Rating: 
Summary: Willingly suspend, etc. etc.
Review: I don't know about you, but I don't generally select my fantasy books based on how accurate their real-world depiction is. If you are one of those people, stop reading now: this recommendation is not for you.
For the rest of us, I loved The Serpent's Shadow. I was instantly taken with Maya, whose life is made difficult because she is an intelligent woman living in a time where the number of women doctors are infintesimal, but more so because her father was English and her mother Indian. Lackey paints us a gorgeous picture of her life, her friends, and her dwelling deep in London; I've read this book enough that I've imagined her animal friends in their greenhouse lair, her surgery, and the robes she prefers to English clothing.
Despite any probable cultural or historical inaccuracies, I found the tale of the evil aunt quite enthralling, wondering how she was going to complete her evil deeds (and being amused by the form her kidnapping of Maya took). Fun, solid story, and a worthy addition to The Elemental Masters series.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: I loved this story. If left me wanting to read more about the characters.
Rating: 
Summary: great new book!
Review: i have loved mecedes lackey ever since i first read her last herald mage trilogy (which is awesome and you should get it now) and i love the new direction she is going in. although her valdamar books are wonderful, these new stories are just as good and very interesting. in the serpent's shadow,is a great book filled with magic and medicine and even some love. the characters are great and the plot is interesting. the only problem i had with the book was that the ending was a little abrupt, but otherwise the book was definitly worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but poorly researched
Review: I've been a fan of Mercedes Lackey for years, and while this book is entertaining, I found the poor research distracting. In her introduction, Lackey excuses her anachronisms by saying essentially, "hey, it's fantasy, live with them". Fine, but that doesn't excuse things that are just flat out wrong: For example- the discoverer of Tut's tomb is referred to as Harold Carter. Last time I looked, the archeologist's name was HOWARD. Sloppy. I'm not buying the "it's an alternate universe--maybe his name is Harold there" routine. Also, Lackey's treatment of Hinduism is not up to her usual standard. For a well researched, fantasy take on an ancient religion, check out her Diana Tregarde novel "Burning Water". She includes pages of bibliography. Here she just seems to look up a couple of deity names and avatars and fit them in where she can. Disappointing.
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.
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