Spy, Spy Again (Family Spies #3) by Mercedes Lackey : Review

In this third novel of the Family Spies series, set in the bestselling world of Valdemar, Heralds Mags and Amily’s youngest child must follow in his parents’ footsteps to protect both his family and the realm.

Thirteen year old Prince Kyril and Mags and Amily’s fourteen-year-old son Tory “share” the Gift of Farsight—although neither of them are Chosen. They are self-trained, though currently, their shared Gift only allows them to see what is happening with their immediate family members.

After much debate, the Herald’s Collegium has decided to test and train them anyway. That’s when the surprises start. They do not share a single Gift; they have two complementary Gifts working together in a way that the Heralds have never seen before. Tory is the Farseer—Kee’s Gift is to extend his range beyond a few dozen feet.

Their Gifts become crucial when Mags gets a desperate message from his cousin Bey, the head of the enigmatic assassin-tribe, the Sleepgivers. Bey’s eldest daughter has been kidnapped, but he doesn’t know why or by whom. He’s calling in the debt Mags owes him to find his daughter before it’s too late.

Tory is certain that if anyone can find her, he can. But that will mean traveling out of Valdemar into an unknown, dangerous country.

And it will mean taking a Royal Prince with him.

While I’ve been a huge fan of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books for almost 20 years now, I was a bit hesitant to start this book when I received my review copy in the mail a few weeks ago. I’m personally getting a little bit burnt out on the stories revolving around Mags or his family and the last book in the series kind of felt like two only slightly related stories forced into one book. I’m happy to be able to say though that Spy, Spy Again was a fun and exciting read that was a return to everything I love about the Valdemar books. I was honestly unable to stop reading once I had started and ended up finishing the book in a single sitting.

Spy, Spy Again follow Mags youngest son Tory and his friend Prince Kyril (Called Kee), who have two similar gifts that when used in conjunction allow them to Farsee people across vast distances, but oddly only people that they are related to. So when Mags receives a distress call from his cousin about his abducted daughter, Tory and Kee decide they are the only people who stand a chance of finding her and take it upon themselves to travel to the Sleepgivers lands and attempt to rescue her.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was learning more about the Sleepgivers and the lands that they come from. Spy, Spy Again really felt like a return to some of the earlier Valdemar books as we get to follow Tory and Kee around as they discover how their new gifts work and as they travel into unknown lands to meet strange and exotic peoples and animals. We also get some viewpoints from Tory’s cousin Sira which really gives us some interesting insights into the way of life of the Sleepgiver Nation. I feel like Spy, Spy Again really recaptured the awe and wonder I used to feel in the earlier Valdemar books in a great way.

While I think this is a book that anyone could enjoy, whether they’ve read any of the Valdemar books before, I would strongly recommend anyone interested in it read the previous two books in the Family Spies series at the very least. This book felt like a fantastic conclusion to the story of Mags family and I can’t wait to see where Mercedes Lackey takes us in the world of Valdemar next.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.