Elves in Elizabethan England

And Less Than Kind, by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis. Reviewed by N. Vivian on November 17th, 2008.

I have a friend who is obsessed with all things Star Wars. This often brings her heartbreak, as she will fork over money for a movie just to be slapped in the face by George Lucas and his incompetence over and over and over again. It is a very unhealthy relationship, and one I understand completely. You see, I find myself going back to Mercedes Lackey, thinking "Surely--surely this time she means it when she says she's sorry and she loves me." Fortunately, when she collaborates with other authors, she is more inclined to behave herself. I don't know if she doesn't like to hit me in public, or the other person keeps her on her toes, but, for the most part, I can trust that books she's written with others are going to be decent (even fun!) reads.

I was not terribly disappointed by this book. Faint praise, but praise nonetheless.

Kind of a grim way to start, but if you've ever talked to me about her works, you'll see that this often isn't the case. Often, I am quite disappointed, hence the unpolitic comparison to domestic violence above. This is the fourth and last book in the "Elves in Elizabethan England" series. There is the Bright Court and the Dark Court, and both of them are dependent on humans for magic. The Bright Court gets its power from creativity, happiness, and love, while the Dark Court feeds on fear, despair, and hatred. Seers from both courts have been watching the possible futures of England, and they see one girl who will bring in a time of abundance for the Bright, and another who will bring in one for the Dark--Elizabeth and Mary, respectively. The series revolves around a few chosen heroes of the Bright Court who are tasked with protecting Elizabeth as she grows from both the agents of the Dark Court and the dangerous waters of politics. Their goal is to put her on the throne, while the Dark Court is trying to keep her off of it at any cost.

This book starts with Edward's death, and is mostly a chronicle of Mary's reign as queen, while Elizabeth impatiently waits..well, waits for Mary to die. The book talks a lot about how England was quite displeased with Mary's marriage to Philip and the reintroduction of Catholicism; there are many chapters that discuss the history of England interspersed with chapters of Elizabeth visiting Underhill and hanging out with the Sidhe.

The book is about 600 pages long, and yet, nothing happens. The whole plot is pretty much "wait for Mary to die." Elizabeth is a consummate politician and knows that she can't display even the least hint of how much she wants to become queen. She knows that England is failing under Mary's rule, and the populace is becoming more and more bitter as the burnings for heresy increase, but the only place she can discuss that is Underhill. Many, many pages are devoted to Elizabeth being frustrated at her inability to do anything to help England, and a bit torn up about her desire to be queen. She wants it so badly she can taste it, but that means she's really hoping her sister dies. Kind of an awkward place to be, emotionally. Of course, Mary makes it easier by being fairly horrid--although, in her defense (and this is mentioned in the books), the husband she adores barely tolerates her, her childhood was fairly cruel and bleak and much of that was because of Elizabeth's mother, and she truly believes she's doing the right thing for England. But, that aside, much of the book is Elizabeth on Earth marking time till she is queen and trying to elude all the plots against her, and the rest is her Underhill, making love to Denoriel and generally having a good time.

That's not to say the book doesn't have its fair share of darkness, too. There are the burnings of heretics, several murders, an elf who is kidnapping mortal children for slaves, and an "Evil" (always captialized) that attaches itself to Mary's womb and basically has to be aborted by the good guys. That was a pretty interesting narrative choice. Of course, the elf who ended up doing the actual abortion is all broken up about it, but in her defense she loves children and it messed her up to know that an innocent fetus had to be sacrificed to save the world from the Evil. Fortunately, at the end of the book, Oberon waves his hand at her and she gets over it.

For all the there really isn't a plot, I still enjoyed the book. It's one part historical fiction, one part fantasy novel, and one part romance. I like Elizabeth and that time of England's history, so reading about Bess wandering around Hatfield, trying to keep herself untouched by the treason everyone else is determined to drag her into is fun. Add the layer of "said treason is part of a scheme hatched by Dark Sidhe" and it just gets better. It's purely flufftastic; there's no underlying theme or message, nothing to really make someone pause and think. It's just bouncy and happy.

3 stars

In books I trust,
N. Vivian

P.S. Go to Borders either today, 11/17 or tomorrow 11/18 and take advantage of their "Buy one book, get a second book 1/2 off!"