A Fantasy Retelling of a Greek Mythology Romance (A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms)

Mercedes Lackey has a great concept with her 500 kingdom books. Each time I read a new one I enjoy finding all the little aspects from different stories that she's woven into the book. It's truly excellent!!!

Absolutely loved this refreshing and entertaining take on the Persephone myth! It's not often that the usually somewhat tragic tale comes with a sort of comedy-of-errors twist. A young goddess who can't get away from her smotheringly maternal mother falls in love with a king of the underworld in disguise and hatches a plan to escape the maternal clutches. Unfortunately, the rendezvous place is inhabited by a familiar pair of honeymooners and shenanigans ensue. I liked how well written the end of it was too. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes that story of Persephone as much as I do, and is in the mood for a fun read.

Like some of the other reviewers have stated, this book just doesn't have the same feel as other 500 Kingdom series books. I do happen to like the book, but I can whip through it in about an hour. I feel that the characters aren't fleshed out like past book characters and while I like the characters that are present they lack this sense of dire urgency to correct the wrongs or overcome adversity.

Also, much of the fun of the 500 Kingdom series, for me, was the re-telling of classic fairy tales. I think having the story line focus on Greco-Roman mythology loses a bit of what made the 500 Kingdom series special. I am eagerly awaiting the next book and hope that it is better than "A Tangled Web."

This is a nice novella that was originally published in "Harvest Moon" (along with novellas by Michella Sagara and Cameron Haley).

I enjoyed the "spin" on the Persephone tale, as I have her other twists on fairy tales in this series.

This is a nice novella that was originally published in "Harvest Moon" (along with novellas by Michella Sagara and Cameron Haley).

I enjoyed the "spin" on the Persephone tale, as I have her other twists on fairy tales in this series.

Upon evading this rag, I was surprised to see how many 5 star rating a it got. It was one of the most plodding and pedantic reads I have had in decades. It never ceases to amaze me how easily I am amazed. I am amazed how many suckers read this drivel and thought it was good, let alone worthy of publication. If this book is any indication of the author's other works, I would be certain to avoid them like the plague. Which in actuality, I would have preferred a case of plague to having to ad this "book."