For anyone who's bored with "normal" stories based on traditional fairy tales, The Sleeping Beauty is the cure for that boredom. This novel is a complete mish-mash of common fairy tales, but they are pieced together so cleverly that I can't help but laugh when I read it. Comedy, tragedy, quests, and spells are only some of the wonderful things that fill The Sleeping Beauty.
First off, there isn't actually a Sleeping Beauty, at least not in the Disney sense. The Sleeping Beauty is about a princess named Rosamund, who lives in a tiny, but rich, kingdom with her father. Her mother has died, and Rosa has grown up more or less on her own. The whole kingdom, Eltaria, is helped by a Godmother, Lily, who is in charge of keeping control of the magic in the kingdom as well as advising the king. Everything seems picture perfect, aside form the impending war with another kingdom who wants Eltaria's riches for itself, until the Tradition decides to interfere.
The Tradition. From what I understand, the Tradition (capital "T" intended) is basically a mindless magical force that exists in Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms books. Its sole purpose is to find people whose lives seem to match a fairy tale structure and force those people to live out the fairy tale, whether they want to or not. This includes all fairy tales, the ones with happy endings and the ones that end in death. The Godmother has some sway over the Tradition, but the best way to stop it from taking over a person's life is to trick it. Luckily for Rosa and Eltaria, the Godmother is very clever, but it will take a lot of work to keep Rosa from being killed or living a miserable life due to the Tradition's powers.
To aid in the comedic sector of The Sleeping Beauty we have two princes: Leopold and Siegfried. These are fantastic names, and I liked these characters before they were likable. Leopold is a charmer: he's handsome, witty, and good with compliments. Siegfried is a nice big beefcake: he's tall, muscular, blond, and very sweet. Both of them are trying to escape from their fates, and are in Eltaria to do just that. Leopold was banished from his home for being too popular. His brother, next in line to be king, did great things and planned to do more for his people, but no one knew of his efforts because he was a very quiet and family-oriented person. This brother paled in comparison to Leopold, and Leopold's father thought it would benefit the crown prince if Leopold were out of the picture. Leo has to make his own way, and tends to do that by falling in love with princesses whose fathers pay him to leave. Siegfried is facing a terrible fate: if he can't find a way out of it, he'll be forced to wake up a warrior maiden (who, coincidentally, is his aunt), and from then on horrible things will happen, including his own death. But it's all very funny and makes a lot more sense if you read the novel.
So, The Sleeping Beauty is a slightly misleading title, but the twist at the end brings that particular fairy tale into play, if only for a little while. Rosa is kidnapped yet again, but not by the person you'd expect, and he, along with the Tradition's help, tries to force the "Beauty Asleep" path on Rosa. Of course, the villain is foiled in his attempt, and there is a happy ending, but it's much more interesting than a simple happily-ever-after, and a good deal more entertaining. I couldn't stop laughing when I got to the end, but when the novel did end, I was happy and completely satisfied. All that I want to do now is read Lackey's other books of the Five Hundred Kingdoms!
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