One Good Knight

By Mercedes Lackey

Luna, 2006, $24.95

BY LISA DEES

Special to The Pilot

In the fairy tale world of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Tradition is a powerful force. This is not the common-place tradition that has people doing what their parents did, but a force unto itself.

One way around Tradition is to call on one of the Fairy Godmothers assigned to each Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Acadia is so tiny that it doesn't have a Fairy Godmother of their own, so when a dragon appears and begins devouring the flocks, they must deal with it on their own.

Andromeda, who prefers to be called Andie, is the Princess of Acadia. Not that she's ever felt like one, especially the kind her mother Queen Cassiopeia expects her to be. While she was already a bit plain, she has been blessed with a keen intelligence.

She immediately comes up with two solutions for the dragon problem. The first is to send for a Champion. The second is to sacrifice a virgin to the dragon. The victims are chosen by lottery which seems fair, until Andie begins to notice that the families of the victims are, more frequently than not, enemies of the Queen.

A Champion does arrive, but Andie must herself help with the rescue. And then the adventure really begins.

Although this is a publication of Luna, an imprint of Harlequin, if you pick this book up looking for a romance you will be sadly disappointed. The focus here is more on friendship and adventure than traditional romantic events. Which, considering the way Lackey manages to spin fairy tale traditions around inside this novel, is only to be expected.

Lisa Dees is a Raleigh freelance writer. She may be reached at lisadees@mindspring.com.