Review: The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

The Particulars: Fantasy, Luna, e-book, library book.

Grade: B-

The Blurb:

Godmother Lily serves the Kingdom of Eltaria, which may be the most imperiled of all the Five Hundred Kingdoms. It has the misfortune of being small, rich, and surrounded with enemies. Governing it has been a constant juggling trick.

But now The Tradition has decided to land the blow of making the King a widower, and his daughter the Fairest In The Land. This can only mean bad things for the King, the Princess Rosa, and above all, the Kingdom itself.

The Review:

What I liked:

This is the fifth book in The Five Hundred Kingdoms series. I read the first three, but I never got around to read the fourth one. ( Each book stands alone).  Unlike the previous novels that re-told ONE fairy tale, this one re-tells three(!).  At first,  I worried that it would be confusing, but Ms. Lackey managed to weave a fun story about their attempts to manipulate Tradition.  I must admit that I love Tradition, the way it tries to steer people towards their fate.  I also like that the tragic sides to it are well known.

Since this is a fairy tale based world, there is a lot of nods to fairy tales in this book, not just the ones that are the base of the plot.  There were times that it felt like it was too many, frankly.

The characters were   I liked Siegfried a lot, since he actually had a brain  and used it.   In fact, I liked all of the characters. I liked that Rosa didn’t hesitate to work. But the character I liked most was Lily. Without her, this story wouldn’t be the same.  In a way, she is the heroine, and not Rosa. 

What I didn’t like:

After the start, it felt like the author forgot about the need for an external threat. Oh, it is there but I wish it had been more. 

Since this is a romantic fantasy, a HEA is expected.  And, honestly, I had a strong hunch about how it would end since I read about Siegfried’s destiny.  Which was what happened.

Summary:

This is a fun romp, set in an unique world. Will I get the next book? Probably not. I’ll get it from the library.