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Beauty and the Werewolf by Mercedes Lackey

Posted on May 23, 2012
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Reason for Reading:
  • This whole series cracks me up – I love Mercedes Lackey’s style of writing and the fact that the series is based on re-told fairy tales doesn’t hurt.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads

The magic continues in “New York Times”-bestselling author Lackey’s enchanting new story from the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. A beauty must battle some beasts before she rescues her prince.

My Review:

There are times a girl just needs to have some mindless fun. When those times hit me I head straight for this series.

Beginning with The Fairy Godmother and working all the way through various fairy tales these books by Mercedes Lackey never fail to make me laugh, coo a little bit in romantic bliss, and feel as if I’ve done something that is decadently delicious when I close the cover. These aren’t serious literature and that’s a good thing. I’ve read the Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the Romantic Fairy Tales by Teick, Fouque, and Brentano. So when I picked up Beauty and the Werewolf, I delighted in the fact that I was about to dive into complete silliness and fun.

And I wasn’t disappointed. While Beauty wasn’t my favorite of the series (One Good Knight holds that honor), I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. Honestly, I think I’d enjoy any book in this series as long as it contains my beloved unicorns, which had me snorting with laughter yet again.

This is a great series to give, or to read, or both! Perfect for the people in your life that you want to introduce to fantasy, and perfect for those days when you need just a little pick-me-up.

Don’t just take my word for it! Check out what these bloggers say!

Not So Angry Feminist

A Backwards Story

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The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

Posted on December 13, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I love the Five Hundred Kingdom novels by Mercedes Lackey.
  • I’m a big fan of fairy-tale retellings.
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Heavy is the head—and the eyelids—of the princess who wears the crown…In Rosamund’s realm, happiness hinges on a few simple beliefs:

For every princess there’s a prince.

The king has ultimate power.

Stepmothers should never be trusted.

And bad things come to those who break with Tradition….

But when Rosa is pursued by a murderous huntsman and then captured by dwarves, her beliefs go up in smoke. Determined to escape and save her kingdom from imminent invasion, she agrees to become the guinea pig in one of her stepmother’s risky incantations—thus falling into a deep, deep sleep.

When awakened by a touchy-feely stranger, Rosa must choose between Tradition and her future…between a host of eligible princes and a handsome, fair-haired outsider. And learn the difference between being a princess and ruling as a queen.

The moral of the story? Sometimes a princess has to create her own happy endings….

My Review:

I am so little-girl giddy over these books it’s not even funny.  I’m sure I’ve gone on and on about how much I love the unicorns to my friends and family so much that they would be happy  never to hear the word “unicorn” again – but people … this unicorn has a lisp! And I laughed so hard!

This story has so much in it – it’s a mix of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and several others, including Puss-n-Boots, Hansel and Gretal and The Frog Prince.  There are epic trials, dragons, sleeping princesses, mean dwarves and even some Norse mythology thrown in there.

This is one of my more favorite stories out of the bunch, and I was happy to read that there is a Five Hundred Kingdom’s short story out there too, because, frankly, I need more! Fantastic set of books for the fantasy lover and this series has made a Mercedes Lackey fan out of me for good.

Check out these review(s):

Medieval Bookworm

Avidbookreader

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Fortune’s Fool by Mercedes Lackey

Posted on November 20, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I loved The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
  • I find the humor in these books to be the perfect cure for sick days.
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

As the seventh daughter of the Sea King, Ekaterina has a wonderful life–but also a lot of responsibility. Her special gift for moving around on land made her the perfect emissary from her father to check out interesting happenings on the surface. In short, she became the family spy.

On one such reconnaissance mission, she encounters Sasha–the seventh son of the king of Belrus. Though everyone sees his talent as music, they also consider him a fool. Ekaternia suspects something more powerful lies behind his facade. But before she can find out what, Ekaterina is kidnapped!

Carried off by a whirlwind and trapped in a castle with other kidnapped princesses at the mercy of a possessive Jinn, Ekaterina knows her chances of being found are slim. Which means that fortune, a fool and a paper bird are the only things she can count on. Oh, and of course her own clever mind and manipulative abilities….

My Review:

Yet another fun book in what’s turning out to be a favorite series of mine.  In Fortune’s Fool, the story of a Songweaver, the Seventh Son and Fortune’s Fool is told – along with the story of the 14th daughter of The Sea King.

It’s fun seeing the different cultures being explored – this was easily identified as Russia and there were some fantastic creatures introduced.  And once again, my favorites.. the Unicorns.  Oh, they make me laugh so much.

While I didn’t like this book as much as I liked the first two, it still is a solid story – I think there was just a little too much mooning going on (the wooing kind, not the drop your pants kind).  Mercedes Lackey introduces a few more mythical creatures and they are a blast to see develop and, of course.. the Unicorns.

Fun, fun books!

Check out these review(s):

Bookwormom

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One Good Knight by Mercedes Lackey

Posted on November 19, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I loved The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey
  • I find the humor in these books to be the perfect cure for sick days.
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Why, turn to her studies, of course! But nothing practical-minded Princess Andromeda of Acadia finds gives a definitive solution. The only Traditional answer, though, is soothing the marauding dragon by a virgin sacrifice. Things are going fairly smoothly with the lottery — except for the women chosen, of course — until Princess Andromeda herself is picked!

But facing down the dragon doesn’t go quite as planned, and now, with the help of her Champion, Sir George, Andromeda searches for the dragon’s lair. But even – especially — in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, bucking Tradition isn’t easy. It takes the strongest of wills, knowledge, quick wits and a refusal to give up, no matter what happens along the way

My Review:

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!

Check out these review(s):

Twisted Kingdom

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The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey

Posted on November 7, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I loved the cover – of course.
  • I’m so into fairy tale re-tellings it’s not even funny.
I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

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! Determined not to remain with her stepfamily, Elena set out to get a new job — and ended up becoming the Fairy Godmother for the land. But breaking with “The Tradition” was no easy matter. True, she didn’t have to sleep in the chimney, but she had to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who kept trying to rise above their place in the tale. In fact, one of them was so ornery that Elena could do nothing but change him into a donkey.

Still, her practical nature couldn’t let him roam the country, so she brought the donkey — er, the prince! — home to her cottage to teach him some lessons. All the while keeping in mind that breaking with tradition can land everyone into a kettle of fish — sometimes literally!

And so begins a whole new tale…

My Review:

This was my first Mercedes Lackey read … and I loved it. I’m a big fan of fairy-tale retellings and when I saw the cover of this book and then read a little bit about it (just enough to know it was loosely based on Cinderella), I had to read it.

First of all, I’m a huge admirer when a fantasy writer gets a magic system down so well that it’s explained in a way that makes colors explode in my imagination – and that’s what Lackey did in The Fairy Godmother.

Spoilers Ahead!

I’m beyond thrilled that the book takes a twist away from the typical fairy tale into a realm that I never had considered – that of the training of the Godmothers. I was fascinated by every single magical creature, found myself snorting with laughter at the mirror-slave, Randolph, at the love-sick unicorns (I just snorted with laughter again), and at the.. odd turn of events which brought Alexander into Elena’s life.

My only disappointment was the rather.. graphic, erotic turns the book took, but they were much smaller in number then they could have been so don’t pass by this one if you are totally turned off by that sort of thing.

The witty writing, charm of the characters and sheer magic of the world made this book a delightful read, and one I’m glad to own (now.. to get my hands on the rest of them!).

Check out these review(s):

Tic Toc

Adventures in Reading

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