the house of the four winds

The first time I had a look at the cover of Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory’s The House of the Four Winds, I thought it wasn’t my sort of book.  I mean, I read seafaring and swashbuckling tales with relish in my younger years, but it’s not my usual cup of tea these days.  Then the kind folks at Tor sent over a note about its release, and I always try to give my email an honest read before answering it, so I did more than skim the description.  Lo and behold, this was a fantasy (I should have known – Lackey and all!), with a cross-dressing princess of a heroine, and the blurb promised ROMANCE.  Well, who was I to say no to that?!  It sounded like good fun.

Mercedes Lackey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Valdemar series and romantic fantasies like Beauty and the Werewolf and The Fairy Godmother. James Mallory and Lackey have collaborated on six novels. Now, these New York Times and USA Today bestselling collaborators bring romance to the fore with The House of Four Winds.

The rulers of tiny, impoverished Swansgaard have twelve daughters and one son. While the prince’s future is assured, his twelve sisters must find their own fortunes.



Disguising herself as Clarence, a sailor, Princess Clarice intends to work her way to the New World. When the crew rebels, Clarice/Clarence, an expert with rapier and dagger, sides with the handsome navigator, Dominick, and kills the cruel captain.



Dominick leads the now-outlawed crew in search of treasure in the secret pirate haven known as The House of Four Winds. They encounter the sorceress Shamal, who claims Dominick for her own—but Clarice has fallen hard for Dominick and won’t give him up without a fight.  



Full of swashbuckling adventure, buoyant magic, and irrepressible charm, The House of the Four Winds is a lighthearted fantasy romp by a pair of bestselling writers.

Clarice is the oldest of an enormous brood of daughters (and one son) born to the ruler of a tiny principality in the mountains.  Her parents can’t afford dowries for their daughters without beggaring their kingdom, so each daughter is expected to go off and seek her fortune.  Clarice is determined to ply her trade as a swordsmaster, but she must earn a reputation first, and that requires travel.  Disguising herself as “Clarence Swann,” she takes passage on a merchant vessel bound for the New World, and quickly becomes fast friends with the ship’s navigator, Dominick.  When sinister events and adventures threaten her life, Clarice/Clarence must use all of her resources (and rely on her heart) to come through the storm.

The first thing you should know about The House of the Four Winds is that my first judgment after a 5-second perusal of the cover art did not fail me.  It’s 90% about life on a boat filled with men, plus some violence.  The other 10% of the book is split between Clarice’s (somewhat boring) backstory and a magical mystery at the very end of the book.  The second thing you should know is that this book didn’t do anything for me.  I generally like Mercedes Lackey’s books (see: Elemental Masters series), but I didn’t like another co-written book of hers, so perhaps that is to blame.  The third thing?  The official summary contains ALL OF THE SPOILERS.  *le sigh*

Shall I catalog my disappointments?  The sooner I do, the sooner I can dwell on this book’s good points (and ideal readers).  Number one: lack of female characters. Clarice’s female-heavy family not-withstanding (and they really are off-stage, as she leaves them immediately), the female characters present in the story are: Clarice, a virtuous white woman who is determined to look, think and act like a man at all times, and Shamal, a non-white seductive evil sorceress.  Commentary: depressingly obvious.  Number two: believability.  Clarice’s sex is NEVER discovered on a ship, over weeks worth of time.  She is also an incredibly wise (but naïve in all the ways that count!) eighteen year old with no faults to speak of.  Excuse me while I laugh my head off over here in the corner.

Number three (and this may well be my biggest disappointment): what love story?!  I was promised a magical romp heavy on romance!  It’s all very much ship life, and officer/crew heierarchy, what-are-we-going-to-do-about-the-pirates?! until the last second.  And then the "romance" is lightly sprinkled on at the very end.  UNSATISFACTORY.  Also, only one swordfight worth mentioning.  Travesty, I tell you! 

Finally, the worldbuilding was spotty. The magical system isn’t given any depth or character, the main characters (except the villain) don’t do any magic themselves, and the whole thing feels like a big cliché.  It would be one thing if there was a bit of humor to lighten the tone of the story and turn it into a romp (I suppose I wouldn’t mind weak worldbuilding so much then), but there’s not.  Instead, there’s death, tragedy, uncertainty, and a lot of loose ends.

So, who WOULD enjoy this book, and/or what were its good points?  I’d say anyone who picked it up for the cover won’t be disappointed.  There’s a lot of sailing and pirating involved.  Clarice’s introduction to the nuances of shipboard life brought Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Jean Lee Latham’s Carry On, Mr. Bowditch to mind. I also think fans of The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise will find much of the familiar in this tale.  What I mean is, it’s clichéd, and it wasn’t for me, but I can see how it would be fun reading if you want a sea adventure and don’t mind a fantasy without much magic.  It is also a good candidate for a YA crossover title, as the romance is quite clean and the heroine has just turned eighteen.

All in all?  The book’s cross-dressing heroine and promise of romance did not fulfill my expectations, but the story will likely please others.

Recommended for: anyone who has been searching for The Pirates of the Caribbean in book form.

The House of the Four Winds will be released by Tor (Macmillan) on August 5, 2014.

Fine print: I received a finished copy of this book for free for review from the publisher.  I did not receive any compensation for this post.

waiting on wednesday (44)

It’s been two weeks since I posted here, and several things have happened.  Christmas! (requisite trip to Seattle included), my birthday, the New Year… And I finally caught up on Downton Abbey, saw Pitch Perfect (I recommend both!), and I’m still blogging, though you wouldn’t know it from my silence.  Hope all of you had a happy holiday season.  I should be around more now that December is past.

Today I’m participating in "Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Its purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

As I’ve said before, I’m devoted to Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series.  I pre-order each book, read immediately upon arrival, and if it’s up to snuff, add it to the honored ‘re-read’ shelf.  There’s something about Edwardian England mixed with magic and fairy tales that is very me, and I can’t imagine not liking one these books.  Steadfast, the ninth title in the Elemental Masters series, will be released on June 4, 2013 by DAW Hardcover (Penguin).

The new novel in Mercedes Lackey’s bestselling series of an alternative Edwardian Britain, where magic is real—and Elemental Masters are in control. 

Lionel Hawkins is a magician whose act is only partially sleight of hand. The rest is real magic. He’s an Elemental Magician with the power to persuade the Elementals of Air to help him create amazing illusions. It doesn’t take long before his assistant, acrobat Katie Langford, notices that he’s no ordinary magician—and for Lionel to discover that she’s no ordinary acrobat, but rather an untrained and unawakened Fire Magician. She’s also on the run from her murderous and vengeful brute of a husband. But can she harness her magic in time to stop her husband from achieving his deadly goal?

What books are you waiting on?

waiting on wednesday (20)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

My love of Mercedes Lackey (and especially her Elemental Masters series) is well documented here on the blog. I adore fantasy (of course), but this series, with its historical Edwardian/WWI setting, is the best sort of comfort reading. Think of it like this: Downton Abbey, but in book form. Add in magic, and a loose framework of fairytales retold. Dead ringer for MYFAVORITEEVER. Glory of glories, Lackey is still writing in the series. Her next one comes out this summer! Home From the Sea will be released by DAW Hardcover on June 5, 2012.

This story combines East of the Sun and West of the Moon, as well as Tam Lin, with the Selkie of Sul Skerry. We'll see Nan and Sarah (from Wizard of London) as adults, coming into their own--and Grey and Neville, of course!

[excerpt from Mercedes Lackey’s website]

What books are you waiting on?

legacies

Boarding schools. Myths and legend. Orphans. Wish fulfillment. Questionable authority figure behavior. Add in a little mystery, a dollop of angst and the faintest hint of teenage romance, and you’ve got Legacies, the first in a series by Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill. The Shadow Grail books feature magical teen orphans who are sent to a Montana boarding school called Oakhurst – and the school is hiding secrets and peril. Wondering if Legacies ticks ALL of the cliché boxes? It does, without irony.

Spirit White has survived from a deadly car crash that has killed her mother and father and her sister. She has been discovered by a school with special talents, called magic. A couple of months after staying, people begin to disappear, some vanish to be never seen again, so Spirit and her new friends begin the investigation. But will they find out the truth of what is going on? Or will Spirit and her friends suffer a terrible fate from which they don't know about yet?

Spirit White survives a horrific accident that kills the rest of her family, and after extensive therapy is bundled off to a school in the middle of nowhere – one that provides for her every need and also tells her that she has latent magical abilities. While Spirit makes friends and gets to know her surroundings, everyone she knows is under threat. Will she survive?

First of all, to the rhetorical ‘question’ I ask (and the official summary asks) above – OF COURSE she survives. There’s a book two! Secondly, ohmydeargoodness, there were so many things that rubbed my skin the wrong way with this book. Stand back and let me get started with the evisceration. I mean… analysis.

There were two instances that stood out to me as clearly abusive adult behavior for no apparent reason (no plot or character development occur as a result): first in the hospital, when Spirit is berated by an orderly who is named but has no other back story. He’s clearly a placeholder, which could be okay, but he yells at our main character. Who is healing and mourning. In, you know, a hospital. The situation is just so weird and out of place that the warning bells went off immediately. And the second, with the headmaster… we have a clear instance of TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) syndrome, my dears. If you can’t see that that’s unhealthy, you have no survival skillz, and you might deserve my contempt. Moving on!

Wish fulfillment – this is one element of Legacies that brought me out of the story over and over again. I understand, the place is luxurious and they’re given everything. However, the time spent describing consumer items would be better spent on the actual setting (and would alleviate a lot of confusion in the story world).

Another thing that constantly grabbed attention away from the action was the mishandling of cultural references and teen communication. Technology use didn’t fit the age group, the IM speak was embarrassing, and there was an Anna Nicole Simpson reference. That’s almost too old for me, and I’m 27 (not the target market). Mess.

Put all of the mismatched elements together, and a story won’t hold well (for me), no matter how good the plot. And you know what? The plot in Legacies was the only thing that kept me reading. Total bright spot, even if you can tell from a mile away that this is a set-up book. If you’re into the whole orphan-with-magic-in-a-boarding-school thing, may I point you in the direction of Jennifer Estep’s Touch of Frost? Same clichés, but with more humor and sass. Or if you do try this series – remember that I warned you!

Recommended for: die-hard fans of magic in school settings, Mercedes Lackey enthusiasts wondering what she’s serving up to the younger set, and those with an incurable sense of optimism. Good luck!

waiting on wednesday (8)

I’m participating today in "Waiting On" Wednesday. It is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, and its purpose is to spotlight eagerly anticipated upcoming releases.

If you like fantasy, you’ll have heard of Mercedes Lackey. The woman is scarily prolific, and it seems that EVERYONE has read something by her. I held off on trying her books until a couple of years ago, when I fell head first into a series of fairy tale-based novels set in Edwardian England called the Elemental Masters books. And that, as they say, was that.

I count Phoneix and Ashes among my favorite novels ever, and The Serpent’s Shadow is another great read. When I heard that Lackey’s latest novel would be a continuation of the series, my heart just about beat out of my chest. Now I just have to wait until it comes out! Unnatural Issue will be released by DAW Hardcover on June 7, 2011.

A brand-new Elemental Masters novel from the national bestselling author Mercedes Lackey.

Richard Whitestone is an Elemental Earth Master. Blaming himself for the death of his beloved wife in childbirth, he has sworn never to set eyes on his daughter, Suzanne. But when he finally sees her, a dark plan takes shape in his twisted mind-to use his daughter's body to bring back the spirit of his long-dead wife.

What books are you waiting on?

teaser tuesday (54)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“He trembled as he stared at her, as if he didn’t quite recognize her for what she was. And then, quite suddenly, she saw sense come into his gaze, and of course, he did recognize her, and passed a hand over his pale face.”

-p. 165 of Mercedes Lackey’s Phoenix and Ashes [re-reading this for the umpteenth time]

the sleeping beauty

Mercedes Lackey is a ubiquitous fantasy writer. Chances are if you’ve ever stepped into the fantasy and science fiction section of the bookstore, you’ve seen one of her titles. And not only is she prolific, she’s incredibly good. There’s something for almost every taste. My favorite series (well, one of them) is her Elemental Masters series, which re-imagines fairy tales in an alternative, magic-laden Edwardian England.

In the past several years Lackey has published another fairy-tale-type series, set in a new fantasy universe. These stories combine generous doses of romance and happy endings with imaginative world-building. They include: The Fairy Godmother, One Good Knight, Fortune’s Fool, The Snow Queen and now The Sleeping Beauty.

The hallmarks of the 500 Kingdoms books (as they are called) are humor, inventive plotlines that alter fairy tale stories and take them in new directions, clever heroines, and sweet romances. In my book that combination equals a satisfying read.

With signs and The Tradition (a magical force that places people in fairy tale stories) pointing to an all-out war set to break out among the kingdoms, Rosamund, the king's daughter, is "playing dead" as two princes show up at the palace intent on waking her with a kiss. But, as the two of them start to fight it out, Rosa's godmother cuts them all short and takes charge.

Now, with two princes competing for the hand of Sleeping Beauty-one of them, the one with roving hands (Prince Leopold) probably "should" be her prince, while the other (Prince Siegfried) doesn't seem to belong here at all - more complications occur. The king dies and the neighbors start looking at Rosa's kingdom.

But with the palace filling with young and old princes intent on winning Rosamund's love, invading the kingdom and putting those young men in peril would mean incurring the wrath of thirty other countries! With a volatile situation in the making, will anyone get a happily-ever-after?

After I’ve read a summary, I often ask myself a couple of questions. What’s the deal with this book? Do I need to read the others in the series to ‘get’ it? What makes it worth my time? Let me try to answer. If you’ve read the other books in this series, you’ll like The Sleeping Beauty (but you don’t have to read them to understand). If you read fairy tales for adults (or even teens), you’ll like it too. If you prefer your stories fairly clean and a touch humorous, you’ll also fall for it. In other words, it’s what you expect. And that’s not a bad thing.

For Lackey's novels in general, this is ‘romance lite.’ Though she reworks several familiar tales to bring something quirky and new to the table, the result ends up feeling a bit formulaic. Which isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it. I did. It’s a tribute to how much I expect from the 500 Kingdoms novels, and from Mercedes Lackey – I anticipate first-class entertainment. She so enchanted me with previous stories that I felt a bit let down when I could see just how the story would end after I finished the first twenty pages. I guess I expect twists and mysterious endings these days…

I’m a demanding nitwit, I know. After all, I enjoyed the reading and I will still re-read The Sleeping Beauty and also eagerly await the next installment in the series (Lackey is that fantastic). What does it boil down to? I heartily recommend this book to anyone with a natural bent towards happily-ever-afters. In fact, it qualifies as a PERFECT summer beach read, especially for the fantasy-inclined. There! I’ve found its niche. And I can’t wait to place a finished copy in my beach bag!

The Sleeping Beauty releases on July 1, 2010.

I read an e-galley of this book courtesy of Harlequin Luna and NetGalley. It also counts for both Once Upon a Time challenges.

teaser tuesday (36)

It's Teaser Tuesday, a bookish blog meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here's how it works:

Grab your current read and let it fall open to a random page. Post two (or more) sentences from that page, along with the title and author. Don’t give anything vital away!

“So chances were, the Huntsman was a planted agent for someone, and it would be impossible to prove it. There was no telling when or how the manipulation had taken place, nor by whom, and rather too late to worry about that now.”

-p. 30 of Mercedes Lackey’s Sleeping Beauty (ARC version, subject to change)

the serpent's shadow

Alyce at At Home with Books is doing a weekly feature where she highlights one of her favorite reads from the past and encourages others to do so as well.

Some of my favorite fantasy books are from Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters series. The Fire Rose, The Gates of Sleep, The Serpent’s Shadow, Phoenix and Ashes, The Wizard of London, and Reserved for the Cat are the titles so far. I like all of them. I LOVE some of them. They combine alternate history, classic fairy tales, magic, and the setting of early 1900s England (except The Fire Rose, which is set in America). They stand alone quite well, but are set in the same world, and some of the same themes and characters make appearances in each book.

And while Phoenix and Ashes is my personal favorite in the series, I think The Serpent’s Shadow is very nearly as good, and actually a much better recommendation for anyone who’s a bit wary of ‘fantasy’ and ‘magic.’ Why? Because the heroine Maya’s story isn’t just a re-told fairy tale, with magic added in. It’s also a story about women’s rights, race and ethnicity, about cultural traditions and religion, and how one navigates those channels while also finding out if they will survive to find happily ever after.

Have I confused you? The plot’s not as noisy or as crazy as I might have made it sound. Or maybe it is, but Ms. Lackey just tells the story much better than I can.

Mercedes Lackey’s The Serpent’s Shadow takes place in the London of 1909, and is loosely based on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Echoes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy Sayers pepper the plot, and the author turns the dwarves of fairy tale lore into seven animal avatars who masquerade as pets.

Some of Maya's challenges come from the fact that she is not "snow white," she is a female physician, and that she has fled India for her father's English homeland after the suspicious deaths of her parents. But the implacable enemy who killed her parents has come to London to search for her, and there is mysterious death stalking the streets…

Kiplingesque descriptions, a vivid Victorian context and a layered story are enhanced by a surface that is as glossy and brightly colored as an action comic.

That gives you an idea of what the book is about, at least. It’s got a bit of mystery, solid doses of suspense and action, magic and magical description, and a plucky Eurasian heroine who is quite able enough to fight her own battles, thank you very much. She meets many interesting and eccentric characters on the way, and each of them inspire love or disgust as well, and leave one hoping they find their just desserts.

I couldn’t help but admire Maya. She’s the character who won’t give up, won’t let any sort of prejudice stop her, and who bends the traditional lines of race, religion and class just enough to make a space for herself and her loved ones. Add into that a really GREAT plot, and enough magic and alternate history to ground the story, and you have a recipe for a favorite.

Recommended for: fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-type mystery, historical fantasy, really interesting plots and sub-plots, fairy tale re-tellings, and action-filled adventures. Onward!