Codex Alera
epic fantasy
Series · fantasy
Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms
The Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey has 6 known books (6 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Fairy Godmother (2004).
- Books
- 6 known books (6 novels)
- Published
- 6
- First published
- 2004
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Fantasy
- Last checked
Start here: The Fairy Godmother (2004) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Fairy Godmother
The Fairy Godmother is the opening book in the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series by Mercedes Lackey, first published in 2004. The book is 432 pages long. One Good Knight comes next in the series. Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms is an ongoing series, 6 books in so far.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Fairy Godmother - Book 2:
One Good Knight
One Good Knight is the second book in Mercedes Lackey's Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, published in 2006. It runs 389 pages. In the reading order it follows The Fairy Godmother and precedes Fortune's Fool.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of One Good Knight - Book 3:
Fortune's Fool
Fortune's Fool is Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms's third entry, written by Mercedes Lackey and published in 2007. The book is 362 pages long. It sits between One Good Knight and The Snow Queen in the series' reading order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fortune's Fool - Book 4:
The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is the fourth book in Mercedes Lackey's Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, published in 2008. It runs 376 pages. In the reading order it follows Fortune's Fool and precedes The Sleeping Beauty.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Snow Queen - Book 5:
The Sleeping Beauty
The Sleeping Beauty is the fifth book in Mercedes Lackey's Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, published in 2010. In the reading order it follows The Snow Queen and precedes Beauty and the Werewolf.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Sleeping Beauty - Book 6:
Beauty and the Werewolf
Beauty and the Werewolf is the sixth book in Mercedes Lackey's Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series, published in 2011. It runs 384 pages. It follows The Sleeping Beauty and is, to date, the most recent entry in the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Beauty and the Werewolf
About the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series
In the Five Hundred Kingdoms, a magical force called the Tradition is constantly trying to bend people's lives into the shape of familiar fairy tales, for better or worse — press too many of the right conditions together and it will make you into a Cinderella, a Beast, or a wicked stepmother whether you want the part or not. Mercedes Lackey's series follows the trained professionals who work with and against that force: Fairy Godmothers, wandering knights, and other Tradition-aware operators who nudge doomed story-patterns toward survivable endings instead of the ones the old tales actually describe. The Fairy Godmother opens the sequence with Elena Klovis, stuck playing Cinderella to a prince who's clearly wrong for her, until the regional Fairy Godmother recruits her into the trade instead of marrying her off. Later books send a well-meaning but hapless knight into an unwanted Sleeping Beauty plot, follow a version of the Snow Queen story from the queen's own perspective, and work through Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast with the same wry self-awareness.
Each novel is a self-contained, tongue-in-cheek reworking of one or more classic fairy tales, sharing a setting and a magic system but not a continuing cast, so the appeal is less serialized plot than watching Lackey turn a genre's own furniture against itself book after book.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series?
Six novels: The Fairy Godmother (2004), One Good Knight (2006), Fortune's Fool (2007), The Snow Queen (2008), The Sleeping Beauty (2010), and Beauty and the Werewolf (2011). Lackey also wrote several shorter e-novellas set in the same world that aren't tracked here.
What order should I read the Five Hundred Kingdoms books in?
Any order works, since each book is a self-contained fairy-tale retelling with its own cast, but publication order is the natural default and The Fairy Godmother is the best introduction to how the Tradition works.
What is 'the Tradition' in these books?
A quasi-sentient magical force that tries to push people's lives into matching the pattern of a known fairy tale, generating the tale's usual events (evil stepmothers, prophecies, curses) around anyone whose circumstances start to resemble one. Fairy Godmothers and similar trained professionals work to redirect the Tradition's pressure toward happier, less exploitative outcomes.
Do I need to read Valdemar first to understand this series?
No. The Five Hundred Kingdoms is a completely separate setting from Valdemar with its own magic system, geography, and cast — there's no crossover or shared continuity.
Is there a new Five Hundred Kingdoms book coming?
No new full-length novel has been announced since Beauty and the Werewolf (2011); the series appears to be dormant rather than formally concluded.
If you like the Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series
Reading order last verified .