Honestly, I was very disappointed with this book. The characters were good and the setting interesting and vividly described, but the story was lacking. I found myself waiting almost the entire book for the story to start: nothing exciting, dangerous, even interesting happened the entire first half or more of the book. The primary antagonist of the book was a plague that we knew nothing of until the end, that no main character died of, and that was apparently fairly easily Healed. Only one character was in any immediate danger and none died. Now a book doesn't have to have danger and excitement to be good, but that has always been Lackey's style and is what she excels at. This book was boring and moved at the pace of a snail compared to Owlflight, the first book in the series. BIG disappointment. ( )

This, the second book in the saga, sees us back in Errold's Grove four years after Darian had met the hawkbrothers that saved his fellow villagers from the invading Northerners and he is no longer the uncertain teen but a self-assured young man who had come to terms with the magic he had not wanted. As well as Darian, we get to meet the sisters Keisha and Shandi Alderman, one of whom was the village healer while the other was destined to become a Herald while a new danger threatens from the North!

The characters are good and, while Darian is often too good to be true, Keisha, the apprentice healer is brilliant. ( )

Owlsight is definitely more solid than Owlflight - less drama, more interesting worldbuilding without the tedious flashback-driven backstory. We get a cameo by Kerowyn, and really awkwardly-placed references to the rest of the main Mage Storms characters, which is nice but clumsy, and otherwise it's just a fairly solid YA adventure.

My main gripe with this series is the bizarre-in-context patriarchal assumptions. In a country where there is no sexism at all in the ruling class, it's jarringly out-of-place to have a village where the women cook, clean, and gossip and the men run the place with no comment at all about how that's a little odd. Valdemar was set up from the beginning as an egalitarian society, and I really dislike that those principles seem to be ignored here in favor of a dreadfully stereotypical European rural village setup. It makes for better contrast with the Hawkbrothers, I suppose, but that contrast is never actually remarked upon, and I find it tooth-grindingly irritating. ( )

Like most of Lackey's middle books, this one is mostly setting up for the climax. We meet Keisha, the Healer of Errold's Grove, and catch up with a much more adult Darian. The new Vale, between Tayledras territory and Valdemar, gets set up - a little faster than intended, as reports of a new barbarian incursion coming down from the North come in. These barbarians, however, turn out to be quite different from the last lot, and (eventually) willing to make peace - partly because what's driving them is a disease, and Keisha and the other healers find out how to deal with it. The book ends on the treaty field, with a lot of loose ends lying about - see previous note about this book being a set-up for the next. Good but not great - a lot of interesting people and situations, and some old friends show up, but there's not a lot to the story. The best bits are largely side-issues - Darian's discussion with the local lord's heir about what battle's really like, for instance. Very rich. ( )

This is the second book in the Owl Mage series, that began with Owlflight, so you should read that first.

I generally like Lackey's Valdemar books, and if you're new to them I'd start with the first published, Arrows of the Queen. They almost all deal with Heralds, a police/military force bonded to and partnered with "Companions," magical creatures in horse guise.

Heralds don't factor much in this particular trilogy though, but the Tayledras, featured in other stories, do, and for me that more than makes up for that. The previous book centered on Darian, a Valdemarian adopted into a Tayledras clan who wishes to be a bridge to both peoples. This book introduces Keisha Alder, a young healer-in-training from his village. I found her an appealing character and the book a light, enjoyable read, even if I wouldn't name it among Lackey's best. ( )