The Collegium Chronicles

About The Collegium Chronicles

The Collegium Chronicles rewinds Valdemar's clock to its earliest days, generations before Talia's Arrows trilogy, to dramatize the founding of the Herald's Collegium itself — the training institution every later Herald in the series passes through. The story follows Mags, a former mine slave rescued and Chosen by the Companion Dallen, as he's brought to the newly-established Collegium and, despite deep trauma and suspicion of authority, is drawn into service as one of Valdemar's first spies, working directly for King Valdemar's own herald-founders to root out threats to the fledgling kingdom.

Across five books — Foundation, Intrigues, Changes, Redoubt, and Bastion — Lackey builds out Valdemar's origin story in detail for the first time, showing readers the institution, personalities, and political stakes that every other sub-series takes for granted, while following Mags's own arc from traumatized outsider to trusted Herald and spymaster-in-training. The series set up two direct sequels, the Herald Spy trilogy and the Family Spies trilogy, both continuing Mags's story into adulthood.

How to read this series

Read in publication order: Foundation (2008), Intrigues (2010), Changes (2011), Redoubt (2012), Bastion (2013). Because it's set at the very founding of Valdemar's Collegium, this series works well as a starting point for new readers with no prior Valdemar knowledge — arguably better than the original Arrows trilogy for readers who want the earliest chronological entry point — though it was written and published decades after the original books. It leads directly into the Herald Spy trilogy (Closer to Home and its sequels), which continues Mags's story and should be read immediately after finishing Bastion.