Exile's Valor

       Every now and then I start craving a simple, classic, fantasy novel, the kind of fantasy where I don't have to worry about all of my favorite characters dying and is a relatively stress free read; this book is all of those things. In this series (this is the 2nd, there is also Exile's Honor and Take a Thief is the 3rd) Mercedes Lackey delivers a thought provoking story that wont leave me stressed and anxious but still draws me in. There's just something about her stories that make me think of rainy nights in front of the fire place. 

        Don't get me wrong, there are stressful/exciting moments in these books and people do die but there's always a happy ending. Every now and then we all need to be able to have a guaranteed happy ending. In these three books from her Valdemar, series we follow the story of Alberich who is a military general in Karse (Valdemar's closest enemy). All that Alberich knows about the land of Valdemar is what his leaders have told him, that Valdemar is full of heathens who converse with demon horses. But when a demon horse saves Alberich, he is forced to flee into Valdemar and start his life over. 

        Before Alberich has a chance to recover, he realizes that the demon horse was named Kantor and had chosen Alberich. While this was an honor in Valdemar, Alberich was a Karsite and was horrified by the whole idea of being a demon rider. It doesn't take long for him to see that everything is different when you have a horse like Kantor and war is a completely different game when your horse knows what you're thinking and exactly what you need.

        Parts of these books are incredibly cheesy, and some parts (not all) are fairly easy to figure out but they always leave me with a smile on my face. So if you're looking for a well written, easy book, give one of the Valdemar books a try you might get hooked.