Merecedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite fantasy authors, but I've been slightly disappointed with some of her recent novels. As mentioned in my previous review, I found Beauty and the Werewolf okay but slightly meh. And I just finished reading the latest book in her Valdemar universe, Redoubt, the fourth book in the Collegium Chronicles trilogy.

( Cut for slightly spoiler-ish discussion... )