The Fairy Godmother

Five Hundred Kingdoms #1

by Mercedes Lackey

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 godmother. Who promptly offered Elena a most unexpected job....

Now, instead of sleeping in the chimney, she has to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who keep trying to rise above their place in the tale. And there's one in particular who needs to be dealt with....

Sometimes a fairy godmother's work is never done....

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tales, Fiction, Magic, Retellings, Science Fiction Fantasy

479 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

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

Reviews

[Rachel L · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 rescue from her evil stepmother and stepsisters. When she looks to the servant market to find work, she is picked up by a fairy godmother and recruited to a new cause. Because her prince was not appropriate for her (a good 10 year age difference 11 years of age versus 21), Elena's Tradition never played out according to plan. But by becoming a Fairy Godmother she could help others affected by magic and Tradition.

“...for a country whose people ceased to believe in magic soon lost much of their ability to imagine and dream, and before long, they ceased to believe--or hope-- for anything.”

This wasn't my favorite book by Lackey but I enjoyed the premise and the idea of everything quite a bit. I loved the first half of the book but when Alexander came in I lost interest. And as a love interest you would think he'd be interesting (but he wasn't). And the book was way too long, there were lots of parts that could have been edited out.

But I love Lackey's writing style and her brain. I found it hilarious that the unicorns were like big dumb dogs in this and yearned to be petted by virgins. So dang funny. And Elena as a character was interesting but needed a bit more development.

So a great return to the fantasy genre and to Lackey, I will continue to read this series but this first book did not wow me like her other books have in the past.

[JG (Introverted Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 associated with that and the magical worls around her, so I'd rate that part a 4 or 5, but I didn't like all the "romance novel" bits (which I found kind of annoying and would rate those parts a 2 maybe.

There was so much I loved about this book, I just was not impressed with the (unneccessary and in my opinion, forced feeling) romance novel sex and eroticism.

:(

[Grace*dnfing books since 2022* · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[TinaNoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

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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.

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

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. Just a warning.

[Mandi Ellsworth]

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 Elena to fend for herself. (Is this sounding convoluted?) So, Elena is met by a Godmother needing an apprentice. Elena does nicely. On one of Elena's first solo missions, she meets up with an arrogant second son of a king (making him a prince) that Elena gets so annoyed with she turns him into a donkey and takes him home to work. Great stuff, right?

The only, and I mean only, beef I have with this book is the unnecessary reference to body parts. The love story would have worked brilliantly without suddenly talking about breasts and how they look or what they do. I could also do without talk of "rutting". What a crass way to talk about something that should be sacred. One doesn't usually find that in YA. So, I'm afraid that ruined the whole thing for me. And I didn't read the sequel. What a shame.

[Kate McMurry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, Cinderella, paranormal romance

This novel, as the first in a series based on fairytale retellings, establishes the paranormal premise of the 500 Kingdoms in much more detail than occurs in any of the subsequent books, and it is important for that reason to read these books in order.

In the "sword and sorcery," medieval world of the 500 Kingdoms, a powerful, magical force, called the Tradition, is constantly hammering the lives of a large percentage of the citizens of the various kingdoms into the shape of a traditional fairytale. Unfortunately, the Tradition is not committed to creating an HEA ending for all of these tales. Tragedy is just fine with it. It is the job of the fairy godmothers (the original ones were actual fairies, but they have handed over the reins to human women for the past few hundred years) to steer the Tradition in directions that are the least destructive possible. Unfortunately, the Tradition is operating everywhere, all the time, and there aren't enough available, effective fairy godmothers to prevent every possible catastrophe.

The first part of this novel shows how 21-year-old Elena Klovis becomes a godmother. Her life mirrors the classic Cinderella tale. Her wealthy father died when she was 14, a year after he remarried, and she has been enslaved as a household drudge for the past seven years to her evil stepmother and evil stepsisters. During this whole time, the Tradition has been steering Elena toward ending up with a prince, but with no success, because the local prince was only a baby when the process began. Elena has felt a magical pressure on her for all of these seven years, but she has not known what it is, because it is not common knowledge in her kingdom that the Tradition exists. She also has not realized that her only friends in the world, her nextdoor neighbors, who are "hedge witches" (women who possess a relatively small amount of magic and use it to help others), are friends with the fairy godmother in charge of the kingdom in which Elena lives as well as multiple other kingdoms. The witch neighbors have been observing and emotionally supporting Elena during these seven years, and they have advised the godmother that Elena would be a good candidate as her apprentice. When one day her stepmother and stepsisters, in order to flee their local creditors, with no warning, pack up the family carriage with everything of value that is not nailed down from Elena's father's mansion, leaving Elena behind to watch over the mansion and deal with the creditors on her own, an opportunity finally opens up for the hedge witches to steer Elena toward the godmother. Elena attends a local job fair that comes once a year, and the fairy godmother shows up and whisks Elena away in a flying donkey cart to her magical cottage in a magical forest. The cottage is a "pocket dimension," that is, it is massively larger on the inside than it appears on the outside. It is inhabited by four brownies (domestic fairies) and a magic mirror.

There is a delightful paranormal romance which begins shortly after Elena becomes a full-fledged godmother when her mentor leaves. The first meet of Elena and Prince Alexander, who is also in his early 20s, occurs when Elena, in disguise, plays the part of a significant element of a magical, Tradition-controlled quest that Alexander and his two brothers are on. Elena is in magical disguise as the "old lady at the crossroads," who begs for assistance. To pass the test, each prince must treat her with compassion, and Alexander fails the test terribly. He is such a callous jerk, in fact, that Elena loses her temper and turns him into a donkey.

For the rest of the book, the story is told in the preferred format of the mainstream romance genre, the dual point of view of Elena and Alexander. He has a highly entertaining growth arc, from jerk to gem, that I greatly enjoyed. This is, in fact, one of the best "enemies to lovers" romance plots I've ever read.

For readers who prefer no sex on the page, there is is only one full-fledged scene and a few "makeout" scenes. However, there is no crudeness and very little description. Because this is a slowburn romance, when Elena and Alexander finally make love, though their sexual chemistry is delightful, the focus is primarily on emotion rather than lust.

This is my second read of this terrific novel, and I enjoyed it this time as much as I did the first time. It is still a five-star read for me. I own the audiobook version. The narrator, Gabra Zackman, does an excellent job.

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 spectacularly as Alexander.

Who ticks off Fairy Godmother Elena to the extent that she turns him into a donkey.

And therein lies the story.

LOL! The beginning, with Elena learning to be a fairy godmother, was fun. But once Alexander showed up, the story moved. This is the first novel in Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdom series, and I definitely intend to read the rest.

[Abby Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Ranting Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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, accepting a position that she thinks is as a maid-of-all-work, she instead finds herself offered an apprenticeship to a Fairy Godmother, Madame Bella, who is getting on in years. It’s there Elena learns about the magical force called The Tradition which tries to force people in the Five Hundred Kingdoms down traditional paths from stories and fairy tales.

Unusual pacing
This book can essentially be divided into two distinct yet cohesive halves—Apprentice and Godmother. The first half has something of the feel of a training montage or a collection of short stories as Bella teaches Elena about magic and how to manipulate The Tradition to achieve happy endings. This half, while not contributing much to the plot of the book, provides an introduction to the world, politics, and magic system of the Five Hundred Kingdoms without ever feeling too much like an info dump. All this background learning sets up not only the rest of the book, but the following books in the series as well. As she learns, Elena has a number of little adventures, keeping the pace from lagging too badly.

In the second half, Elena is deemed ready and becomes the Fairy Godmother herself, Bella vanishing into retirement. The overall plot of the book doesn’t really start until after Elena ventures forth to perform the very Traditional task of testing Questers, when she undertakes the redemption of arrogant Prince Alexander, who failed the first test of his Quest. He certainly doesn’t want her help, and she certainly doesn’t want him around, especially not with The Tradition trying to force the two of them together. The pace picks up even more when Elena is called upon to battle an evil mage from an unfamiliar Traditional line.

Unique magic system
While much of The Fairy Godmother may seem familiar, with its references to stories such as Rapunzel, The Princess and the Pea, and Sleeping Beauty, The Tradition is a unique, fascinating source of magic. It’s a mindless power that will try to force you down the familiar path if your life starts to resemble a tale. The Tradition can be tricked or diverted, but it can’t be ignored. The power it brings to bear can be used for either good or evil, and it doesn’t care if the tale has a happy ending or not; good magic users like Godmother Elena try to ensure happy endings and to prevent evil magic users from preying on innocents. This system of magic leads to very interesting moments, as Elena learns how to twist The Tradition to her own purposes.

Great Fae and Wild Fae also make an appearance with magic of their own—magic that the humans and the house brownies don’t entirely understand.

Romance novel characters
The main characters of The Fairy Godmother are likeable and not completely flat—just mostly. Elena’s only flaw is that she’s still learning her role as a Fairy Godmother; she’s noble and good and clever, and even her inexperience doesn’t stand in her way. Alexander starts out as a pompous, arrogant ass, but he feels his behavior is entirely justified, and from his flawed perspective, his behavior is understandable. With Elena’s unwelcome help, he becomes a perfectly charming prince, with just a slight surprise twist. The secondary characters, the brownies who help around the house, are each unique individuals; they are definitely not cookie cutter characters. Yet they aren’t developed much, either.

This book isn’t epic fantasy, though, and doesn’t need epic characters; it’s romance-fantasy, and these characters do fit the story quite well. They aren’t morally ambiguous or deep, they aren’t tortured souls, but they are likeable. As romance novels go, this one has much more interesting characters, who do undergo more development, than in a typical romance.

Five hundred kingdoms
Yes, there really are five hundred kingdoms in this world, a fantasized version of medieval Europe. Only a few of the kingdoms are fleshed out in this volume, though Elena herself has charge of a dozen or so. The different kingdoms have different politics and different attitudes toward magic, and provide ample possibilities for settings of future books in the series.

Why should you read this book?
As one of the few books to ever make me laugh out loud, I can recommend The Fairy Godmother wholeheartedly to anyone who doesn’t mind romance. This is a light, fluffy cotton candy novel, great for a quick read. However, it’s also intelligent with its references to classic fairy tales and creatures such as brownies, mirror-slaves, glass mountains, and more. Those who love the old tales will have fun spotting these various references and tropes. And those who may be bothered by sexual content can be assured that the few erotic scenes can be skipped over without missing anything crucial to the plot.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know, I know, finally reading this one. Loved the approach to fairy tales and they way they are tied together. Makes me want to rewatch the show Once Upon a Time.

SO many great ways to connect the fairy tales; I will continue on with this series for sure.

A great time and I liked Ella quite a bit. A beautifully imagined universe.

Solid 4 Stars

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Jayme(theghostreader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the series. I have read "Sleeping Beauty" before this and I wish I read this book first. It explains the Tradition which is how the fairy tales are supposed to go according to plan. This story is about Elena which is supposed to be Cinderella but she missed her chance to marry her prince so she becomes the Fairy Godmother instead by becoming an apprentice to the current fairy godmother. Then she takes over. I liked this story because it mentions some of the traditional fairy tales only they are renamed. I also liked that Elena does get a happily ever after and she does find her prince but not in the traditional way. I liked her prince. He mended his ways and managed to become part of the tradition after a failed quest. He becomes Elena's champion and beloved. They both save the day their kingdom together fulfilling a few traditions unknowingly. I am just glad Elena got her happily ever after.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

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-


I thought the romance was a bit disappointing, as there is very little actual interaction between Elena and Alexander. We don't see them actually building regard for each other, just the erotic dreams. Also, he never apologizes for basically assaulting her, which really turned me off.

It also bothers me that the Tradition is so sexist and homophobic. Maybe it would make more sense if something/someone had created it, but it's presented more as a fact of life. Maybe I'm being uncharitable and it's meant to be a criticism/commentary, but that was something I had trouble getting past.

[Clarice Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

My grandma wanted me to read this, so I did. Apparently it’s one of her favorite books.

I liked the spin on a fairytale everyone knows. But, I literally felt like I was being dragged along through the entire first half of the novel.

Part of the book has smut and it scared me. I can’t believe my grandma and I have read the same smut 3

Nothing revolutionary about this book but Lackey did a very good job with description and keeping the language of an old tale.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** 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.

[Camy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Adrianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

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. The people go about their daily lives reenacting the stories of old like "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "Rapunzel," or "Snow White," to name a few. Everything is controlled by this magical power known as "The Tradition." The people are pawns to the whims of The Tradition. However, not all fairy tales have happy endings, as the characters learn. The Tradition uses magic to put people into certain positions, but if extenuating circumstances prevent their lives from taking a certain path, they go down another (and probably one that is less unfavorable).

This is where the Fairy Godmothers come into play. Many of the godmothers are no longer pure fairies but instead are humans that have learned to use magic and the power of The Tradition. These women are important to the people of the Five Hundred Kingdoms because they are the harbingers of happy endings. They shape The Tradition to go the way of good rather than evil, constantly balancing the yin and yang of life.

This particular tale focuses on Elena Klovis' life. She is a stepdaughter, and her stepmother (Theresa Klovis) and stepsisters (Delphinium and Daphne) treat her like a servant girl. Does this sound like a familiar story yet? Other characters include her neighbors Blanche and Fleur, Madame Bella (her fairy godmother) and a cottage full of House-Elves. There are more characters and surprises in store for the readers, but the best-developed person is of course Elena. Since this is her story, over half of the book gives exquisite details about her life, her future, and the kingdom she lives in.

There are many themes and motifs in the story. The main one is that people can control their destinies despite the overarching powers of The Tradition. Other smaller themes include treating people humanely, wanting to do good rather than evil, and of course the ever popular belief that love conquers all. An example of a motif commonly found in fairy tales is the old hag turning into a witch or enchantress. Many of the themes and motifs in The Fairy Godmother are intertwined with morals. Having such a moral undertone to the piece, though, made parts of the book corny rather than fantastical.

Overall, the purpose of the entire story is to rewrite the traditional tale of Cinderella. Lackey melds the old with her unique vision of such a world. I can't really compare this to other fantasy writers or pieces except the fairy tale it represents. Even there, it can't compare because Elena's story is very different from all the versions of "Cinderella" that I've read. To some degree, I appreciate the original tales more because of the historical implications and comparisons that can be made to the time periods "Cinderella" was adapted for. On the other hand, I appreciate Lackey's vision because of how different it is, especially how it's suited for a modern audience. Editing the boring parts would have made this story more exciting. Growing up with these types of princess fairy tales, it's hard to replace those memories with this new one, mainly because the execution of the story was lacking.

Originally, I was going to rate this story a 3 or a 4, but it took too long to get exciting. The Fairy Godmother did not pick up until about Chapter 7, 100 pages in, which could cause some readers to lose interest. Because this is the first in Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdom series, there is an inordinate amount of details that slows the story. There were moments when I felt like I was reading a history of the Five Hundred Kingdoms instead of a fairy tale about Elena. Rather than point out all the intricacies of this world, Lackey should have left some points to be discovered in a later book. There were also parts about Elena's own story that were too detailed. Honestly, I wasn't excited about the book until 200 pages in, around Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 when the main hero, Prince Alexander, makes his appearance.

Despite these flaws, The Fairy Godmother is still a fun read that many will enjoy. I especially appreciated how female-centric the piece was, mainly showing the world through Elena's eyes. There are some points where the point of view shifts between Elena and Alexander, usually to emphasis how both characters are growing from their interactions with each other. In addition to the strong female lead of Elena, there are other female characters for women readers to identify with, especially in the roles of witches, sorceresses, and the ever powerful and present godmothers. Still, the book follows the tradition of fairy tales with many of the younger female characters pairing off with men to have "happy endings."

The best part about this edition of The Fairy Godmother was the Q & A with Mercedes Lackey. She explores fantasy, "moral fiction," and the reasons behind her writing this particular genre. It gives some important insights into the mind of the author that new readers and even long-time fans will find useful.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Jane Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 unique and entertaining but very long winded at times. I felt it took a long time to get to the meat of the story. I know and understand that the author felt she had to set the stage and build the world so that we the readers would know what is going on. Due to a few romantic/sex scenes I would not recommend this to anyone under the age of 14ish.

[Tiffany Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fairy Godmother
Stop me if you've heard this one. Once Upon A Time in a fairy tale/faraway kingdom there lived a beautiful girl named Elena Klovis, that because she tended house after her evil step-mother and step-sisters (and one of those tasks was cleaning the cinders from the fireplace) they gave her the nickname "Cinder-Ella".

After making a wish to attend a ball (that evil step-witches forbid her to attend) to meet a handsome Prince Charming, her Godmother in shining sparkles appears, and the formerly shabby lady now slays down to her glass heels. She rides off in her pumpkin coach for an evening of dancing the night away in the arms of her Prince Hottie.


That is until her midnight curfew. He finds her heel, tracks her down, and then rides off with her into the sunset for a lifetime of marital bliss.

However, if you think this is the version and the tale you're about to hear for the umpteenth time, you'd be WRONG!

In this version, Elena is indeed the maid to an evil step-family. Only there is NO prince waiting to romance her under the stars, whisk her away to a castle, and live out a happily ever after. The only ones knocking her door down are creditors (from all the debt her family has racked up). But deep in her heart day in and day out Elena longs for the fairy tale that was "suppose" to hers. And she's about to get her wish.

Bella (the Godmother) appears to her and doesn't just make over her attire, but she makes over her life when she makes her the offer of training with her as her apprentice. Someday to take over in her place as Godmother of several kingdoms. And thus Elena's tale begins.

There is a prince, but he's far from charming. As a matter of fact, he's an ass. He and his brothers are sent on a quest to win the hand of a neighboring king's daughter by their greedy father. Only one will be victorious of the three.


Then there's the slight irritation of what's known as "The Tradition" an invisible force that tries to "guide" stories in a certain direction that IT chooses whether good or bad.

Despite her new role as the Godmother, the tradition, and the knowledge that a Godmother never in history has taken a "consort" Elena's heart still aches for her original story's plot to be granted and that's the one thing, her magic can't change. Or can it?


My Thoughts:

I think that this is the BEST version of Cinderella I ever heard! I was recommended a book in this series (Fortune's Fool) by a friend, but this was the first book in the overall collection.

The problem I have with the story of Cinderella itself is that, yes when you’re a little girl it's beautiful and magical to believe in (and see) a story about a girl's dreams magically come true. And there's a gorgeous dress, glass slippers, a ball, a handsome prince, and eventually a marriage and a castle at the end.

LIES! When you grow up you get just a tad bit jaded (some not all), and when you see there is no prince and you wait and wait and wait for real life to imitate this fabrication, reality sets in and what you get isn't so "magical".

A sour feeling sets in. The truth is (for some of us) working hard and making wishes does NOT lead to this for a lot of women. It just doesn't. Every Cinderella DOES NOT GET A PRINCE! IM SO SORRY! And a lot of little girls turn into grown women whose "Cinderella" fantasy fails to make it past the "ashes". (The ashes being life itself).

So what I liked about this going in was that this Cinderella I could relate to more. In the first part of the book, there is no ball. (Although at first, that's where I thought the stepmother and sisters were headed when they left).

We see Elena longing for the romance every other girl has. So much so it's painful to her. So much so that she goes from wanting a Prince to just any ordinary man in the village. She lowers her expectations. And I think as time goes by a lot of single women do this. "Can I just get ONE guy to ask me out?" This made Elena REAL to me. That's when I knew I liked the direction this story was going in.

When the Godmother show's up and explains to her that she was supposed to have her story, but because of circumstances beyond her control, it just wasn't gonna happen. I could relate to that too. Because I've BEEN THERE! I like Elena wanted the fairy tale/happily ever after and deep in my heart I knew it was supposed to be mine, but because of circumstances, it wasn't given to me. Just like Elena, I didn't even know the circumstances. At least Elena got an explanation. Her Prince was 11. It didn't justify a thing, but it's more of an answer than a lot of people get why they haven't gotten anyone.

I was satisfied that her story was going to go in another direction tho. Because if you're not given "the Prince" than life "should" compensate by giving you a "Godmother role” Something you find fulfilling, enriches you and gives you a sense of purpose. That's a MORE than acceptable compromise in my opinion!

I would want to be a Godmother. I LOVED the idea of an expanding cottage! I LOVED the idea of using magic to help people with potions and elixirs. And I could imagine this setting in my head of this cozy (yet stuffed) dwelling. In my head, this world looked akin to an old Nintendo game I have called Legends of Mania.

I thought it was an interesting twist of Aracnia (Maleficent)'s heart being turned from cursing the Sleeping Beauty through the love of a random Prince that just pops out of nowhere professing his desire for her. I guess even dark Sorceress have needs. Fair enough.

I even liked Randall (the Magic Mirror) and thought he was a fun character. He was more a "Shrek" inspired Magic mirror. And I thought the addition of him was used well making him a source of information and a companion. It must get lonely to be a Godmother and other than a house of fairies have no other human companions. Hmm but maybe that's not SUCH a bad thing.

Then it happened. I was PRAYING it wouldn't. This promising tale of a woman that does ok in a fairytale with a GREAT CAREER WITHOUT A PRINCE and then along comes a Prince. 3 of them.

I didn't think anything of it at first. I took it as what it was A QUEST. Should have known that when she took the one home to teach him a lesson that was the END of that hope. We all saw how Beauty and the Beast went. And that's what this part reminded me of.

Although yes it was humbling to see Alexander's transformation, I actually was a little put off that there had to be a Prince in her story. Like her story couldn't have a happy ending without a man in it.

Yes, I got her hot, sexual, desires. That will happen. I got her burning jealousy for what Aracnia had Also true! But since the message of this book had EVERYTHING to do with changing traditions. Did it not? Were we not beat over the head with how Elena in every turn of a page went against the grain. How she didn't waste her magic like some of the Godmothers. How she hated how the Tradition imposed its will taking away the choices of others. So why would you end this book with a traditional ending? Even though the journey was anything but.

It just wasn't enough for me to twist the story and have it end with her finding happiness not just with being a Godmother. Why do stories have to end with a woman finding happiness because of a man?

Then the ending of the story and the battle felt quick. I was thankful it wasn't long and drawn out, but she rescues Julius (no guards to interfere), she gets past the minions (using invisibility), she gets inside the room (nothing at the door guarding the treasure room). I thought she wasn't gonna be able to get the heart because it was encased in the box. It took about 2 pages for her to come up with a "simple spell" that frees the heart. In the next scene he hears her call, Alexander rams the sword in the villain's chest, the villain falls dead. THE END. I mean COME ON! I expected a little more challenge than that. I mean I know this is fiction, but try to make it seem a little bit realistic. Battles aren't won that easily. There's some kind of struggle. The villain has Alexander down on the ground about to deliver the final blow and is squeezing the life out his throat and then he hears the call. And it shouldn't have been that easy either for Elena to get to the heart, rescue the Princess, and King Julius (Alexander's brother).

So in conclusion I loved where this was headed at the beginning of the book, (I even liked the poetic justice of turning him into what he was acting like), but it fell off with a weak ending. It was a happy ending, but it could have been stronger. Although I did like what happened in the Epilogue and the stepmother and sister's fate. At least that felt like a satisfying outcome for them.

RATING: This could have been 10 stars but bumping it down to 8 because the end didn't deliver.

[Lily Mordaunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

During this last year and a half, I’ve become very picky with the fantasy I read. I haven’t wanted the gore and death that, I feel, has become ubiquitous in fantasy novels. The Fairy Godmother was a great choice to satisfy my desire for magic without morbidity. It also served as an introduction to an author whose name I’ve heard often but never explored.
I thought this story line was fun and unique, a girl living the life/experiences we’ve come to associate with Cinderella is unable to get her traditional happily ever after because the kingdom’s prince is ten years her junior. So, after her family abandons her, she’s approached by the kingdom’s fairy godmother to train for the position.
I loved how the author incorporated other fairytales into this story and how Elena and the other godmothers went about subverting them. I loved how strong a personality Elena also had, even when she was serving her cruel stepmother and sisters. And finally, I love the nontraditional turn her happily ever after took.
There is romance in this book, but it is not central to the plot which I think worked/was in keeping with Elena’s personality. I loved the magic system and the creatures that populated the world. I also really enjoyed Gabra Zackman’s narration—but I already knew I would.
I’d recommend this one if you’re looking for something light on both sex and violence. Though, with that said, there are a (very few) sexual/eroticscenes and, near the end, a neighboring kingdom is attacked. I started to worry that I’d maybe made the wrong choice in book, but it was never delved into with too much detail. (To be honest, I still could probably have done with out, but that’s because of how hypersensitized I’ve become, it was really not bad.)
Oh, random thing I just remembered: near the beginning of the book, the townsfolk call Elena Ella Cinders. Then the nickname disappears. A little while someone either calls her Ella, or the author refers to her as Ella, and it stood out to me as odd because it had never been established as a nickname that Elena welcomed with affection.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 she wanted it to go. Including when it tried to create a new path for her. Why couldn't she have her career and a love life also?

Overall, a fun twist on an old story. I will definitely read more of this series.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like this series!! This one was less fun for me but still enjoyable.
- this is a cinderella retelling (my least favorite princess)
- cinderella is groomed to be the next Fairy Godmother (the training was not as much fun as I hoped)
- she falls in love with a prince she literally turns into a donkey because he has bad manners (I dont care for enemies to lovers)
- there is a spicy dream and a spicy scene and I dont care for either of them

However, still going to continue with the other fairytales as I love the world and magic system!