Rating: 
Summary: Fluff but Good Fluff
Review: Lackey has two primary types of book -- the teen angst epics which she churns out in trilogies at a furious rate, and the occasional stand-alone fantasy. The latter category appears to sell less well but is written vastly better. "Serpents Shadow" fits in that category. Although not strictly a sequel, she revisits the magic-based universe of "Fire Rose" for this new tale of a half-Hindu, half-English young female doctor in 1909 London beset with enemies both mortal and magical. It's another entrant in the genre of novels about valiant young women who want to do things restricted only to men (side note: is there even one novel in print about a young man who wants to do things normally restricted to _women_?) but it's a charming and interesting one. Her descriptions of Earth Magic are particularly well handled, and the backdrop of British and Indian cultures show off well.The major annoyance in the book is Lackey's determination to insert a thinly disguised Lord Peter Wimsey, the detective hero created by Dorothy Sayers, as a secondary character. Lord Peter Slightly-Different-Last-Name unfortunately serves little purpose in the book other than to be Lord Peter at every possible opportunity. As a Sayers buff I felt a temptation to mutter "we GET the joke already." Readers not familiar with Sayers may simply be puzzled. To some extent, the homage character sucks energy from the actual hero (also named Peter). Clever in-jokes aside, the novel would probably have been much stronger without him.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, Engrossing Read
Review: I was actually surprised when I found out this was a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves retelling. Besides that, I found this to be a very good book. I had absolutely no difficulty getting through it and well, if it wasn't the most historically accurate book I've ever read, it was a sight better written than some books that could claim more accuracy and not as good writing. Maya was a very interesting character and I enjoyed all of her animal companions. The only flaw I found with this book was that Maya and Peter's relationship felt slightly rushed and a little to sudden. Other than that I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed a good fantasy, or just a good story for that matter.
Rating:
Summary: Mercedes Lackey is not a magician!
Review: I don't know why, but I'm biased against books that try to over-analyze and "scientize" (I know that's not a word) magic. And this book made me realize just how much it really aggravates me. It's not a bad book, otherwise - a half-Hindu, half-English young woman leaves India for England after her parents die under mysterious circumstances. Maya sets up practice as a doctor (setting up plenty of opportunities for Lackey to expound upon how hard women had it back then), only to discover that her trouble seems to have followed her. Enter Peter, a member of a stuffy, old-boys club of Mages, who feels out her power and starts to teach her. Together, they face down both Maya's enemy and the misogynistic views of the Mages, saving the world for white Englishmen everywhere. Once again, Lackey is obsessed with animals that have extraordinary powers (but Maya's pets are lame compared to her Valdemar Companions). Her descriptions of turn-of-the-century London are picturesque, and while she does tend to preach about suffrage and women's equality, she does have a point. No, what I really can't stand is the smug, technical, know-it-all-manner in which she presents magic. I'm a Pagan, and a witch, and I know a lot about magic. Lackey seems to have read one or two books, latched onto a few minor but colorful and easily-understood parts of a huge metaphysical structure, and expounded on them to her own content. Her attempts to compare and mesh the Hindu religion with Western ideas about magic fail miserably, and the fact that she blindly presents all of this as common sense that everyone should know by know grates on my last psychic nerve. I preferred the entirely fictitious system she created for the Valdemar series, where while her over-analysis of it (as though trying to prove to the reader, and herself, that her ideas make sense) is tedious, at least it's not bastardizing anyone else's beliefs. Still, if you don't have any baggage concerning magic or mythology, I suppose there's no reason you can't enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than some of her recent stuff, but still flawed
Review: SUMMARY: I enjoyed "The Fire Rose," so I was happy to see that Misty had put out another story in her turn-of-the-century Elemental Magic world. I generally liked "The Serpent's Shadow," but some sloppy writing keeps me from giving this book a wholehearted endorsement. DEVIL IN THE DETAILS: First, the good stuff: This novel is more thoughtfully conceived and executed than a lot of the author's recent work (some of the late Valdemar books are just *flimsy*, story-wise). In keeping with her time period and themes, Misty adopts a rather "genteel" writing style (reminiscent of Heyer or Conan Doyle) that mostly succeeds. Her heroine, Maya, is typical Lackey: smart, brave, accomplished in her craft, magically-talented. The mixed Indian-English background was interesting and different (though rather broadly painted). The animal avatars were very cool (though at times I felt like I had to make a chart to remember which animal went with which name). And there were enough colorful minor characters and situations to keep things lively throughout. Now the gripes: The villain was an uninspired, typically wacked-out devotee of a name-your-fringe-goddess blood cult. I would have liked a bit more depth in her machinations. The hero, too, was rather two-dimensional, and his romance with Maya felt more *inevitable* than passionate. Misty's been writing by-the-numbers for awhile now, though, so oh well! In the end, what really yanked my chain and threw me out of the novel were the glaring anachronisms. The novel is set in 1909, but Lackey goes on at length about how the hero is profiting from the craze for Egyptian decor started by Howard Carter's discovery of Tut's tomb, which didn't occur until the 1920s. And her hero and heroine quote from Antoine de St-Exupery's "The Little Prince," which was published in the 1940s! Moreover, Lackey's soapbox style about women's suffrage struck me more as a preaching digression than an integral part of the story. I mean, most of Misty's readers tend to be egalitarian already, so what's the point of beating us over the head with what we already know? Now granted, this is a *fantasy* novel about magic, so one could argue that this kind of nitpicking is out of place. However, a fictional world should be believable and consistent within itself. By setting this one in our own early twentieth century, Misty could and should have done a better job of checking her dates. It's not like it would have been hard to do! Or maybe I should flame her editor! ;-)
Rating: 
Summary: Misty Strikes Again!
Review: Mercedes Lackey remains true to form with one of her newest stories. She creates echoes of The Fire Rose (one of her other books), Kipling's stories, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Maya Witherspoon is a half-Indian, half-English physician with untrained Earth Magick of practically unlimited potential, living in England in 1909. She is being tracked down by her mother's "evil" priestess twin sister. Maya had moved from her native India to England to try to escape her aunt's "justice", but to no avail. She starts her own medical practice for "female complaints", with "absolute discretion", where Peter Scott, a Water Master, meets her. He trains her in her magick, while her seven animal avatar "pets" - more like guardians - look on. Wanna know how it ends? Read it for yourself!! Seriously, though, Mercedes Lackey really did a good job, creating images from The Fire Rose and her Grey short stories (contained in Werehunter, one of her short story collections). All in all, an EXCELLENT story by an excellent writer!!
Rating:
Summary: Mercedes Lackey is not a magician!
Review: I don't know why, but I'm biased against books that try to over-analyze and "scientize" (I know that's not a word) magic. And this book made me realize just how much it really aggravates me. It's not a bad book, otherwise - a half-Hindu, half-English young woman leaves India for England after her parents die under mysterious circumstances. Maya sets up practice as a doctor (setting up plenty of opportunities for Lackey to expound upon how hard women had it back then), only to discover that her trouble seems to have followed her. Enter Peter, a member of a stuffy, old-boys club of Mages, who feels out her power and starts to teach her. Together, they face down both Maya's enemy and the misogynistic views of the Mages, saving the world for white Englishmen everywhere. Once again, Lackey is obsessed with animals that have extraordinary powers (but Maya's pets are lame compared to her Valdemar Companions). Her descriptions of turn-of-the-century London are picturesque, and while she does tend to preach about suffrage and women's equality, she does have a point. No, what I really can't stand is the smug, technical, know-it-all-manner in which she presents magic. I'm a Pagan, and a witch, and I know a lot about magic. Lackey seems to have read one or two books, latched onto a few minor but colorful and easily-understood parts of a huge metaphysical structure, and expounded on them to her own content. Her attempts to compare and mesh the Hindu religion with Western ideas about magic fail miserably, and the fact that she blindly presents all of this as common sense that everyone should know by know grates on my last psychic nerve. I preferred the entirely fictitious system she created for the Valdemar series, where while her over-analysis of it (as though trying to prove to the reader, and herself, that her ideas make sense) is tedious, at least it's not bastardizing anyone else's beliefs. Still, if you don't have any baggage concerning magic or mythology, I suppose there's no reason you can't enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: "The Evilest Man in the World" is not the actual villian
Review: While this book is a good read for Lackey fans, I would caution anyone who is only neutral on her writing to avoid it if you're fond of the writing of Aleister Crowley (a magician of some noteriety who is a contemporary of these characters). Peter and his fellow magicians go out of their way to gripe, grumble, and growl about the man. While it's a common attitude for a magician to hold in that time period, it interfered with my enjoyment of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disapointing
Review: I'm a huge fan of Misty. I loved all her Valdamar books so when I saw this book on the shelves of my nearest book store, I was more than excited to buy it. Being from an Indian background myself, I thought I would love a story from Lackey that combined Indian and Western beliefs together. I never thought I would hate this book. I don't understand how any publisher can let someone publish a book without checking to make sure that there is accuracy in the writing. I can't believe she would write about Indian culture without having done any research. Examples: The language Indians speak is Hindi, not Hindu which is a person who follows the religion Hinduism. Surya is a male god in Hinduism and no Indian would ever name their daughter that. That's just two but I could go on and on. The whole story was very inaccurate and it stopped me from reading any farther. This book by far was the biggest waste of my money ever.
Rating:
Summary: The Serpent's Shadow
Review: Well, I'll tell you straight off, I was roundly impressed. This is the first Mercedes Lackey novel I have ever read, and if The Serpent's Shadow is actually an example of her "later, weaker" work, then I guess I better back up and sort through the backlist, because "later" and "weaker" isn't what I experienced. I experienced a smartly paced historical fantasy, where England meets India--magically, romantically, and frighteningly--in Lackey's proposed London of 1909. The author conjures up a fine mix of conjurors, street waifs, spoiled English gents who don't accept uppity female doctors from India such as main character Maya, and a few decent blokes--magical and otherwise--who discover how wonderful Maya is and decide to aid her against a powerful, evil mystic who worships Kali Durga. A few details about Maya must be added, since she is such a well-conceived character and the book's ultimate reason for being. I never felt that the book was overly preachy about women's rights or the lack thereof, and I certainly did not feel that the book was some kind of thinly disguised feminist rant or extended whine with generic, cardboard heroine inserted. Quite the opposite. The book, thoughfully plotted, allows a fascinating dynamic to occur, between Maya and her new environment, London. The hardships Maya continuously endures as a woman doctor in a difficult time and place allowed me insight into her character--the author has an agenda, no doubt, but I experienced London's 1909 sexism through Maya's eyes, saw it filtered through her consciousness, saw how it affected her emotional state, saw how Maya changed or adapted or stubbornly dug in her heels to fight for equality. Maya versus her environment, with author Lackey stepping back after discovering how womens' rights issues can add to the story, add to our perceptions of Maya, rather than cloud it. I simply cannot accuse this book of being some kind of feminist sledgehammer. And besides the moral center fo the book, there's all the magic--Eastern and Western. Don't come for the polemic if you don't wish to; come for the Elemental mages, the healing magic in the time of cholera, the secret war between Old Boy British sorcery and an insidious villain from the East who hopes to remain undiscovered--shielded both by protection spells and London's underbelly--long enough to destroy Maya from within. All this and exotic animals that just may be avatars, and a charming romance! A fantasy that offers much more than I was ever expecting.
Rating:
Summary: Errors Or Alternate Universes?
Review: I found this a good read with interesting characters. It's not high art, but no one expects it to be--do they? I'm reading the notes about "errors" with some amusement. The quotes from Saint-Exupéry and the references to King Tut can be taken as sloppy research--however, since in our world Elemental Masters do not exist, this must be an alternate universe, and who's to say that in this alternate universe that this historical event and that author didn't happen/exist earlier? (Jack Finney uses the Dakota Apartment building in his fantasy novel TIME AND AGAIN, which takes place in 1882 and it wasn't built until 1886, something he admits. It just works.) No one is writing a straight history story here! As for Misty's Lord Peter character, he is not Lord Peter Wimsey, so why all the fuss about him not being the correct age? He is indeed a homage to Peter Wimsey, but he is not the same character (for one thing he mentions he has three siblings, not two)!
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