Firebird

Rating:
Summary: Decent Effort, But Lackey Can Do Better
Review: The Firebird is a book based on the classic Russian fairy tale of the same name. Ivan is a self-styled tsar who has many strong, trained, warrior sons, but none of them are very bright. Except for Ilya, the middle son. He is much smarter than his brothers so they naturally assume that he is a sorcerer and use every opportunity provided to beat him to a pulp and just generally make his life miserable. When someone steals Ivan's prize cherries, he sends his sons one by one into the orchard to discover who the thief is. Ilya knows who the thief is because he spied on the orchard and saw her. It was the Firebird. As a reward for not telling Ivan who was stealing his cherries, she gives him the gift of speaking to animals. As his older brothers fail to discover the thief, they become convinced that Ilya is the thief and give him the worst beating of his life. Ilya now fears for his life and can think of no other plan to save himself than to pretend that the beating addled his wits and turned him into a fool. However, not even his pretense protects him as his brothers continue to play cruel jokes - such as tying him to his horse and setting the dogs on him during a hunt. Using his newly acquired skill to communicate with his horse and the dogs chasing him, he is able to get away. However, when his horse is killed, he is lost out in the forest in the middle of winter with no supplies. A kindly ex-employee of his grandfather takes him in for a time and then Ilya becomes restless and follows the feeling of magic back into the woods. There he comes upon a giant maze which leads to an evil sorcerer's castle. After catching one glimpse of the 12 beautiful maidens that the sorcerer keeps captive, he falls in love with the lovely Tatiana. He decides to do whatever it takes to free her and to kill the evil sorcerer. But, with evil demons, a dragon, and other impossible tasks, can Ilya accomplish what so many other heroes could not?

I gave this book 3 stars because there was such slow story development that I almost set it aside. I usually finish books in a day or 2 and this one took me a week and a half to plow through. The characters were likeable enough and the story was fine, but Mercedes Lackey spent well over half of the book just setting up the story. The first part of the book just dragged by as the author described Ilyas terrible life and the horrible things that his family did to him. She weakly explained that Ilya didn't dare leave because he couldn't survive out in the forest alone long enough to get anywhere else where he could survive. But, if Ilya's home life was actually as bad as it was potrayed, Ilya definitely had enough backbone to leave - long before the whole cherry tree incident. By the time Ilya actually does leave his father's land, there isn't a whole lot of time left for the real action in the book. The reader is going along at a nice slow pace and then suddenly is raced through to the ending where everything changes and nothing ends quite the way it was set up to. The ending was quite abrupt and left the reader hanging, too. If this book was a duology or a trilogy, then it would be understandable that Lackey spent so long setting up the story line and left the reader hanging at the end, but, as far as I am aware, it is a standalone novel. Perhaps Mercedes Lackey was planning on writing another novel to follow this one and it never happened?

Rating:
Summary: A light and wonderful retelling
Review: The Firebird was my first book by Mercedes Lackey and it was a wonderful introduction to her unique attention to detail and readability. The original fairy tale was full of cliches-- the beautiful but bland princess, the heroic young prince, talking animals and unlikely happenings. Lackey transforms these into a full-bodied and enchanting (though not very realistic) fairy tale set in a Russia filled with perilous magical beasts and sorcerers. One of Lackey's greatest talents is embellishing, and the many descriptions in The Firebird add to the charm and semi-believable fairy tale background. I loved the twist of the ending-- a just-right departure from the Grimm version.

If you like the Russian mythology and ambiance in The Firebird, Josepha Sherman's The Shining Falcon is definitely worth the find to read.

Rating:
Summary: Good stuff yet again!
Review: There has yet to be a Mercedes Lackey book printed that I haven't swallowed whole - the Valdemar series are guaranteed to lose me sleep! My only problem with the Firebird was the blurb on the cover! Ilya was not banished, he left (albeit with some help from his idiot brothers). That aside, and with no real knowledge of Russian folklore, I loved it. I didn't find it dull, tedious or drawn-out, and I loved the ending....which I won't say anything about!

As an Aussie reader it takes for EVER to get new releases, but the wait is always worth it.

Rating:
Summary: too much jazz
Review: This bokk was lackey's interpritation of a classic fairy tale mixexd in with trademark trystings,fanciful creatures, and flourishes. in my opinion, fairy tales are best left to themselves. The main character reminded me gratly of Hearld-Mage Vanyel, complete with bellowing father, dim-witted brothers,and simpering mother. Also because he was always getting beat up on.The only difference in the character is that one was gay and the other fought with his hands.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book has definite traces of classic fantasy - but then there are twists which make the plot unique! If you like fantasy books filled with quests, well-laid plans, rescues, and miraculous happily-ever-after endings, read this!

Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: This book is one of the best I've read, and I've read alot. If you liked this book than you might like THE BLACK GRYPHON, so have fun!

Rating:
Summary: Another Smash Hit With An Amazing Plot!
Review: This book turns midevil Russia into a child's fantasy world. With magical beings and a character who captures your heart, you can't help but fall in love. I couldn't put it down! I loved how the story flowed, and all the the wonder involved in the storyline. There was a great twist at the end, as any good author adds, so the finish is unexpected. My only complaint was that the synopsis on the back cover of the paperback was slightly inaccurate- If you read it, you'll know what I mean. The plot left nothing to be desired.

Rating:
Summary: fairy tale
Review: This book was a fairy tale of the wonderful kind. I enjoyed the book greatly and found it to be very interesting . It held my attention and kept it through the book . I highly suggest this book to anyone

Rating:
Summary: Worth reading...
Review: This is the first Lackey book I've read and I found it interesting.

It was not that catching to start with, but soon the story unfolded. Ilya, the main character, is charming and smart. Once he sees the Firebird he's given the gift of speaking to and understanding animals. The bad part about seeing the Firebird, is that she brings bad luck. Well Ilya sure gets his share of that.

The ending really disappointed me and that's why I rated it down. After building up a good story the book comes to an abrupt "happily ever after " ending

Rating:
Summary: Firebird
Review: This is the most disappointing book by this author and I have read everything she has written that I've found. The book doesn't get "off the ground" for me. She can do much better.