Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar Universe books getting adapted for TV

The Last-Herald Mage and its sequels, which feature the first openly gay protagonist in epic fantasy, are coming to TV.

In the wake of the success of Game of Thrones, there have been a lot of big-name fantasy shows getting made, from The Witcher to The Wheel of Time to Shadow and Bone to The Lord of the Rings. And there are still more to come! Radar Pictures is teaming up with writers Kit Williamson and Brittany Cavallaro to adapt Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar Universe books.

Lackey has written 58 books set in the kingdom of Valdemar over the past three decades, starting with Arrows of the Queen in 1987. The new show will be based on The Last Herald Mage trilogy, which consists of Magic’s Pawn (1989), Magic’s Promise (1990) and Magic’s Price (1991). Here’s the official synopsis:

"Vanyel, the persecuted and abused son of a Valdemaran noble, finds acceptance at Haven when he is Chosen by the Companion Yfandes. Companions like Yfandes are magical horse-like beings with the power to bond with their Chosen and trigger the potential for psychic abilities—and magic.But Vanyel discovers other things about himself at Haven as well…. He discovers love in an unexpected place, and loses it, and nearly his own life. With Yfandes and his aunt, Herald Savil, he will travel to the home of the mysterious Hawkbrothers in search of healing and training and will grow from a troubled and heartbroken Trainee to become the most powerful Herald-Mage in the history of Valdemar—and the one hope for Valdemar against an implacable foe bent on eradicating magic from the Kingdom entirely."

Of note, Vanyal is openly gay, which was pretty bold for a book in 1989. And it had a big effect on Williamson at the time. “Vanyel in The Last Herald Mage series was one of the first gay characters I encountered, and as a recently out 16-year-old I can’t stress enough the impact that these books had on me,” he said in a statement. “The Valdemar series was far ahead of its time in the portrayal of LGBTQ characters, and Lackey’s writing afforded them a level of depth and complexity that is still very rare, especially in genre storytelling.”

Cavallaro, herself a New York Times bestselling author, is also passionate about the project. “Twenty years ago, Kit and I became friends at boarding school, and bonded over our love for Mercedes Lackey’s work, and we’re so excited to begin the process of bringing it to the screen,” she said.

As for Mercedes Lackey, she’s clearly pleased:

"I have hoped for decades that The Last Herald-Mage would be adapted for television. Now that Radar has optioned the trilogy, I am nearly breathless with excitement! I could not have chosen a better organization to take my work in hand, and Kit and Bri, the producers, absolutely know both their stuff and the material. I love the fact that this is going to be a longform series: episodic TV gives the story all the room it needs. I hope our fans will be as thrilled to see their favorite characters come to life as I am."

There’s a lot of fantasy TV battling for people’s attention these days, and each show is going to have to do something different to stand out. I confess that I hadn’t heard of the Valdemar series, but it does indeed sound like it was ahead of its time, so I’m curious to see how this turns out.

There’s no word yet on when or where the Valdemar Universe show (or The Last-Herald Mage, or whatever they end up calling it) may air.

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