In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can't carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale....
Elena Klovis was supposed...
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Aug 17, 2008
JG (The Introverted Reader)
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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
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Feb 13, 2008
Carolyn
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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 b 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 b More...
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Nov 09, 2010
Adrianna
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Read the review about "The Tradition," a concept from the book: A Fantastical Force
The Fairy Godmother was my first experience with author Mercedes Lackey, and I admit that I was a bit disappointed. In looking at the overall story, Lackey had many elements that fantasy and romance genre fans would really enjoy. However, the execution of her story left much lacking.
The world she creates for the Five Hundred Kingdoms series is extensively detailed. It's a place where More...
The Fairy Godmother was my first experience with author Mercedes Lackey, and I admit that I was a bit disappointed. In looking at the overall story, Lackey had many elements that fantasy and romance genre fans would really enjoy. However, the execution of her story left much lacking.
The world she creates for the Five Hundred Kingdoms series is extensively detailed. It's a place where More...
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Mar 13, 2011
Sherri
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Just finished re-reading this inaugural tale of the 500 Kingdoms, and I remember now what I like so much about the series.
I enjoy it when an author grabs a bunch of well-worn genre tropes, mixes them up, pours them on ice, adds a little umbrella and serves it on a hot day. That's what Lackey did with this book. It's not deep -- although you can see the fine, fine threads of a long tradition going back to the 18th and 19th century Gothic taies. The story itself is concerned with an More...
I enjoy it when an author grabs a bunch of well-worn genre tropes, mixes them up, pours them on ice, adds a little umbrella and serves it on a hot day. That's what Lackey did with this book. It's not deep -- although you can see the fine, fine threads of a long tradition going back to the 18th and 19th century Gothic taies. The story itself is concerned with an More...
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Aug 01, 2011
Jasmyn9
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The Five Hundred Kingdoms continually live the fairy tales. It is part of the magic that holds the realms together. Elena was destined to follow in the footsteps of Cinderella, but her prince was just a baby so the fairy tale went wrong. The magic of the realm built up around her until her kingdom's godmother takes her in as an apprentice. Her life is filled with directing the magic to make her realms a better place and keepp the evil ones away. Throughout it all she makes brave and very inventi
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Mar 31, 2011
Ana
rated it:
Fairy Godmother / 0-373-80245-5
I read this beginning novel of the Five Hundred Kingdoms because I thoroughly enjoyed book 5, "The Sleeping Beauty", and couldn't wait to read more about the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I enjoyed this novel as well, but it's interesting to see how Mercedes Lackey has grown as a writer in the intervening years.
Given that this is the first tale in the loosely-connected series, the backstory of the kingdoms is expounded upon more strongly here than in later book More...
I read this beginning novel of the Five Hundred Kingdoms because I thoroughly enjoyed book 5, "The Sleeping Beauty", and couldn't wait to read more about the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I enjoyed this novel as well, but it's interesting to see how Mercedes Lackey has grown as a writer in the intervening years.
Given that this is the first tale in the loosely-connected series, the backstory of the kingdoms is expounded upon more strongly here than in later book More...
Mar 28, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
I was a bit hesitant to start this story as I’m a romance reader at heart and a fantasy reader second. This was my first Lackey book and though it wasn’t great, I still have several that I’m anxious to read. There was a lot I liked about the storyline, particularly the snarky dry humor. Who wouldn’t give their right tit to be able to turn that ass of a boyfriend into a braying mule? I loved the interaction of the characters in Elena’s home, they were always good for a laugh and a bit of backstor
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Nov 05, 2010
Lydia
rated it:
This was my first Mercedes Lackey read ... and I loved it. I'm a big fan of fairy-tale retellings and when I saw the cover of this book and then read a little bit about it (just enough to know it was loosely based on Cinderella), I had to read it.
First of all, I'm a huge admirer when a fantasy writer gets a magic system down so well that it's explained in a way that makes colors explode in my imagination - and that's what Lackey did in The Fairy Godmother.
Spoilers Ahea More...
First of all, I'm a huge admirer when a fantasy writer gets a magic system down so well that it's explained in a way that makes colors explode in my imagination - and that's what Lackey did in The Fairy Godmother.
Spoilers Ahea More...
Sep 27, 2010
Harmonybites
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This just never hooked me. I'm something of a fan of Mercedes Lackey's books: I've read a majority of them, and she's a prolific author--certainly one of those, that when this first appeared, I reflexively went to give it a read. I particularly love her Valdemar books, which she's arguably best known for.
I think one of Lackey's greatest strengths is her world-building: she creates original and engaging magical realms, and this take on a fairy-tale land with the "Tradition" More...
I think one of Lackey's greatest strengths is her world-building: she creates original and engaging magical realms, and this take on a fairy-tale land with the "Tradition" More...
Sep 16, 2010
Jane
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 14, 2010
L. A.
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We have all heard the fairy tales where the Prince and Princess live happily ever after, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Princess and the Pea and Rapunzel. Then there are also the tales where children are stolen from their beds, with changelings left in their place, or the grandmother being eaten by the big bad wolf. What we do not hear about is the tradition. The tradition is the all-powerful force that makes things happen, time after time, keeping the fairy tales repeating themselves repeatedly.
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Apr 07, 2010
Michele
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Loved the book!
In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, life can become a fairytale. For those who know their fairytales, Elena's life is following in the Cinderella tradition; she has a mean step-mother and two step-sisters who all treat her as their unpaid servant. But there is one exception to the tale, her prince is a child. With the bills mounting, the step-mother departs town with her two daughters and leaves behind Elena to face the debtors. Elena decides that she only has one option More...
In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, life can become a fairytale. For those who know their fairytales, Elena's life is following in the Cinderella tradition; she has a mean step-mother and two step-sisters who all treat her as their unpaid servant. But there is one exception to the tale, her prince is a child. With the bills mounting, the step-mother departs town with her two daughters and leaves behind Elena to face the debtors. Elena decides that she only has one option More...
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Dec 25, 2011
Vivian
rated it:
Ever since I read Enchantment by Orson Scott Card, I've been on the lookout for other fairy tales told with a twist to them. And Mercedes Lackey definitely exceeded my expectations in this book.
First of all, I've had the pleasure of enjoying some of Lackey's other books, and it is a pleasant surprise to see the vastly different writing styles between her epic fantasy series and... well, this. Although, it is a change that is well-suited to this genre.
Going into it from just t More...
First of all, I've had the pleasure of enjoying some of Lackey's other books, and it is a pleasant surprise to see the vastly different writing styles between her epic fantasy series and... well, this. Although, it is a change that is well-suited to this genre.
Going into it from just t More...
Dec 13, 2010
Jeremy
rated it:
Finally I read the first in the sequence! Like the others, it's serviceable, the premise is a neat way to approach traditional fairy-tale tropes, and the characters are typically charming. I just have to go on one minor tangential rant...
Look, I am not going to accuse Mercedes Lackey, of all people, of homophobia. She's won a freaking Lambda Award, of all things. But the offhand remark about "the clear impropriety of [the princess] falling in love with a woman" only faile More...
Look, I am not going to accuse Mercedes Lackey, of all people, of homophobia. She's won a freaking Lambda Award, of all things. But the offhand remark about "the clear impropriety of [the princess] falling in love with a woman" only faile More...
Mar 29, 2011
Karen
rated it:
Imagine a world where everyone has the potential to be a character in a fairy tale. This is the world of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. This is the world where a force known as The Tradition tries to move people into paths that fit stories.... even if those stories will not have the resolution that is commonly associated with that story. Cinderella may not get out of her household because the prince is too young, too old, or not even a prince but a princess. These unsuccessful stories build up magic
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Dec 03, 2011
Lauryn
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I'm a fan of fairytale retellings. I had already read Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Master's series a few years ago which are all loosely based on fairy tales. I was surprised that she had done another series with a similar idea. And then I read "The Fairy Godmother" and realized that as much as it was a retelling, it was an untelling. What if it didn't work out for all Cinderellas? What about all of the princes who fail on their quests to find the sleeping princess? This seems to be the
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Aug 18, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
Elena grew up in one of the 500 Kingdoms, which are quite literally driven by Tradition, the magical force that surrounds the lands and tries to guide people along Traditional storylines to Traditional fates. Elena was to be a Cinderella, but since the local prince wasn’t old enough, she ended up apprenticing to her kingdom’s fairy godmother instead. And of course, that suited her far better anyway.
I’ve always liked Mercedes Lackey, though I find as I grow older that she works bette More...
I’ve always liked Mercedes Lackey, though I find as I grow older that she works bette More...
Nov 29, 2009
K
rated it:
As I have never really been a fan of fantasy, this was a risk for me; but when I found out the story incoporated aspects of fairy tales, I couldn't resist (I absolutely love fairy tales). The Fairy Godmother tells the story of Elena, or Ella Cinders, who is her kingdom's next Cinderella. When her prince turn out to be an 11 year old boy, Elena is given the opportunity to become a fairy godmother. Add to it a few princes who need a lesson (or two), as well as, magical creatures, and you have a
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Dec 26, 2010
Janus Vielle
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It’s my first time to read a book by Mercedes Lackey. It’s also my first to read an adult fantasy book. Probably because I found the excerpts of some strangely focused on…well, – to lightly put it – intimacy; which I prefer it to be seen somehow only in a chapter or two. I like fantasy books that engulf in twists in their plot rather than focused on that matter.
When I picked out “A Fairy Godmother”, I automatically expected a Cinderella story retold; I was even wondering why it seeme More...
When I picked out “A Fairy Godmother”, I automatically expected a Cinderella story retold; I was even wondering why it seeme More...
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Nov 12, 2010
Michelle
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Looking at the cover I thought this book was a Harlequin...not so. However, the writing is a bit flowery & wordy (an entire paragraph describing the lace on someone's dress is a bit much). It has a GREAT storyline idea though: "Ella Cinders" slaves over her stepmother & 2 stepsisters until they abandon her & an empty mansion just ahead of the creditors. A fairy godmother appears but by a twist of fate, she is not transformed into a princess w/ a glass slipper, but becomes the godmother
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Jan 30, 2012
Nicole
rated it:
Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors, and she always has been. I was drawn to the book by both my love of fantasy and fairy tales and my fondness for female protagonists.
There are a fair amount of cliches in the novel, but because the premise is based around Tradition, a force that seeks to push the characters down paths that mirror fairy tales and folk tales, the cliches make sense. Having the characters often seek to manipulate Tradition in order to thwart unpleasant endin More...
There are a fair amount of cliches in the novel, but because the premise is based around Tradition, a force that seeks to push the characters down paths that mirror fairy tales and folk tales, the cliches make sense. Having the characters often seek to manipulate Tradition in order to thwart unpleasant endin More...
Aug 25, 2010
Leigh
rated it:
I sure don't know why it took me this long to read a Mercedes Lackey book. But am I so glad that I discovered her. Now I have a wonderful new author to gloom.
I have read several authors' take on fairy tales, but Mercedes Lackey variation of Cinderella is my favorite. In the land of Five Hundred Kingdoms tradition (magical powers that attempts to re-create fairy tales.) Elena Klovis life resembles Cinderella's with the evil step mother and two step-sisters who work her to the bon More...
I have read several authors' take on fairy tales, but Mercedes Lackey variation of Cinderella is my favorite. In the land of Five Hundred Kingdoms tradition (magical powers that attempts to re-create fairy tales.) Elena Klovis life resembles Cinderella's with the evil step mother and two step-sisters who work her to the bon More...
Aug 20, 2011
Anne
rated it:
Elena is a fairy godmother-in-training. She drinks dragon’s blood (only once—yuck!), has a magic wand (basically for show), and learns how to fight The Tradition. The force in the five hundred kingdoms that insists upon replaying fairy tales over and over, no matter how many kings die, or princesses are locked in towers, or questers fail.
Alexander is one of those questers. The second son to be exact. In the story where there are three sons and the first two fail. But they don’t all f More...
Alexander is one of those questers. The second son to be exact. In the story where there are three sons and the first two fail. But they don’t all f More...
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Feb 24, 2009
Juliana
rated it:
This was reasonably entertaining, but Lackey inevitably uses certain cliches (poor abused child is rescued because she is special and gets to do magic stuff! omg oppression! character gets to have a nice and reasonably independent life, but will she ever get to have twu luv? etc). I did find the plot regarding the force of the Tradition shaping people's lives into fairytale archetypes entertaining-- it's not original, but it's an enjoyable concept for authors to play with. I've seen this done mo
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May 03, 2010
Kate
rated it:
This is a twist on Cinderalla. When her fairy Godmother comes too late, she is given the choice to live a normal magic free life or train to be an apprentice fairy godmother herself. She decides on the later. She helps princes on their quests, helps princess find their heroes, and so on, until she meets a prince that is so arrogant and unkind that she transforms into a donkey and takes him home to work on her farm. This is so outside the norm of any fairy tale that her actions start a rift i
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Dec 30, 2009
Shiyiya
rated it:
This series is pretty much ideal for my tastes - a world of blended fairy tales. I really, really love new takes on fairy tales. The romance aspect in this, while a bit cloying, is at least well done in that the lovers are compatible. And I very much like the world that is introduced, with the Tradition hovering over and steering everything, turning girls into Cinderella or Fair Rosalinda or Ladderlocks (Rapunzel, obviously). There was one passing reference to a story that I didn't recognize tha
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Mar 09, 2011
Ana
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Fairy Godmother / 0-373-80245-5
I read this beginning novel of the Five Hundred Kingdoms because I thoroughly enjoyed book 5, "The Sleeping Beauty", and couldn't wait to read more about the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I enjoyed this novel as well, but it's interesting to see how Mercedes Lackey has grown as a writer in the intervening years.
Given that this is the first tale in the loosely-connected series, the backstory of the kingdoms is expounded upon more strongly here than in later book More...
I read this beginning novel of the Five Hundred Kingdoms because I thoroughly enjoyed book 5, "The Sleeping Beauty", and couldn't wait to read more about the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I enjoyed this novel as well, but it's interesting to see how Mercedes Lackey has grown as a writer in the intervening years.
Given that this is the first tale in the loosely-connected series, the backstory of the kingdoms is expounded upon more strongly here than in later book More...
Dec 07, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
I am not a huge fantasy reader. However I REALLY like this series.
Book 1 of the 500 kingdoms series.
This book started with Elena, she was SUPPOSED to be her kingdoms "cinderella". Following with the Tradition, she had the evil stepmother, two stepsisters and was forced to cook and clean. However after the stepmother and her two daughters fled creditors, elena tried to hire herself out to locals for honest work. No one would hire her.
Enter the Fairy Godmother. More...
Book 1 of the 500 kingdoms series.
This book started with Elena, she was SUPPOSED to be her kingdoms "cinderella". Following with the Tradition, she had the evil stepmother, two stepsisters and was forced to cook and clean. However after the stepmother and her two daughters fled creditors, elena tried to hire herself out to locals for honest work. No one would hire her.
Enter the Fairy Godmother. More...
Jun 06, 2010
Jennifer
rated it:
I liked this book overall, but there were some jarring notes that bothered me. It was shaping up to be a decent twist on standard fairytale stories, and I was thinking this would be a good one to share with my daughter. But then the author threw in these sex scenes that didn't at all fit in with the rest of the story. These scenes weren't frequent, but they stopped the flow of the story whenever they appeared. It also made it so I can't pass the book along to my daughter. It was almost like they
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Jul 12, 2011
Shannon
rated it:
You never know what you are getting into when you start a thick book such as this one. Will it move fast? Will it’s chapters be long? For the most part the journey in the book was well paced. The chapters were long and I sometimes felt like I needed an extra break to stop but I love the twist in this tale of Cinderella.
Elena Klovis also know as Ella Cinders in her home town starts out as your almost typical Cinderella story but her prince does not show. Still left with her wicke More...
Elena Klovis also know as Ella Cinders in her home town starts out as your almost typical Cinderella story but her prince does not show. Still left with her wicke More...
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