The Fairy Godmother (Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 1)
by Mercedes Lackey
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to JG by:
Rachel
Elena Klovis is badly mistreated by her stepmother. She is forced to clean the house, cook the food, and dress her stepmother and her two stepsisters, while she herself dresses in rags and goes hungry. Sound familiar? That's because Elena is supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella. But her "Prince Charming" is completely wrong for her. So magic just keeps building and building around her. Finally, Elena's Fairy Godmother steps in with a most unusual offer. Elena's life is chang...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Becca by:
Cassierecommends it for: fantasy romance fans and fairy tale enthusiasts
So, I've had this book for a while, and have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I like Elena, and I like the world, and reading the climax is satisfying. I'm a fan of fairy tale meta, and the Tradition (the magic that gives Godmothers their power and tries to put everything into a neat little tale) makes an awesome antagonist/protagonist/thing -- it's easy to struggle against a force of magic that is supposed to be arbitrary and unconcerned with human morality. Also, if I had read the ...more
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Read in January, 2006
I read <a HREF="http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ... Fairy Godmother</a> by Mercedes Lackey. I've owned it for two months but I hadn't read it because I just wasn't sure about it. But I finished it today and, while it wasn't my favorite, I enjoyed it. It was a good solid book and worth a re-read.
The only co...more
The only co...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
o
My pre-review: I was recommended this book by the same girl who introduced me to Stardust and Spindle's End, two books I really enjoyed, although the horrible cover of this book turned me off from reading it for a while (and really, I can't imagine myself carrying it around anywhere...lol).
I do love fun fairytale books though, and have heard great things about Mercedes Lackley, so I'm excited to read it!
Final reciew:
Meh. I really liked the parts about Elena becoming a Godmother and ...more
I do love fun fairytale books though, and have heard great things about Mercedes Lackley, so I'm excited to read it!
Final reciew:
Meh. I really liked the parts about Elena becoming a Godmother and ...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
Fantasy Lovers
I have to say, this was a very enjoyable book to read. The concept is altogether intruging and unique, what with the whole Tradition thing going on. Of course, there was a little culture gap (the Book referred to the story of Rapunzel as "Lodderlocks" and drove me ballistic), but was altogether a good spin.
The downside of the story is that Lackey seems to wander off-track half the time; there are huge sections of the book that seriously DO NOT NEED TO BE IN THERE! The part where sh...more
The downside of the story is that Lackey seems to wander off-track half the time; there are huge sections of the book that seriously DO NOT NEED TO BE IN THERE! The part where sh...more
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Read in March, 2004
I can't say that I'm too heartbroken that Misty has decided to give her Valdemar series a break if she keeps writing books as fun as this one in the meantime. A tongue-in-cheek look at fairy tales, from the point of view of one who has to control said tales to keep them from going bad. The story is a bit two-dimensional at times but I didn't mind too much. It was fascinating reading about this whole other world that Lackey developed. This book is quite different from what she normally writes. It...more
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Read in February, 2008
I love, love, loved this book! This is my first Mercedes Lackey book and it most definitely won't be my last! If all - or even most - of her other books are as good as this one, I'll be a fan for life! I do think the synopsis is a bit misleading, it's not exactly how everything happened, especially since the prince doesn't enter the picture until halfway through the book. Maybe hardcore fantasy readers won't enjoy it as much as those who love both fantasy and romance, but I thought it was a ver...more
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Lackey provides a twist on your typical fairy tale with her genius creation of the "Tradition" which propels individuals towards roles that follow the "traditional" fairy tale stories, forcing characters to become heroes, villains, damsels in distress and the like almost against their will. Hence the necessity of the fairy godmother, whose job it is to manipulate events so their stories have happy endings rather than tragic ones. This particular novel follows the training and...more
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A fun look at fairy tales. In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, it might be your fate to be Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty, or the Miller's Youngest Son. But what happens if the rest of your story doesn't fall into place? If your prince is too young for you, or too old? It's up to the fairy godmother to make sure it all works out. . . .
This is a Luna book, they are a new fantasy imprint of Harlequin, so randomly halfway through the romance took a turn for the Whooo, BAAABY! and then the plot ...more
This is a Luna book, they are a new fantasy imprint of Harlequin, so randomly halfway through the romance took a turn for the Whooo, BAAABY! and then the plot ...more
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Read in January, 2005
Lackey is one of my favorite authors ever! I started reading her Valdemar series in 8th grade but I will still pull out her books to reread them. I also love her work so much that I never miss the chance to buy her new stuff. And here is a non-Valdemar novel!! Character building is still her main strength but it was great to have her branch out in another direction. This book was a lot of fun – fairytales with a twist!
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Read in July, 2008
A fun book that takes traditional fairy tales and turns them on their head. The characters, especially Elena, were interesting, and the concept was great. The writing itself could have been better, but it's not so bad as to put me off reading the book or suggesting it to others who like the genre.
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This is the first Mercedes Lackey book I've read, and now I definitely want to look into more of her work. I really enjoyed this, and found the whole concept of the Tradition interesting. I've read lots of fairy tale retellings, and this book is totally unique by comparison. Highly recommended.
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My favorite of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books. The rest feature heroines with more than the understandable amount of silly wimpy girlishness to be gotten over, and/or too easily resolved plots. But this is a nice twist on the fairy tale genre, and there's some nice upending of gender roles.
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Read in February, 2008
A fun fractured fairy tale. This is actually part of a line of romance novels geared towards fantasy readers, so there was some "romance" in the book that I found to be rather extraneous and shoved in. I really like the author's world-building though, and the characterization was great.
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Read in July, 2005
A fun book - Mercedes Lackey has a series of titles that are based on fairy tales. Her interpretation of them usually involves a strong female character, magic and humor. The only flaw is she usually has difficulty with the endings and they always seem to feel a little rushed.
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Love this book. Out of her fairy-tales series, this is easily my favorite. Some girls want to be Cinderella, but not our heroine, she ends up being the fairy godmother! Mercedes Lackey borrows from the classic stories and brings an interesting new twist to them.
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Most of the book is excellent, but unfortunately almost every book by this author that I have read has three or four pages in the middle that must be edited. After editing the book is suitable to young teens, but it is not really meant for a children's read.
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The idea for the story was cute--what if things don't go the way they're "supposed" to for Cinderella? She becomes a fairy godmother instead. Cute story but warning: there was an explicit sex scene I had to skip over. Kind of ruined it for me.
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Read in July, 2007
1st in series. In these books fairy tales are templates, "paths", that fate-like force "Tradition" tries to force events to fit. It's the job of the Godmothers to use magic and will to turn Tradition to their will and away from unhappy events.
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Read in January, 2006
Pretty good, just skip over the... uh... well, ya know, if that's not your thing. A very cool idea that twists your perceptions of typical fairy tales. One of a series called The Five Hundred Kingdoms.
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