The Last Herald-Mage trilogy (1989–1990) by Mercedes Lackey
The Door Into Fire (1979) by Diane Duane
Voting ended onNov 22, 2025
Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:
The Last Herald-Mage trilogy (Magic's Pawn, Magic's Promise, Magic's Price) (1989–1990) by Mercedes Lackey
Endorsement from submitter: "The first of Lackey's ground-breaking fantasy series featuring gay Herald-Mage Vanyel, the most melodramatic queer teenager in YA fantasy."
Mage-Craft—
Though Vanyel has been born with near-legendary abilities to work both Herald and Mage magic, he wants no part of such things. Nor does he seek a warrior's path, wishing instead to become a Bard. Yet such talent as his if left untrained may prove a menace not only to Vanyel but to others as well. So he is sent to be fostered with his aunt, Savil, one of the famed Herald-Mages of Valdemar.
But, strong-willed and self-centered, Vanyel is a challenge which even Savil can not master alone. For soon he will become the focus of frightening forces, lending his raw magic to a spell that unleashes terrifying wyr-hunters on the land. And by the time Savil seeks the assistance of a Shin'a'in Adept, Vanyel's wild talent may have already grown beyond anyone's ability to contain, placing Vanyel, Savil, and Valdemar itself in desperate peril…
Fantasy, secondary world, series, young adult
The Door Into Fire (1979) by Diane Duane (The Tale of the Five series)
Herewiss, Prince of the Brightwood, is the only man in centuries to possess the Power of the Flame, but he cannot use or control it, not even to help his dearest friend, Freelorn, the exiled Prince of Arlen. But Herewiss does have a talent for sorcery, and, aided by the enigmatic creature Sunspark, he is able to rout the armies besieging Freelorn.
Now Herewiss faces a devastating choice. With or without the Power, he knows his time is running out. Shall he join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or shall he seek out the ancient castle where doors lead to other worlds, worlds Sunspark has hinted at, perhaps even the door that would teach him to control the Power…
“Vanyel reached out, hesitantly, to touch that smooth cheek—almost believing, even now, that he had only to touch him to awaken him.
But the cheek was cold, as cold as the marble of the altar, and the eyes did not flutter open at his touch. This was no child’s tale, where the sleeping one would wake again at the magic touch of the one who loved him.”
Mercedes Lackey, Magic's Pawn (The Last Herald-Mage, Book 1)
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner vs Magic's Pawn by Mercedes Lackey
The Thief
Magic's Pawn
Voting ended onNov 16, 2025
Propaganda under the cut!
New propaganda will be added and reblogged, and will follow the winning entry into the next round. Positive propaganda only, please.
Preliminary rounds are open for one week.
The Thief:
Anon says, "while Queen of Attolia is more known for whump, the first of the Queen's Thief books has dangerous architecture, stabbings, imprisonment, angst, mind games, brushes with death, fights...all sorts of goodness. Really, really fun plot, too."
Magic's Pawn:
@alipeeps said: "This book - and the rest of the trilogy - were foundational in my development as a confirmed whumper in my teens. It is beautifully written with an engaging storyline and characters, the worldbuilding is amaaazing (people with magical powers forming a psychic bond with magical horses who Choose to be their bonded partner) the main character (and others) is/are gay and this is written sympathetically (and this was written back in the 80s so that wasn't common!) and it is just SOOOO whumpy! All 3 books are, but the first in particular.
There are multiple instances of whump AND also of angst, but the biggest is a traumatic event where the energy from a spell backlashes and rips open Vanyel's (the main character) dormant magic abilities. It nearly kills him and he takes a long time to heal (and to grieve as his lover died in the same catastrophe) and also… it leaves him particularly sensitive to that type of magical spell, where if anyone uses it in his vicinity it causes him tremendous pain (often causing him to blackout). He cannot control his new STRONG magic abilities (the channels burned wide open by the backlash from the spell) and his condition makes him a danger to others around him (plus one of his new magic abilities is hearing others' thoughts and he can't control or shield it yet and he hears people thinking he is to blame for his lover's death and attempts suicide). It is a whole glorious whumpfest!! And also, crucially, there is lots and lots of comfort and people who love Vanyel being terribly worried about him.
Vanyel is a teenager (at the start of the story) who is abused and rejected by his family, who goes on to find acceptance and love… but then loses that love traumatically. Who gains special abilities at the cost of his lover and his health and has to deal with issues of self-worth and learning to control dangerous new powers… all against the background of a growing threat to his nation which he is one of the few people able to fight back against. I have read this book SO many times since I was a teenager and it remains one of my favourite ever book series.
Here's a (somewhat condensed) excerpt from the aftermath of the traumatic event that burned open his magic channels (Savil is Vanyel's aunt and his teacher/mentor at the Heralds College):
The peaceful night rocked; Vanyel convulsed, wailing-
His cry sounded like something in its death agonies, and made Savil's hair stand on end.
The room trembled; literally. The walls shook as Vanyel's muscles spasmed.
His eyes were wide open but saw nothing, and his pupils dilated with fear. He convulsed again and the very foundation of the Palace rocked.
The bed shook as if it were alive […] and Savil was tossed from his bedside to the floor before she realised it.
She picked herself up off the floor beside his bed without thinking about safety or bruises, and flung herself at him again.
He thrashed beneath her, fighting her with a paranormal strength; he couldn't know where he was or who she was. All she could read from him was terrible agony- and beneath the pain, confusion, panic, entrapment. She caught his wrists and tried to pinion them against the pillows; then tried to pin him down with the blankets. His chest arched against hers, he screamed, and the walls shook again.
Jaysen was coming on the run; Savil could Feel him reaching out to find out what the hell was going on, and Felt the panic in his mind when he realised they had a powerful Gifted trapped in a pain-loop and hallucination. He all but broke down the door, trying to get in, and threw himself into the affray without a second thought.
"Shield him, dammit!" he shouted, throwing himself across Vanyel's legs, as the walls shook.
"I'm trying," she snapped back, giving up on the uneven struggle to pin Vanyel down, and settling for securing his arms. "He breaks them as fast as I get them up!"
Jaysen succeeded in getting Vanyel physically restrained where she, being lighter, had failed. He added his strength to Savil's and Donni's on the crumbling shields they were trying to get on the boy. But it wasn't even stalemate; they were losing him to his own nightmares.
Andrel appeared. Savil didn't even see or Sense him run in; he was just there all in an instant. But instead of flinging himself into the melee, he grabbed their arms and pulled both of them off the boy.
Then he reached down for something at his feet, and came up with a bucket of icy water. He doused the boy, bed and all, without a heartbeat of hesitation.
The convulsions stopped as Vanyel came abruptly awake.
He sat up - stared - and then he suddenly went limp.
The room stopped shaking.
i'm reading magic's pawn by mercedes lackey. i think it's great that getting a bf is the least of vanyel's worries. he realized he was gay & instantly a beautiful blond boy revealed a tenderness of affection for him. i'm frightened of what the actual conflict may now turn out to be
