One Good Knight; M. Lackey

What an adventure! Very similar in tone & structure to the first 500 Kingdoms book, Fairy Godmother (which I really liked), ie: a sweet adventure romance featuring a strong central female character. This one is St. George & the Dragon & the legend of Andromeda carefully taken apart & restitched into a totally unique, new garment.

The vast majority of the book deals with Andromeda's life in her mother's (Cassiopeia) court & Cassiopeia's scheming. Andromeda has adventures with George (her Champion), the dragons Periapt & Adamant & the virgins. Andromeda, has, oddly enough, succumbed to the nickname Andie- which I found irritating.

Cassiopeia & her favorite advisor schemed & plotted to remove Andromeda. Why? Well for a start Andromeda is too nosey & she isn't nearly as..er- manipulable (yes, that really is a word- I looked it up) as they had hoped. Fortunately, as is often the case with evil villains, Cassiopeia & the advisor underestimate Andromeda, the Tradition & the Champion- George. Too, there are the dragons- bookwyrms to be exact. I love it- dragons who hoard books.

As mentioned in my summary of The Fairy Godmother (click link above) Lackey's books for Luna tend more toward fantasy than romance. Strong development of the female lead & strong overall adventure/quest plotting, lighter on the romance side.

Anyhow- because the Tradition likes the entire situation, everything works out in the end. What is the Tradition, you ask? It is a magical entity- much like "The Force" in Star Wars. The Tradition manipulates situations to the appropriate fairy tale end. If you remember, not all fairy tales end well. The Tradition can be thwarted or otherwise manipulated to achieve your goals.

According to the last page, Lackey's next book for Luna will be Fortune's Fool, released next year. I couldn't find a more exact date though. Like the first 500 Kingdom book, this one is a keeper.
Fantasy Romance Review, Mythology Romance, Fairy Tales, dragons