Classic Mercedes Lackey

What a joy to read another Mercedes Lackey tale. Her piercing wit, detailed knowledge of all things Arcane and such a wonderful take on an old faerie tale make Phoenix and Ashes a scrumptious read.

Set against the horrors of WWI, no punches are pulled in describing the devastation that England is facing against the Juggernaut of the German army.

I found it emotionally rough to experience the loss of all males between the age of 15 to 57 countrywide, and to hear the despair of the people left behind. But I found it important to understanding the context of the novel.

In Lackey's usual impeccable style, her characters are as varied as a vegetable garden. I love her upper crust peerage family, the Fenyx's, so delightfully quirky. And the villagers are just as fascinating.

Phoenix and Ashes will keep you guessing until the very end, after leading you through traps and trickery, mazes and mayhem. Yet another 5/5 star book. ( )

This retelling of Cinderella is set in an alternate England with magic and with World War I raging. Eleanor Robinson was the daughter of a factory owner who was determined to go to Oxford even though women were not granted degrees. However, when her father remarries a woman with two daughters and then enlists in the army, things change.

Eleanor's new stepmother is an Earth Master who has chosen the dark path. She resents that she couldn't convince Eleanor's father to change his will before he enlisted. She is determined to use Eleanor's fortune and puts a spell on Eleanor which prevents her from leaving the house and also makes the people in the small town forget about her. To cast the spell, she chops off the smallest finger of her left hand and buries it under the hearth stone. Eleanor becomes an unpaid, over-worked drudge for her stepmother and stepsisters.

Reggie Fenyx is the son of the local gentry. He and Eleanor met when they were younger because she was as intrigued with flying as Reggie was. Reggie also enlisted in the new flying corps. But a plane crash and being buried alive while being tormented by Earth Elementals has caused severe shell shock. He also had many physical injuries including a very bad knee. He's been sent home to recover but is depressed and suicidal.

When Eleanor, who is a nascent Fire Master, manages to tweak the spell binding her enough to venture to the field where Reggie used to keep his airplane, the two meet again. Reggie is one of the few who recognize her as Eleanor Robinson. The two rekindle their friendship and Eleanor's good sense helps him deal with some of his injuries.

Meanwhile, Eleanor's stepmother is determined to get Reggie to marry one or the other of her odious daughters and is willing to use her dark magic to accomplish her goals. It will take both Reggie and Eleanor to defeat her plans.

I loved the lyrical style of the writing, the details about the privations suffered both on the battlefield and at home during World War I, and the wonderful and richly drawn characters in this story. The narrator did an excellent job with the various characters. ( )

Lackey's mixture of magic creatures existing in WWI England is incredibly slow to get off the ground, and not even her well-drawn portrait of a tormented hero can save it. ( )

Much less about magic and a Cinderella story, and more about the horrors of World War I. Not quite the book I thought I was getting, and a bit too long to boot. The ending was interesting, but a good 100 pages could have been cut from the middle. ( )

What's amazing is that not much actually happened throughout the whole thing. Over half of it was magical theory and Eleanor dreaming her way through Tarot cards. And yet, it was still brilliant.

I've never been a huge Cinderella fan, but this novel did a fabulous job retelling the original fairy tale, along with some history and magic. I really liked Eleanor and Reggie as well as the supporting cast, and Alison and company were very satisfying villains.

Perhaps my only real complaint was that the ending seemed a bit rushed. They finally won, and then there were just a few pages summing up what happened after. Considering the fact that SO much time was spent building up to everything, I would've liked a bit more time for it all to settle down as well.

Despite that, I really loved it all the way through. Highly recommend. ( )