Review of ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT by Mercedes Lackey (see her website) and Roberta Gellis (see her website)

Baen, March 2005

The seers still see three futures--a reign of Edward, gray and acceptable to both Seleighe and Unseleighe. A reign of Mary, with the terrors of the inquisition and pain to feed Unseelie, and a golden reign of Elizabeth. The Unseelie hope to eliminate Elizabeth despite the overking Oberon's proclamation that she be unharmed. Whether through murder, or merely through disgrace, the future that Elizabeth must be prevented at all costs. Of course, the Seleighe have the opposite purpose. Denoriel of the Seelie court has spent years protecting Elizabeth's illegitimate brother, Harry, and now he turns his attention, and power, to the young Elizabeth. Oddly, Elizabeth has powers of her own, can detect magic and recognize the fairy kind, even when they disguise themselves. Denoriel's half-siblings, Pasgen and Rhoslyn, represent the main opposition from the Unseleighe court.

Authors Mercedes Lackey (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of books by Lackey) and Roberta Gellis (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of books by Gellis) continue the story begun in THIS SCEPTER'D ISLE (see our review). Despite the damage Denoriel did to the Unseleighe in his doomed defense of Harry, they continue their efforts to eliminate Elizabeth and the future she promises.

Readers interested in English history will get a kick out of seeing a magical explanation for many of the events that occured late in Henry VIII's reign. Lackey and Gellis take the alternate history approach more common in romance than in speculative fiction, giving another explanation of actual events rather than changing the events themselves to see where the new world would take them. Still, imagining the young Elizabeth in the land of fairy, and watching the plots and counterparts between the light and dark courts is interesting entertainment.

Strong writing definitely hooked me and kept me reading.

Three Stars

Reviewed 5/20/05

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