And Less Than Kind

Written by Mercedes Lackey and Roberta Gellis

Narrated by Jill Tanner

When it became certain that Edward VI was dying, the duke of Northumberland, who had been ruling England in his name, made a plan that would let him hold onto his power. He dared not let Mary
come to the throne because she was fiercely Catholic and he had espoused the Protestant cause. He did not want Elizabeth to rule because he knew her imperious nature would never defer to him.
But there was more than one puppet master at work: The evil elflord Vidal Dhu had no intention of losing the flood of power the misery of Mary's reign would bring the Dark Court, and intervened
so that Mary was proclaimed queen.

Urged by her Chancellor and the Imperial ambassador to order Elizabeth's death, Mary chose a different path to insure that Elizabeth would never reign. She must marry and bear a child to be
the Catholic heir. Vidal Dhu, replete with power from the pain and terror of Mary's burning of heretics, agreed with Mary. Vidal Dhu had very special plans for that child. And since Oberon and Titania
had disappeared, there now was no one except the double pair of twins to stand between the mortals of England and the rule of Evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 27, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980051091

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.

Reviews for And Less Than Kind

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The conclusion to the elves-put-Elizabeth-I-on-the-throne series. It was... well, exactly that. I suppose in some ways it's nice to imagine that the Virgin Queen actually was perfectly satisfied at all times by her eternally youthful and hot elven lover.

I like these fine, although unless you're particularly into either elves or this time period they're not standouts.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very annoying. I am definitely not interested in Elizabethan (or pre-Elizabethan) politics of the English court - and this series keeps getting deeper into them. On the other hand, I love Rhoslyn and Pasgen and their attempts to move to the Bright Court, the self-willed mist is fascinating, Harry's quest is fun, and even the villains are interesting (though all too often the only thing keeping them from winning is their own incapacity...gets dull). I alternate between "I suppose I need to get through this" and "This is fun!" - sometimes both in one chapter. Very annoying but I'll keep reading the series. And just when will Keighvin show up?!