A Tangled Web by Mercedes Lackey

A Tangled Web by Mercedes Lackey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This novella is sort of a sequel to Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty in her Five Hundred Kingdom series.

You don't really have to read that book to understand most of what is going on. If you know the legend of Hades and Persephone, it is the main plot...sort of.

The Five Hundred Kingdom books take myths, legends and fairy tales and turn them on their heads by mashing things together sometimes. This is called The Tradition which everyone has no choice but to follow.

Prince Leopold and his new wife Brunnhilde are in Ancient Greece on a honeymoon journey when Bru is abducted by a man with a black chariot leaving Leo rightfully pissed off. It is a case of mistaken identity because it isn't Hades doing the abducting but one of his fellow Gods of The Underworld to try and break "The Tradition".

Hades and Persephone have been seeing each other for a while even though Hades thought he was disguised as a shepherd, but Persephone is smart and knew it right away. She just walks to the realm of the dead on her own free will with Hades and they arrive to find Bru not happy about being taken from her husband.

Leo goes straight to the gods of Olympus and demands his wife back around the same time that Demeter, Persephone's mother, has found her missing and decides not to grow anymore food until she comes back. Being wise, Leo can't stand the thought of innocent people starving to death, so he tries to delegate a plan.

Persephone learns she can only stay if she eats any of the food in the Underworld, but nothing grows except asphodel flowers. Brunnhilde learns she can only go back to the living world if she passes a task set by Hades and that is to help Persephone grow fruit from a pomegranate tree and create life in the land of the dead.

Persephone in this almost twenty-one and Hades is portrayed as at least middle aged, so we don't have to worry about it being too weird, yet everyone knows Greek mythology is not exactly the PG version we got from watching Disney's Hercules. Both of the couples are completely in love with each other, and the men treat their lovers as equals despite both women being raised and sheltered by overbearing parents.

A Tangled Web is a quick read and a good start to jumping on the works of Mercedes Lackey for some drama and action and romance with a little bit of comedy. The Five Hundred Kingdom series is far more light-hearted than her Elemental Masters series yet far saucier.



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