Beyond by Mercedes Lackey

Before the Arrows of the Queen and the magical companions, there was simply a small Duchy on the edge of sprawling and tyrannical empire. Tantalisingly close to breaking free from the Empire, Duke Kortas Valdemar is summoned to the imperial court. Victory means freedom, but defeat will mean the destruction of everything.

I've read Mercedes Lackey's books for what must be close to a couple of decades. They are always a comfortable read, her writing style familiar and comforting. While Beyond is all of these things, with plenty of details pointing forward to my beloved Valdemar books, there's an awful lot of back and forth discussion and it ends on a bit of an anticlimax. It also felt really quite short.

This will suit long-time readers like myself, but I'm not dying for the next one and I don't know how much appeal it would hold for those unfamiliar with Lackey's Velgarth books.

Beyond is available in ebook or hard copy.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley; all opinions are my own.