Review of THE SNOW QUEEN by Mercedes Lackey

Review of THE SNOW QUEEN by Mercedes Lackey (see her website)

TALES OF THE FIVE HUNDRED KINGDOMS

Luna, June 2008

Aleksia is bored and lonely. As the Godmother of the north, she's stuck playing the role of Snow Queen, which means she takes away spoiled boys, gives them what they think they want, and lets them discover they would have been happier with their girlfriends back home. It's an important job, but just when the boys become human it's time to send them away again. When Aleksia learns that a powerful sorceress has stolen her title and is actually killing villages from the stronghold of a look-alike ice palace, she decides she's got to move from a behind-the-scenes godmother role to become an active player in the quest.

The false queen has stolen a young sorcerer and that sorcerer's mother and fiancee set out to rescue him. The two join with Aleksia but, before they can confront the false queen, they are forced to deal with an even more powerful force--an Icehart. The Icehart can freeze anyone instantly, and seems an unstoppable force. Yet, Aleksia is convinced that he has a secret--one that might allow the three women (and their allies) to defeat him, but also a secret that might ultimately help them unravel the mystery of the false queen.

Author Mercedes Lackey (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Lackey) continues her Five Hundred Kingdoms series of combined fairy tale and fantasy with a strong offering. In THE SNOW QUEEN, the females form the strong players, with men available as assistants, as rewards, and as romantic interests. Lackey's magical system--the power of Tradition seeking stories to fit people into--makes for interesting story-telling and forms a clever device connecting Lackey's stories to fairy tales that formed many of us as children. THE SNOW QUEEN is an enjoyable story with just a bit of depth.

Four Stars

Reviewed 2/13/09

Buy The Snow Queen (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 4) from Amazon

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