Mercedes Lackey, author

One of the authors I've begun to start taking notice of is Mercedes Lackey, specifically, the Elemental Masters series. The first one I read was The Serpent's Shadow and it was AMAZING! I loved her way of integrating magic into the world. Very soon after that, I read Phoenix and Ashes. It was actually an adaptation of Cinderella. I adored her powerful characters and the way she showcased their talents. Ever since that discovery, I've been keeping an eye out for other books in that series that has only recently received a title. Reserved for the Cat wasn't really focused on the truly powerful, but still an enjoyable story.

I went to the library this past weekend and found The Gates of Sleep and The Wizard of London. The Gates of Sleep is a Sleeping Beauty situation, but I ended up rather disappointed in the way that it ended. There were several statements telling the reader how powerful she was and that she had great potential and it kept building and building and then... she barely used her powers in the end confrontation. I was so disappointed! I was hoping for her to make full use of all her powers, but all she did was shapeshift and be clever about it. For people unfamiliar with the book, I have warned you of the disappointing ending, but it was still enjoyable except for that part and there was more to the story than the final confrontation--just so you know, she had MANY talents and alliances at her disposal. I would wonder why it isn't the same quality as the others and maybe she was running out of gas for this book, but it was still sad b/c I had found the book and assumed it would be as good as the rest and was very excited about it, but, alas, this was not so.

PS - The Wizard of London was odd. It focused on "Sensitives" who used psychic powers unrelated to the four elements. In my opinion, it didn't fit very well into the series. That one wasn't near as disappointing because you knew their limitations and they still fought well in their big confrontation.