Here is everything that makes Misty Lackey one of the greatest writers of this era: plenty of action which actually advances a real plot AND contributes to character shaping and character reveals; tests of integrity, both accidental and ... not so accidental;  a central character with a genuine flaw, in this case Delia, who becomes multi-dimensional instead of being defined by her flaw; a story arc of unresolved tension that gets resolved; realistic depictions of home life, families, and caring for animals; creative problem-solving; imaginative, jaw-dropping magic; and wisdom.

Oh, yes, and anger. Lackey has been writing about the things that anger her since she started taking on all those invisible elephants in the room: sexual abuse of minors, religious prejudice, homophobia, emotional abuse, market-driven slavery, political leaders who start wars that other men's sons and daughters must fight -- and die in, etc., all these dangerous things that were being swept under carpets, hidden, ignored, or worse -- "justified".  She has danced with more bulls than any writer I can think of. This time the anger feels a bit more personal. Even so, that Loki-fire of anger is contained, in what Ada Palmer in her song "Hearthfire" called variously a "circle of stories and stone" and a "prison of caution and stone".

Baron Kordas Valdemar is leading refugees of the violently corrupt Empire, not to a pre-chosen haven, as originally Planned, but into the unknown: westward, where he dares to hope the next emperor will think twice about following the escapees, since westward is where the land is still ravaged by the deadly mage wars of the past. Every day is a balancing act between forethought and improvisation: preventing disasters that are foreseeable, responding quickly to the crises that were not foreseen. Starting out, and more importantly, continuing to behave as he wishes all future leaders and rulers of their eventual home to be: fair-minded, even-handed, solution-oriented.

Kordas and his wife Isla are at last able to live as a family with their sons. Isla's younger sister, Delia, joins the advance scouts, where her infatuation for Kordas is less consumptive and where she, like many young people before and after her, finds that having a genuine purpose and opportunities to develop actual skills is better than mooning over someone who doesn't love you in that way. 

The initial book of The Founding of Valdemar series, Beyond, concluded with Baron Valdemar finding a temporary refuge for the evacuees on the shores of Crescent Lake. However, the 15,000 refugees are far too great a strain on the local resources, and the community of villagers already established there are growing increasingly unhappy, so it is time to move on. But some families ask the villagers for permission to remain and become members of the community, and some folk decide to return to the Empire and take their chances, preferring the established comforts of civilization, with its risks of wars and slavery, to the muddy, cold, grueling, danger-laden road that Kordas and the mages are exploring. 

And the wilderness is VERY perilous.  The monsters are magical, and so are some of the ways our characters counter them, but the daily survival skills are mundane, realistic.  Lackey nearly always incorporates cutting edge technologies and ideas alongside of long established best practices in her stories. (What I want to know is, are those fungus-infused cloth cleaners real, and can I get some???)  The POV alternates from Kordas, his family, and the body of the refugees, to the advance scouts with their Gate magic responsibilities. The invaluable assistance of the Dolls, magical constructs of ensorcelled vrondi, are one of the vital factors that make the journey west possible, not a doomed, prolonged suicide. Kordas has given his word of honor that he will liberate the vrondi, so one of his responsibilities is weaning his people from dependency on the Dolls' abilities. That is a challenge-and-a-half, right there. Because he does the right thing with respect to the vrondi, help comes to him in very unlooked-for ways.

One of the best things about this trilogy, and this book in particular, is how well, how throughly, it accounts for so much of the eventual kingdom of Valdemar that some readers already know and love. Several of the "minor" characters are family name forebears of fan favorites. Peripheral details dovetail with Valdemaran canon and history. Moments of warmth and humor involving the Gold horses of Valdemar foreshadow the future Companions, including their ability of mindspeech, and the accompanying cats, I am guessing, presages the Karate Firecats.  Even why the advanced weapons technologies of the Empire do not become part of Valdemar's arsenal is accounted for.  This is a superbly crafted story of the series, well-written, and FUN to read. Truly, a book for all seasons.  ~~ Chris Wozney

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