The Last Herald-Mage trilogy was the set that I started with. I fell in love with this world that she has created. After that, it would be Brightly Burning. I highly recommend that one!

The Arrows of the Queen is her first official series of books she written, so her writing is not the best in those books. Over time her writing gets really, really, good. Many of the books that take place in Valdemar are the best books she has written. To anyone who has never read the any of these books I have to warn you that the companions are not animals. In most of the books that take place in Valdemar you will see the characters paired with companions that look like a horse, but they are not a horse at all. I think what I enjoyed the most about this world was finding out just what exactly a companion is and why the pairing is so important.

I started with “the last herald-mage” and that is my personal recommendation to start with. I love her Valdemar books but I don’t love the arrows of the queen as much as her other ones. I think that she was just learning how to write about Valdemar while writing the arrows trilogy.

So I own around 50 of her books, read about 13 of them, and am trying to collect several more of them so I can actually read some of what I own. I haven't been picking them up in order but as I find them.

I read the Last Herald Mage series. From that I can say she doesn't write the best action scenes, but the characters have a whole lotta depth.

I loved her Owlflight (sight? knight?) series. Highly recommend.

I owned, or had read, zero of Ms Lackey's books before seeing her answers on the Quora site. That wit and rapier skewering of nonsensical questions piqued my interest.

When it comes to the Valdemar series, one should definitely start from the Arrows trilogy and then can read most of the rest of the books in whichever order.

I started with her "Dragon Jousters" series. Recently started the "Black Gryphon" series. Enjoyed it so far.

I read the first 2 books of the Last Herald Mage series, back in the early '90's. Re-reading them now, planning to finish all 3, really enjoying it. Thinking I might read the Arrows of the Queen after that. Should be interesting!

Oh m gee, I LOVE HER! I need to get back reading her works. I need legitimately good writing and she does that with every book.

I recently got back into reading Mercedes Lackey. I read one of her books back in the 1990s which was gifted to me, and it was enjoyable, but the plot and ending felt predictable. Currently I am reading one of her books that has a Harry Potter feel to it, which is interesting to see how things are similar and yet different. (See The Collegium Chronicles to see what I am talking about with respect to similarities to HP.)

I think the Arrows trilogy is not her best of the Heralds of Valdemar books. Definitely try the Last Herald-Mage trilogy before deciding not to read any of the others. That set has so much character depth and growth. It was what started my love of Mercedes Lackey books after I had read the book(s) she co-wrote with Anne McCaffery.

Anyone who has read and fallen in love with Tamara Pierce I would highly recommend the Arrows Trilogy for the Velgarth novels. The trilogy has a few parallels with the Song of the Lioness Quartet and were some of her first books. I've mostly only read the stories about Valdemar, if you have no connection to Tamara Pierce Brightly Burning sets a good tone for the world of Velgarth. From there you could quite honestly move forward or backwards down the timeline. Something to consider is most of the Valdemar books are on Audible, but narration wise its hit or miss whether the story will be listenable.

I started with a couple of her stand alone books, like Take a thief and Exiles honor. But I have recently begun the last herald made trilogy and am loving it. I read the first book in less than two days