Mercedes Lackey - Fairy Godmother, The - 8

[etitameh]

Fairy Godmother, The

as i progress through my third reading of this book (made my mom read it when she was in town, now i have to read it again!), i am finding it just an enjoyable as the first two. i have been a mercedes lackey fan for close to 20 years now, focusing my attentions primarily on her valdemar series. this one caught my eye during a dry spell and i picked it up to check it out... incidentally, this was the launch book for luna press, an imprint of harlequin specifically devoted to fantasy/scifi-romance combinations. i've read 15-20 luna books and thoroughly enjoyed them, too!

back to fairy godmother. the book follows the trials and travails of elena -- called ella cinders by her almost-evil stepsisters -- who you just know is going to be cinderella. however, there's a twist: elena's cinderella story can't happen; the prince is too young, so no ball, no glass slipper, no resolution! she sets out to make a new ending for herself and gets recruited by madame bella -- an honest-to-goodness fairy godmother who's in need of an apprentice.

as elena learns what fairy godmothers do, so do we: they work to manipulate the Tradition -- a force of magic that directs the universe to match various fairy tale themes -- for the greater good of all involved. i love the idea of the Tradition, it helps explain why there often seem to be so many variations on those basic fairy tale themes that always seem to crop up. it's especially entertaining to watch the clues ms lackey leaves scattered through the book of different tales -- a golden ball, a cap of rushes, and the like.

the romance of the book takes a while to get going, but it's not missed along the way. all in all, fairy godmother is a very entertaining read, one which can be taken as lightly or as seriously as the reader likes. recommended!

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