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The Fairy Godmother

(Five Hundred Kingdoms #1)

Mercedes Lackey

3.97 · Rating details · 17,337 ratings · 1,015 reviews

In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can't carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale...

Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella--until fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! So she set out to make a new life for herself. But breaking with "The Tradition" was no easy matter--until she got a little help from her own fairy ...more

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Paperback, 479 pages

Published October 25th 2004 by Luna Books (first published January 1st 2004)

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Sep 09, 2015 Rachel Reads Ravenously rated it liked it

Recommended to Rachel Reads Ravenously by: Kelcey

Shelves: magic, 3-stars-aint-the-devil, fantasy, paperback, fae-fairies

3 Tradition stars!

“Once the blinders are off, it's rather hard to go back to seeing things the way you used to.”

So, before I read romance I was a huge fantasy reader. And basically from the years 2000-2010 I was devouring anything Mercedes Lackey. She's fantastic! In this newer series by her, she twists known fairy tales into new retellings and creates an interesting new premise.

When Elena (Ella Cinders) reaches the age of 21 she had lost hope that her prince (or any man) would come to her ...more

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May 14, 2008 JG (Introverted Reader) rated it really liked it

Recommended to JG (Introverted Reader) by: Rachel

Shelves: fairy_or_folk_tale, modern_fairy_tale, just_plain_fun, womens_fiction, reviewed, z_read_in_2008, fantasy, 4_stars, fiction, z_author_american

Elena Klovis is badly mistreated by her stepmother. She is forced to clean the house, cook the food, and dress her stepmother and her two stepsisters, while she herself dresses in rags and goes hungry. Sound familiar? That's because Elena is supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella. But her "Prince Charming" is completely wrong for her. So magic just keeps building and building around her. Finally, Elena's Fairy Godmother steps in with a most unusual offer. Elena's life is changed in a way that s Elena Klovis is badly mistreated by her stepmother. She is forced to clean the house, cook the food, and dress her stepmother and her two stepsisters, while she herself dresses in rags and goes hungry. Sound familiar? That's because Elena is supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella. But her "Prince Charming" is completely wrong for her. So magic just keeps building and building around her. Finally, Elena's Fairy Godmother steps in with a most unusual offer. Elena's life is changed in a way that she could never have foretold. But will there eventually be a happily-ever-after for her?

I loved the whole concept of this story. I love fairy tales and I love to see twists on fairy tales. This one was a lot of fun and it really wasn't very predictable. It was a fun, light read, and I would recommend it to other fans of fairy tales.

Two things though: First, I was sort of thinking that my little cousin, a fan of all things princess and fairy, might enjoy having this book read aloud to her. Then I got to the sex scenes. There were probably only two, and they were pretty lightweight, but they were still there, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of the little princess in your life. Second, I've read several of Mercedes Lackey's books, and I would love to be her copyeditor. She absolutely kills me. She generally tells interesting, original stories, but the copyeditor whose red ink swirls through my veins cringes through her books. I would disable her italics key right off the bat. I don't mind the convention she uses of having a character's thoughts in italics. That actually makes things a little clearer. But I'm glancing through the book right now and it's almost impossible to find a page where italics aren't used for emphasis numerous times. How irritating! Typos abounded and I would swear that this sentence made an appearance, although, of course, I can't find it now: "Her heart was literally in her throat." Really? Literally? There are so many ways to make fun of that sentence that I don't know where to start. Did it use grappling hooks to climb up there? Don't bite down! How do you talk around that?

Enough of that. Overall, it's a fun, funny, sweet, original story. ...more

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Jan 21, 2008 Carolyn rated it liked it

Recommends it for: o

Shelves: read-in-2008

My pre-review: I was recommended this book by the same girl who introduced me to Stardust and Spindle's End, two books I really enjoyed, although the horrible cover of this book turned me off from reading it for a while (and really, I can't imagine myself carrying it around anywhere...lol).

I do love fun fairytale books though, and have heard great things about Mercedes Lackley, so I'm excited to read it!

Final reciew:

Meh. I really liked the parts about Elena becoming a Godmother and the things as ...more

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Oct 21, 2013 Grace rated it did not like it

Shelves: magic, fantasy, romance, series

I wanted to like this book so much. It started out so promising. You felt so unbelievably sorry for Elena, who was a victim not of her own accord -- the beginning was so great, describing how Elena would have liked to go against her stepmother, and how she would have liked to request shoes, but she couldn't -- because the one time she did, she was beaten with a cane, and if she reported it to the magistrate, they wouldn't do a thing about it, since she was the rightful property of her parent, as I wanted to like this book so much. It started out so promising. You felt so unbelievably sorry for Elena, who was a victim not of her own accord -- the beginning was so great, describing how Elena would have liked to go against her stepmother, and how she would have liked to request shoes, but she couldn't -- because the one time she did, she was beaten with a cane, and if she reported it to the magistrate, they wouldn't do a thing about it, since she was the rightful property of her parent, as an unmarried child. It was great. It felt full of promise. Despite her sorry life, Elena was a survivor, even though she didn't feel much of one. As soon as her stepmother ran away from her debtors, she pulled herself together and was going to sell herself off to be a servant. All super realistic and super noble.

Then the fairy godmother shows up and tells her that because of THE TRADITION, things that are supposed to happen were about to happen but couldn't because of factors that didn't line up. I mean, you read in the blurb about the prince of Elena's kingdom who was only 11 years old. That's fantastic, and just about the only example that the reader needs, because honestly, the only thing fair about poor Cinderella's story is the fact that she gets her prince, right?

Except the author goes on to tell, oh, maybe 5 more drawn-out examples. You're introduced to the Fairy King and Queen (who are interesting enough characters), but then you're introduced to a buttload of other not so interesting characters that you basically start skimming over their names. There's the example of the Arachnia, the evil fairy/sorceress who is supposed to go to a christening and make the princess into a Sleeping Beauty, but Elena, our fairy godmother-in-training, circumvents that with her mentor, by putting some younger son/prince/poet in her way, and also by NOT making him a scumbag <-- I point this out, because this was underlined several times in the book by several different magical persons.

Anyway, blah blah blah, while Elena is training and reading books (seriously, why must every single heroine be a book-lover? I know authors are necessarily book-lovers, but it's a bore when people want to show that their characters are intelligent by having them like reading), the first 150 pages of the book reads a little bit like The History of Fairy Godmothers and The TRADITION. ENOUGH already. Why? Because it's all written as exposition. None of it really feels like it matters -- probably because the blurb has Elena's first "test" as testing three princes. So you are just waiting for that to happen, because it's in the blurb, so you logically feel that's when her adventure starts.

But it's not. It's in Chapter 11 (yup, that's about 170 pages in, folks) when Alexander first shows up (at least, I'm pretty sure it was Chapter 11, because I skipped some chapters and didn't feel like I missed anything), and it's GREAT. Alexander's first appearance made up for the 100 pages of crap about The Tradition. He was an awesome prince. Totally arrogant and suspicious of others, and so rigid in his military upbringing, but, you know, not in a bad way, because at least he wasn't stupid. So it's great.

But THEN for some reason after Elena turned him into a donkey, she was compelled to take him home with her. Okay, I can buy that -- except their interactions are SO BORING that finally I had to give up. Because frankly the character that got the most air time wasn't Elena or Alexander, or even Octavian (Alexander's older brother -- who was also kind of likable), but THE TRADITION. That's right. Every other word was reserved for THE TRADITION, and there were so many examples littered with working around THE TRADITION or utilizing THE TRADITION or just dealing with THE TRADITION, that it felt like the author brainstormed beforehand on how to make THE TRADITION into an actual believable and logical idea, that she then felt compelled to put ALL those examples into the book, one after another. And then because she felt like maybe her audience wouldn't buy into the idea of THE TRADITION guiding and forcing everyone into a set formula, she had to repeatedly reinforce those ideas and its power into the readers.

In the end, I felt less and less convinced about THE TRADITION and really dubious about this whole Kingdoms world that Lackey had created that I gave up. The basic rule of fantasy novels is that readers go into the books, ready and willing to believe in this fantasy world, with any "rule of thumb" that you throw at them -- unless you try to reason them otherwise. It's your freaking fantasy world -- people can fly if they want to -- why do you need to try so hard to convince them??

200 pages in, I threw in the towel, disgusted not only with THE TRADITION (which was basically the Matrix, but not as cool), but also Lackey's writing, which started to resemble legalese.

What a waste of my time. And while the author showed promise (in the beginning), it might be a while before I give her another try. ...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Tina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z2012-reads, audiobook, 2020-reads, sff-romance

2020 - reread:

I remember really liking this when I read it before. Wondered if I still would. Yup. Really enjoyed. Listened on audio this time and Gabra Zackman does a great job narrating.

----------

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Super fun book.

At first it seems like you are reading a re-telling of Cinderella. I must confess, I have always hated the Cinderella story. It always struck me as plain old child abuse. But while Elaine's story starts off as Cinderella,it veers rather sharply away from the familiar pat 2020 - reread:

I remember really liking this when I read it before. Wondered if I still would. Yup. Really enjoyed. Listened on audio this time and Gabra Zackman does a great job narrating.

----------

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Super fun book.

At first it seems like you are reading a re-telling of Cinderella. I must confess, I have always hated the Cinderella story. It always struck me as plain old child abuse. But while Elaine's story starts off as Cinderella,it veers rather sharply away from the familiar path of that tale.

As her disgruntled fairy Godmother tells her, there is no Prince available for her. The only one near enough is still just a toddler. And Elaine herself isn't getting any younger. And since the Fairy Godmother is also getting up in years and wants to retire, she has decided to make Elaine her Apprentice.

The nifty thing about this whole story -- and series -- is that the characters are aware that their lives are following a well trodden path created by something called Tradition. Tradition (always a capital 'T') is the familiar folk tales and stories that everyone knows. So while Elaine is one such Cinderella-trope she isn't the only one. There are young girls all over the 500 kingdoms who are drudging away with wicked stepmothers waiting to marry a Prince. Just as there are sleeping Princesses, various young men on quests, and young girls with long,long hair imprisoned in towers etc.

As a Fairy Godmother, Elaine's job is to steer these people's lives to their rightful conclusion. But as Elaine also learns she has the power to manipulate Tradition as well so that she can re-arrange outcomes. To me this is the fun part of the story, seeing what schemes Elaine comes up with to subtlely subvert the storyline of a given person.

There is a nice tone of humor throughout. One great scene involves the Maleficent-like evil sorceress who comes to curse a newly born Princess at her christening. It was a hoot to see how the Fairy Godmothers deal with that.

The book also includes a nice romance for Elaine who worries that her role as a Fairy Godmother means that she will live out her life in loneliness. But she finally does meet her Prince even if he is a bit of an ass at first. Literally.

This clever little story was such an unexpected delight, I may need to hunt up the next one. ...more

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May 04, 2008 Jessica rated it really liked it

Shelves: fairytales

A fun look at fairy tales. In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, it might be your fate to be Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty, or the Miller's Youngest Son. But what happens if the rest of your story doesn't fall into place? If your prince is too young for you, or too old? It's up to the fairy godmother to make sure it all works out. . . .

This is a Luna book, they are a new fantasy imprint of Harlequin, so randomly halfway through the romance took a turn for the Whooo, BAAABY! and then the plot continued ...more

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Aug 16, 2011 Anne Osterlund rated it really liked it

Elena is a fairy godmother-in-training. She drinks dragon’s blood (only once—yuck!), has a magic wand (basically for show), and learns how to fight The Tradition. The force in the five hundred kingdoms that insists upon replaying fairy tales over and over, no matter how many kings die, or princesses are locked in towers, or questers fail.

Alexander is one of those questers. The second son to be exact. In the story where there are three sons and the first two fail. But they don’t all fail as spect ...more

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Jun 11, 2012 Mandi Ellsworth added it

There is a reason I usually stick to YA and Children's literature. And this book defines my reason.

I really liked the story. It's set in a world called 500 Kingdoms, where a magical force called The Tradition forces life stories to fit nicely into a known tale. We see a failed attempt at a Cinderella story, a woman named Elena who has lots of magic surrounding her, trying to force her into a marriage with a prince, any prince. Her step family decides to run away from their creditors, leaving Ele ...more

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Dec 12, 2014 Angela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sff

Well, I've just finished my annual reread and felt it was high time to leave an actual review. This is one of my favorite books, my go-to comfort read. It's not the most polished of stories -- the climax and resolution in the last 45 pages come out of nowhere and are pretty rushed and the bulk of the story is mainly worldbuilding but I love this story in much the same way I love a favorite, worn t-shirt. It's comforting, it helps me relax, and that all far exceeds cosmetic problems.

I haven't be ...more

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May 20, 2012 Ranting Dragon rated it really liked it

Shelves: rebecca

http://www.rantingdragon.com/review-o...

The Fairy Godmother is the first book in Mercedes Lackey’s Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. Published under Harlequin Romance’s Luna imprint, the series seems targeted primarily at female romance-fantasy readers.

Loosely based on the Cinderella folk tale, The Fairy Godmother follows Elena Klovis, a girl all set up to be Cinderella—but the kingdom’s prince is just a child! When she takes matters into her own hands to escape her Wicked Stepmother, a ...more

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Jan 29, 2019 Amy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: curiosity-killed-the-cat, what-might-have-been

I am torn between: "Wow, that was really good." And, "Gosh, that could have been so much better."
In this fantasy/fairy tale world, "The Tradition" compels unsuspecting young men and women to their fairy-tale endings. It does not matter if the endings are happy or sad - "The Tradition" will accept evil rulers as willingly good ones. But the stories must happen. And when they don't...
Elena was supposed to be Cinderella. She experienced an evil-step mother, two wicked step-sisters, and a lifetime o I am torn between: "Wow, that was really good." And, "Gosh, that could have been so much better."
In this fantasy/fairy tale world, "The Tradition" compels unsuspecting young men and women to their fairy-tale endings. It does not matter if the endings are happy or sad - "The Tradition" will accept evil rulers as willingly good ones. But the stories must happen. And when they don't...
Elena was supposed to be Cinderella. She experienced an evil-step mother, two wicked step-sisters, and a lifetime of drudgery. But unfortunately, her would-be prince is only age 11.
Unable to complete her story, Elena gets the chance to start over as a Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmothers work within - and sometimes against - "The Tradition" to make sure only the happy endings take place in their kingdoms.

So creative! So fun. I know other readers complained about the info dumping but I didn't mind too much. I really liked the creative world Mercedes Lackey creates. It is different. I expected it to go silly, like The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Instead, it remains very adult.
Which, unfortunately, is what eventually alienated me from the plot. Minus the Harlequin romance, I would probably give this book an easy 4 stars. But with it...I kept getting jarred from the plot. I came to read a fairy tale, not a sketchy romance novel. And vice versa. If I wanted a romance novel, I would not wade through all the world building and info dumping. I found the political machinations and structure of the Fairy Godmother world fascinating and would have loved a tale that focused just on Elena doing Fairy Godmother stuff. And her romance...it bored me.
I never felt the tension there. While she attempts to "circumvent" The Tradition so even a Fairy Godmother can live happily-ever-after, I never felt she had much to worry about. Everything fell together too neatly. Meanwhile, Alexander's character change made him initially despicable and eventually dead boring.

I still considered giving the book 4 stars up until the climax/ending. It felt out of nowhere and left me underwhelmed and bored. Curiosity might drive me to the sequel - and I'll admit, my admiration for the development of the fairy tale world might even bring me back to this book - but the story fell short of being a new favorite. ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it liked it

Shelves: fairy-tale, fantasy, r-rated

I love fairy tale-based novels as much as the next person, but I thought I'd enjoy this one more than I did. For all its length it's written in a rather superficial, breezy style, more like a YA book. But it was an enjoyable twist on several fairy tales and I was thinking that my 12-year-old daughter would really like it when - surprise! explicit sex scenes. The sex just seemed like an odd mismatch with the rest of the text. Not a keeper for me in any case. ...more

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Aug 10, 2019 Isabel rated it really liked it

I found myself enjoying this book a lot. A little weird though, but a fun spin on the fairy tales

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Mar 07, 2012 Anne rated it liked it

Shelves: nook, fairytale, fantasy, read-in-2012

Since I have been reading this series out of order, this one was actually the third book that I read. I loved The Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Werewolf, which were the last two in the Five Hundred Kingdoms' series. So I was pretty excited to finally get my hands on the book that started it all!
Eh. It was ok. It just... I don't know.
Since Elana is featured in almost all of the other books, it was worth it to find out more of her story, though.
I guess I was just expecting too much. ...more

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Sep 06, 2007 Alexandra rated it really liked it

Shelves: romantic-fantasy, 500-kingdoms-series, oklahoma-authors, own-on-kindle, read-in-2007, original-fairy-tales-fairytale-like, lackey-mercedes, fantasy

*** 1/10/18 On sale for the Kindle version for $2.99 ***

In these books fairy tales are templates, "paths", that fate-like force "Tradition" tries to force events to fit. It's the job of the Godmothers to use magic and will to turn Tradition to their will and away from unhappy events. ...more

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Jun 05, 2020 Camille rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, made-me-happy, new-adult-romance

Utterly engrossing. Absolutely delightful! I loved this :-)

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Oct 23, 2010 Adrianna rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fantasy and Romance fans (especially women)

Shelves: fantasy, romance

Read the review about "The Tradition," a concept from the book: A Fantastical Force

The Fairy Godmother was my first experience with author Mercedes Lackey, and I admit that I was a bit disappointed. In looking at the overall story, Lackey had many elements that fantasy and romance genre fans would really enjoy. However, the execution of her story left much lacking.

The world she creates for the Five Hundred Kingdoms series is extensively detailed. It's a place where magic and fairy tales rule. Th ...more

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Apr 17, 2019 Stephanie rated it liked it

Shelves: magic, romance, fantasy, read-in-2019

Eh. Torn between 2 or 3 stars, so I'm rounding it up. I was pretty underwhelmed by this one. I thought the premise was interesting, but the book was much longer than necessary.

Some other thoughts-
(view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Suzanne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, series-in-progress, audio

I've owned this book for a few years and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. I really like the world, and the way "tradition" tries to guide peoples' paths. It was a great fairytale, and I'm looking forward to reading more books in the series. ...more

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Aug 13, 2020 Maia rated it really liked it

3.5 stars

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Apr 29, 2016 Abby Vincere rated it it was ok

Shelves: it-could-have-been-better

Ugh. Why do so many people champion this as an example of Mercedes Lackey's best work? In my humble opinion if this is ANYBODY'S best work, there is probably no hope for them. Luckily, I have read other Lackey novels which were enjoyable, so I know she CAN write, but this book does not prove it any more than her recent Beauty and the Werewolf junk did.

It starts off pretty solid, then gets clunky in exposition that takes over the ENTIRE plot. Now, I don't FAULT the book -- nor author -- for this Ugh. Why do so many people champion this as an example of Mercedes Lackey's best work? In my humble opinion if this is ANYBODY'S best work, there is probably no hope for them. Luckily, I have read other Lackey novels which were enjoyable, so I know she CAN write, but this book does not prove it any more than her recent Beauty and the Werewolf junk did.

It starts off pretty solid, then gets clunky in exposition that takes over the ENTIRE plot. Now, I don't FAULT the book -- nor author -- for this, exactly. In all fairness, this is the book that had to introduce the main conception of this fairy-tale series, had to explain what "the Tradition" was all about AND where fairy godmothers in this universe came from and why many of them were not actually fairies.... So getting lost in the telling was probably not entirely avoidable. That said, there wasn't enough plot in this particular book to warrant reading it BEYOND the exposition. It started off being a retelling of Cinderella then darted all over the place in a way that could have been clever but really wasn't presented well. Lackey might have been better off writing an encyclopedia of the tradition and the 500 kingdoms to explain her other books rather than writing this junk as the intro. Many of the explanatory books Elena reads in this novel sounded more interesting than the story itself.

I also really, really, really had a problem with the characters in this book. I liked Julian, even though we don't see much of him, and Elena (at first), oh and Bella (no NOT the same Bella from Beauty and the Werewolf, thank God) as well as the funny side-characters. But everyone else was a load of ick. Especially the love interest, Alexander. God that man makes my skin crawl in this book. I know he changes and crap, but come on it's LARGELY because of literal "fairy ex Machina" rather than ANYTHING Elena does for him. Also, despite the fact that I knew from the second this bum showed up mid-way through the novel he and Elena were going to end up together, I also knew I was never going to support this ship simply because of the fact that -- oh, I don't know... He freaking tried to RAPE her? Oh and the narrative tried to pass it on as "oh he tried to seduce me, because the tradition is pushing..." Oh, HECK NO! Not cool. That was an attempted rape scene and it's effing CREEPY.

And the writing? Wow... I know this is one of her earlier books but some of this is just really bad -- the sentences are really dense and clunky and just...bleh...

Anyway, as you can tell, I didn't like this book. And I'm actually dreading looking into other books in the series -- or even re-reading them -- simply because of Alexander is ever mentioned again, his character has been ruined for me, even if he's changed now. Sigh. Ain't backstory a witch?

Not recommended. ...more

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Oct 08, 2016 Pamela(AllHoney) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, 1st-in-series, royalty, paranormal-fantasy, fairy-tale-retellings, loc-fictional-or-fantasy

The first book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms by Mercedes Lackey. Elena Klovis is supposed to be the Cinderella of her kingdom but there is no prince to come and rescue her from her gloomy life. When her stepmother and stepsisters leave her to escape the creditors, she makes her way to the servant market to find work. Instead, she finds her fairy godmother who offers her a chance of a lifetime. And so Elena becomes the fairy godmother's apprentice.

Young adult fantasy based on fairy tales. It was u ...more

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Feb 07, 2020 Donna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020challenge, uno2020, feb2020tbr

I really enjoyed this retelling of Cinderella. The beginning was a lot like the fairy tale we all grew up with and then it twisted. I love that she got a career. She wasn't just sneaking off to a ball and falling in love at first sight. No, she learned a trade and worked hard. With that career came magical creatures like unicorns, brownies, fae, trolls and giants. The magic wasn't instantaneous either. She had to study first. I enjoyed how she guided "The Tradition" to go along the paths that sh ...more

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Jul 06, 2017 Kylie Cantwell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fairytale-retellings

Loved the story, the story-telling, the warm little moments that brought a blush to my cheeks!

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Nov 30, 2020 Valentina Markasović rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-english

Pretty good, for a book with virtually no plot

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Mar 10, 2019 Mariete Verwey rated it it was amazing

LOVED IT. Fairy tale with a twist, but still with the happily ever after required by fairy tales.

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Nov 15, 2020 Nancy O'Toole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, library, ebook

In a world where fairy tales are real, there are consequences to not getting your happily ever after.

Elena Klovis was supposed to be a Cinderella. But when her prince never showed up, she continued to live a miserable, impoverished existence. That is until her fairy godmother finally arrives and doesn't offer her a prince, but a job. Now in training to be a fairy godmother herself, Elena has a lot to learn about magic and The Tradition that rules everyone's lives.

I'm really glad I stumbled acros ...more

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Sep 16, 2010 Jane Stewart rated it did not like it

Shelves: paranormal-romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Too much telling, not enough showing.

The first 155 pages felt like one long description of setting. The author describes the world, the interaction of fairies, godmothers and humans, how magic works, what the rules are, how they make potions, etc. It was boring. There were a few stories, mostly being told, not shown. Elena is the overworked and abused human who is taken on as an apprentice to become a fairy godmother. She is given magic and learns how to use it.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
The main story be Too much telling, not enough showing.

The first 155 pages felt like one long description of setting. The author describes the world, the interaction of fairies, godmothers and humans, how magic works, what the rules are, how they make potions, etc. It was boring. There were a few stories, mostly being told, not shown. Elena is the overworked and abused human who is taken on as an apprentice to become a fairy godmother. She is given magic and learns how to use it.

CAUTION SPOILERS:
The main story begins on page 202, about what Elena does with three princes who are brothers on a quest to save a princess. She turns one of them into a donkey to work as a donkey at her home. He goes back and forth between donkey and human form during his penance. Eventually he learns humility, compassion and the value of hard work. Then they fall in love. That story was interesting, but again too much telling, not enough showing.

On the positive side, there were some interesting twists on fairy tales, some interesting characters and plot events.

Two examples of telling, not showing follow.
Page 175, "Elena learned all of the ways that duels could take place between Magicians - whether it was the Duel Direct where one threw powerful magical attacks at the foe, the Transformation Duel where each magician kept changing his form until one or the other was able to devour or otherwise incapacitate the opposition, or the Duel by Avatar where each magician transformed into a magical monster and magical comabat took place between the. And she got as much practice in dueling as was possible under the circumstances---dueling took such huge stores of energy that no one really practiced it. Instead, they did what she did; they studied the great combats of the past." I am reminded of the Harry Potter dueling scenes where two enemies hurl spells at each other and we see what the spells do. Ms. Lackey is "telling" about duels, whereas in H. Potter we are "shown" the duels which is so much more entertaining, partly because you can see the emotions the duelers are feeling.

Page 365, Elena returns Ocatavian the lost prince to his father the king. We see the conversation of "Father, I am home again. There was a moment of stunned silence. Then the King fell upon his son, weeping and embracing him, as the Royal Guard erupted into a cheer. And after that -- well, that was when things got very interesting indeed." The author then switches to Elena being home later that night recalling the events of the day as follows. "First there had been the whole Reconciliation scene to play out, then some of the explanation of what had happened to Octavian and why, then Elena had delivered herself of a bit of a lecture to King and Prince. Not much of a lecture, but she had made it very clear that their first act must be to reconcile with Julian--- by delivering an apology --- It was the newly-humbled Octavian who'd had no difficulty with this rather obvious necessity, and in the euphoria of having his favorite son back, Henrick had agreed." At first the author was "showing" us the reunion scene, then she switched to recalling the events (telling), but she never described "when things got very interesting indeed." I was expecting something interesting, but didn't see it.

DATA:
Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: one. Setting: undescribed location in a time with kings and knights on horseback. Copyright: 2004. Genre: paranormal fairy tale with a little romance. ...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Jessie (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mythic-fiction, reviewed, nook-books, tales-of-fae-and-faery-tales, 2011-reads, reviews-2011, retellings-and-reinterpretations

Interesting and clever premise for a series. Subtly subverting the archetype of Cinderella, Lackey interprets the fairy tale in an original and fun tale. I think the opening chapters fell a little bit flat, and were slightly boring the first hundred pages or so. I liked her idea for how magic works and is channeled through certain people via The Tradition, shaping and creating different versions of classic fairytales throughout the Five Hundred Kingdoms.
The main character was annoying at first, ...more

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May 15, 2012 Nisha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adventure, bluestocking-independent-spinster, frenemies, forbidden-love, fantasy-romance, faires-fae-fey, dangerous-or-bad-boys, dragons, retold-fairy-tales, magical

This is one of the most exciting stories I have read in a long time. Set in a alternative universe, where The Tradition imposes fairy tales into the peoples lives, any fairy tale superfan is going to get goosebumps about the possibilities.

The story starts with Elena - a failed Cinderella story heroine. In her case, her prince is only 7 years and completely unsuitable for sweeping her off her feet. So instead, she gets an opportunity to reform her own destiny as a Godmother. And so, she enters t ...more

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About Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes Lackey

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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 & M 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 & 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 ...more