beyond contains valdemar's first "fuck"

And finally, this work is also dedicated in furious disgust to ridding our world of the influence of everyone complicit in using the pandemic as a tool for their own power, profits, and political maneuvering. You pushed hateful agendas while the bodies were stacked up. We all lost people dear to our hearts because of you parasitic, heartless creatures. If you had souls, you'd be damned.

-from the dedication of Beyond, by Mercedes Lackey.

I think it's safe to say Mercedes Lackey is sick of this shit.

This summer, I started rereading the Valdemar books. This wasn't prompted by the recent announcement that a television series is being made; I was just one of many hit with Apollo's big rubber dodgeball of prophecy this year. I can't really say what brought on my impulse to revisit the series. Maybe the fact that I had just moved to a new country to start a new job inspired a need to latch onto something familiar.

I first started reading the Valdemar books as a young teenager. I came across a copy of The White Gryphon on a thrift store bookshelf and was immediately attracted by three things on the cover:

1. A lavishly-detailed painting of a gryphon,
2. A title in purple stamped foil,
3. A $2 price tag.

Needless to say, I was hooked.

( spoilers for the entire Valdemar series, including Beyond )