Arrows of the Queen

Author: Mercedes Lackey
Published: March 3, 1987 (Daw)
Series: Heralds of Valdemar #1
Category: Fantasy

Arrows of the Queen is the first in a trilogy, and I've actually read the second one and started the third, but I realized that I really loved the first book and am indifferent about the last two. I don't think I'll even bother finishing the third.

Talia is a farm girl from a remote region of Valdemar, where the society is patriarchal and husbands have multiple wives. Girls are married out as young as thirteen years of age, which is what was about to happen to Talia. However, Talia doesn't want to become someone's child bride and bear children until she dies. She's been reading stories about the heroic Heralds of Valdemar. These people have been chosen by Companions, magical creatures that look a lot like horses, but can communicate with their chosen rider, run faster, etc. They're awesome. Heralds dispense the Queen's justice, sort of like wandering peacemakers who also distribute news from the main cities.

On the day Talia is being told by the headwife that she will be married soon, Talia declares that she would rather become a Herald. Now, Heralds are not viewed favorably in the remote regions. They're really backwards and old fashioned because they're so isolated. Talia runs away from home and while running away, she actually meets a Companion. This companion, Rolan, chooses her, but Talia isn't aware of this. She gets on Rolan, thinking that he's lost his Herald and she can return him to the Herald's Collegium, and possibly get a job there. She'd take anything to escape her fate as a bride to yet another backwards-minded man out in the sticks.

It turns out that Rolan is a very special Companion, as the Herald he chooses will be the Queen's Own, meaning that Talia is to become an advisor to the Queen when she completes her training. You may wonder how a young girl from the far reaches of the kingdom can advise the Queen, but the answers would just come to Talia from somewhere. Perhaps Rolan? Or something beyond that?

Talia's path to becoming a Herald isn't easy, as certain members of court do not wish for a new Queen's Own to come to power. The previous holder of that title died under suspicious circumstances, and Talia is not free from that same threat. Other students from the general school took to tormenting Talia, making her break down, almost to the point of quitting. They even attempted murder, but thanks to the mind link between Heralds and their Companions, Rolan was able to bring help to Talia in time, although she was ill for some time after the incident.

The only problem with the book? I wished that Talia could actually communicate with Rolan in words. Some Heralds have that gift, but Talia did not. Ah well. If I wanted bonded creatures who could talk, I'd turn to Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern.

Again, I'm a really big fan of the "unappreciated hero/heroine gets taken away from horrible family by people who will truly appreciate him/her." You know, like Harry Potter, or Anne Bishop's Jaenelle, and Anne McCaffrey's Menolly. Reading those books, especially Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall Trilogy, make me feel good. They're my comfort books for a bad day.