Magic's Price

Name: Magic's Price
Author: Mercedes Lackey
ISBN: 0-88677-426-8

core novel 1990 Valdemar

Record

First published	1990
Original language	EN
Work type	novel
Canon status	core
Reader rating	4.26 (22,975 ratings, collected 2026-09-12)
First-edition ISBN	0-88677-426-8
First-edition date	1990-07

Synopsis

The concluding volume of the Last Herald-Mage trilogy continues the story of Vanyel, whose growing mastery of magic has made him one of the most powerful Herald-Mages Valdemar has ever produced, at a considerable personal cost. As the kingdom faces a renewed magical threat that other Heralds are unable to contain, Vanyel is called on once again to use his formidable and increasingly dangerous Gifts in its defense, drawing on the hard lessons of loss and responsibility that have shaped him since his youth. Supported by his Companion Yfandes and by the bonds he has built at Haven, Vanyel must weigh the demands the kingdom places on him against the toll his power continues to exact, as the trilogy moves toward the resolution of both his personal journey and Valdemar's struggle against the danger threatening it.

Where it sits

Universe: Valdemar
Series: The Last Herald-Mage core; position 3 of 3 in the series' recorded order
Author: Mercedes Lackey

Awards (verified)

Lambda Literary Award (Science Fiction/Fantasy), 1990: won; Tied win.

Notes

Sources split 1990/1991; most bibliographic listings give 1990.
From the series record (The Last Herald-Mage): Internally set ~600 years before the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy (Valdemar Wiki timeline).

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.

Publication order, within the series The Last Herald-Mage: position 3 of 3: previous Magic's Promise (1990)

Sources

← Valdemar dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.