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135th out of 926 books
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5,294 voters
The Snow Queen (Five Hundred Kingdoms #4)
Aleksia, Queen of the Northern Lights, is mysterious, beautiful and widely known to have a heart of ice. No one would seek her wisdom except as a last resort. But when she's falsely accused of unleashing evil on nearby villages, she realizes there's an impostor out there far more heartless than she could ever be.And when a young warrior following the Tradition disappears,...more
Hardcover, 331 pages
Published
June 1st 2008
by Luna Books
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Mercedes Lackey is very much my guilty pleasures, as I think I've mentioned before. Because of that, I'll read pretty much everything she rolls out with, even though lately I've been kind of disappointed.
The Five Hundred Kingdom books have been uneven. The first one, Fairy Godmother, was great. The second, One Good Knight, was bloody terrible, but the series has been improving again, with Fortune's Fool genuinely different and unique. This was another new twist on an old story, and the writing s...more
The Five Hundred Kingdom books have been uneven. The first one, Fairy Godmother, was great. The second, One Good Knight, was bloody terrible, but the series has been improving again, with Fortune's Fool genuinely different and unique. This was another new twist on an old story, and the writing s...more
I had seen lower ratings on this than on previous books in the series, so was a little worried that it wouldn't be as fun as the others were. I think I know where those were coming from, though. There's hardly any romance at all, and that was always a large part in the past. I believe it's a positive difference here, though. A romance honestly didn't fit anywhere, and Lackey didn't force the issue, so I respect her more for leaving it out.
Beyond that, this was a fantastic retelling of the Snow...more
Beyond that, this was a fantastic retelling of the Snow...more
I really enjoy Mercedes Lackey. She's one of my favorite authors, and I usually make it top priority to read her newest releases. Although I think this series is a bit too much...fluff, I really like how all the stories are built around fairy tales. Since the story of The Snow Queen is one of my favorites, I was anxious to read this new book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, but I feel that it fell short of my expectations.
I'm sure some people will argue with me, but I felt Lackey put too mu...more
I'm sure some people will argue with me, but I felt Lackey put too mu...more
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Another amusing romp in The Five Hundred Kingdoms, full of plucky & wry heroes and heroines. If I'd managed to wait to read it for summer, I'd say it was great beach reading. Nothing stressful or overly complex to track, just pure enjoyment!
I'm a HUGE fan of fantasy fluff and this completely fit the bill. I love books I can easily read, end happily ever after and leave you with that glowing, feel good happiness afterwards. Nothing deep, just lots of good fun.
I was so excited to find this latest book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey. She is one of my favorite authors and I like the series. This one takes place in the far north, where Aleksia, the Snow Queen, is the Godmother of a very large territory. The Godmothers deal with the Tradition, which tries to shape ordinary lives into stereotypical fairy tales, many of which have unhappy endings. They try to steer the Tradition into paths which have happier endings. In this book, Al...more
I was so excited to get this book from the library. Lackey's books of the Five Hundred Kingdoms twist the fairy stories in interesting ways. The Five Hundred Kingdoms are guided by the Tradition, the universal energy that guides people to live out traditional folk tales and fairy tales. The Fairy Godmothers are there to help people find happiness while not [exactly:] thwarting the Tradition.
This book had all the elements of a good Lackey tale with neat magical twists. The magic of the Sammi (Lap...more
This book had all the elements of a good Lackey tale with neat magical twists. The magic of the Sammi (Lap...more
For me, the Five Hundred Kingdoms series is the ‘cozy’ of fantasy books. This entry, like the rest, contains likable characters, has a generally interesting plot, and is just plain relaxing to read. But The Snow Queen is not the best of the bunch – I thought Lackey’s prose let her story down just a bit. There are an overabundance of double adjectives and adverbs. (I don’t recall this problem in the earlier books and hope I don’t meet with it again in the later ones.) For example, instead of simp...more
After struggling to get through the last book in this series (I didn't like Fortune's Fool very much), I was starting to lose faith in Mercedes Lackey's writing. This book, however, renewed my love for it.
Unlike the other book, which was filled with bland, uninteresting characters, this was filled with characters who are interesting, and relatively atypical. They're older than most typical characters in similar books, or others from this series, and not only that, their personalities aren't wha...more
Unlike the other book, which was filled with bland, uninteresting characters, this was filled with characters who are interesting, and relatively atypical. They're older than most typical characters in similar books, or others from this series, and not only that, their personalities aren't wha...more
I originally reviewed this book on my blog - The Cosy Dragon. For more recent reviews by me, please hop over there.
Aleksia is the Snow Queen, ruling and saving young boys from becoming Clockwork Artificers. Imagine her horror when she discovers that she has a duplicate - and her duplicate is actually putting spears of ice into young men to destroy them. Aleksia has to prove that she is true, while also trying to overcome her own isolation.
This book is considerably later in time since The Fairy G...more
Aleksia is the Snow Queen, ruling and saving young boys from becoming Clockwork Artificers. Imagine her horror when she discovers that she has a duplicate - and her duplicate is actually putting spears of ice into young men to destroy them. Aleksia has to prove that she is true, while also trying to overcome her own isolation.
This book is considerably later in time since The Fairy G...more
The Snow Queen is about Aleksia, one of the many godmothers in the five hundred kingdoms. She is unique because she lives in the north in the perpetual snow and is hard to access. Her duties are mainly those of straightening out youth that are going astray before they become evil. In the story, Aleksia is very busy, she is overseeing the reformation of Kay and his girlfriend Gerd and trying to figure out who is responsible for the reports of the Snow Queen gone wrong. Aleksia walks away from her...more
An incredibly bad book. The plot is total fantasy claptrap, which is to be expected. However, the book consistently tells instead of shows, with clumsy prose, nonexistent characterization, and a ridiculously pat ending.
Probably the worst part, though, was the abysmal pacing. You spend three pages on some stupid hunting description, and then take a sudden jump through crucial action in a few paragraphs? No. For the first half or 2/3 of the book, she just has too many little branches of plot, too...more
Probably the worst part, though, was the abysmal pacing. You spend three pages on some stupid hunting description, and then take a sudden jump through crucial action in a few paragraphs? No. For the first half or 2/3 of the book, she just has too many little branches of plot, too...more
I enjoyed the first three books in Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series, but this one could have done with a firmer editor.
While the set-up and character introduction were lovely, the pacing was markedly off. Not only did the plot not get moving until qiute literally halfway through the book, but all throughout Lackey would introduce obstacles for the characters... and then resolve them immediately. We're talking within-three-pages immediately. I don't ask for much narrative tension from my flu...more
While the set-up and character introduction were lovely, the pacing was markedly off. Not only did the plot not get moving until qiute literally halfway through the book, but all throughout Lackey would introduce obstacles for the characters... and then resolve them immediately. We're talking within-three-pages immediately. I don't ask for much narrative tension from my flu...more
Another nice book in the series but not the best. By jumping around to different fairy tale traditions, Lackey manages to keep things fresh and interesting. For some reason, it didn't feel as good as the others, perhaps due to mediocre editing. At one point the same thing happens before and after skipping to a different storyline. I really love the idea of the Tradition and how people are drawn into the roles of characters in fairytales, I thought that this title lacked some of the draw of the i...more
Another nice book in the series but not the best. By jumping around to different fairy tale traditions, Lackey manages to keep things fresh and interesting. For some reason, it didn't feel as good as the others, perhaps due to mediocre editing. At one point the same thing happens before and after skipping to a different storyline. I really love the idea of the Tradition and how people are drawn into the roles of characters in fairytales, I thought that this title lacked some of the draw of the i...more
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I like Mercedes Lackey's idea of the "tradition" forcing people to fit into fairy tale patterns. But this was not the best book of the series for character development. I didn't care about these characters as much as the others in the series. However, I am thrilled that this one didn't have the 4 or 5 pages that you have to skip because of inappropriate content that the other ones in th 500 kingdoms series have. All in all, I liked the book.
This was the 3rd Five Hundred Kingdoms book I read by Lackey, and I have to say it was just okay. I didn't expect it to be great--again, these books are total fluff. Lackey takes Scandinavian fairy tales this time and "fractures" them, as in her other books. The concept of fractured fairy tales is by no means new, and in fact, it's probably getting overused. I think, out of the three I've read so far, this was the poorest. Perhaps it's simply because I'm not familiar with the fairy tales themsel...more
Fourth in the Tales of the 500 Kingdoms. Aleksia is the Snow Queen and Fairy Godmother for the North. She specializes in giving arrogant young men their comeupance and guiding the Tradition into happy endings. But now someone has stolen her name and is blaming atrocities on her. Aleksia must muster the Tradition and find a way to reclaim her good name before someone hunts her down . . .
Mercedes Lackey's "Five Hundred Kingdoms" series present new viewpoints on classic fairy tales. In this case, "The Snow Queen" is based on the Hans Christian Andersen tale of the same name.
Godmother Alexsia reigns over the Palace of Ever-Winter and the lands of the north. She uses her mirror magic to watch over her region through reflective ice ... and thus finds out that another woman is using her title of Snow Queen and doing tremendous evil. So, Aleksia must leave the Palace and enter into an...more
Godmother Alexsia reigns over the Palace of Ever-Winter and the lands of the north. She uses her mirror magic to watch over her region through reflective ice ... and thus finds out that another woman is using her title of Snow Queen and doing tremendous evil. So, Aleksia must leave the Palace and enter into an...more
Kinda torn on this one.
It was good...but not. I'm starting to notice a pattern with the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and I don't know if this is just Lackey's particular style, or if it just happens in these particular books. Two words: Abrupt Ending. There's all this build-up to some (supposedly) spectacular showdown, and then its just...over.
Ta-da!
* balloon deflates *
So far, the build-up itself is good enough to keep me coming back for more of her stories, though.
The only other thing I want t...more
It was good...but not. I'm starting to notice a pattern with the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, and I don't know if this is just Lackey's particular style, or if it just happens in these particular books. Two words: Abrupt Ending. There's all this build-up to some (supposedly) spectacular showdown, and then its just...over.
Ta-da!
* balloon deflates *
So far, the build-up itself is good enough to keep me coming back for more of her stories, though.
The only other thing I want t...more
I liked this book until the ending. I was a little disappointed. I didn't like guy that Lackey made as the love interest for Aleksia. Aleksia was a complex character. She doesn't deserve the shallow guy that she is ultimately hooked up with. I can't for the life of me even remember the guys name, which shows how memorable he was. Anyway, I felt that quite honestly the book could have ended with out any hookup at all. It was like Lackey was trying to make it all neat, each male character finds a...more
The Snow Queen is the fourth in Mercedes Lackey's fantasy series about the story-behind-the-story of fairy tales. She has invented an impersonal magical force, The Tradition, that tries to force people and events into patterns that it recognizes--and that we recognize as classical fairy tales. Fairy Godmothers, Champions, and Wizards are responsible for ensuring that The Tradition is upheld with a minimal loss of life and with the happiest outcome. The twists and turns that Lackey introduces int...more
This was a strange read for me. The first three books in the series has a decidedly romantic bent, and focused on two main characters who fall in love and work together to fight some evil force. This one, however, had no such falling-in-love storyline. There was a woman trying to rescue her lover, but the falling-in-love part had already happened in the past.
I liked the story, but was disappointed about the lack of a romance. I probably would have felt this way even if this was the first one in...more
I liked the story, but was disappointed about the lack of a romance. I probably would have felt this way even if this was the first one in...more
Basically no romance at all, aside from a little implied at the end and the love between Veikko and Kaari. I don't know why I expect these to have romance in them, but there it is.
I wonder how old Annukka and Aleksia are? I thought Aleksia to be in her late 20s at the oldest, but Annukka says that she thinks the other woman to be about her age, which would have to be ~40 or so. Since she has a grown son (who might be as young as 15-16). I guess she could be as young as 30.
I was a little worrie...more
I wonder how old Annukka and Aleksia are? I thought Aleksia to be in her late 20s at the oldest, but Annukka says that she thinks the other woman to be about her age, which would have to be ~40 or so. Since she has a grown son (who might be as young as 15-16). I guess she could be as young as 30.
I was a little worrie...more
I piked up every book of the 500 Kingdoms available at the library for my summer reading. Not all the books were available but I made good inroads.
I remember reading the tale of the Snow Queen as a child but it wasn't one of my favorite stories. As a child of the (sub)tropics, I couldn't relate to the story. As an adult, I've moved further up north and have now seen snow. Relating is easier.
This book, in particular, describes the role of the fairy godmother in fairy tales. They kind of work the...more
I remember reading the tale of the Snow Queen as a child but it wasn't one of my favorite stories. As a child of the (sub)tropics, I couldn't relate to the story. As an adult, I've moved further up north and have now seen snow. Relating is easier.
This book, in particular, describes the role of the fairy godmother in fairy tales. They kind of work the...more
Another fun addition to the 500 Kingdoms series. This one takes place in the frigid Northlands, which was a neat change of pace from the more temperate locales in previous books. This book introduces a new Godmother, Aleksia, sometimes known as the Snow Queen. She's the Godmother for the vast northern territories, and The Tradition has her dwelling in a fabulous Ice Palace with all the trappings of winter. She does the usual Godmother stuff, helping children with wicked step-mothers, sending lov...more
In one of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms, Aleksia, the Snow Queen, is not leased to find out that she is being blamed for murders she had nothing to do with. Determined to find the imitation Snow Queen and clear her name she sets off on an adventure. Along the way she meets up with Anukka and Kaari, who are searching for Veikko, Anukka's son and Kaari's fiance, who has been kidnapped by the evil Snow Queen, and Veikko's teachers who help them in the search.
I really enjoyed the other Fiv...more
I really enjoyed the other Fiv...more
Some of Mercedes Lackey's books are a little more adult rated than others--and I'm never quite sure which they will be. This one was of the cleaner variety :-) and I really enjoyed the story. I'm a big fan of fantasy/fairy tale re-tellings, so that is probably why, but this was a fun book--and I've read it three times. I have to ask: What is up with Ms. Lackey's obsession with birds, and the viewpoint of a bird, including repetitive descriptions of how they hunt and eat other bird's innards? I f...more
While not quite as good as the first 500 kingdoms book, this story is nonetheless interesting because it borrows from less familiar traditions and incorporates some elements that are new and surprising. It relies on a bit of a deus ex machina to resolve the major conflict, and the end rambles a teensy bit and diffuses some of the tension that has built up over the course of the plot in a rather unsatisfying way. But, I've read it twice already and will probably read it again. The 500 kingdoms ar...more
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Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts &...more
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“(From the Author Note at the beginning of the book.) Dorothy L. Sayers used to say that mystery stories were the only moral fiction of the modern world--because in a mystery, you were guaranteed to see that the bad got punished, the good got rewarded and in the end all was made right.
I'd like to think that fantasy does the same thing. It reminds us that this is how it should be, and maybe if we all put our minds to it a little more, this is how it will be. The good will be rewarded. The bad will be punished. Sins will be forgiven.
And they will live happily ever after.”
—
4 people liked it
I'd like to think that fantasy does the same thing. It reminds us that this is how it should be, and maybe if we all put our minds to it a little more, this is how it will be. The good will be rewarded. The bad will be punished. Sins will be forgiven.
And they will live happily ever after.”
“Thought it has certainly taken you long enough to realize what should have truly been precious to you. Not your own self-importance, nor how clever you thought you were, but the affections of those who cared for you, and that you should have cared for in return. e become truly great only when we work for others as well as ourselves. By your own light, you can only illuminate a small part of the world, but when your light is reflected and shared, it is magnified.”
—
2 people liked it
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