Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar Saga Reading-Order Flowchart

[Mike J Nagle]

Hello, again.

Here is another of the reading-order flowchart that I have created over the last four years or so. This one cover's Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar Saga.

There are a lot of shorter stories missing from this flowchart. Along with her novels, Lackey has also published over a dozen anthologies of shorter stories, each usually consisting of a single story by her (Lackey), along with around a dozen stories by other authors (fanfic). Most of the fanfic stories lack any positive indication about when, exactly, they occur—so I have no way of knowing where they belong on the flowchart. By my latest count, that means there are at least 132 stories that cannot be placed in the flowchart. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped.

Even with those stories' being left out, this flowchart still turned out to be a somewhat massive undertaking.

Of course, any comments, questions, corrections, or criticism is invited.

I hope you like it.

Mike

 

[BAYLOR]

ive read some of here science fiction short stories of which she very good at those but. have never read any of her fantasy.


Mike , again , your chart are magnificent . keep them coming !

 

[pokemama 1]

Mike, I wondered if you would be willing to post your flowchart on the Valdemar Wiki, or if you would let us post it? I found you while searching the web for other info for the Timeline, and your flowchart is elegant!! Please let us know.

 

[Elentarri]

Impressive!

BTW, you left out the new books:
The Founding of Valdemar
1) Beyond (published 2021)
2) Into the West (published sometime 2022)

​

 

[Mike J Nagle]

Mike, I wondered if you would be willing to post your flowchart on the Valdemar Wiki, or if you would let us post it? I found you while searching the web for other info for the Timeline, and your flowchart is elegant!! Please let us know.is elegant!! Please let us know.

Pokemama,

I'm sorry that I didn't get back to you earlier, but I didn't notice your reply until just now.

By all means, go ahead and post a copy of the flowchart in your wiki.

I have added the first two new novels in the "Founding of Valdemar" series to the flowchart. I added Beyond back in June, 2021 when I first learned it had come out. I also added Into the West today, although it is not scheduled to be published until September, 2022.

I store all of my reading-order flowcharts in my account at box.com. As I revise each flowchart, I replace it at box.com. The URL to download my Valdemar chart is:

Valdemar_Flowchart.jpg | Powered by Box

app.box.com

The latest version of the flowchart will always be available for download at that address in the future.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Mike J Nagle]

Impressive!

BTW, you left out the new books:
The Founding of Valdemar
1) Beyond (published 2021)
2) Into the West (published sometime 2022)

​

Elentarri,

Actually, I had already added Beyond to the flowchart last June, but I did not mention it here in SFF Chronicles. When I saw your reply yesterday, I added Into the West right away.

For what it's worth, I mentioned all that in the post immediately before this one, and listed the URL to download the latest version of the flowchart in the future.

Just for the heck of it, here is the latest version, embedded in this post.

I hope you like it.

Mike

 

[Elentarri]

Thank you!

 

[pokemama 1]

(tl;dr summary - I am eager to know if you found this data in the stories themselves)
Wow sorry for not checking back. I thought I had. We added a link to this thread on the wiki last year. https://valdemar.fandom.com/wiki/chronological_order_of_books:_expanded_edition

Um, just wondering, are you open to adjusting this thing? As a graphic it would be a p.i.t.a., so if you'd rather not, no worries.
My big question is did you maybe pick up some of the data from a well-known fan timeline? Or did you hammer these out from your own reading?.. I got in touch with the guy who wrote the notable timeline, hoping to get enlightenment on a few stories I could not place. Sadly, it turns out he had just been spinning theories with no basis, and then plopping them into the timeline. Starhaven is a personal peeve, I've re-read that story a million times looking for the date he assigned (372 AF.) That's so specific, I was sure it had to be real. but i found nothing in the story. :-( Same for Blood Ties, Winter Death, A Herald's Rescue, Song for Two Voices ... I was crushed. If you have data for these, I am excited to hear it so I can straighten out my stuff. There are only a few like that - most of what you have matches the current info. There are a couple I have tried to nail down. Herald Jors (starting with the Demon's Den) knows about the Kerowyn's Ride song ... but in a later story the Dean of the Collegium is not Elcarth or Teren. The red-haired twins series (starting with The Power of Three) actually has specific ages and details in 4 of the 6 stories, which was a nice surprise. (Redhaired Twins Miniseries lists the 6 stories in the series so far.)

Sorry, as you can see I'm a little overboard with verification, lol. I've peppered the Valdemar wiki with citations because .. well ... wikipedia discipline, lol.

I hope you can bear with me on this too-long post, lol. I will be checking back, but you are welcome to come over to the wiki and post.

 

[Mike J Nagle]

(tl;dr summary - I am eager to know if you found this data in the stories themselves)
Wow sorry for not checking back. I thought I had. We added a link to this thread on the wiki last year. https://valdemar.fandom.com/wiki/chronological_order_of_books:_expanded_edition

Um, just wondering, are you open to adjusting this thing? As a graphic it would be a p.i.t.a., so if you'd rather not, no worries.
My big question is did you maybe pick up some of the data from a well-known fan timeline? Or did you hammer these out from your own reading?.. I got in touch with the guy who wrote the notable timeline, hoping to get enlightenment on a few stories I could not place. Sadly, it turns out he had just been spinning theories with no basis, and then plopping them into the timeline. Starhaven is a personal peeve, I've re-read that story a million times looking for the date he assigned (372 AF.) That's so specific, I was sure it had to be real. but i found nothing in the story. :-( Same for Blood Ties, Winter Death, A Herald's Rescue, Song for Two Voices ... I was crushed. If you have data for these, I am excited to hear it so I can straighten out my stuff. There are only a few like that - most of what you have matches the current info. There are a couple I have tried to nail down. Herald Jors (starting with the Demon's Den) knows about the Kerowyn's Ride song ... but in a later story the Dean of the Collegium is not Elcarth or Teren. The red-haired twins series (starting with The Power of Three) actually has specific ages and details in 4 of the 6 stories, which was a nice surprise. (Redhaired Twins Miniseries lists the 6 stories in the series so far.)

Sorry, as you can see I'm a little overboard with verification, lol. I've peppered the Valdemar wiki with citations because .. well ... wikipedia discipline, lol.

I hope you can bear with me on this too-long post, lol. I will be checking back, but you are welcome to come over to the wiki and post.

Pokemama,

Please forgive my taking so long to respond to your question.

For what it's worth, the Valdemar Wiki was my primary source for dates within the Valdemar Saga. I simply used dates that I found in the Wiki for the flowchart.

Anyway, I am currently researching a companion chart detailing the stories in each "mini-series", since it was not possible to include all of them in the main chart. I am depending on the Wiki for the information needed to make the second chart accurate.

Honesty compels me to admit that I have not yet read most of the Valdemar stories, although I have certainly enjoyed reading the ones that I did read. However, in time, I expect to remedy that shortcoming...

Later,

Mike

 

[TeaRexReads]

Elentarri,

Actually, I had already added Beyond to the flowchart last June, but I did not mention it here in SFF Chronicles. When I saw your reply yesterday, I added Into the West right away.

For what it's worth, I mentioned all that in the post immediately before this one, and listed the URL to download the latest version of the flowchart in the future.

Just for the heck of it, here is the latest version, embedded in this post.

I hope you like it.

MikeView attachment 88826

I know you posted this ages ago, but I just wanted you to know that it has become my definitive Valdemar quick reference. I use it all the time, and I'm tempted to print it out so I can pencil in Kelvren's Saga. Great job with this!

 

[THX1138]

@TeaRexReads Welcome to Chrons!