Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Fortune's Fool
    Unavailable
    Fortune's Fool
    Unavailable
    Fortune's Fool
    Ebook360 pages6 hours

    Fortune's Fool

    By Mercedes Lackey

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "She’ll keep you up long past your bedtime." - #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King

    "The prolific Lackey (the Valdemar series) draws on the darker, Brothers Grimm side of fairy lore for her enchanting tale…". —Publisher’s Weekly

    The seventh daughter of the Sea King, Ekaterina is more than a pampered princess-she's also the family spy. Which makes her the perfect emissary to check out interesting happenings in the neighboring kingdom…and nothing interests her more than Sasha, the seventh son of the king of Belrus. Ekaterina suspects he's far from the fool people think him. But before she can find out what lies beneath his facade, she is kidnapped!

    Trapped in a castle at the mercy of a possessive Jinn, Ekaterina knows her chances of being found are slim. Now fortune, a fool and a paper bird are the only things she can count on-along with her own clever mind and intrepid heart.…

    Book 3 of Five Hundred Kingdoms.

    Originally published in 2007.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarlequin Luna
    Release dateMay 16, 2016
    ISBN9781459296664
    Unavailable
    Fortune's Fool
    Author

    Mercedes Lackey

    Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music. Also known as Misty Lackey.

    Read more from Mercedes Lackey

    Related to Fortune's Fool

    Related ebooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      MYTHS, from Mull to Braemar

      Aug 19, 2022

      MYTHS, from Mull to Braemar
      5 min read

    • Article

      Tripping The Light Fintastic

      Jul 5, 2023

      ON a peaceful summer’s evening, a beautiful girl with long, golden hair floated in a rockpool near Cury in Cornwall, sobbing inconsolably. An old man drew near and, startled, she leapt, revealing a hint of fish tail. Keen to help a damsel in distress

      6 min read

    • Article

      OF MIST & MYTH

      Feb 4, 2021

      OF MIST & MYTH
      10 min read

    • Article

      Myths And Monsters

      Dec 22, 2020

      Myths And Monsters
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Nightingale

      May 1, 2019

      The Nightingale
      10 min read

    • Article

      Angling With Van Gogh

      Mar 25, 2023

      Angling With Van Gogh
      13 min read

    • Article

      Q&A With The Icon

      Apr 13, 2020

      Q&A With The Icon
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Fool Who Fished For A King

      May 1, 2020

      The Fool Who Fished For A King
      9 min read

    • Article

      Tales Of Life, Light And Laughter

      Nov 10, 2022

      With the advent of the Christ Child’s birth upon us, it hardly seems appropriate to be recommending these memoirs so wholeheartedly. Great swathes are really quite naughty: we have a frank account of sex in a Parisian porn shop as well as details of

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Philosophy of Fly-Fishing

      Oct 10, 2017

      The Philosophy of Fly-Fishing
      8 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Sep 1, 2022

      knew his seams both false & true, his garters, nifty eyelets. A gainful trade,stockings being what they were: always ruined or runneled: even Queen E’s silk fixed, darned at the tooes. He owned a brickworks, too. Wrote novels. Pamphlets. One about re

      2 min read

    • Article

      An Enchantment Of Lore

      Jan 5, 2022

      Sirens, Selkies and Ghost Ships Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham Batsford 2021 Hb, 192pp, £12.99, ISBN 9781849946599 Wild Gods, World Trees and Werewolves Dee Dee Chainey & Willow Winsham Batsford 2021 Hb, 192pp, £12.99, ISBN 9781849946872 Dee Dee Ch

      4 min read

    • Article

      There Be Treasure, Danger And Death

      Dec 3, 2019

      What if I told you there is a treasure chest filled with precious gemstones, gold nuggets and priceless artifacts hidden somewhere in the Rocky Mountains? That an eccentric art collector buried an antique, metal box worth over $5 million dollars some

      7 min read

    • Article

      Postcards from Fairyland

      Jun 15, 2023

      Postcards from Fairyland
      10 min read

    • Article

      Skin In The Game

      Oct 12, 2023

      Skin In The Game
      3 min read

    • Article

      A Literary Zoo

      Dec 9, 2021

      A Literary Zoo
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ship Ashore

      Sep 6, 2019

      Ship Ashore
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Twitch Upon The Thread

      Oct 17, 2019

      A Twitch Upon The Thread
      6 min read

    • Article

      Where Hares Shine Gold

      Oct 21, 2021

      Where Hares Shine Gold
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Story Behind…

      Dec 16, 2022

      The Story Behind…
      2 min read

    • Article

      LAND OF Legends

      Jun 10, 2022

      LAND OF Legends
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Fool Who Fished for a King

      Jul 1, 2020

      The Fool Who Fished for a King
      9 min read

    • Article

      Beauty and THE BEAST

      Nov 26, 2020

      Your mum probably told you ‘looks can be deceiving’, and never was that more true than in mythology. Leaving gods, goddesses and mortals to one side, as a rule, the more beautiful the creature, the more likely it is to be planning to rip your head of

      4 min read

    • Article

      Copenhagen’s Goodwill Ambassador

      Apr 1, 2024

      Copenhagen’s Goodwill Ambassador
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Wing & A Prayer

      May 28, 2023

      A Wing & A Prayer
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Wing & A Prayer

      May 28, 2023

      A Wing & A Prayer
      2 min read

    Reviews for Fortune's Fool

    4/5

    324 ratings20 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Enjoyable, though not so much as the first in the series. I liked the characters and the way the plot developed, but there were what seemed like a LOT of subplots... more than I think I would have preferred.
    • 4/5
      This book proved my theory that starting with the second book in the sequence was just the wrong way to do it. I found this one entertaining, the worldbuilding consistent and clever, and the characters, if somewhat out of Lackey's stock of feisty princesses and goodhearted princes, fun to read about. I still need to get my hands on the first one, but I am totally reconciled to the Five Hundred Kingdoms now.
    • 3/5
      Huh. I've read this one before. It was good, though. Nice turn-about of the standard little mermaid-based fables with some Asian and Russian tales thrown in for good measure.
    • 4/5
      I do like these tales. They'd be perfect for a young girl (say, ages 13-15) reading above her age level because the heroines are courageous and feminine (or tomboyish, as suits), the heroes are kind and masculine, the villains are treated with whatever respect is due them. In fact, the villains are rewarded with mercy - because the good guys are truly *good* and are so noble they deserve to win.

      I also would have loved the romance in these as a young girl, as it would have taught me 'the birds and the bees' the way no clinical book, awkward parental monologue, or schoolyard gossip could have. It's passionate, stimulating, and true to honest love. And the couple will, of course, get married, but they'll live not happily ever after, but adventurously ever after.

      There's plenty of humor, too. And the details of the world-building & rules of magic and the whole underlying force of The Tradition are marvelously done. Lackey includes important tropes and motifs, but never stoops to cliches. Well-done. May she magically become immortal and write a book this creative and satisfying for every one of the Five Hundred Kingdoms.
    • 4/5
      Yet another fun book in what's turning out to be a favorite series of mine. In Fortune's Fool, the story of a Songweaver, the Seventh Son and Fortune's Fool is told - along with the story of the 14th daughter of The Sea King.It's fun seeing the different cultures being explored - this was easily identified as Russia and there were some fantastic creatures introduced. And once again, my favorites.. the Unicorns. Oh, they make me laugh so much.While I didn't like this book as much as I liked the first two, it still is a solid story - I think there was just a little too much mooning going on (the wooing kind, not the drop your pants kind). Mercedes Lackey introduces a few more mythical creatures and they are a blast to see develop and, of course.. the Unicorns.Fun, fun books!
    • 2/5
      Lacky has always been known for her characters, her feminist vision, her lush settings. The lush setting is the only thing here to look forward to in the third of the romance-fantasy Five Hundred Kingdom series.Set in a Sea Kingdom and the kingdom of Led Belrus, Fortune's Fool concerns the diguises we wear. The heroine, Ekaterina, for example, is the spy for her royal family. Meanwhile, Sasha, her love interest, is a fool in public and an intelligent wise soul in private; he roams around playing songs, while in reality building spells for prosperity. Held to social duties, they are the only ones to know each others pains and limits to which they must adhere. They become lovers. It's only natural. But everything is so natural in this story, it becomes predictable and farce-like, wild and reasonless. For example: the princess is kidnapped, Prince goes on Traditional journey to find her. He naturally passes all the tests and trials--encounters with rusalkas, Baba Yagas, and the likes. While the dips and detours to multiple folklores can be fun, what is lacking is a coherence: how these fit in. It never gets answered and the hand of the author is evident--Lackey uses it as devices only for later coincidences--he meets the rusalka only for her to point him to the Baba Yaga; the Baga Yaga is only useful in that she's holding captive a magical wolf and goat--to be used later for convience. Readers end up feeling cold and empty and tricked.While a happy ending is expected--the journey is why we read these, it's the characters we want to become attached to. Lackey has rarely disappoint. But this is one of those moments when she misses and she misses badly.
    • 3/5
      The seventh son of a seventh son and the Sea King's seventh daughter, Sasha and Katya are fated to the be traditional Fools of fairy tale reality. As such, both have very specific roles to play, because in the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Tradition reigns supreme, backed (and sometime thwarted) by the Godmothers. But both Sasha and Katya have learned to deal very well with the often tricky workings of Tradition - bending it to their wishes as much as it is possible to do. Now the pair will have their work cut out for them: Katya has been taken prisoner by an evil Jinn, and Sasha and two very unlikely Champions may be her only hope. I've always liked Lackey's work, but this particular tale doesn't stand up well to the tight writing and suspense of the majority of her Valdemar novels. Nor does it use the many layers of folk mythology packed between its pages as well as her earlier Five Hundred Kingdoms books. It really feels more as if she was trying to stuff in creatures and bits from as many traditions as she could - and possibly as if she'd been up way too late watching InuYasha reruns. This particular tale just isn't up to par.
    • 4/5
      I didn't fall in love with the characters the way I have in the previous "500 Kingdoms" books, but the story was much more satisfying in "Fortune's Fool". Lackey tends to create a monstrous build-up of action and energy, only to turn it aside because of the "tradition" or some clever magic. This book, however, actually had that conflict aspect that I keep waiting for. The build up wasn't quite as monumental, but it was nice to see an issue rising, and then actually have a plan work and defeat the villain! It made my "I need order!" senses happy. One thing that Lackey never fails with is her use of female characters. And that's just the thing she doesn't USE them. They are not weak damsels in distress (usually). They are strong and important in their own right, not simply by how they can help a man. If for nothing else I will keep reading these books for the female empowerment!
    • 4/5
      Lackey's third book in the "Tales of The Five Hundred Kingdoms" series, is similar to the previous two, yet falls just short of their success. In Fortune's Fool we meet Sasha the seventh son of the King of one of the dry land Kingdoms. He is known as his traditional role as the Fortune's Fool...the joke of the kingdom who also falls into luck often. We meet Katya, the seventh daughter of the Sea King, who is a spy and gets to go on many adventures for her father. She has a rare ability to be able to walk on dry land as easily as she can swim through the seas. Katya enjoys her missions as much as Sasha enjoys his rounds of the kingdom for his father, the chances to get away from the act he has to employ as the "fool". Katya and Sasha no sooner meet and begin to court, than she is called away on another mission from her father. When she is kidnapped, Sasha begins his own rescue mission to find her. This is a fun, quick read that I actually saved for awhile, knowing it would be good. And I wasn't disappointed. I liked the characters and the story was much in the same pattern as the previous two. However, the story did fall slightly short. I think that the couple's courtship was far too short before she was taken away. I also think Sasha could have benefitted from more adventures on his way to find her. The resolution was fun, but also too short and sweet. The epilogue was the best part of the story and I would have been happy to have seen some of the things discribed in the epilogue in more detail as well. Still, this remains a fun, strong series. I hope Lackey plans more books after the fourth "The Snow Queen".
    • 3/5
      I was pleasantly surprised by this book. After the first two books, I was expecting a struggle in romance between the Sea King's daughter and the main male lead. But nope! This book is a conglomeration of little stories, almost like a collection of short stories with the same protagonists.

      Even though I liked both Katya and Sasha, this book is more about the side characters and the little stories. It's not really about their romance at all. Which is good because if you really think about it, they don't really have enough flaws to be developed characters. But that's okay, it's fun to read about kick ass characters with magical powers.

      I really enjoyed reading about fairy tales from different countries - not just our typical Grimm Fairy Tales. We got into Japanese folk tales and Russian stories whispered to children. It was really quite fantastic. Kitsunes and origami cranes and Baba Yaga really made this book.

      My least favorite parts of the book was the whole situation with the Jinn and the kidnapping. It was just too easy. It felt more like a fake plot device than an actual trouble. The girls just wandered around too easily, everything was against the Jinn (including tradition). There is no danger - or, at least no sense of danger. And finding the jar was too easy. I don't believe that one bit that it would be in a simple place any old cook could find.

      Basically, there was no villain in this book. It was just about the two characters finding love and getting through easy peasy trials.

      Still enjoyable though.

      A great third book for this series.

      Three stars. Recommended for fairy tale lovers.
    • 3/5
      Fortune's Fool is a fantastical, fairy tale style novel that is more romance than anything else with a fair bit of adventure thrown in. Katya, the story's main character, is a mermaid who can go on land. She acts as the eyes and ears for her father, who is the kind of the underwater lands. Topside, she meets a prince who becomes her love interest. In the process, she is taken captive by an evil Jinn. The book had some good parts, but was weak at other parts. There were sections that were captivating and others that made me want to skim forward. All in all, it wasn't a bad read, it just wasn't exceptional in any way.Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity
    • 2/5
      This third book in the 500 Kingdoms series was probably my least favourite of the four. A pleasant read, with likeable characters, but too many disparate elements for my liking, without anything to tie them together. This did not leave a strong impression.
    • 5/5
      This was an excellent book. It has love, adventure, danger and a hint of mystery that makes it irresistible.
    • 2/5
      This was such a quick read. I was really unimpressed with this one and I absolutely adored the first two. The plot was lame and too simple for a Mercedes Lackey novel. It was a good mindless read. All the cross-species relationships kinda bothered me even though it's set in Fairy Tale world.
    • 3/5
      3.25 starsKatya is a sea princess, daughter of the Sea King. Sasha is the 7th son of the leader of a land kingdom; he is a fool and a songweaver. After a little romance between them, Katya is called away to save some kidnapped girls, and Sasha later comes to find Katya. I mostly enjoyed this one, though I did lose interest at various intervals. I did like Katya – she is a strong character and a spy for her father. Parts of the book were from her point of view, while other parts were from Sasha’s. At the start, I enjoyed Katya’s POV more, but I was enjoying Sasha’s more in the second half of the book, as well.
    • 5/5
      Love this. I only just got it and this is my third (fourth?) re-reading (I read it from the library and the bookstore before). I still got lost in the story despite having to jump up and deal with other things constantly.
    • 3/5
      A nice little romance. I enjoyed the humor in the way the book uses fairytale clichés, but the story and storytelling are a little too simplistic. This gives the book a sort of childish charm but gets annoying, especially at the end where the "and they all lived happily" stuff is told in a little too much detail.
    • 4/5
      Absolutely loved it. One of my favorites out of all of her works.
    • 2/5
      NOTE: Actual personal rating is 1.5 out of 5.

      I have nothing against beach-reading. Most of what I read could probably be classified as 'escapist, wish-fulfillment fluff.' And I'm OK with that. However, I prefer my books to possess some sort of internal logic and cohesive world-building. In Fortune's Fool, I felt as though Lackey threw out anything resembling conflict because that would be *bad* and scary and perhaps give this morass of a story some sort of palatability.

      Chapters one through five made this unbearable. Seriously? Did we just spend five chapters creating a freaking origami crane as our deus ex machina? The author decided to just establish a whole minor society and throw them away just so the protagonist could have the magical equivalent of e-mail.

      I finished Fortune's Fool, so I feel bound to round up my rating to a 2/5. After all, I found it readable -- even if I did have to quell an urge to toss the book across the room every 20 minutes.




    • 4/5
      I originally reviewed this book on my blog - The Cosy Dragon. For more recent reviews by me, please hop over there.

      In another tale of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Sasha and Katya are both seventh born children. The difference between them is that one belongs on the land and the other in the sea. Both have important roles for their kingdoms, but both are equally alone as well.

      Sasha and Katya show very little character development. Sasha is the kind hearted soul he has always been, and Katya the strong willed woman who loves clothes! Their relationship also seems a little quick moving, but then again, the Tradition is behind it.

      I like how this book has two climax points. The first is with Katya, which introduces her nicely, and the second is with the Jinn. The various adventures Sasha had didn't hold as much weight with me because I knew that as a Fortunate Fool he would come out of them ok every time.

      Nippon. Anyone who has studied Japanese will see that Lackey has blatantly ripped off their language. I'm not sure I found it great - I wanted something new, not something I was familiar with. Granted, it was a bit like medieval Japan, but in a Fairytale book I felt there should be more.

      Three Baba Yagas! How scary. This is a fairytale that everyone should be familiar with, the strange house that walks on two chicken legs. This book really makes an effort to draw in a number of Fairytales, which is excellent.

      The ending is a little bit too clear cut for me. Or rather, not the ending itself, but the little epilogue that is at the end, in a years time. All too very convenient and unlikely, even with the Tradition. I was under the impression that the castle was further away from Sasha's kingdom that it appears, and it isn't near the water except by a stream.

      I'd recommend this book for adults only, simply because it has explicit sex scenes in it. They aren't really necessary for the book, and they do feel a little gratuitous, but I guess Lackey doesn't get to explore that much in her other books.