Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters, Book 3) [Hardcover]

Mercedes Lackey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

Following her acclaimed novels The Serpent's Shadow and The Gates of Sleep, Mercedes Lackey reinvents a classic fairy tale-and gives it a new twist. In a dark and atmospheric retelling of Cinderella, she sets her story in London during the first World War.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A dark tale full of the pain and devastation of war...and a couple of wounded protagonists worth routing for. -- Locus --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the best-selling Heralds Of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: DAW Hardcover; First Edition edition (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756401615
• ISBN-13: 978-0756401610
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mercedes Lackey is the acclaimed author of over fifty novels and many works of short fiction. In her "spare" time she is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. Mercedes lives in Oklahoma with her husband and frequent collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mercedes Lackey at her Best!!!, October 11, 2004

By 

mssmd (New York City, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I HAD to write a review for this book!!! This is the Mercedes Lackey I know and Love at her BEST!!!

"Phoenix and Ashes" is another book in the Elemental Masters series that are re-tellings of well known Fairy Tales.

This is Ms. Lackey's version of Cinderella, and our heroine Eleanor Robinson, is a girl with strength, guts, and determination to overcome her life as a servent to her Dark Elemental Master Stepmother Alison, to win her freedom, and the love of a "prince" of a man, pilot Reginald Fenyx.

This dark romantic fantasy grabbed me from the first page and had a hard time putting it down for anything (Dirty Dishes & Laundry still in the sink/hamper)!

It was smartly written with a continuous flow all the way through and never letting up it's pace. I was plesantly surprised many times during the story with how well developed her characters were and the depths she was able to communicate on the power of the Human Spirit is when confronted with life's lessons.

As a lifelong fan of the Cinderella myth, I've read as many versions of this story as possible and have to say this is one of the best I have come across.

If you are interested in reading this book, I hope you are, I would start with "The Serpent's Shadow" as an introduction into the World of Elemental Masters. A few of the characters from this story make an appearance in "Phoenix"

90 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Phoenix and Ashes" recalls better days in Lackey's work, October 11, 2004

By 

Devra Goldberg "devviepuu" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters, Book 3) (Hardcover)

I picked up "Ashes," Lackey's retelling of the Cinderella tale, with great trepidation after looking forward to "The Gates of Sleep" and finding myself savagely disappointed.

To my relief, Lackey seems to have taken extra care with this new installment in her modern fairy tales, striking a largely pleasing balance between story (emphasized in the beautiful, but poorly plotted "Serpent's Shadow") and plot movement (emphasized in the aforementioned "Sleep," wherein character development was so short-sighted that at one point the protagonist actually thought, "I must have fallen in love with him without ever realizing it.") Even her sentences seemed more expertly constructed; her use of repetitive phrases that crop up endlessly, like a favorite new word-of-the-day, was significantly less noticeable than in other Lackey works.

As usual, Lackey displayed some carelessness in her grammar and punctuation, sometimes rudely pulling me out of an otherwise engrossing paragraph, but this carelessness has, sadly, become standard in Lackey's more recent works (beginning with "The Silver Gryphon" and particularly noticeable in "Owlknight" and "Take a Thief"). I can only say that, given her recent inattention to and carelessness with her Valdemar chronicles (Lackey should have, for example, re-read "Arrows of the Queen" before telling us in "Take a Thief" how Skif's mother died), "Ashes" was very satisfying, to the point where I was snatching bits of it during spare moments at work and prolonging my lunch hour in order to finish it.

Also, Doctor Maya from "Shadow" makes an excellent cameo in "Ashes," along with several other characters from London's White Lodge.

Other books in this series include:
The Fire Rose (Beauty and the Beast)
The Serpent's Shadow (Snow White)
The Gates of Sleep (Sleeping Beauty)

Fans of these might also consider, by Lackey:
The Black Swan (Swan Lake)
The Fairy Godmother

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cinderella with a nice Tarot twist, December 31, 2004

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters, Book 3) (Hardcover)

When her father remarries and heads off to war, Eleanor Robinson is left in her wicked stepmother's power. The stepmother, Allison, really is wicked--and is a dark Earth-Mage to boot. When Eleanor's father is killed in the trenches of World War I, Allison confines Eleanor to the house, causes everyone in the English village to forget she even exists, and turns her into a servant.

Eleanor is miserable with her enslavement--and with the frustration of her hopes to go to Oxford. When her godmother, a less powerful witch, notifies her that Eleanor is an untrained Fire-Mage, Eleanor sees a chance to break free--but she needs allies and her stepmother's compulsion prevents her from seeking them--or even speaking of how she is being treated. Although Eleanor has fallen for the neighborhood Baron--who also happens to be a war hero and an Air Mage, she can't tell him what is wrong. But if she can only make it to the costume ball, she hope she'll discover real allies.

Author Mercedes Lackey retells the Cinderella fairy tale with an interesting twist of elemental magic. After a somewhat slow first half, with way too much of Eleanor feeling sorry for herself, thinking that she is being treated no better than a servant--as if it's okay to treat servants like that but not her--and a strangely powerful but helpless Allison who can't simply accomplish what she needs by magic but must somehow gain the support of others, Lackey picks up the pace. The use of the Tarot in Eleanor's dream-training is fascinating and worth even more time than Lackey put into it. The story rushes to an exciting conclusion as Allison proves ready to take any step necessary for her success--no matter what the cost to those around her.