Fortune's Fool (Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 3) Mass Market Paperback – March 18, 2008

I love Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, but was avoiding buying the Five Hundred Kingdoms books as I was reluctant to get started with yet another rewritten fairy tale - but I ended up buying this one by accident (it wasn't listed as being a part of the series) and was so well pleased with it that I purchased all the other available books in the series.This isn't just a rewrite of a fairy tale to make it into another version of the same thing - this is a series of books written in a world view that is uniquely driven by The Tradition (a force that is both natural and magical, which attempts to create the circumstances that ensure stories follow the templates expected, stories acted out by the people that live in the various kingdoms of this world).This particular book explains how The Tradition works better than the others, and goes into more detail about it and how the fairy tales, stories, legends, and various other components 'feed' The Tradition to create the circumstances that allow it to pressure the people in the Five Hundred Kingdoms into following the expected plots - and how they can be manipulated to change the plots.People can move between kingdoms, and in each kingdom The Tradition is a little bit different or, in some cases, a LOT different. Therefore, the fairy tales become intermingled with stories from a variety of backgrounds, and the books are therefore anything but a cookie cutter repeat of the fairy tales they get their starting point from.Add in magic, godmothers (that are far from the godmothers we would expect), a little fighting, a bit of romance, hard work rewarded by more hard work, villains that aren't villains, heroes that aren't heroes, and the inevitable moral - and the only thing that was in any of these stories that I actually expected was the moral, which usually wasn't the moral the original fairy tale laid out.While each book in the series builds on material from previous installments, they are easily stand alone books. I read this one first. It was from somewhere in the middle of the available books in the series, and mentioned characters or activities from earlier installments, but I didn't realize it until I read the earlier books that they were characters with stories of their own. Later books mention more from the earliest ones, but not enough that you would be lost if you read the last one first.This book is also part of a box set, so if you think you may be interested in more than one book in the series, I would suggest buying the boxed set instead of this one.I should have known that Mercedes Lackey would not give us a poorly executed storyline, and only wish I had read this series sooner!

Sweet little romance between a Seventh Son (of the Tsar of Led Belarus) and a Seventh Daughter (of the Sea King), both Fortunate Fools. It's a little difficult to figure out what this one started out as, since it develops massive fairytale-motif pileup fairly quickly and then keeps piling on. One of the plot threads is a sort of follow-up to the first novel, "The Fairy Godmother", showing where that Katschei came from and what moved into its abandoned castle - but you have to be paying attention, because there are a dozen other things going on at the same time. Some other characters from earlier books are mentioned, and a few make actual on-page appearances. Somehow it all keeps rolling on more or less smoothly and doesn't all come crashing down.

I love the 500 kingdoms books. I love the fairy godmother and what a hard-working woman she is. I enjoy how they spend the tradition and try and use it to benefit them instead of push them into a story they don't want to enact. But this book just seemed trite and overdone.The whole point of the tradition is that not many people know about it and it seems like everyone knows about it and tries to use it. Everybody seems to know their role in the tradition, and work it to their benefit. It just seemed too neat and simple. Kind of a day of a deus ex machina feeling from beginning to end. Quite a few interesting parts but as a whole it just didn't quite suit I'll live up to the expectations I have for other books in the series.

Of all of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books this one is, for some reason, my favourite. Like the others it's a masterful blend of fairy tales, action and adventure, along with romance. Definitely on a par with her Elemental Master books. And while it's good to read them in order, it's not absolutely essential, as each can be enjoyed as a standalone. If you enjoy fairy tales, magic and adventure, you're definitely in for a treat.

I have this book a full five wars because I have read it three times. I really enjoy Mercedes' books and recommend this writer to all those who enjoy fantasy with a bit of romance.

I like the way Ms Lackey mixes various myths and archetypes into new ideas. This book uses Russian and Japanese tales, so us Western readers may not be as familiar as her other books in the series; so I enjoyed it more not being able to anticipate the plot.The tale of "The Fortunate Fool" seems to be cross-cultural; even Credence Clearwater Revival wrote the song, "Fortunate Son". :)

I loved the way she used another country’s fairytales and seamlessly combined them. I just wish there was a glossary to explain all the different mythical creatures .

Fortune's Fool  Fortune's Fool: A Tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms (Book 3)  is a well-crafted story in Mercedes Lackey's series of the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I like this premise -- to do interesting twists to our fairy tales -- and not just the ones we are most familiar with, either. I love the intermingling of "fairy tales" of many different cultures that she is accomplishing in this series. I particularly liked having Sergai, the intelligent horse (who is one of my favorite characters in Godmother, the first book of the series) play a major role in this book.Lackey has a great touch with building interesting characters and plot lines which shows in all of her books, and this book is no exception. Read it more than once, though! You'll find all sorts of surprises the second time through!

Mercedes Lackey is a great writer and a favourite of mine she has a talent to draw you in to the story .The series Five Hundred Kingdoms is one of many she has written .Would recommend to anyone who loves to read a great and story.

It's just a bit of fun. And it's light and fluffy but it does some good things with fairy-tale concepts which does bring mind her wonderful 'The Black Swan' but give it a go if yo've got a spare few hours.

WELL PACKAGED AND GOOD PRICE

I just love Mercedes Lackey. She never fails to produce a good story in whatever category she chooses to set it.

enjoyed it very much