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Five Hundred Kingdoms #2
One Good Knight
Return to the Five Hundred Kingdoms, where a damsel can rescue herself, thank you…
Princess Andromeda knows that any problem can be solved with a bit of research. So when a dragon storms the kingdom of Acadia, she decides it’s time to hit the books. Despite all her research, the only acceptable answer she can find is sacrificing a fair maiden—for Acadia is governed by “Tradition,” a rule that cannot so easily be sundered. Then she is picked as the sacrifice and must take matters into her own hands.
With the help of her champion, Sir George, Andromeda sets out in search of the dragon’s lair, wanting nothing more than to change her fate. But to do so will take the strongest of wills, knowledge, quick wits and a refusal to give up, no matter what happens along the way…
Previously Published.
Read the Tale of Five Hundred Kingdoms Series by Mercedes
Book 1: The Fairy Godmother
Book 2: One Good Knight
Book 3: Fortune’s Fool
Book 4: The Snow Queen
Book 5: The Sleeping Beauty
Book 6: Beauty and the Werewolf
Princess Andromeda knows that any problem can be solved with a bit of research. So when a dragon storms the kingdom of Acadia, she decides it’s time to hit the books. Despite all her research, the only acceptable answer she can find is sacrificing a fair maiden—for Acadia is governed by “Tradition,” a rule that cannot so easily be sundered. Then she is picked as the sacrifice and must take matters into her own hands.
With the help of her champion, Sir George, Andromeda sets out in search of the dragon’s lair, wanting nothing more than to change her fate. But to do so will take the strongest of wills, knowledge, quick wits and a refusal to give up, no matter what happens along the way…
Previously Published.
Read the Tale of Five Hundred Kingdoms Series by Mercedes
Book 1: The Fairy Godmother
Book 2: One Good Knight
Book 3: Fortune’s Fool
Book 4: The Snow Queen
Book 5: The Sleeping Beauty
Book 6: Beauty and the Werewolf
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2006
162 people are currently reading
4025 people want to read
About the author
Mercedes Lackey
441 books9,527 followersMercedes 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 & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music.
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
"I'm a storyteller; that's what I see as 'my job'. My stories come out of my characters; how those characters would react to the given situation. Maybe that's why I get letters from readers as young as thirteen and as old as sixty-odd. One of the reasons I write song lyrics is because I see songs as a kind of 'story pill' -- they reduce a story to the barest essentials or encapsulate a particular crucial moment in time. I frequently will write a lyric when I am attempting to get to the heart of a crucial scene; I find that when I have done so, the scene has become absolutely clear in my mind, and I can write exactly what I wanted to say. Another reason is because of the kind of novels I am writing: that is, fantasy, set in an other-world semi-medieval atmosphere. Music is very important to medieval peoples; bards are the chief newsbringers. When I write the 'folk music' of these peoples, I am enriching my whole world, whether I actually use the song in the text or not.
"I began writing out of boredom; I continue out of addiction. I can't 'not' write, and as a result I have no social life! I began writing fantasy because I love it, but I try to construct my fantasy worlds with all the care of a 'high-tech' science fiction writer. I apply the principle of TANSTAAFL ['There ain't no such thing as free lunch', credited to Robert Heinlein) to magic, for instance; in my worlds, magic is paid for, and the cost to the magician is frequently a high one. I try to keep my world as solid and real as possible; people deal with stubborn pumps, bugs in the porridge, and love-lives that refuse to become untangled, right along with invading armies and evil magicians. And I try to make all of my characters, even the 'evil magicians,' something more than flat stereotypes. Even evil magicians get up in the night and look for cookies, sometimes.
"I suppose that in everything I write I try to expound the creed I gave my character Diana Tregarde in Burning Water:
"There's no such thing as 'one, true way'; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good -- they're the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren't willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race."
Also writes as Misty Lackey
Author's website
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 524 reviews
April 14, 2007
I keep reading Lackey's new books because of some misguided sense of author loyalty. I realized a while back that I'd fallen out of love with her writing. Her characters are too one-dimensional, her plotting is cliched and at times forced, the endings are rushed, and her main characters all appear to be variations on the same theme. However, I had enjoyed The Fairy Godmother because it was fresh and original. I was therefore looking forward to this one. It was a let down. All of Lackey's faults were highlighted in this book. Plus, the obligatory romance story (it is a Luna book, after all) was thrown in as an afterthought and never fully developed. I'm not sure if this author is worth the aggravation any more. I still love some her older books and often read them for comfort, but I doubt I'll be buying anymore of her stuff. If I have to, I'll borrow from a library.
May 21, 2012
3.5 stars
This was not my favorite book of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, but it wasn't my least favorite, either.
The blurb made me think that One Good Knight started out with a dragon chomping on virgins, but in actuality it takes a while to get to that part of the story. There is more going on in this kingdom than meets the eye, as Andie discovers. The twist as the end of the book was cute, unfortunately I already knew about it. I can't remember where I saw the spoiler, but I'm sure it was my own fault for finding out. I've really got to stop doing that. I think if I hadn't known what was going to happen in advance, I might have found it more entertaining.
As with most of Lackey's books, the romance is not very in-depth. Yes, characters fall in love, but it isn't the driving force of the plot. So what you're left with is a lighthearted fairytale/fantasy that moves at a decent pace, and has fairly likable characters.
Recommended for fans of Lackey and fantasy-lite.
This was not my favorite book of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, but it wasn't my least favorite, either.
The blurb made me think that One Good Knight started out with a dragon chomping on virgins, but in actuality it takes a while to get to that part of the story. There is more going on in this kingdom than meets the eye, as Andie discovers. The twist as the end of the book was cute, unfortunately I already knew about it. I can't remember where I saw the spoiler, but I'm sure it was my own fault for finding out. I've really got to stop doing that. I think if I hadn't known what was going to happen in advance, I might have found it more entertaining.
As with most of Lackey's books, the romance is not very in-depth. Yes, characters fall in love, but it isn't the driving force of the plot. So what you're left with is a lighthearted fairytale/fantasy that moves at a decent pace, and has fairly likable characters.
Recommended for fans of Lackey and fantasy-lite.
June 20, 2007
One Good Knight takes place in the Five Hundred Kingdoms world established by The Fairy Godmother. Lackey writes an engaging retelling of the Andromeda sacrifice. Andie, our main character, is a pretty standard Lackey heroine: Spunky, smart, overlooked in intelligence & beauty and yet loved by her commoner friends. Oh yah, and has a mother who secretly hates her and has a dark secret.
At the same time, I don't mind the cliches as much as I would otherwise as Lackey has established that she's playing a sandbox where cliche & Tradition is a living force, so all of that makes sense. I liked the mystery set up and I liked some of the side digressions. I was interested in how Lackey handled the Champion coming to Andie's aid without becoming her One True Love. However, it meant that Andie's romance wasn't introduced until page 260 or so of a 450 page book. And the romance wasn't even apparent until more like page 320. I don't have a problem with that per se, except that this was a LUNA book and supposed to have romance as a backbone. As it was, it felt like something more likely to be published as fantasy with the romance tacked on. Additionally, we didn't get a huge amount of lead up for this to have really worked for me in detail. Almost none of the POV from the lover, and yet we had Andie's POV and that of the villians.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Lackey's Fairy Godmother (and Elena does make an appearance here) or to people who enjoy reworking and retelling of fairy tales. But it isn't Lackey's strongest offering and the romance is lacking for anyone seeking that.
Though the digression on having democracy in a small midevil kingdom was hilarious.
At the same time, I don't mind the cliches as much as I would otherwise as Lackey has established that she's playing a sandbox where cliche & Tradition is a living force, so all of that makes sense. I liked the mystery set up and I liked some of the side digressions. I was interested in how Lackey handled the Champion coming to Andie's aid without becoming her One True Love. However, it meant that Andie's romance wasn't introduced until page 260 or so of a 450 page book. And the romance wasn't even apparent until more like page 320. I don't have a problem with that per se, except that this was a LUNA book and supposed to have romance as a backbone. As it was, it felt like something more likely to be published as fantasy with the romance tacked on. Additionally, we didn't get a huge amount of lead up for this to have really worked for me in detail. Almost none of the POV from the lover, and yet we had Andie's POV and that of the villians.
I'd still recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Lackey's Fairy Godmother (and Elena does make an appearance here) or to people who enjoy reworking and retelling of fairy tales. But it isn't Lackey's strongest offering and the romance is lacking for anyone seeking that.
Though the digression on having democracy in a small midevil kingdom was hilarious.
January 12, 2018
The first half of this book was pretty good, but boy did it go downhill very abruptly.
Suddenly, the story is riddled with plot holes, instalove, and the same things getting really over explained.
The thing that bothered me the most was this: the main character meets a guy who is all “don’t fall in love with me!” But she blatantly admits (in internal dialogue) that she’s falling in love with him. He turns out to be a girl in disguise, and the fact that the main character was attracted to her when she thought she was a boy is never talked about again.
As soon as the guy is discovered to be a girl in disguise, I thought there would be an awesome f/f romance. But no. The girls both fall in love with dragons instead, when they pretty much had no chemistry, and it all felt very forced.
Overall, this book got off to a great start but the 2nd half made no damned sense at all.
Since I normally really like her books, I was pretty disappointed.
Suddenly, the story is riddled with plot holes, instalove, and the same things getting really over explained.
The thing that bothered me the most was this: the main character meets a guy who is all “don’t fall in love with me!” But she blatantly admits (in internal dialogue) that she’s falling in love with him. He turns out to be a girl in disguise, and the fact that the main character was attracted to her when she thought she was a boy is never talked about again.
As soon as the guy is discovered to be a girl in disguise, I thought there would be an awesome f/f romance. But no. The girls both fall in love with dragons instead, when they pretty much had no chemistry, and it all felt very forced.
Overall, this book got off to a great start but the 2nd half made no damned sense at all.
Since I normally really like her books, I was pretty disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2024
Another fun entry in a highly entertaining, fairytale-retelling, sword-and-sorcery series
Princess Andromeda (Andie) is 19, bored, and desperately in need of some sort of mission that would allow her to feel useful. Her mother is an all-powerful queen in the small, seaside kingdom of Acadia, but she has so far refused to stop treating Andie as if she is a child. She actually still has a governess. Andie's greatest joy in life is doing research in the huge library in the royal castle. She decides to take her fate into her own hands by creating some informative reports to assist the queen in negotiating important trade deals. She submits them to her mother's top advisor, who brings them to the queen's attention. Her mother finds them quite useful and, to Andie's delight, offers her a job creating similar reports. Unfortunately, before very long, Andie notices suspicious irregularities in two different situations that illegitimately benefit the queen. The first is the manner in which the queen taxes her subjects. The second is the unnatural predictability of the violent storms which have caused numerous shipwrecks along the coast of Acadia, from which the queen's coffers receive 50% of the recovered wreckage. Disgusted that Andie possesses troublesome ethics, which could potentially cause her to expose the enormously profitable crooked schemes of the queen and her advisor, they plot together to dispose of Andie. Conveniently for their nefarious intentions, a dragon has invaded Acadia. The queen's advisor connives to assure that virginal Andie becomes one of over a dozen young female virgins who are offered as human sacrifices to appease the dragon.
This is the second entry in the 500 Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey. It was originally published in 2006 by Harlequin's LUNA fantasy line (which existed between 2004-2017). I had not read any of ML's books before stumbling onto this series. I wasn't expecting to enjoy these books as much as I have because I'd never before been a fan of the traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy genre. For my own preferences, books in that genre tend to be over-long because of the huge amount of of page space dedicated to an exhaustive description of the magical world at the expense of a central, character-based story. In contrast, LUNA books were required to be no more than 80,000 words. This publisher demand pushed participating authors to stick to the main storyline which, because this is Harlequin, was supposed to be a paranormal romance, with a secondary action-adventure plot. There are, in fact, a primary and a secondary romance in this novel, both of which I really enjoyed, but they do not begin until late in the novel. The main focus in this story is on "girl power." Though I am a huge fan of the romance genre, I also like fantasy novels with strong female leads, and Andie is a very determined, active FMC.
This book is barely PG, mainly because of the actions of the evil villains, both of whose POV appears multiple times in this novel. Otherwise, it is very close to being G-rated. There is no sex, no cussing, and the main characters are in their late teens. So, technically, this novel could easily fit into the young-adult fantasy genre. And it is a really terrific example of YA fantasy.
I was delighted that the fairy godmother, Elena, and her consort, Alexander, who are the terrific FMC and MMC from Book 1, make a crucial cameo appearance in this story.
I have read this novel several times over the years. Most recently I have listened to it as an audiobook, which has an excellent narrator. This book is a definite keeper for me that I will continue to enjoy again and again in the future.
Princess Andromeda (Andie) is 19, bored, and desperately in need of some sort of mission that would allow her to feel useful. Her mother is an all-powerful queen in the small, seaside kingdom of Acadia, but she has so far refused to stop treating Andie as if she is a child. She actually still has a governess. Andie's greatest joy in life is doing research in the huge library in the royal castle. She decides to take her fate into her own hands by creating some informative reports to assist the queen in negotiating important trade deals. She submits them to her mother's top advisor, who brings them to the queen's attention. Her mother finds them quite useful and, to Andie's delight, offers her a job creating similar reports. Unfortunately, before very long, Andie notices suspicious irregularities in two different situations that illegitimately benefit the queen. The first is the manner in which the queen taxes her subjects. The second is the unnatural predictability of the violent storms which have caused numerous shipwrecks along the coast of Acadia, from which the queen's coffers receive 50% of the recovered wreckage. Disgusted that Andie possesses troublesome ethics, which could potentially cause her to expose the enormously profitable crooked schemes of the queen and her advisor, they plot together to dispose of Andie. Conveniently for their nefarious intentions, a dragon has invaded Acadia. The queen's advisor connives to assure that virginal Andie becomes one of over a dozen young female virgins who are offered as human sacrifices to appease the dragon.
This is the second entry in the 500 Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey. It was originally published in 2006 by Harlequin's LUNA fantasy line (which existed between 2004-2017). I had not read any of ML's books before stumbling onto this series. I wasn't expecting to enjoy these books as much as I have because I'd never before been a fan of the traditional sword-and-sorcery fantasy genre. For my own preferences, books in that genre tend to be over-long because of the huge amount of of page space dedicated to an exhaustive description of the magical world at the expense of a central, character-based story. In contrast, LUNA books were required to be no more than 80,000 words. This publisher demand pushed participating authors to stick to the main storyline which, because this is Harlequin, was supposed to be a paranormal romance, with a secondary action-adventure plot. There are, in fact, a primary and a secondary romance in this novel, both of which I really enjoyed, but they do not begin until late in the novel. The main focus in this story is on "girl power." Though I am a huge fan of the romance genre, I also like fantasy novels with strong female leads, and Andie is a very determined, active FMC.
This book is barely PG, mainly because of the actions of the evil villains, both of whose POV appears multiple times in this novel. Otherwise, it is very close to being G-rated. There is no sex, no cussing, and the main characters are in their late teens. So, technically, this novel could easily fit into the young-adult fantasy genre. And it is a really terrific example of YA fantasy.
I was delighted that the fairy godmother, Elena, and her consort, Alexander, who are the terrific FMC and MMC from Book 1, make a crucial cameo appearance in this story.
I have read this novel several times over the years. Most recently I have listened to it as an audiobook, which has an excellent narrator. This book is a definite keeper for me that I will continue to enjoy again and again in the future.
July 28, 2020
#22 of my #20for2020tbrchallenge, to read 20 TBR books in the year 2020
I've seen some reviews that say this can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading at least the first book (after which you can skip around) for foundational knowledge of the Godmothers and The Tradition, which is magical force combined from folklore, fairy tales and legend that acts upon people by pushing them to fill stereotypical roles and reenact stories for good or evil. Godmothers can magically manipulate the Tradition and keep it from totally taking over everyday life.
Although this is only the third book I've read in this series, it is rapidly becoming my favourite Lackey work! BOOKWYRMS. Actual book-hoarding, library-building dragons!!! Need I say more? ❤📚🐲
Light, charming and captivating, this is the comfort read I needed right now! It's the story of a Princess' struggle to rid her kingdom, Acadia, of corruption - but evil is very hard to face when it comes in the form of your own mother.
Princess Andromeda - Andie - is bookish and practical, much to the obvious disappointment of her beautiful and ruthlessly ambitious mother, Queen Cassiopeia. The Queen wanted a pretty, pliant, passive 'marriage pawn' for a daughter, someone of no threat or consequence beyond being a bargaining chip for political gain.
But despite the best efforts of the Queen and her magician councilor Solon to keep her ignorant, Andie has a curious and inquiring mind. She wants to make herself useful to her mother, sure that if she proves that her intelligence can be usefully applied to benefit the interests of the realm then her mother might finally *see* the person she is instead of all the things she is not.
So Andie educates herself about the economy, and when she notices serious discrepancies in the Royal Treasury - there have been a highly unlikely number of profitable shipwrecks lately, and some questionable weather is the cause - she brings it to her mother's attention, which is a serious mistake.
When a dragon turns up and attacks livestock in the countryside, scaring the populace, it is Andie's researches that uncover the traditional virgin sacrifice solution, which the Queen quickly implements much to Andie's dismay. After a hopeless few months when Andie cannot uncover an alternative, her own name is drawn from the virgin lottery.
Although Andie befriends the Champion sent by Godmother Elena (from the first book The Fairy Godmother) to rescue her, Andie - with the help of a clever fable fox - quickly discovers the dragon is not the danger it seems.
Adamant is a Warrior dragon who has been compelled by a geas to raid; with the help of his learned Bookwyrm brother Periapt, he is trying to find a way free from the spell. Although they cannot break it, they can twist it, so they have gathered all the sacrificial (and very much alive) maidens together in a rough sort of army, and when Andie arrives they have enough momentum to manipulate The Tradition to help them seek justice.
There are two unconventional love stories that thankfully have Happily Ever After endings, but to say anything more would ruin the great twist ending. The last line was a little weak and jokey but otherwise this is a wonderful modern fairy tale!
Minor quibble: There are two separate minor characters with the same name, a Lady Thalia and a maiden Thalia. This is incredibly confusing, and for some reason seems to happen a lot in Lackey books.
I've seen some reviews that say this can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading at least the first book (after which you can skip around) for foundational knowledge of the Godmothers and The Tradition, which is magical force combined from folklore, fairy tales and legend that acts upon people by pushing them to fill stereotypical roles and reenact stories for good or evil. Godmothers can magically manipulate the Tradition and keep it from totally taking over everyday life.
Although this is only the third book I've read in this series, it is rapidly becoming my favourite Lackey work! BOOKWYRMS. Actual book-hoarding, library-building dragons!!! Need I say more? ❤📚🐲
Light, charming and captivating, this is the comfort read I needed right now! It's the story of a Princess' struggle to rid her kingdom, Acadia, of corruption - but evil is very hard to face when it comes in the form of your own mother.
Princess Andromeda - Andie - is bookish and practical, much to the obvious disappointment of her beautiful and ruthlessly ambitious mother, Queen Cassiopeia. The Queen wanted a pretty, pliant, passive 'marriage pawn' for a daughter, someone of no threat or consequence beyond being a bargaining chip for political gain.
But despite the best efforts of the Queen and her magician councilor Solon to keep her ignorant, Andie has a curious and inquiring mind. She wants to make herself useful to her mother, sure that if she proves that her intelligence can be usefully applied to benefit the interests of the realm then her mother might finally *see* the person she is instead of all the things she is not.
So Andie educates herself about the economy, and when she notices serious discrepancies in the Royal Treasury - there have been a highly unlikely number of profitable shipwrecks lately, and some questionable weather is the cause - she brings it to her mother's attention, which is a serious mistake.
When a dragon turns up and attacks livestock in the countryside, scaring the populace, it is Andie's researches that uncover the traditional virgin sacrifice solution, which the Queen quickly implements much to Andie's dismay. After a hopeless few months when Andie cannot uncover an alternative, her own name is drawn from the virgin lottery.
Although Andie befriends the Champion sent by Godmother Elena (from the first book The Fairy Godmother) to rescue her, Andie - with the help of a clever fable fox - quickly discovers the dragon is not the danger it seems.
Adamant is a Warrior dragon who has been compelled by a geas to raid; with the help of his learned Bookwyrm brother Periapt, he is trying to find a way free from the spell. Although they cannot break it, they can twist it, so they have gathered all the sacrificial (and very much alive) maidens together in a rough sort of army, and when Andie arrives they have enough momentum to manipulate The Tradition to help them seek justice.
There are two unconventional love stories that thankfully have Happily Ever After endings, but to say anything more would ruin the great twist ending. The last line was a little weak and jokey but otherwise this is a wonderful modern fairy tale!
Minor quibble: There are two separate minor characters with the same name, a Lady Thalia and a maiden Thalia. This is incredibly confusing, and for some reason seems to happen a lot in Lackey books.
September 10, 2019
So much fun. I would really have loved the series when I was an innocent young teen lo these several decades ago. Then the little bits of awkward writing mechanics and occasional errors & inconsistencies wouldn't have bothered me at all. I would simply have been enchanted by fascinating world-building and all the different characters, many of whom are females who are strong and smart and wicked and lazy and etc. in all sorts of different ways.
I'm becoming such a fan of Lackey I plan not only to read all books in this set but maybe find another book or series by her.
Btw, the first book in the 500 Kingdoms does have some sexy bits that I would not have been ready for until I was about 14. This one is not only at least as easy to read but is also 'clean' enough for even a 12 yo. Oh, hey, but don't get me wrong, by easy I don't mean trite. There's plenty here to spark a reader's imagination and even to provoke discussion in a book club.
And there's quotable bits. "'[We're] clever and cunning, not intelligent," the fox corrected absently. "Not the same thing at all.'"
I'm becoming such a fan of Lackey I plan not only to read all books in this set but maybe find another book or series by her.
Btw, the first book in the 500 Kingdoms does have some sexy bits that I would not have been ready for until I was about 14. This one is not only at least as easy to read but is also 'clean' enough for even a 12 yo. Oh, hey, but don't get me wrong, by easy I don't mean trite. There's plenty here to spark a reader's imagination and even to provoke discussion in a book club.
And there's quotable bits. "'[We're] clever and cunning, not intelligent," the fox corrected absently. "Not the same thing at all.'"
December 17, 2021
This, like Fairy Godmother was a good, light read. I enjoyed the story line, watching Andie discover her strengths and trying to guess at what the Queen’s endgame was. The romance was alright. I saw it coming and felt very neutral about it. I think that the romance, which was also not the main focus of Fairy Godmother, was developed abit better in that book. I found myself speeding up the audio a few times with this book, waiting for something to happen next. I also think I laughed a bit more when reading Fairy Godmother. I did enjoy a few of the surprises though in particular, the unicorn’s reveal.
Gabra Zackman’s performance was great again—which I expected. I think I’ll continue to read this series when I’m either between books or looking for something on the lighter end of things. (With that said, should this be a trigger for anyone, there is mention of a burned body and another death. It’s not dwelt on but it’s there.).
Gabra Zackman’s performance was great again—which I expected. I think I’ll continue to read this series when I’m either between books or looking for something on the lighter end of things. (With that said, should this be a trigger for anyone, there is mention of a burned body and another death. It’s not dwelt on but it’s there.).
December 15, 2024
When a dragon comes to terrorize the tiny kingdom of Acadia, tradition dictates that it can be fended off only with the offering of a virgin maiden every week. When it's the princess Andie who draws the lot, she refuses to go down without a proper fight.
A breezy, sometimes amusing and sometimes emotional read. I enjoyed the world of the Five Hundred Kingdoms and how the characters worked with or around the force of the Tradition, a fairytale logic that dictates life through the land. The story is an interesting fusion of the story of Andromeda from Greek mythology and St George and the dragon, with plenty of original flavor.
However, while I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the second half is weaker, especially with the inclusion of a rather bland pair of romances and an abrupt solution to all of Acadia's problems. That the tone hovers somewhere confusingly between YA and adult fantasy does not help matters.
A breezy, sometimes amusing and sometimes emotional read. I enjoyed the world of the Five Hundred Kingdoms and how the characters worked with or around the force of the Tradition, a fairytale logic that dictates life through the land. The story is an interesting fusion of the story of Andromeda from Greek mythology and St George and the dragon, with plenty of original flavor.
However, while I really enjoyed the first half of the book, the second half is weaker, especially with the inclusion of a rather bland pair of romances and an abrupt solution to all of Acadia's problems. That the tone hovers somewhere confusingly between YA and adult fantasy does not help matters.
April 24, 2018
2.5
Andromeda, Andie, is the Princess of Acadia; however, at the age of 19 she is not treated like a Princess. Her mother pushes her to the side and does not give her any responsibilities until Andie searches out more responsibility. This leads her to uncovering some odd occurrences that have been happening throughout the Kingdom. Around this time the Tradition seems to step in and the Kingdom is plagued by a monster with no Champion to save them.
This book was meh. It was really hard to get into the characters and the world and the major plot points were pretty easy to guess. There were some comical parts to the book and I do like the concept of the Tradition; however, the execution of this book was pretty lackluster.
Andromeda, Andie, is the Princess of Acadia; however, at the age of 19 she is not treated like a Princess. Her mother pushes her to the side and does not give her any responsibilities until Andie searches out more responsibility. This leads her to uncovering some odd occurrences that have been happening throughout the Kingdom. Around this time the Tradition seems to step in and the Kingdom is plagued by a monster with no Champion to save them.
This book was meh. It was really hard to get into the characters and the world and the major plot points were pretty easy to guess. There were some comical parts to the book and I do like the concept of the Tradition; however, the execution of this book was pretty lackluster.
December 16, 2015
This review has been crossposted from my blog at The Cosy Dragon . Please head there for more in-depth reviews by me, which appear on a timely schedule.
Princess Andie is intelligent, waif-like beautiful and has just turned 19. Her mother however isn't ready to see her as an adult, and would rather she was confused and silly with conventional beauty. When Andie finally gets a real 'job', she uncovers things that were probably better off hidden. Andie becomes a liability very quickly - as a virgin she's very likely to be snaffled up by an evil creature...
Andie is smart, and bookish - just what I like in a female protagonist. She isn't very good with common things, but her common sense is certainly in place. Yay for a non-traditional heir. Lackey has a good thing going, and she really works with it.
The different perspectives of this book, particularly the Queen vs Andie in the first parts of the book really set the plot going. Those that have read The Fairy Godmother in this series will recognise the Traditional path that is taking place, but Andie can't see it. You just keep waiting for the penny to drop!
So many good things to say about this book, but many of them would give away too much of the plot. It's not a particularly hard read, but it will sucker you in and steal all of your time (oops to doing all that study I had lined up)
Andie's knowledge of the Tradition, and also that of the other people in her Kingdom (such as Sophont Balen) seems strange, after the emphasis in The Fairy Godmother about most people having no idea. Yet everyone seems to be exploiting it easily! It's nice to see how a situation can be resolved without a Fairy Godmother though - the regular people have a chance.
The cover of this book doesn't match how I saw Andie at all. I though she was very thin with no breasts, and the girl on the cover certainly does have those! Also I expected that the dragon would be less fierce looking than that. Hard to discuss more without giving the plot away.
Worth a read. I'd say this book is suitable for teens as well as adults because it contains none of the explicit sex scenes of the first book. This series is a very good one, and worth buying to reread often. Lackey really breaths life into old fairytales.
Princess Andie is intelligent, waif-like beautiful and has just turned 19. Her mother however isn't ready to see her as an adult, and would rather she was confused and silly with conventional beauty. When Andie finally gets a real 'job', she uncovers things that were probably better off hidden. Andie becomes a liability very quickly - as a virgin she's very likely to be snaffled up by an evil creature...
Andie is smart, and bookish - just what I like in a female protagonist. She isn't very good with common things, but her common sense is certainly in place. Yay for a non-traditional heir. Lackey has a good thing going, and she really works with it.
The different perspectives of this book, particularly the Queen vs Andie in the first parts of the book really set the plot going. Those that have read The Fairy Godmother in this series will recognise the Traditional path that is taking place, but Andie can't see it. You just keep waiting for the penny to drop!
So many good things to say about this book, but many of them would give away too much of the plot. It's not a particularly hard read, but it will sucker you in and steal all of your time (oops to doing all that study I had lined up)
Andie's knowledge of the Tradition, and also that of the other people in her Kingdom (such as Sophont Balen) seems strange, after the emphasis in The Fairy Godmother about most people having no idea. Yet everyone seems to be exploiting it easily! It's nice to see how a situation can be resolved without a Fairy Godmother though - the regular people have a chance.
The cover of this book doesn't match how I saw Andie at all. I though she was very thin with no breasts, and the girl on the cover certainly does have those! Also I expected that the dragon would be less fierce looking than that. Hard to discuss more without giving the plot away.
Worth a read. I'd say this book is suitable for teens as well as adults because it contains none of the explicit sex scenes of the first book. This series is a very good one, and worth buying to reread often. Lackey really breaths life into old fairytales.
February 19, 2025
My original review stands below. Having now read the book, rather then listened, I can say the story was a little slow to start, but once it got going I quite enjoyed it. 4 stars, just be warned audiobook may not be the best way to experience this. And I still recommend reading the first in the series before, so you really get what's going on with Tradition and Godmothers. It makes everything more interesting.
Original Review:
This would be the perfect book for a young adolescent girl to read, one who is in that stage where she feels plain, unappreciated and unloved. :) Because I first read it as an adult, I can't review it in that light. Coming at it as an adult, I will say it was fun to read but I felt the beginning had too much detail about the heroine's daily life. It really didn't matter to the later story.
I do like the twist on fairy tales that this series offers, the idea of using the Tradition for your benefit or finding it working against you. And the dragons and the Champion were fun. But overall this book didn't quite work for me, so 2.5 stars rounded up. Also, I've read the first book in the series, otherwise the Tradition and Godmother might have been rather puzzling. Once you've read the first one, though, you can probably skip around just fine.
NB - I listened to this as narrated by Gabra Zackman. She did a decent job, but I had to speed her up. It felt waayyy toooo sslllooowwwww otherwise, and I ended up reading some sections to keep the story moving along.
Original Review:
This would be the perfect book for a young adolescent girl to read, one who is in that stage where she feels plain, unappreciated and unloved. :) Because I first read it as an adult, I can't review it in that light. Coming at it as an adult, I will say it was fun to read but I felt the beginning had too much detail about the heroine's daily life. It really didn't matter to the later story.
I do like the twist on fairy tales that this series offers, the idea of using the Tradition for your benefit or finding it working against you. And the dragons and the Champion were fun. But overall this book didn't quite work for me, so 2.5 stars rounded up. Also, I've read the first book in the series, otherwise the Tradition and Godmother might have been rather puzzling. Once you've read the first one, though, you can probably skip around just fine.
NB - I listened to this as narrated by Gabra Zackman. She did a decent job, but I had to speed her up. It felt waayyy toooo sslllooowwwww otherwise, and I ended up reading some sections to keep the story moving along.
November 4, 2024
Really hate giving one star to a book that simply wasn't for me. This just bums me out in general because not only is this a sub genre that's kinda outside my personal realm (light fantasy with a hint of romance), but this is a second chance author. Don't know about you (whoever you are), but from time to time, I like to revisit books/authors whose works I've still got hanging around my BR bag (if you know, you know) and see if the tides have turned. This has wielded great results both in overall sub genres and specific titles (see my reviews for ATBW and TWMAW). However, not all re-reads are diamonds in the rough.
Here are some things that confuse me about the past two I've read in the series:
-From the cover, I thought we were getting a princess in her mid to late twenties whose tired of being under the thumb of her mother and goes off on her own to fight a dragon, and the knight isn't all he's cracked up to be, but she loves him anyway. Instead, the heroine is written to be kind of... weak throughout? Very adolescent/repetitive writing (the first fifty pages are bogged down with endless descriptions/spelled out connections between Andromeda and various courtiers/residents/family. Especially her mother's supposed lover. Why describe him twice in a beat for beat way?)). At first, I gave the book the BOTD, maybe it was tagged YA and I missed it. Nope. Not that harping on details is exclusive to YA, but it does happen when trying to convey a point, and this did give off a very crunchy almost YA before YA was a bigger label during the early 2000's.
-What time is it?
*Again, the cover art and even the little illustrations decorating each chapter show someone in Greco-Roman inspired attire, there's refs. to tunics/dresses being tied with chords... but then Andromeda mentions governesses and her mother going through six gowns before settling on one. Are we in ancient Greece or 17/1800's Europe? It was giving me flashbacks to that God awful Eros and Psyche retelling... I think Wendy Higgins wrote it?
I'm going to give the two others I already own a shot... not adding anything from her back catalogue, though. This wasn't my cuppa, but I'm sure it's someone else's.
Here are some things that confuse me about the past two I've read in the series:
-From the cover, I thought we were getting a princess in her mid to late twenties whose tired of being under the thumb of her mother and goes off on her own to fight a dragon, and the knight isn't all he's cracked up to be, but she loves him anyway. Instead, the heroine is written to be kind of... weak throughout? Very adolescent/repetitive writing (the first fifty pages are bogged down with endless descriptions/spelled out connections between Andromeda and various courtiers/residents/family. Especially her mother's supposed lover. Why describe him twice in a beat for beat way?)). At first, I gave the book the BOTD, maybe it was tagged YA and I missed it. Nope. Not that harping on details is exclusive to YA, but it does happen when trying to convey a point, and this did give off a very crunchy almost YA before YA was a bigger label during the early 2000's.
-What time is it?
*Again, the cover art and even the little illustrations decorating each chapter show someone in Greco-Roman inspired attire, there's refs. to tunics/dresses being tied with chords... but then Andromeda mentions governesses and her mother going through six gowns before settling on one. Are we in ancient Greece or 17/1800's Europe? It was giving me flashbacks to that God awful Eros and Psyche retelling... I think Wendy Higgins wrote it?
I'm going to give the two others I already own a shot... not adding anything from her back catalogue, though. This wasn't my cuppa, but I'm sure it's someone else's.
January 25, 2024
I was angry at the end of this book because, whether on purpose or by accident, the author wrote a story that very explicitly negates the existence of gay & queer people. I was going to give it 2 stars, since it has some good elements, but I got angry again writing this review and downgraded it to one star. Frankly I just don't recommend this particular book.
There were 3 major plot points that really bugged me. First, at one point the main character is saved by a knight, and is very concerned she will fall in love with him because he is her saviour. When it's revealed that the knight is a woman, the main character is releaved, because the author thinks that everyone will immediately notice the obvious impossibility of falling in love with a woman. It is not impossible, and that is a gross idea to put in your book.
I thought possibly the author would redeem herself by the end as she built up a fair amount of romantic tension between these characters, but at the end of the book, both women in question fall in love with dragons. Thus clinching the message that you can love anyone, no matter their form, as long as they are not the same gender as you.
Finally, female virginity is a huge theme in the book both because virgins are being sacrificed to a dragon and because male unicorns are creepily obsessed with virgins in this world. Look, if you're going to play with a virginity trope, please find some way to explicitly divorce it from the traditional idea of defining virginity by whether you've been penetrated by a man, and checking it by seeing if your hymen is intact. The subtle indications that I noticed in fact seemed to align with this old school idea of virginity. I think the author was going for some campy humour with an 'army of virgins' idea, but the whole time I just felt like a creepy, patriarchal definition & label of 'virginity' was being affirmed as a Real Truth. I was not down for it.
I would not recommend this book. However, without these glaring issues it would have been a perfectly fine fantasy book with an interesting magic system. I'll always give the benefit of the doubt - we all learn & grow over time - if someone I trusted recommended something by this author, I would try it.
There were 3 major plot points that really bugged me. First, at one point the main character is saved by a knight, and is very concerned she will fall in love with him because he is her saviour. When it's revealed that the knight is a woman, the main character is releaved, because the author thinks that everyone will immediately notice the obvious impossibility of falling in love with a woman. It is not impossible, and that is a gross idea to put in your book.
I thought possibly the author would redeem herself by the end as she built up a fair amount of romantic tension between these characters, but at the end of the book, both women in question fall in love with dragons. Thus clinching the message that you can love anyone, no matter their form, as long as they are not the same gender as you.
Finally, female virginity is a huge theme in the book both because virgins are being sacrificed to a dragon and because male unicorns are creepily obsessed with virgins in this world. Look, if you're going to play with a virginity trope, please find some way to explicitly divorce it from the traditional idea of defining virginity by whether you've been penetrated by a man, and checking it by seeing if your hymen is intact. The subtle indications that I noticed in fact seemed to align with this old school idea of virginity. I think the author was going for some campy humour with an 'army of virgins' idea, but the whole time I just felt like a creepy, patriarchal definition & label of 'virginity' was being affirmed as a Real Truth. I was not down for it.
I would not recommend this book. However, without these glaring issues it would have been a perfectly fine fantasy book with an interesting magic system. I'll always give the benefit of the doubt - we all learn & grow over time - if someone I trusted recommended something by this author, I would try it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2017
Andromeda is a princess, and is very smart. Her mother keeps her at a distance and doesn’t really want her learning too much, including how to govern. When the kingdom is threatened by a dragon, they decide to offer sacrificial virgins to appease it.
I mostly enjoyed it, but it was a bit odd and had a definite weird ending. I’m not sure if I want to continue the series, but since they all seem to be about different characters, I think I will. I think the series is really just the same “world”.
I mostly enjoyed it, but it was a bit odd and had a definite weird ending. I’m not sure if I want to continue the series, but since they all seem to be about different characters, I think I will. I think the series is really just the same “world”.
August 17, 2024
I felt there wasn't much of a story. It was very mid. There was a whole lot of nothing in the middle, and the ending felt like it was rushed out and over in a couple of minutes.
I like the narrator, and she made it enjoyable to listen to.
I like the narrator, and she made it enjoyable to listen to.
March 18, 2020
I love this series of books. Playful and well written, but also insightful and inspiring. I find myself stopping to ponder the words, while enjoying the narrative and the characters immensely.
June 10, 2020
More telling than showing and a slower pacing than the brilliant first, but still engaging. I haven’t put down my kindle in hours. On to the next.
March 31, 2011
One Good Knight / 978-0-373-80260-9
I rather enjoy the Five Hundred Kingdoms books - starting with "The Fairy Godmother" and continuing to the recent fifth book "The Sleeping Beauty". The tales are something of a mixed-up fairy tale due to the unique backstory: a powerful and impersonal force called The Tradition constantly tries to impose "fairy tale" logic on people whose lives loosely fit the structure of commonly told fairy tales, and Godmothers and Champions devote their lives trying to facilitate the happy endings and thwart the bad ones that The Tradition tries to impose.
This is the second book in the loosely connected series, and I have to admit that I enjoyed it a bit more than its predecessor, "The Fairy Godmother" - probably for the same reasons that others *didn't*. The major differences here is that "One Good Knight" is slightly shorter (an approximate 400 pages to TFG's 500), and their is significantly less emphasis on romance and much more emphasis on the given fractured fairy tale (a mash-up of the Greek Andromeda myth and the English 'George and the Dragon' tale). Judge your own tastes accordingly - if what you most enjoyed about TFG was the romance and world-building, you may want to give this a pass; if you prefer the fractured fairy tale concept, then I can almost guarantee you will enjoy this novel.
Like all the Lackey novels I've read so far, the plot is quite gripping, the characterizations are superb, and the dialogue has a tendency to make me laugh out loud regularly. Lackey specializes in well-rounded and strong female characters, and "One Good Knight" does not disappoint - it's nice to have a "plain" and bookish princess for once (even if the cover artist didn't get the memo, an ongoing gripe I have with this series, see also "The Sleeping Beauty"). If I had one criticism about this book, it would be that some of the ending feels a little rushed and confusing; the pacing at the middle should have been tightened, I think, to allow the ending to flow more naturally. I'm not usually a fan of end-game exposition dumps, but I think a tiny one could have been employed here.
I enjoyed this novel immensely, though, and definitely recommend it for fans of the series.
~ Ana Mardoll
I rather enjoy the Five Hundred Kingdoms books - starting with "The Fairy Godmother" and continuing to the recent fifth book "The Sleeping Beauty". The tales are something of a mixed-up fairy tale due to the unique backstory: a powerful and impersonal force called The Tradition constantly tries to impose "fairy tale" logic on people whose lives loosely fit the structure of commonly told fairy tales, and Godmothers and Champions devote their lives trying to facilitate the happy endings and thwart the bad ones that The Tradition tries to impose.
This is the second book in the loosely connected series, and I have to admit that I enjoyed it a bit more than its predecessor, "The Fairy Godmother" - probably for the same reasons that others *didn't*. The major differences here is that "One Good Knight" is slightly shorter (an approximate 400 pages to TFG's 500), and their is significantly less emphasis on romance and much more emphasis on the given fractured fairy tale (a mash-up of the Greek Andromeda myth and the English 'George and the Dragon' tale). Judge your own tastes accordingly - if what you most enjoyed about TFG was the romance and world-building, you may want to give this a pass; if you prefer the fractured fairy tale concept, then I can almost guarantee you will enjoy this novel.
Like all the Lackey novels I've read so far, the plot is quite gripping, the characterizations are superb, and the dialogue has a tendency to make me laugh out loud regularly. Lackey specializes in well-rounded and strong female characters, and "One Good Knight" does not disappoint - it's nice to have a "plain" and bookish princess for once (even if the cover artist didn't get the memo, an ongoing gripe I have with this series, see also "The Sleeping Beauty"). If I had one criticism about this book, it would be that some of the ending feels a little rushed and confusing; the pacing at the middle should have been tightened, I think, to allow the ending to flow more naturally. I'm not usually a fan of end-game exposition dumps, but I think a tiny one could have been employed here.
I enjoyed this novel immensely, though, and definitely recommend it for fans of the series.
~ Ana Mardoll
January 5, 2012
As fairy tale retellings go, this was fantastic! Lackey breaks many of the fairy tale tropes by shamelessly mixing and merging many well-known stories in the grab-bag of her Five Hundred Kingdoms. She's done an excellent job of building a world that allows her exactly that freedom, paying homage to the original tales and using them to inform and guide her characters' actions as they re-craft the story for themselves.
I enjoy self-aware stories, where the characters exhibit the intelligence to know that they are affecting their own story. Lackey is a self-aware author, as well. She knows that she is bending the rules, and she does it artfully.
With One Good Knight, I was kept on my toes as I tried to figure out just which fairy tale she was telling. At first glance, it looks like Sir George and the Dragon, but it soon breaks very obviously from that storyline and follows a new path that looks like Robin Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White, all rolled into one.
Andromeda is an interesting character. She is a princess, but unlike many Beauty and the Beast stories, she's not a beauty who simply doesn't see herself clearly. Her flaws and handicaps are never magically done away, so that suddenly she is no longer a misfit princess. Instead, she remains slightly misfit, but she learns how to live with it. Occasionally, her self-deprecation was a little tiresome, and I truly enjoyed the scenes with Gina, who serves as a foil to Andromeda. So much so that I half-wanted Gina to get her own story.
I'll admit that the book got frustrating occasionally. Lackey's break with the traditional line of fairy-tale-telling means that you're not entirely sure where the story is going. Characters don't do what you think they're going to do, and the change from the original story sometimes makes it feel like you're missing something.
But at the same time, that is the appeal of Lackey's approach---She's not telling the same story that's been told a hundred times already. She takes the story you think you know, and manages to surprise you with it.
I'd recommend it to readers looking for a fresh version of an old fairy tale.
I enjoy self-aware stories, where the characters exhibit the intelligence to know that they are affecting their own story. Lackey is a self-aware author, as well. She knows that she is bending the rules, and she does it artfully.
With One Good Knight, I was kept on my toes as I tried to figure out just which fairy tale she was telling. At first glance, it looks like Sir George and the Dragon, but it soon breaks very obviously from that storyline and follows a new path that looks like Robin Hood, Cinderella, and Snow White, all rolled into one.
Andromeda is an interesting character. She is a princess, but unlike many Beauty and the Beast stories, she's not a beauty who simply doesn't see herself clearly. Her flaws and handicaps are never magically done away, so that suddenly she is no longer a misfit princess. Instead, she remains slightly misfit, but she learns how to live with it. Occasionally, her self-deprecation was a little tiresome, and I truly enjoyed the scenes with Gina, who serves as a foil to Andromeda. So much so that I half-wanted Gina to get her own story.
I'll admit that the book got frustrating occasionally. Lackey's break with the traditional line of fairy-tale-telling means that you're not entirely sure where the story is going. Characters don't do what you think they're going to do, and the change from the original story sometimes makes it feel like you're missing something.
But at the same time, that is the appeal of Lackey's approach---She's not telling the same story that's been told a hundred times already. She takes the story you think you know, and manages to surprise you with it.
I'd recommend it to readers looking for a fresh version of an old fairy tale.
November 15, 2010
It's sometimes difficult to write a review of a book in a series, because you don't want to reveal anything from the books before. So while I could gush on and on about how awesome it was to see familiar characters in this book in detail, I'll.. spare you the detail and just say that One Good Knight solidified my love for Mercedes Lackey.
Seriously, y'all, I have so much fun reading these books.
I think, in a way, this book was almost better than the first... because it didn't require as much setting up as the first did. That said, it still did require some, but it was the perfect set-up for the story to shift in a way that had me sitting up and saying.. "What?!".
... oh no, I'm not going to tell you what had me saying that, you just need to trust me when I say these are fun, fantasy books well worth reading.
And can I just say... I love what Mercedes Lackey does with the unicorns. The image of unicorns going all doe-eyed and docile, panting over virgin girls has me dying of laughter every time I see them make an appearance. And what impressed me most about this book? There was romance with absolutely ZERO sexual scenes described. None! And still, I swooned and sighed with happiness.
And most importantly - the girls in these books.. HAVE BRAINS! And they use them! They are intelligent, witty, and brave! So marvelous!
Fantastic series and I'm going to start the next book as soon as I finish this review - I recommend you start with The Fairy Godmother and work your way through them as well, if you haven't already!
Seriously, y'all, I have so much fun reading these books.
I think, in a way, this book was almost better than the first... because it didn't require as much setting up as the first did. That said, it still did require some, but it was the perfect set-up for the story to shift in a way that had me sitting up and saying.. "What?!".
... oh no, I'm not going to tell you what had me saying that, you just need to trust me when I say these are fun, fantasy books well worth reading.
And can I just say... I love what Mercedes Lackey does with the unicorns. The image of unicorns going all doe-eyed and docile, panting over virgin girls has me dying of laughter every time I see them make an appearance. And what impressed me most about this book? There was romance with absolutely ZERO sexual scenes described. None! And still, I swooned and sighed with happiness.
And most importantly - the girls in these books.. HAVE BRAINS! And they use them! They are intelligent, witty, and brave! So marvelous!
Fantastic series and I'm going to start the next book as soon as I finish this review - I recommend you start with The Fairy Godmother and work your way through them as well, if you haven't already!
June 17, 2024
This was a drastic improvement over the first in the series of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. Almost none of the problems I had from the first novel were in this sequel, and it was vastly more entertaining to read than The Fairy Godmother. Instead of focusing on the "Cinderella" fairytale, the second book is about the Greek legend of the Andromeda sacrifices in a small, poor Kingdom with no Godmother.
First on the list of vast improvements is Andromeda herself. Andie is the main character and is actually that, a character instead of a cliche. She's smart, bookish, resourceful, and clever. She's a very engaging character, as were the villains of the story (which surprised me).
Second on the list, the conflict and resolution did not seem nearly as rushed as the end of the first book. The entire novel felt more well-planned, thought out and written. It's also much funnier and filled with more fleshed out characters instead of one-dimensional second-rate "personalities".
One minor problem I had was that sometimes the actions of a character would make absolutely no sense, as in did nothing to help that character out and were blatant attempts to make the ending work to itspredictable Traditional path. That being said, the ending did surprise me in a way that I totally loved and grinned while reading.
A much better book than the first and I look forward to the next.
First on the list of vast improvements is Andromeda herself. Andie is the main character and is actually that, a character instead of a cliche. She's smart, bookish, resourceful, and clever. She's a very engaging character, as were the villains of the story (which surprised me).
Second on the list, the conflict and resolution did not seem nearly as rushed as the end of the first book. The entire novel felt more well-planned, thought out and written. It's also much funnier and filled with more fleshed out characters instead of one-dimensional second-rate "personalities".
One minor problem I had was that sometimes the actions of a character would make absolutely no sense, as in did nothing to help that character out and were blatant attempts to make the ending work to its
A much better book than the first and I look forward to the next.
June 26, 2017
This started out so Boring... so Boring, that I had to capitalise it. There was just so much world-building (in this Greece-like corner of the Five Hundred Kingdoms), and exploration of Andromeda's (or more affectionately known as Andie) life that that first half of the book at least, DRAGGED on. I appreciated that Mercedes Lackey had used Andromeda (and her mother, Cassiopeia) as the basis of the story, and felt that it was an especially nice touch to set it in what was a fair approximation of Greece, far away from the bog standard English medieval setting. But it was still tiresome.
And then, the story picked up, right about when Andie was sacrificed to the dragon. That's when things got really interesting. And even fun, as some pivotal secondary characters got introduced.
While it was a shame that the romance aspect of the book didn't kick in until a good three-quarters of the way through, I loved that it was of a melding of minds, rather than of looks. The secondary romance didn't hurt either because the ending was just perfect, and oh so sweet. So far that, I was happy to forgive the first portion of the book.
November 3, 2014
This book hovers between two and three stars, simply because I found the plot and characters to be rather boring. The characters are all two-dimensional, predictable, and stereotypical, and the hastily contrived romantic ending added nothing to the novel.
The real draw of this book - why I liked it despite myself - was "The Tradition," which is a magical force that acts upon the residents of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. Essentially, the Tradition requires that people act as it wants them to: freed maidens always fall in love with their rescuers, the first two sons always fail in the quest, etc. Characters can work with or against the Tradition, mixing the tropes of every fantasy novel together. For example, in order to avoid the compulsion she feels to fall in love with her rescuer, the princess makes a blood sibling oath with him; immediately the compulsion is lifted, and they travel onward. For someone who has read an embarrassing amount of fantasy in the past, this was an amusing and fresh take on the cliches of every fantasy. I just wish the plot and characters could have drawn more of my interest.
The real draw of this book - why I liked it despite myself - was "The Tradition," which is a magical force that acts upon the residents of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. Essentially, the Tradition requires that people act as it wants them to: freed maidens always fall in love with their rescuers, the first two sons always fail in the quest, etc. Characters can work with or against the Tradition, mixing the tropes of every fantasy novel together. For example, in order to avoid the compulsion she feels to fall in love with her rescuer, the princess makes a blood sibling oath with him; immediately the compulsion is lifted, and they travel onward. For someone who has read an embarrassing amount of fantasy in the past, this was an amusing and fresh take on the cliches of every fantasy. I just wish the plot and characters could have drawn more of my interest.
January 2, 2012
I've seen a number of reviewers not pleased with One Good Knight. When I read it myself, I had mixed feelings about it. My mind has been switching from liking to not then liking it again, and then not...again. By the ending I was really confused.
I enjoyed reading the book, don't get me wrong. I was really pleased to see this take lesser pages than Lackey's other books that tended to be so descriptive. I also found the characters very likeable and the twist with regards to the champion was really sneaky! And I absolutely did not expect it.
What bothered me was that I didn't get to know the villains that much. There was a constant mystery about their agenda with each scene that they appear at but there wasn't much of a revelation in the end.
Also, as much as I liked the "happily ever after" thing with Lackey's stories. I think this was a bit too much of a cliche. I get that this is a fairy tale after all and I'm happy for the characters but there wasn't much to it to commend about.
Overall I think it was okay, plus points on being more fast paced than the other books... and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
I enjoyed reading the book, don't get me wrong. I was really pleased to see this take lesser pages than Lackey's other books that tended to be so descriptive. I also found the characters very likeable and the twist with regards to the champion was really sneaky! And I absolutely did not expect it.
What bothered me was that I didn't get to know the villains that much. There was a constant mystery about their agenda with each scene that they appear at but there wasn't much of a revelation in the end.
Also, as much as I liked the "happily ever after" thing with Lackey's stories. I think this was a bit too much of a cliche. I get that this is a fairy tale after all and I'm happy for the characters but there wasn't much to it to commend about.
Overall I think it was okay, plus points on being more fast paced than the other books... and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
January 11, 2010
I've been on a Mercedes Lackey kick for the past year or so, and it's always a little disappointing. The problem when you crank out 50+ books is that you tend to sacrifice quality for quantity.
Despite this, I love her stories (if not the actual writing). Especially this series. She actually takes a really interesting premise - people forced to adhere to archetypes (from myths, fairy tales, and fables), and makes an engaging story. Could it be more awesome? Yes. Is it pretty good anyway? Also yes. This is like fluffy cotton candy for my brain.
Highly recommended for anyone who likes myths, fairy tales, and/or fables, and kickass characters (mostly of the female variety).
Despite this, I love her stories (if not the actual writing). Especially this series. She actually takes a really interesting premise - people forced to adhere to archetypes (from myths, fairy tales, and fables), and makes an engaging story. Could it be more awesome? Yes. Is it pretty good anyway? Also yes. This is like fluffy cotton candy for my brain.
Highly recommended for anyone who likes myths, fairy tales, and/or fables, and kickass characters (mostly of the female variety).
February 7, 2009
This was an enjoyable book, but hindered some by the fact that I read it after book #3. So I knew one of the major plot twists before the book was barely more than half-way through.
However, it is a fun read, and I do enjoy seeing how Lackey tweaks traditional fairy tales to create these stories. I might have given it a 3.5 star rating if that was allowed, but 4 is close enough.
However, it is a fun read, and I do enjoy seeing how Lackey tweaks traditional fairy tales to create these stories. I might have given it a 3.5 star rating if that was allowed, but 4 is close enough.
December 29, 2011
Another happy and quick read. Still takes place in the Five Hundred Kingdoms (as the series name suggests). Elena & Alexander play a crucial part, but don't expect to see them appear much in the story. Otherwise fun and still refreshing, plot isn't as jam-packed as the Fairy Godmother, but I'm glad that it's quite different. Look forward to reading more in the series.
December 3, 2012
The author takes The Tradition, stands it on its head, gives it a spin and serves up a deliciously clever story. The Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms are a treat. I wish there could be five hundred tales, one for each kingdom. I hate to think of the series coming to an end.
February 19, 2014
I'm still very much fascinated by the Tradition and the challenges it brings the heroes (and bad guys alike). I find it very interesting to try and guess how I myself would work around the Tradition. That makes for a good brainteaser while reading the fluffy stuff.
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