This book's 19 stories focus on various life-changing events. These can range from being Chosen by a Companion, to passing tests posed by teachers, to starting off on new ventures, or even being called in from the field in order to train the next generation. Whether the story told is a one-off or part of a bigger miniseries, each story fits nicely, thematically speaking, alongside its brethren and the collection as a whole feels well knit together.
Passages starts off with Charlotte E. English's Roads Less Traveled. In it, young orphan Rosa is being Chosen by a Companion, but she feels she is unworthy of the privilege as her recent actions lead her to having to steal in order to have money to buy food. While her new Companion tries to convince her that she can change and move past this incident, Rosa will have to meet an unexpected traveller in order to move towards her new life.
The second story in this collection is A Ruler's Gift by Anthea Sharp. Here, Healer Tarek Strand is taking a break from his training to return home to Strand Keep because he has learned his father is ill. He finds his mother waiting by his father's bedside and his younger sister managing the estates. Tarek must convince his father, who refuses to acknowledge the Gifts, to allow him to help heal him. All the while, Tarek faces the hard choice of staying at Strand Keep to become the new Lord Strand or returning to the Collegium to continue his training as a Healer.
In Rising to the Occasion by Jennifer Brozek, Tressa is a baker's apprentice for Rise & Shine Bakery in Haven and she is learning a lot in the hopes of running her own bakery someday. When she learns that a fellow apprentice is behaving a little shady, she must decide between trusting her fellow trainee or exposing him. Little does she know, there are other events taking place that could shape Tressa's future. Either way, Tressa's life will soon be upended.
Elisabeth Waters continues to focus on the Animal Mindspeak Gift in A Nursery of Raccoons. Set soon after Seasons' "An Omniscience of Godwits," Maja and a group of Animal Mindspeakers from the Temple of Thenoth in Haven arrive at the estates of Lady Magdalena "Lena" Lindholm and her new husband who have set up a daughter temple on their estates. Maja starts to settle in at the new temple, trying to get it up and running, but quickly faces her first challenge when young Sven-August gets in a fight with another boy, Karl, over the reputation of one of their peers, a young woman named Stina. Maja's first task is to determine exactly what sparked the event and get to the root of the motivations of the various young novices.
In the fifth story in this collection, Kristin Schwengel touches on characters last seen in "Crows and Karsites" in Choices. In Tables Turned, Herald Rinton and Miri are returning from a visit to Miri's family in Karse after an alliance with the neighboring country was formalized. On the road back to Haven, Rinton and Linx, his Companion, suffer some kind of strong mental attack. Not only does Miri have to use her Mindhealing Gift to help the man who once rescued her, but she must also take charge in order to keep Rinton from over-exerting himself.
Passages also contains the next installment in Elizabeth A. Vaughan's Lady Cera Miniseries with Expected Consequences. Here, Lady Cera continues to help manage her estate when she receives an unexpected visitor in her late husband's father. While the heat of the season gives her a chance to take some time to compose herself before confronting her father-in-law, Cera must decide the best way to approach the man and tell him of the events that lead to his son's death and Cera's current situation.
Meanwhile, the story Burrowing Owl, Hidden No More by Dayle A. Dermatis follows a young woman named Kya who has been groomed to take over her family's estate. Unfortunately for her parents, a secret desire to learn artifacting causes Kya to run away from home and seek her future in Haven. Since she has no way to actually enroll in the classes at the Collegium, she decides to take a different approach. Young Kya decides to become a barmaid at the tavern that caters to the school's students and masters. Her plan is to learn what she can while staying hidden in the hopes of someday impressing a master and earning a sponsor. Her dreams seem to come to a sudden end one night when she is kidnapped and must find some way to survive and escape.
In The Dream Seeker by Paige L. Christie, we learn of Tieg, a young inn worker in a small town, who dreams of someday being Chosen. Her frequent daydreams haven't caused her too many troubles, but when she seriously suspects a patron of being more than he appears, no one listens to her. Tieg must team up with a local folk hero, at least in her eyes, to figure out what the best course of action is and hope she is right.
Louisa Swann's entry into this anthology is called Shadows and Reflections. Here, young Petril has recently returned from an adventure where he saved a horse and her young foal only to discover it once belonged to a Shin'a'in tribe. When a member of that tribe and a shaman offer a reward to Petril, the boy must make a choice. He learns that his empathy towards animals is only a small part of a Gift and the shaman can help uncage the rest of his ability, if Petril wishes, but there is a good chance that Petril chose to lock away his Gift for some forgotten reason and Petril must decide if he wants to continue being a "normal" boy or risk whatever happens if he has full access to his Gift.
The Sparrow and Cloudbrother Miniseries by Michele Lang also has a new addition in this book with Flying the Nest. In it, Herald Cloudbrother and Sparrow's 10 year old son is Chosen, and while that isn't too much of a surprise, the fact that Sparrow and Cloudbrother are summoned to Haven at the same time is. She can't help but feel that this time, when they leave their home in the Forest of Sorrows, they will not be returning. As Cloudbrother, Sparrow, young Thistle and the two companions head to Haven, Sparrow learns that the council isn't seeking Cloudbrother's help, but has actually summoned Sparrow herself. Their brief ride to Haven fills Sparrow with concern as she deals with sending her child off to become a Herald in his own right and worry over why the Council might want her and not her husband.
Brigid Collins also continues her own miniseries that follows the Herald Marli. In Snowbound, Marli is on her way to a small village ahead of a snow storm, but an encounter with a would-be bandit changes everyone's plans. Both the bandit and Marli end up at the bottom of a ravine when the snowstorm hits, and both are badly injured. The two must rely on each other to get through the storm and hope that Marli's Companion, Taren, will find help and return before it is too late.
The More Things Change, The More They Change More continues yet another long-running story, this time Fionna Patton's Watchmen Miniseries. This tale follows the youngest member of the Danns clan, Padric (or "Paddy"), as he gets started on his career in the Iron Street Watchmen. Paddy has planned out his entire career and sees a bright future in the family business, but he has a few hurdles to get over first. For one, his widowed mother seems to be showing an interest in a guy; too bad he is from another neighborhood. When Paddy goes to get a peek at the man who has his mother's attention, he runs into an old friend and also ends up meeting the man's own kids.
Passages's 13th story is also the collection's last addition to a miniseries. This time it's Stephanie D. Shaver's Bard Lelia story. In The Choice Makes the Chosen, we continue to follow Herald Wil as he works to reconcile his role as a Herald with the loss of his Gifts. Herald Talia, Queen Selenay's Own, talks to Wil about a brief time when she was without her own Gifts and that the Council had tasked a person with researching potions to cause such effects and their cures. Unfortunately, that woman went missing some time back and Talia charges Wil with finding her, or finding out what happened to her in the hopes of determining if she ever actually discovered a cure that could help Wil. The injured Herald will have to come to terms with his current shortcomings, but with the help of his Companion and some new friends, he might be on the road to recovery.
In Trial by Reflection by Terry O'Brien, we meet Shasta, a deaf apprentice mage on the cusp of her Journeyman Trial who is fretting over the coming tasks. When a friend of hers, Timiyon, asks Shasta to help the local guard investigate a strange incident, the pair follow a series of clues across the small town until they find themselves trapped in a magical prison. Shasta must rely on her abilities more than ever before if the two are going to survive the incident and take down those responsible.
In another tale of a struggling pupil, Theory and Practice by Angela Penrose follows Bruny, a young bard in training from a small village who is having a hard time learning a difficult piece on the harp. Her hopes are to impress the school's masters in order to get a solo spot in the upcoming recital. Despite her frequent and determined practices, she keeps stumbling over a piece of the music. Her roommate, Seladine, takes time out of her own work to help guide Bruny. In the end, Bruny will come to an unexpected realization about her music and take her budding career in a new direction.
Tools of the Trade by Phaedra Weldon is similar to The Choice Makes the Chosen in that it is another story about a Herald who must learn to deal with a loss that is a staple of being a Herald. On the eve of the anniversary of her Companion's death, Imra has decided to leave Haven and return to her hometown in the hopes of determining exactly what she should do with her life. When her horse throws a shoe between two middle-sized towns, she learns of a small village nestled just off the beaten path. While Imra no longer sees herself as a Herald, she still finds the troubles the town is having hard to turn away from. Before she can move on, she finds herself helping the locals, and in the process, she might even find some respite from her own grief.
Brenda Cooper's The Border Within takes a different approach than most in this collection. Where many focus on various coming-of-age stories, this one follows Herald Marjom and her Companion, Hannra, who have patrolled the Valdemar borders for decades. In her 46 years as a Herald, Marjom has rarely stayed in Haven, preferring instead to stay on Circuit where she feels she is really needed. Unfortunately, just when it seems a border war is about to kick up, Marjom and Hannra are called to Haven for some unknown reason. Needless to say, she is not happy. When she arrives at the capitol city, she is distressed to learn that she isn't expected to head back out almost immediately. Even worse, with the war building, she learns that many Haven-based Heralds are about to be sent out while she, and many other older Heralds, are tasked with staying in the city to supplement the teaching staff. Marjom must work through her feelings on the matter if she is going to do what is best for the kingdom of Valdemar.
Lackey's own entry into Passages is Temper and focuses on one of Lackey's major characters, Kerowyn. This story shows Kerowyn's induction into the Skybolts Mercenary Company. Given that some of her early adventures are already well known, the young warrior chooses to join the company under an assumed name, which means she won't be able to avoid the hazing that comes with being a new recruit. While Kerowyn is able to handle most of the inconveniences that this brings, one particular member of the Skybolts is seriously testing her temper. In Temper, we see how exactly she gets around this aggravation and how she becomes a full member of the group.
The final piece is The Hawkbrother's Ways and is written by Lackey's husband, Larry Dixon. Like one of his previous entries in the Valdemar Anthologies, this is another essay focusing on the Tayledras people. This particular piece talks about their burial rights and how the people view death.
Passages: Valdemar Anthologies - Book 14 is another great collection of stories that only helps to enrich the fantasy world surrounding Heralds and Companions. Each story is well-written and has their own flare, all the while sticking to the overall theme of the collection, which is interesting considering many of these stories are continuations of larger tales. Even if you've only dipped your toe into Lackey's Valdemar books, her anthologies are always a good way to get a feel for the world at large, and they can even act as an introduction to the massive library if you find the sheer number of Valdemar works daunting.
