ms. Lackey builds here. It starts out with all the best of intentions. There are beings to help keep humans on track. If one reads the later series, it is apparent that this is not an utopian society and there are still flaws. Because humans are inherently flawed. Still, I enjoyed reading about how Kordas has the foresight to think about the future and plan to keep this new kingdom from becoming like the evil empire they fled.

I also like the different magic that the characters have in this book. I have forgotten the magic that allows one to speak with animals. That is my favourite one and I kind of wish I could have that one. Who doesn't want to be Dr. Doolittle? This fantasy is recommended to readers who want to be transported to a more wholesome time when communities worked together for a common good.

This book is amazing. I love how many answers we get. There are some continuity issues, but we can view it.as that, OR, we can view it as how easily history becomes legends. After all, there are 1400 years in universe between this book and Arrows of the Queen.

It is definitely the best book of the trilogy.

Valdemar is the third installment of The Founding of Valdemar trilogy. At this point Haven has been founded and it takes place about 10 years after the last book. While Valdemar is not fully established as we know it from Lackey’s previous books, the foundations have been set. Kordas, his family, and Haven are threatened by known and unknown enemies. Upon praying Kordas’ prayers are answered in an unlikely way.
This was the ending was I looking for. I cried ugly tears through several parts, both for the story itself and the fact it was the end. If you have read the other Valdemar books, this ties up and fleshes out the founding stories as is told by the heralds. The ending of this book was bittersweet but perfectly done. I don’t think I have enjoyed one of her trilogies this much since Exile’s Honor. The writing style definitely was like a warm hug. It was reminiscent of the 90s fantasy I grew up on while still being modern and with the times. This will be added to my comfort reads list with the rest of the series for sure.
I received an ARC and am leaving a review of my own volition.

This was a very satisfying ending to the story while leaving just enough open that more books from this time period could be written. I have to confess, Valdemar is not my favorite character, but in many ways he is the most human of all of them. He spends far too much time worrying about things out of his control and second-guessing himself, but then don' we all? If, however, I had an actual complaint to make about the book, that wouldn't be it. Over the course of the series, I became very frustrated with the amount of time spent on his sister-in-law's crush on him and, after it was over, the number of times it was brought up again. Overall, however, this was another excellent entry in the Valdemar series.

The third book in the Founding of Valdemar series brings the Companions and the first Heralds. Kordas has stopped being able to dodge the will of his people and has been crowned King. He is the sort of man who is always thinking and planning for the good of his people in this new and dangerous land. With the Tayledras withdrawing to cleanse new parts of a Pelagirs, Kordas is concerned about his people's future.

Kordas feels that he and his son won't be tempted to form their kingdom into an empire with all the abuses he fled to get to this new land. But he worries about his future descendants and petitions the gods for some sort of solution. The arrival of the Companions is an answer to that prayer. And the answer is timely because an Adept is planning to take over Valdemar and has an army of magical creatures at her disposal.

I enjoyed this epic fantasy which had great worldbuilding. There is interesting magic and huge magical battles. There was a pair of cursed lovers whose story winds its way through many of the later Valdemar stories in the songs of the Bards. And there are also small things like grieving the loss of a cat. I enjoyed the people in the story and their trials in building a new world.

This was engaging epic fantasy whether you are new to world of Valdemar or someone like me who has been reading in that world for more than thirty years.

A satisfying final installment in the prequel series about the founding of Valdemar. Lackey continues to deliver well written, insightful and inspiring prose. I want to live in Valdemar!