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Aerulan

Aerulan

The Serpent's Shadow

The Serpent's Shadow - Mercedes Lackey

 I liked some of it (and I really wanted to like this one) but it never quite worked for me. I felt like the suffragette bits were tacked on and didn't really do anything for the story, likewise her profession as a doctor felt like it could have been handled in a way that was more compelling. Actually most of the story feels like that, lots of potential it never manages to live up to. It's a neat concept and I love historical fantasy and fairy tale re-tellings so this should have been perfect for me. All the right elements for a great story but nothing really comes of it. It's like its' got plenty of flash but no substance. Also I was not a fan of the animals (who were standing in for the seven dwarves), the were much too blatantly used to further the plot, some subtlety please would be nice.

And the way they provided an easy out at the end, just coming along to neatly solve all the problems and save the day, and Maya's life, totally ruined the climax of the story for me. Sorry but I want the final battle against the villain to be a struggle with some actual effort on the parts of the heroes, not for a bunch of gods to pop in and fix things.

(show spoiler)